HooXi on struggling to close games: "Something with the Major is getting into our heads"

One step away from reaching Major playoffs, G2's captain discussed the nerves that he was feeling on his home turf.

After securing a 2-1 victory over Danish side ECSTATIC in the 1-3 pool of PGL Major Copenhagen's Elimination Stage, G2 are now just one BO3 away from reaching Major playoffs. A victory in tomorrow's match would earn the organization its first Major Top 8 appearance since PGL Major Stockholm three and a half years ago.

G2's win over ECSTATIC did not come without any hardship for the international side, however. After securing a confident victory on their own pick of Inferno, G2 allowed ECSTATIC's pick of Vertigo to slip away from them 11-13. In the end, a heroic performance from Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov kickstarted G2's run on the decider of Anubis, allowing them to lock down the series 2-1.

Shortly after his team's victory over ECSTATIC, G2 captain Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen spoke to HLTV regarding the matchup versus his countrymen, the nerves he has surrounding reaching Major playoffs in his home country, and the shouting he had directed at ECSTATIC coach Peter "⁠casle⁠" Ardenskjold during the match.

If you can't see the embed above, listen to the audio interview here.

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Close win over ECSTATIC. Tell me about your thoughts from that game.

I think that we were clearly the better team, especially on our CT sides. I think we have a hard time closing out games, closing out rounds. I think it's a lot due to nerves, due to our heads not being in the right place. It's weird with us having such an old team, but I can't really explain to you why it is like this. I think that it's just like something with the Major that is getting into our heads. We should have closed out both games honestly way earlier, even Vertigo we should have closed out. I'm honestly happy with how we played for the majority of the time, it's just about closing out the game.

You're not the only one who mentioned nerves to me, even rain mentioned today that he was feeling some nerves. Why do you think that is? I know you said you can't pinpoint, but do you have anything about that?

I'm feeling it a little bit, not too much. For me, it's not anything mysterious; it's in Denmark, I want to play in front of a Danish crowd, my family is coming, it's a Major. I think for the rest, it's just like we haven't been on the stage at a Major in a long time; Ilya has never been on the stage at the Major and he definitely deserves it, especially with the way he played today, he did some crazy rounds. I think that's the main reason why the nerves are getting a bit too our heads.

Obviously last Major was a very sad ending for you guys. Coming here to your home Major, can you tell me about the motivation for you guys especially with the slow start you have had?

I think that we actually had a really hard start, we were against FURIA and then it got slow afterwards which I was very surprised about. I thought if we would struggle it would be because of a slow start of not playing officials for some time. Obviously, it means a ton to us to perform well, and we've been at a bootcamp for I think even over two weeks, so it's not like the motivation or preparation is not there. It's just about getting our heads in the right place.

Lastly, I want to say, you were very loud during that game, I heard you almost every single round that you were winning. Can you tell me a little about the rivalry and the banter back and forth from you?

I think, first of all, I wanted to give some energy to my team and to myself. Also, they are a young inexperienced team, and I think maybe some yelling could get into their heads. The last thing is their coach has a past that I think he deserves to be yelled at a bit. (laughs)

Can you expand on that at all?

I'm just not a huge fan of the whole coach bug thing. Obviously, he served his time so it's not like it's anything crazy personal or something, but I just think it's like something where you're allowed to yell at him a bit, no? (laughs)

Going forward, you're 2-2, one BO3 from playoffs, but also one away from elimination. What are your general feelings on that and having this do-or-die match to make Major playoffs now?

One BO3 with MR12 doesn't sound like a lot, but it feels like ten miles away right now. I don't even know who we play or anything, so it's just about going back to the prac room now, watching our game back, and as soon as we know our opponent just get ready to prepare and do like any other match. Hopefully, we will show a bit more cohesion and calmness tomorrow.

Big motivation for you as well to play in the Royal Arena.

Definitely, huge motivation.