r3salt: "I've moved to 9 Pandas to f*** even harder than I do now"

The new 9 Pandas rifler shared a number of details surrounding his hectic transfer from Aurora.

In one of the more bizarre player transfers in recent memory, Aurora's young gun Evgeny "⁠r3salt⁠" Frolov was swapped with domestic rival 9 Pandas's Timur "⁠clax⁠" Sabirov, but only after a back-and-forth maneuver that saw r3salt briefly return to Aurora's bench before finally being allowed to transfer within hours of the start of 9 Pandas's RMR qualifier campaign.

Even before the transfer had gone through, fissures between r3salt and his former teammates were apparent, with Aleksandr "⁠KENSI⁠" Gurkin and the organization insinuating that r3salt had attempted to leave behind the team's back.

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Dramatic r3salt-clax swap finalized moments before 9 Pandas' RMR qualifier campaign

After completing the transfer, 9 Pandas managed to secure their place in the Perfect World Shanghai Major with a 3-1 in Closed Qualifier B, and the Russian side have now arrived in Belgrade to compete in BetBoom Dacha Season 2.

Ahead of his team's first match in Belgrade, r3salt discussed his perspective on the chaotic transfer in an interview with HLTV, shedding light on his issues with Aurora, his feelings when it seemed the deal would fall apart, his hopes for his new team, and a potential face-off versus his former team, among other topics.

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This interview was conducted in Russian and later translated by Russian-speaking HLTV staff.

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Recently a player swap was announced between Aurora and 9 Pandas involving you. Aurora commented it in a way that implied that you wanted to leave the team behind their backs. What can you say about this?

First of all, thank god the deal came through. Secondly, I've already said this, but there was no business done behind their backs. Initially, after two months of intense playing – we played online, then in Australia – I couldn't quite get how the training process would be set up. And when we got to work on that, I immediately started to tell the organization what didn't work for me, and a little after to the coach and some of the teammates.

As for Norwi and KENSI speaking out… They knew nothing, but since they're so close with the organization's management, it sounds very silly of them. Because if the management knows, they must know as well. I remember reading about Norwi being in a restaurant with me, just two of us eating and chatting, and he thought whether I would tell him that I want to go to 9 Pandas or not. So he knew.

On Twitter, Aurora published KENSI's comment where he spoke of you along the lines of 'rats that are fleeing the ship.' Why do you think they posted that? Could it be a misunderstanding, or are they trying to bad mouth you?

I can understand the organization completely, they're just riding the hype train. One post after another, and everyone eats this, it's getting reposted, so obviously they would continue doing this.

But they calmed down a bit, KENSI and Norwi did as well. But at first, there was so much shit. Even in the group chat when I was leaving, there were only curse words said about me, while I talked normally. Like, I share some reasonable thoughts on why things went this way, problems, why I left. I apologized for some things going wrong, and why I decided to go here. But they didn't want to take it sensibly and were only telling me to go to hell. That's it.

You wanted to go to 9 Pandas, but Aurora is higher than 9 Pandas in the HLTV ranking. The team also had some small successes, particularly, when you won the online Skyesports Masters. From the outside, it can seem like a step back, but how do you look at it?

Small successes tell nothing at all, I think about the prospects. I've moved to 9 Pandas to f*** even harder than I do now. Actually, if Aurora's roster developed, it could possibly be a top 10 team in the world. Me and the coach both had that opinion, we talked about this a lot, but because some players didn't work hard enough on the things that are important, it was not happening.

So I wanted to move to a different team where I know how the process is set up. From day one, I could see that it's indeed the way I want it to be. And I think that after some time we will naturally be higher than Aurora [in the ranking].

So your main issue with Aurora was work ethic and the overall process that was set up there. Can you share more about that?

Honestly, I don't want to get specific. But I saw people in comments saying that r3salt doesn't fit the vibe of the team. And I was like 'Okay, they watch the vlogs, it's just bullshit which I never even watched.' But one could think of something, like I walk in my headphones, I don't give a shit about anyone, etc… yet the vibe in the team was okay. We talked, we were all friends, family – no doubt. So my main issue was with the training process, and it was the reason [for the move].

Not long before the start of the RMR qualifiers the deal that was supposed to include the move fell through. But just before 9 Pandas' first match at the qualifier it was announced that the swap had happened. How did you live through that moment? When you learned about the deal falling through, what was your reaction?

That was the worst night and morning of my life. I was messaging everyone that I felt like shit, and I really did. I didn't know what to do. I thought that the following day and following couple of months I would be out of business, because I would be benched and because they would want to punish me, so to say. I didn't know what plans to build. I really thought that I should go out in the night and find a hobo to stab me, and that's it.

The following morning I had the same thoughts. But I was sitting on the first floor with spirit [9 Pandas Sports Director], there was another round of negotiations with Aurora. And then he starts smiling and lifting his finger, pointing up. And I understand that 'F***, seems like I need to go start warming up.' I got so f***ing charged. Played an hour and a half on deathmatch, after that a warmup pracc, and then the match. Those are indescribable emotions, that back and forth was just crazy.

I had an entire week like that. All the guys in Aurora knew I would be leaving, but I didn't know how to even look them in the eyes. It wasn't comfortable for me. I acted nice, said hi, hit the high fives – just being polite. And then all the shit came out.

What made you take this entire situation so closely? What consequences did you imagine it could have had?

They would ask for an insane buyout for me, and some changes happening in some proper teams would be a great miracle. Even though there's some shuffle season opening up, it's not 100% that someone would be making changes. It could have been great if someone picked me up, but I couldn't count on that.

This is why I had those thoughts. I wanted to play for 9 Pandas, and it fell through, and I thought 'What am I gonna do next?' I was already messaging harumi, saying 'F***, just pick me up as an analyst, I would be analyzing the RMRs with you and just chill…' Yeah, I had thoughts like that.

During that ill-fated night, were you involved in the negotiations in any form? There were also claims that you supposedly bought yourself out, is it related to reality in any way?

No, I was not involved in the negotiations in any way. I was comparing myself with my followers because I knew literally nothing. I was just sitting and waiting to be told that everything was cool and I would be playing. But at first, I was hearing 'Everything is bad, you won't be playing,' and I'm like, 'I'm in Aurora, great.'

As for buying myself out, it's just a clickbait. I don't know why people post this, where do I even get that kind of money? Someone says that I took out a bunch of microcredits, sold someone… No, I would not have money like that, it's all 9 Pandas. And I thank them for that.

You have already managed to reach the RMRs with 9 Pandas, you won the online qualifier with a 3-1 record. How did it go? Did you guys feel confident as a team? Or were you a little nervous since you just joined the team and it's already an important tournament?

My goal is to just reach the Major, and if you want to do so, you need to go through the closed quals. And it's just a game. I played as usual, can't speak for the other guys. But iDISBALANCE was yelling in the first two games, and to me, it seemed like he was a little agitated. As for myself, I was just playing the game and doing my job on the map, which led to success.

You're now playing BetBoom Dacha, your team got here via the Closed Qualifier. Do you have any goals or expectations from this event?

I don't know about the rest, but I just want to play CS. If we beat someone, great. Like when we played Cloud9 in the 2-0 bracket [at the RMR qualifier], we were playing really well. There were plenty of moments where either team got lucky. At this event, we just want to show that we're on a proper level, not just a top 40 team like we are right now. After some time, there should be a different number [on the rankings page].

You said you wanted to beat someone… Would you want to play against Aurora?

I don't care, to be honest. If it happens, it's probably going to be cool for the viewers. But for me, it's not a grudge match, just a game like all others. I will be just playing my game, and that's it.