tabseN: "You can see rigoN comes from an environment that had a family vibe"

BIG have started IEM Cologne with a hard-fought win over FlyQuest, and tabseN spoke to HLTV about their entrance into the home event and their newest addition.

BIG have gotten off to a shaky but successful start at IEM Cologne, eking out a win over FlyQuest in the opening round of the play-in to secure two chances to qualify for the group stage.

It wasn't without growing pains, as the German side lost an overtime affair on Ancient and had to fight through two close maps on Inferno and Vertigo, nearly giving away a 10-0 lead on the decider.

It is only their second tournament with their newest addition, Rigon "⁠rigoN⁠" Gashi, who took David "⁠prosus⁠" Hesse' place on the roster in the off-season. The Swiss had a tough go in his debut at BLAST, but started off Cologne with a 1.21-rated performance in the series against the Australians.

After their opening win, HLTV caught up with Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz to ask him about the new addition and how his aggressive style can complement a typically more controlled BIG side, and their start in Cologne.

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A 2-1 victory to start the tournament. How are you feeling, after such a close game where you were up 10-0?

[laughs] I would say it was a tough game, but it's a positive sign that we are strong mentally, even though we had such a big lead and kind of threw it away. But they played pretty well, I would say. It just feels good to close it out. In the end, no one cares about the score, it's just about the W.

Did you feel at any point that you were losing control of the game?

Not really. I feel that we just didn't play our game at all, especially on Vertigo CT. We hadn't played Vertigo for a while. Overall, it was quite a good map for us and we didn't have the rhythm with rigoN yet. And I would say they took advantage of many holes in our setups. At some point, it kind of felt like we had lost control, but we were still kind of calm.

I saw that Krimbo was waving at them in the first half, and then, in the second half, they began to do the same. There was a bit of banter going on, no?

It's just love. Especially with them, they have really good humor, and it's really good to have these kind of people around.

How important is it for the team to begin Cologne with a victory, given that you're a German team and this is one of the biggest tournaments of the year for you?

Really important. Even though it doesn't really matter to us, it's the easier path, of course. For us, it's step by step. It's a really long tournament, and we're looking forward to having a lot of games. At BLAST, we just played against NAVI and we won against VP, so we want to show what we are capable of against other teams that are kind of at our level. We're looking forward to being in this tournament for a long time.

This was a rematch of the Dallas game that you played against FlyQuest. Back then you also played Ancient and you won 13-6. Was there anything different about them this time around in your map pick?

We were surprised they let Dust2 through. Usually, it's their perma-ban, so we were really confident they would ban Dust2 and prepared Ancient a lot, even though our CT side was kind of shaky, we lost some rounds we shouldn't have. They also played well, they found some holes, and it was really hard to play, especially when they were also trying to play the game and not just wait for mistakes. They did a good job on Ancient, for sure.

rigoN seems to be getting more comfortable with each game. How are you feeling on the server? And do you think he is getting closer to what he can truly show for the team?

Definitely, I'm really proud of him because he gives a lot of input. We had a bootcamp, and we're trying to implement him a lot in our system. Of course, he had a completely different way of playing the game. He was a really aggressive style of player, and we don't actually need that, but sometimes he can bring the spiciness. If he can just switch the control sometimes, do the spicy stuff and then play controlled, I think this will give us a lot of control in the game. His aim and his playstyle are also really threatening for the opponent team.

Krimbo was saying in the pre-match interview that rigoN also brings that energy to the team that you were lacking a little bit.

Definitely. He's a really positive guy. He brings a lot of hype, a lot of good vibes. He's not just individually skilled, he's also a really good teammate. He's laughing, he's trying to hype everyone up. You can see that he comes from an environment that had, like, a family vibe. This is also something I really look up to, and I'm glad he's now on my team. I'm hoping that we can achieve even more.

You're now going to face SAW. You haven't played against them in a year. What are your expectations for this matchup?

I'm really looking forward to playing against them. SAW are kind of like BIG. They're a team that isn't really on people's radars. They are underdogs most of the time and they also have the family vibes and stuff. So I'm looking forward to having a good game. I also have a good relationship with them, so I just wish them a good game. Not good luck, just a good game. I hope we can improve game by game.

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2024 Play-in
08/08/2024	SAW 13:30 BIG	Match

You are now one victory away from the group stage. What sort of expectations did you have heading into this tournament?

My expectations were really clear: that we make it to the group stage, for sure.