hampus on playing with k0nfig: "It's nice to not have the biggest balls anymore"

After taking a break from competitive play, Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser is happy to be back in action at BLAST Premier Fall Groups.

hampus took a step back from competitive play at the start of this year, and after taking some time to rest he is ready to get back into the action, once again taking up the reins as IGL for Ninjas in Pyjamas.

The Swede was somewhat surprised to be replacing Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen on the team and is aware it will take some time for him to get back up to speed as a caller, particularly as he will be calling in English. Nonetheless he is happy to be back, and he sat down for a chat with HLTV ahead of his return to give his views on his team, his style as a caller, playing with Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke, and much more.

So first things first, how does it feel to be back?

Yeah it feels good, obviously! When watching the games from home all I wanted to do was start playing again, I couldn't wait for this, so I'm just happy to be back and ready to play.

What were you getting up to during your time off?

Nothing in particular, mainly just basic stuff and taking care of myself. Working out, moving every day, eating vegetables, all this boring stuff your parents tell you to do when you are 10. I just had to sort my life a little bit.

Were you keeping a close eye on the team whilst you were away, were you watching the games, keeping up with results? Or just trying to disconnect a bit from CS?

In the beginning I disconnected fully, I removed all social media and didn't want to see anything. After a while I started watching some of the games and the results, I spoke with some of the players and djL and I was in the loop a little bit with what was going on, but I didn't put that much energy into it.

Of course, you need to take some time off to rest.

Yep.

During that time you missed the last CS:GO Major – was that tough?

Sadge. Yeah it was a bit tough, of course it would be sick to play the last Major but it is how it is. There will be more Majors in CS2.

You've come back into the team to take on the in-game leadership role, was that something you were keen to do, did you want to get back into leading and calling?

I was always open to it for sure, and even if I would not be the IGL I was open to that as well, I just wanted to play again. It's good how it is, I like it.

Whose decision was it for you to come back as a caller rather than just as a player? Was that something driven by you, by the team, or just how it worked out?

I think that's just how it worked out. It was Jonas, the guy behind the scenes, it was his decision. I just said that I was open to it, and then he made the decisions.

Were you surprised at all to be replacing Aleksib? You spoke quite highly of him when he joined the team, you said he was a good in-game leader and you didn't know why G2 didn’t want him.

I guess a little bit, but also… I dunno, it didn't go so well for NIP so I guess they had to make some change. It's up to Jonas, he made this decision, and I'm just happy to be here.

You have a reputation for being a caller on the looser side of things, versus the person you are replacing, Aleksib, who is known for being a bit more strict. Is that a fair thing to say about your style of calling, do you consider yourself a loose caller?

I guess, I don't really care what people say about my style, I play and try to win the game. Sometimes it's loose, sometimes it's very strict, I am a mix of both.

A game-to-game type thing?

Yeah, or round-to-round.

So I saw you had a couple of officials in the Gamers8 qualifier, and you were balling out to be honest, having some great games and topping the scoreboards. How are you feeling personally about your play?

Personally, I feel good. Obviously before the season started I played a lot of FACEIT, deathmatch, things like this, so I don't feel off with my aim.

The only thing is I haven't called for a long time, and also I haven't spoken English in like six months now, since I have been away. So I have to get used to speaking English, get used to calling, and then get used to calling in English, so it's been a lot. At the end of a practice day my head is very sore, but I am getting better day by day and I think this event is very good for us, because it's a lot of best-of-threes. We also play one game and then have an off day, so we have time to practice. It's a weird format in my opinion, I would rather just have game, game, game, but now we're here for a long time so we have time to practice, and I have time to improve the English.

Is that something you are looking at this event as a perfect opportunity to do, to almost use it as a bit of a bootcamp? Obviously there is more pressure because it's official games, but are you seeing it as a chance to work the team up into form?

I would say so, even if we lose we have the last chance thing, and if we lose that we go to the Showdown, so you can't really lose I feel like (laughs). We're here, we're gonna play some games, and then try to be ready for Cologne.

How have you found playing with k0nfig? He wasn't in the team when you left, so how have you found coming into the team with him as part of the roster?

It's very nice, I like it a lot. I've always thought he was a super good player when playing against him, and I think I've never had a player with that much balls in-game (laughs). It's nice to maybe not have the biggest balls anymore, I have someone else I can send in and I go after him, I don't have to go first every time. It's nice, I am happy to have him.

How's the team shaping up in general? Do you think you have a good fit for roles, a good mix of positions and strengths?

I think it's good, some of the guys have some new roles but I think it's good, everyone is fully committed to what they're supposed to do now. Even if someone has a bad role he is going to fully commit to that role, someone has to do it right?

When you are thinking about who is taking what roles, is that something you decide as a team, do you make the call as a leader, or does djL make the call as a coach?

This time, me and djL spoke about it and then we spoke with the player, asking like "are you okay with doing it, will you commit to it and do it fullhearted?" because if not, then you're not going to do it right. We did it that way, and I think it's the best way.

What are the goals for NIP for this season? Do you have any strict goals, targets, anything like that?

Not particularly for this season, I think the goal is to be as ready as possible for the Major in Copenhagen next year. We'll see what happens this season, we haven't really talked about a goal for this season, we just want to improve every day and every tournament.

Does it make it hard to plan and prepare for a season when CS2 is coming at some point, but we aren't exactly sure when?

Yeah it's super weird, they didn't announce anything, maybe tomorrow it will be CS2, no one knows! I'm not really thinking about it that much, right now it's CS:GO so we are focusing on CS:GO, and when CS2 comes we will look at it then.

Do you do any thinking or planning about CS2, like thinking about the new smokes, or is it just a case of waiting until the game is released?

We're gonna wait. Now we are playing CS:GO and we want to win the tournaments that are left, I only won IEM Fall in CS:GO and that was only European teams. I want to win a tournament on stage for once!

So we've already discussed about the BLAST format being a little bit weird. Are you aiming to qualify now and avoid the later stages, or does it not really matter?

Of course we want to qualify, if we qualify now then we don't have to play this extra Showdown. Of course we also want to qualify for… I guess the Royal Arena as it always is there, and that's a sick arena to play in. I've only lost in there though… so hopefully we can qualify and win some games.