jks: "To finally push it over the line is a good confidence boost"

G2 eliminated Outsiders at the BLAST Premier World Final. "On a good day we can definitely compete against the best," Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage said after the match.

G2 staved off elimination at BLAST Premier World Final in Abu Dhabi, UAE, by knocking out Outsiders in the Group A lower bracket final. In doing so they secured a spot in the single elimination playoffs, where they will face the second seed in Group B that will come from the Vitality vs. OG match.

jks took some time in the mixed zone after the series against Outsiders to talk about the current state of G2 and the importance of beating the Major champions in such an important match at the final event of 2022. "We've had a lot of close games against a lot of the top teams, but we just don't manage to close them out," the Australian said. "To finally push it over the line, it's a good confidence boost."

How big of a win was it for you to beat the Major champions in an elimination match here?

It's definitely a good win for us because we needed a bit of confidence. We've had a lot of close games against a lot of the top teams, but we just don't manage to close them out. For us to finally push it over the line, it's a good confidence boost. They're a really good team and they play a different style of CS, but we managed to just focus on our own game today and that's a big thing for us, to focus on our own plan and play the way we want to.

Did you notice anything off with Outsiders? It was a complete thrashing on Mirage, do you think they're under extra pressure now or something?

I'm not really sure of what they were thinking or anything like that, but from our point of view they did similar things as they did in the previous game, so we were comfortable playing against them because we knew how they wanted to play.

In general I think it's not so much about them, we were just more comfortable playing our own game today and not really focusing on what the other team is doing, which works really well for us. I'm not too sure, maybe they just had an off map and we were playing pretty well individually.

You could have won the series against FaZe on Inferno, so you're showed some good Counter-Strike even if you ended up falling in the end. Where's G2 at right now, do you feel like you're able to compete with the best in the world?

On a good day we can definitely compete against the best, we can compete against anyone on a good day, but right now we're still sorting out some small details in our game and get everyone on the same page. That stuff takes time, we've only been a team for like four months now, they changed IGL and of course my spot as well, so it's not going to be overnight that we'll just become amazing.

Maybe it's taking us longer than we expected to all get on the same page and become a good team. When we play you see signs of it, but then we also have some rounds or some maps in which we do some things that are not really together like top teams that have been together for a long time do.

We make some fundamental mistakes that at the top tier will cost you a lot of games, but when we have a lot of close games against top teams it shows that we're almost there, we just need a bit more time to work on some things or we need to change the direction a little bit.

How about individually, how do you feel as a player and in the way you fit into the team?

I'm just trying to do whatever is needed in the team, it's really stacked in terms of skill and talent, so obviously there's only so much space you can take. Of course I want to play good every game and be on top of my individual level, but I just have to accept that some maps won't be like that just because of the positions I play or because my teammates are killing everything.

For me it's more about accepting my role in the team and just making sure that I do my job. If I do my job and everyone else is solid I think that we have a good chance at closing out most of the games. I just need to work on my mental a little bit more, to believe in myself more and make sure I'm confident going into every game because sometimes I feel like I'm lacking that a little bit and it costs the team a bit when I don't play as good as I think I can play. It's a work in progress.

You mention teammates killing everyone. What are you guys feeding m0NESY?

I don't know, he's a young kid... He just eats sugar, I don't think he has a diet. Probably chocolate and Coca-Cola. [laughs] But no, he's definitely a really good player and when he has confidence he can kill pretty much anyone and top the server in any game. He just has to believe in himself.

Anubis was floated today and would have been the decider if necessary. How do you feel about the map and the new patch in general?

We've looked at it a bit, I don't know if we have the most practice on it or anything, but we definitely looked at it a bit. It's a decent map in terms of the way it's played, but I think it needs some changes before it becomes a top tier map. It's very basic and there's only so much you can do on either side, but it's been a fun map to watch so far.

I'm interested to see how Valve changes and how it progresses. With all of the top teams playing it, it'll be interesting to see what all of the other teams do compared to the meta, like everyone's going to have different ideas on it.