ruggah: "We were one of the only teams that managed to bring out big T sides even in the silencer meta"

The Danish coach sat down with HLTV after OG defeated 1win to secure their spot in the 2-2 pool of the European RMR.

OG came into the European RMR with uncertain expectations. The team removed Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković from the active roster just under two months ago and Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen was chosen to replace him, at least during the Major cycle. That shook the team's leadership, a role instrumental in the success and playstyle of every team, but coach Casper "⁠ruggah⁠" Due trusts the system can still work.

OG's start at the event was bleak as they dropped down to the 0-2 pool, but Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan and company fought back with wins against SAW and 1win to put themselves one best-of-three victory away from a Major berth. HLTV spoke to ruggah about the team's journey in Copenhagen so far, their distinct playstyle, and the general mood in the OG camp after bringing an 0-2 start to a 2-2.

Let's start off with the progression you guys have made here in Copenhagen. You had a rough first day, losing the first two best-of-ones. Now you're in the 2-2 pool and still alive. Run me through that first day and how you're managing to bounce back.

We knew coming into the tournament that we had at least three very strong maps that we wanted to force into the best-of-ones. We got Ancient in two of them and obviously if you lose an Ancient you can go for another map, but we actually felt comfortable on it anyways. I think the game was decided on a lot of pistol rounds we didn't win and we had a lot of situations in which we didn't fully connect, especially in XvsXs, and if you don't win those in the best-of-ones it obviously becomes hard pretty fast. But I also knew going into the second day that we weren't going to die on the hill called Ancient, so in the veto we didn't want to have that as the third map. We learned a little bit from it and got to test out our map pool. I think we're looking better by the day.

How is the team feeling? Starting out 0-2 can be pretty hard psychologically, so how's the psychological bounce being?

I think it's okay. It's always hard with the best-of-ones. We know they matter and at the end you still have best-of-threes to progress in the tournament, so obviously winning the best-of-ones probably gives you a better chance of qualifying throughout the whole event, but we also know that we always feel good in best-of-threes. We have a very good map pool overall, I would say, so the map pool coming into best-of-threes favors us a little bit compared to best-of-ones where we're forced down to very specific matches.

As I said, Ancient is one of our good maps, but in the second one we didn't have chances to go anywhere else but Ancient. But the psychological bounce back has been good. In general our preparation for the event has been very bad, first with degster being sick for one week and not coming to the bootcamp because of it. The previous week before that niko and flameZ were also sick, so we had to scrim and practice with me, and even though I like to play, it's not ideal going into a Major qualifier, so... I'm happy that we're still here, still in it, and have a shot to make the Major.

Going a bit further back to nexa stepping back and having changes to a role as important as leadership. From the outside it felt like he was maybe one of those glue components that could get everyone together. What is it like restructuring everything and how are you doing it? Are you keeping the old strat book, or have you tried to expand? How are you weathering this storm?

I think in general, our T-side system built with nexa, me, and our assistant coach Alex [kakafu], is not that hard for an in-game leader to call in. The only difference is that nexa was, as you said, maybe a bit more of the glue in XvsXs, which we have felt that we lose more of them than we had previously. In close matches that's normally what counts, right?

But at the end of the day the system is the same. We're very good and have pocket strats that know they work. Also we know how to throw opponents off, so the T side was never the problem, it's just the XvsXs. Sometimes on CT we lack that everyone is talking to take initiatives, we lack that a little bit, but it's getting better by the day.

How do you see this team compared to the previous version? A lot of people weren't the biggest fans of the OG style, the very groupy get together and make trades to tough through it. But at the same time it worked, and it seemed like maybe you couldn't be as good as elite teams but you were still fighting them many times. Now it seems like you dipped down and can't seem to get to that level. Do you think you can get back up there or will it take time and restructuring things after the Major cycle?

Oh, that's a lot of questions in one! Starting with the previous iteration, one thing that went under the radar for experts and people looking at our game is that we were one of the only teams that managed to bring out big T sides even in the silencer meta. That we're pretty happy with and we know the system works, as you said. But it also means that everyone on the team has to have the same mentality going in, you need to get the trades, go to the 2vs2s and win those.

Going to the other part of the question, I think that before it was our CT sides that held us back against the best teams. niko being here, he's a bit more proactive than nexa was, nexa was good at being the glue and making sure everyone was on the same page, while niko likes to take a little more initiative. That helps us on some maps and on other maps it's a bit harder without nexa. I think we're on the right track. With more preparation, let's say we qualify for the Major and have a proper boot camp instead of playing with me, then things might obviously look different.

What were the expectations here, because even with the problems at the boot camp, you guys are in that form where you're a team that may or not make it. It's not like your best moment and it's clear that you'll make it. What were the expectations and the mindset you tried to instill in your players when you came here?

Ever since niko came in we didn't really... care is maybe too big of a word, but the tournaments we played prior to this one was just to get some official matches under our belt, glue a little bit better with niko, and then see if we can qualify for the Major because no matter what, at the RMR, no matter who you are, you should have the ambition to qualify for the Major and that's what we're working on.

After bringing the 0-2 to 2-2 and making it to the final round. I know we're just minutes after it happened now, but what's the buzz in the team?

We looked a bit at the potential match-ups, I think the 2-2 pool will fit us okay, maybe if we draw the winner of VP vs. MOUZ it's a bit different, but I think we have a pretty good chance against the other teams. Also, coming with the confidence of being with our backs against the wall and if we play a team that hasn't qualified for the Major in a long time, then maybe we have the psychological advantage.

One final question to close it out. What do you mean when you say 'Know what you're up against'?

Can you rephrase this a bit, I'm not quite sure?

This one is from one of your guys.

Oooooooh! This is from flameZ [laughs]. Yeah, it's a phrase I've tried to work on with the young guys because we have a lot of young players that are maybe not the most experienced against the better teams. It's about reading the game and knowing what you're playing against, it's very important, especially in crucial moments. Today we showed that we wanted to read the game a little bit and that's why we had such a big CT side on Overpass. But yeah, that's what I try to instill in them, to not be so naïve and know what they're playing against.