frozen: "I can't imagine another Major where I'd rather go far"

The Slovak rifler has shown great form in Brazil, becoming a centerpiece in MOUZ's qualification to the IEM Rio Major's Champions Stage.

MOUZ have broken the Legends Stage barrier and will be playing in the IEM Rio Major's playoffs at the Jeunesse Arena in front of a sold-out crowd. They accomplished the feat in the final day of group play with a 3-2 record and victories against Liquid, Vitality and ENCE. We caught up with an elated David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský after the qualification series against Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and company to hear his thoughts on his team's performance so far.

The 20-year-old has been in fine form in Brazil, posting a 1.35 rating in the Challengers Stage and leading his team in the Legends Stage with a 1.19, including a series-high 1.31 in the decider match against ENCE. "I sacrificed a lot in past lineups, especially my comfort zone," frozen said about his recent good form, "and when xertioN came he basically played my roles, so it was possible for me to take the roles that I want and be in my comfort zone."

You just made the Major playoffs, what's your first impression?

Honestly, I'm just super proud of everyone in my team. Especially dexter, we've had such a long road together that this just feels fucking amazing.

You had an amazing start in the Challengers Stage, going 3-0. This time around in the Legends Stage it was a bit harder and you went 3-2. You beat some great teams in Liquid, Vitality and ENCE, then lost against BIG and Outsiders. How did you live it all?

As you described, it was a lot of ups and downs. We started on a high note against Liquid, that was a great win, then we met BIG later in the day and I think we just played weird. Props to them, they had a really good plan against us and they just punished us. That was the first day, then we met Vitality and that match was a big test for us mentally. We had a rough start, same as against ENCE, it was like 0-8, but we stayed strong, kept pushing back and never gave up. That was a very good mental test for us.

Going into Outsiders, these guys play very well. I always enjoy playing against Jame. They have a very unique style and it's always hard to play against them. Against ENCE, we knew how the play, we've met them before, but basically we came to this match with the mentality that we're going to take what's ours. We've been working very hard for this and I'm just super proud of everybody, that we showed it, it feels great.

You've been through quite a few changes, you mentioned dexter and you going through a lot. How has the adaptation to the young academy guys coming in been?

These young guys, and I'm obviously young as well!

True, I meant more as in inexperienced...

Yeah, as you say they're a bit more inexperienced, but I don't think it's showing that much, you know? When I'm playing, I don't see in their heads, but I think they're doing a very good job. WePlay Academy is a great addition to CS and it just feels like they're ready for tier one when they come up. You can see it in m0NESY, the players we have, s1n, whoever. It was obviously hard to implement them to the system, but dexter and sycrone did a really good job with that. I think now we have the right pieces and we just need to perfect our craft and make it work.

I was talking to xertioN the other day and he was thankful that you gave him some of the positions he wanted to get comfortable. How were these changes for you? You've been playing really well lately so from the outside it looks like it's really working out.

First of all, I sacrificed a lot in past lineups, especially my comfort zone. I took roles that were necessary for the team, not that were the best for me, and when xertioN came he basically played my roles, so it was possible for me to take the roles that I want and be in my comfort zone. I played these roles some time ago and finally now I'm getting to it. I gave him some roles, but at the same time he helped me get rid of some roles to get the ones I have now.

You're through to the playoffs. Thinking back to before the Major even started, did you see MOUZ as a top eight team at the Major?

That is honestly a good question, I wasn't thinking that far ahead to be honest. I came here taking it match by match. I knew that we could go through the Challengers Stage, we're a top ten team in the HLTV ranking, so in my head we should make it. Then in the Legends Stage there's the big boys, but some matches that we won made us believe that we can actually do this. I think we kind of had to prove it to ourselves in some way, but the wins that we got helped us push through.

We've seen huge upsets, FaZe and NIP going out 0-3, Vitality also eliminated early. There have been a lot of crazy results. What do you think of the Major and what is the state of CS now in that sense?

I honestly have no idea. karrigan is like my big bro, I was crushed when I saw that. I have no idea what's happening. Maybe it's the best-of-ones, they met like Cloud9 and very good teams, so you can lose that one map, then suddenly you're in the 0-2 bracket and it can happen.

Maybe the system could be a little different, although I'm not saying that I don't like it. I'm not really sure. The state of CS at this point, the whole year was either NAVI or FaZe fighting for titles, now it's kind of getting to the point where everyone can fight for titles again.

You're going to the Champions Stage and just from the taste we've had so far it should be a crazy atmosphere. How excited are you about playing at the Jeunesse Arena?

I'm looking forward to it so much. The only big crowd we experienced so far was in Cologne and it was indescribable. When I heard there's going to be so many people in the Champions Stage I really wanted to get there. I'm just looking forward to it, I think Brazil is giving such a great atmosphere for this tournament, I can't imagine another Major where I'd rather go far.