XTQZZZ: "We felt that if we broke SAW's momentum, it'd be GG"

The French coach was pleased that his team stuck to the game plan against SAW.

Vitality are through to the grand final of IEM Cologne 2024 after beating SAW 2-0 in dominant fashion. The international outfit was better in every department and conceded only 11 rounds across the series, with Rafael "⁠arrozdoce⁠" Wing admitting that his team was outplayed on both maps.

Speaking to HLTV after the series, Rémy "⁠XTQZZZ⁠" Quoniam said that his team respected SAW and drew up a good game plan for the match. "We knew they were going to be proactive," he said. "They move a lot on the T and CT side, they're a bit crazy. So we felt that if we broke the momentum, it was going to be GG for us."

Almost nine months into 2024, Vitality are still chasing their first title this year. After being on the losing end of the ESL Pro League 19 and IEM Dallas finals, XTQZZZ hopes this can be his team's turn to lift a trophy. "We will talk tonight and figure out how we want to approach the game tomorrow," he said.

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A quick 2-0 victory against SAW and you're through to the final. Are you happy with the way the team played today?

Yeah, we got the job done for the semi-final. I think we respected SAW. They played very well. The plan was good. We stayed calm and focused, so I'm happy. But the job is not done yet.

After watching SAW beat FaZe, what was the mindset like? What did you discuss yesterday to make sure you'd stay composed and focused and wouldn't underestimate SAW here?

Just focus on the plan for how we needed to play against them. We knew they were going to be proactive. They move a lot on the T and CT side, they're a bit crazy. So we felt that if we broke the momentum, it was going to be GG for us. So that's it.

Nuke was perhaps SAW's best map heading into this series, but you were in control from the beginning. It seemed like you were very well prepared. Can you walk me through the game plan for Nuke?

Actually, I think they changed their T side a bit, so we were not that ready in two or three rounds. After that, we had a plan on the T side to take things slowly but surely. Just try to take advantage and chill.

Can you also walk me through Dust2, where you were in control almost from the beginning? You lost the first pistol round but then took control of the game. You made it look very easy.

I think the forcebuy did everything, to be honest. We smashed them on Nuke, they won the pistol and then lost to a forcebuy. So I think it helped a lot today. After that, we played default and took our time. And yeah, it was really smooth, I would say.

You're now going to face the winner of MOUZ vs NAVI. What are your expectations? Which team would you rather face? You lost to MOUZ in the EPL final, and you haven't faced NAVI this year.

Honestly, I expect a banger. I think it can be a good game. We would be happy to play NAVI because they are, at least for me, the best team in the world. And MOUZ, it could be the real revenge for EPL if we play against them in the grand final. No matter what, it's going to be a really good game, I think.

This is going to be your third final this year, after finishing in second place in Dallas and in Malta. This is also going to be apEX's third final here in Cologne. Do you think that third time will be the charm for you guys here?

[laughs] I hope so, honestly. I think we need to talk a bit, because when you lose two finals in a row or sometimes you feel you were pretty close, even in the semi-finals… We will talk tonight and figure out how we want to approach the game tomorrow.

And if you win the tournament here, how big of a boost would it be for the rest of the season?

If we win, I think we will have achieved something this year. And for the future, the RMR is in two or three months. So yeah, we need that. We have been preparing for this tournament since the break. This has been our mission, basically. And hopefully tomorrow we will win the trophy.