magixx: "The CIS region is rich with promising players; the hard thing is to try them all out"

After Spirit played their debut with new AWPer Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov, we spoke to Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev to get his thoughts on the new addition.

Coming into IEM Cologne, Spirit are one of the big question marks following the shock decision from Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov and the team to part ways despite their stunning run to the semi-finals at the PGL Major Antwerp.

Having brought in w0nderful two weeks ago, a young Ukrainian upstart who is now tasked with filling the shoes of the star AWPer, the team arrived in Germany to make their debut with the newest signing, and so far they have passed their first test after making it past Complexity in the opening round.

To find out how the new member is meshing with Spirit, what made him stand out in their trials, how different to degster we can expect him to be, and how close to Major form Spirit think they could be in Cologne, we sat down with magixx for a quick interview before they head into their second match:

First of all, what were your initial thoughts when you heard degster was leaving? How did you react to that news?

Personally, I can say that it was really unexpected news. The team, they were on bootcamp, and they had the CEO come to them and tell them the news. I wasn't at the bootcamp, I was in Moscow doing a visa, so I received the news via phone call. It sounded like 'wow, what the fuck?' It didn't sound good, but we just have to accept this and move on.

How difficult was it to find a good enough replacement for degster, who was one of your best players?

The CIS region is rich with a lot of young and promising players in all the different roles, riflers, AWPers, so you can get a lot of candidates, but the hard thing is to try them all out and find out who fits you better. Finding a replacement isn't tough, the tough part is to find the perfect one who suits you as a team.

So what made you go with w0nderful, then? What made him stand out?

We played with four snipers throughout our test period, and he's just been playing above the others. His decision-making, reaction time, the way he shoots, the way he thinks, and he's also fine with being supportive. He fits our team really well.

You mention him being supportive, which is also something your coach has communicated before, that you wanted an AWPer who could be both aggressive and passive. Do you expect w0nderful to be different to degster in terms of playstyle, not going for opening kills as much, for example?

Yeah, personally I do expect him to be a less aggressive player than degster had been. This guy can just set up other players with nades and finish the rounds because you can easily win clutches with the AWP, and we can make space for him. Still, he has room to play aggressively, to do his picks, and he's allowed to do them. There's no issue, he just has to be involved in the structure of the playstyle of the team.

What are your expectations for Cologne? How close to Major form do you expect yourselves to be here?

In terms of preparation, we've been playing a lot individually, like before the Major. I can't mention any goal or placement at the tournament, I'd just say the goal is to enjoy the game, to play what we have been practicing, and we'll see how deep it brings us.