m0NESY on being nervous at LAN: "It’s not an issue for me"

After a slow start to the tournament, G2 and Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov have made it through the RMR with a 3-1 record, securing the 16-year-old a place at his first-ever Major.

G2 played a very flat opening match against Anonymo, but were quickly able to recover to a 2-1 record following comfortable victories over Sangal and Bad News Eagles. Their qualification game against Astralis would turn into a great match, with both teams taking their map picks home before a thrilling overtime finish on Vertigo to clinch the Major spot.

After his 2-1 victory over the Danes, G2's young sniper joined us for a quick chat where we discussed his integration within the squad, their slow start against Anonymo, and their plans going to the Major.

Congratulations, m0NESY! You are going to your first Major, how are you feeling?

I’m feeling great. We did good, we’ve made it. We lost out first match against Anonymo, but then we sat down, had a talk, and agreed that we have to get our thoughts together and keep going. That match wasn’t crucial — well, it kind of was, but eventually, we made it through 3-1.

We might get to play for the Legend status tomorrow, but it’s unlikely. It depends on the other teams and the seeding. All in all, everything is great. My first Major!

You finished 3-1 as you had a really slow start against Anonymo. What happened? What went wrong in that match?

There is nothing I can say about that match. We felt a bit lost, and that’s not because we underestimated the opponent. It was rather due to communication, and we weren’t hitting our shots. Some of us couldn’t find kills, including me.

I haven’t been great at shooting in this tournament, I’ve missed too many AWP shots, but we got the job done nonetheless.

After that, you had games against Sangal and Bad News Eagles. Did those games help you get in the groove before the match against Astralis?

Yes, of course. Well, Sangal and Bad News Eagles are on a different level, it was easier to play against them. It gave us a bit of confidence, so we kept playing and just… won [laughs].

You’ve been at a few events with the squad now, how do you feel the integration has been going? How do you feel your development has been going so far with the team?

We are very friendly as a team, we talk a lot to each other both in life and online. We play a lot together, we have a good atmosphere inside the team and it helps a lot. JACKZ is not responsible for it, but he is always there to help. He helps me and the other guys and improves the atmosphere, he is very good at that.

How has it been working with XTQZZZ and Aleksib? How are they helping you to integrate into the team?

Aleksib and XTQZZZ help me in every way that they can. Almost everything they help me with is about the game, but they also help me to understand how to think correctly.

They help me with macro understanding while micro understanding comes by itself and Aleksib doesn’t pay too much attention to it. In general, it’s all about macro, rotations, grenades, and so on. That is how they help me.

Also, they teach me how to make fast decisions, which is a very important thing in tier one Counter-Strike, especially on LAN. You have to handle your emotions and think fast — some players react slower than usual because they are nervous on LAN, but it’s not an issue for me. I’m not worried while playing, but I can’t make fast decisions sometimes because I have to think it through and communicate them to my team in English, not my native language. I need to keep working and put in more effort.

Have you got any plans going into the Major? Are you going to a boot camp?

I think we won’t boot camp ahead of the Major. We will be practicing online.

I will celebrate my birthday soon, I will be 17. I want to come home and visit my parents and relatives. I haven’t seen them for more than three months, but if I had to stay, I would not go home.