torzsi: "Skill-wise I'm ready for tier 1, but I need to gain some LAN experience"

The Hungarian sniper talked about defending the Academy League title and staying committed to CS:GO despite the now-removed ban from Valve.

The reigning champions of WePlay Academy League, MOUZ NXT, passed the first test in Kyiv as they emerged victorious in a three-map series against Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov's NAVI Junior in the opening round. When the day was over, HLTV sat down with Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás to discuss how confident his team is in taking the trophy home again, as well as more personal topics.

In the interview, the European squad's star performer also touched on the possibility of him joining the main MOUZ team in the near future. While torzsi believes in his ability to perform well against the world's best, he wants to get more LAN experience before the switch happens.

Tell me how different MOUZ NXT now to MOUZ NXT that won last season's finals. What has changed since the last tournament?

I actually think we didn't change a lot of things. It's the same team. We are doing the same, we are practising and giving our 100% every time.

Do you need to adjust to your opponents here to win the tournament again? Or you can follow the same route?

It depends, we can feel it during the games. If we feel that we play well and the calling is great, we are just doing it. In this game against NAVI Junior, we lost Inferno, but I think we played well. The calls from Kamil [siuhy] were great; I don't think that we played bad or that we made too many mistakes. They had some good rounds individually, and that's why they won Inferno.

I think we played well. If our calls are great, and we are feeling it, we don't have to adjust because we know that we can win in our way.

In your interview with Ne0kai, you said that you decided not to go to university and commit yourself fully to CS:GO. How is that working out for you so far?

It's working out nicely. I finished school this May, and around that time Dennis [sycrone] contacted me to ask if I could join this team. I earn a good amount of money compared to Hungarian salaries, so I can do it full-time.

I don't like to study, to be honest. I'm not the type of guy who studies a lot or likes it, and I also like to focus on one thing and do it 150%. If you do something, you have to give it your all. Of course, you can make it work [playing and studying], but I think it's better when you focus on one thing. So if I want to go to university, I can still do it in the future because I had good grades.

Some might say that m0NESY is your biggest rival at this tournament, and you just faced him. What can you say about the match?

We've already played against each other many times, but it was the first time on LAN. I think he had a lot of pressure on him, people watched him and wanted him to play insanely on LAN, too, and it's his first LAN as far as I know.

In my opinion... I'm not saying that he didn't try his best, but I didn't find that much impact from him in this game and the previous games as well. Maybe he was a little bit scared. It's totally okay for the first LAN, it happens. I still think he is a great player and can be better on LAN for sure.

Let's talk about that Tweet you made about your biggest mistake. Now you are unbanned, but were you worried in the past that you would end up quitting CS:GO due to the ban at Valve-sanctioned events? We have an example in Jamppi, who eventually switched to VALORANT.

My five-year ban expired on November 10. I was in the same situation as Jamppi — I wanted to play VALORANT when it came out. I grinded for one week but didn't really like it. It's a very slow game, and it's heavily focused on aim. It's much easier than CS in my opinion, I didn't like it.

I didn't switch because I still trusted Valve, that they would make some changes. And they did, luckily! I'm grateful for it.

What do you lack right now to be ready for tier-1 Counter-Strike? What do you think you need to work on?

I think I could compete in tier 1, but... For example, if I got promoted in MOUZ, I would try my best and would perform, but I need some time to adjust to the tier-1 conditions and get used to it. I think that skill-wise I'm ready, but I still need to gain some LAN experience because I lack it. But I think that skill-wise I could compete there.

Tell me about your player-coach dynamic with sycrone. How does he contribute to your individual development?

Dennis helps me a lot before games, and he helped me back when I just joined MOUZ NXT. I'm not the type of guy who watches a lot of demos and analyzes games because, to be honest, to me it's the boring part of CS, but you still need to do it. I don't like it. I used to grind a lot of deathmatch, and Dennis advised me that I should combine the two. For example, I can still grind deathmatch, but maybe play it a bit less and spend half an hour watching a demo. [Overall], he helps me with analyzing games.

He helps me a lot outside of the game, too. For example, he helped me a lot with my behaviour. He helped me understand the teammates around me and that I don't always have to top frag. So yes, he's helping me in every aspect.

When the MOUZ NXT roster was announced, we had an article with a comment from your coach, where he referred to you as the Hungarian ZywOo. Do you actually see similarities between you and him?

No. I don't like it if someone says, for example, "this guy is s1mple" or "this guy is ZywOo." You need to respect the name. It's the guy who he is, respect every name.

But if you had to compare yourself to someone, who do you think matches you in playstyle?

I wouldn't say s1mple because he is really aggressive, he can just do whatever he wants and most likely perform because he has insane aim. He has thoughts behind every move. Just like ZywOo, too, but maybe he is less passive. So if I had to choose, I'd compare myself more to ZywOo than s1mple.

Let's go back again to the interview that I previously mentioned. Back then, you said that FalleN is your idol. Can you elaborate on that?

I was really a big Luminosity/SK fan back then when they were winning everything. I really liked them. I remember FalleN when I was a kid, I watched some of his 1.6 games. I played CS 1.6 and I really liked him.

There is a video, SK Gaming The Dream, and that's my favorite CS movie. I've watched it like 30 times already, it always gives me motivation.

I don't see an idol in him inside the game, but more in the things he did for the Brazilian CS community, how nice he is to the community. He's also a really nice teammate, I think. I met him at the V4 LAN two years ago. He was really nice, and he said some really nice words to me.

What about the Brazilian superteam? I'm sure you've seen the rumors. Will it work?

I don't think so. I read the opinion article from Striker, I kind of agree with him.

What's the difference between playing academy teams and tier-2/tier-3 teams in online tournaments?

I think in WePlay Academy League, both online and LAN, we study each other a lot. We can feel during the games that we are more likely to get anti-stratted than, for example, in a simple tournament at home. Because there are a lot of teams, they don't have to study each other if games take place day-to-day. And if you don't get anti-stratted, it's much easier to play.

At this LAN, I think we are the favorites, and it puts a little pressure on us, but it also feels good because we are confident in ourselves.

To wrap it up, tell me how confident you are in winning the league for the second time in a row.

You asked about the difference between MOUZ NXT back then and now, and I think that we've improved a lot. We are on the same page in a lot of things. I'm confident that we will win this tournament. I hope I won't jinx it, but yes, I'm feeling it. Everyone is playing great, the mood is insanely good. We had some issues during the bootcamp, but we fixed them instantly. So yes, it will be nice, and we will win it.