NertZ: "It's just a matter of time before we are one of the best teams in the world"

The Israeli star is happy with Heroic's improvement.

HEROIC got their international era off to a solid start at IEM Katowice, where they narrowly missed out on the playoffs. That gave them a solid platform ahead of the European RMR, where they looked to continue their good form.

They would go on to qualify as the last team with a 3-2 record, but their losses came against two heavyweights in Spirit and Vitality. The team avoided upsets and got the job done with a 2-0 win over GamerLegion in the final round of the tournament to book their PGL Major Copenhagen spot.

After their win against Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski and company, Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz talked to HLTV about their RMR campaign, his adaptation to a new team, and HEROIC's expectations for the Major.

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You're the final 3-2 team to qualify. Walk me through your feelings right now.

Couldn't be worse. [laughs] No, I'm joking, it is an amazing feeling. It is my dream to be in the Major. This was the most important tournament of the year for me and of course for everyone else, and we are feeling super happy.

How much of a relief is it for you to avoid the Last Chance Qualifier?

Before we came to the game, I checked the teams, and there are a lot of quite good teams, it's not a nice feeling to be there. I feel so relieved that we are right here after our win, so I'm feeling good.

I wanted to ask about the game against GamerLegion. Overpass was pretty straightforward, but Mirage was very close. How was your heart rate during Mirage after you won so many eco and close rounds?

I think they had good reads on what we were doing. They had a good anti-strat on Mirage, and it took time for us to realize what they were doing. After a couple of rounds, we knew what we needed to do.

And on the CT side, I think they really changed everything, which surprised me. In the second round, they should have been eco, but they bought a hero AK, which changed the whole game. We won one round, and then they won one after we did, so it was a money reset every time, but we survived this reset.

You only lost to Vitality and Spirit here. Are you happy with your overall performance?

Not really. I want to win against these teams consistently, but I'm happy we are improving from game to game. We learn a lot from these kinds of games against the best teams in the world, and it's just a matter of time before we will be one of the best teams in the world.

You're pretty much a completely new team. How have you adapted to a new system?

It's [tough] for everyone, but for me, it's not tough anymore. I understand what my responsibilities are, and I feel like we are starting to click at the moment. It will take a bit more time to be at 100% together and understand what everyone does.

Do you think this process is a bit easier because you brought sAw with you from ENCE?

For sure, he made the process easier. As you see from tournament to tournament, we are improving, and he is a big part of why we are improving. He has a couple of ideas on how we need to improve as a team, and I feel comfortable that we can show it in the next tournament.

And just a final question. What are your goals for the Major?

I didn't think about it yet, because I needed to focus on these games. But if I can think right now, very fast, I would say the playoffs. For me, it would be an insane achievement.