EliGE: "The turning point was when we lost to M80"

"There was a time at the beginning of CS2 when it wasn't just the EliGE show," the North American star said. "Now it's feeling like how it was then again."

Complexity rebounded from a slow start and booked a spot in the second round of the Pro League playoffs after beating teams like Astralis (twice), MOUZ (twice] and FaZe.

According to Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski, the loss to M80 in their first match in Malta was a wake-up call for the team. "The consensus was that everyone didn't feel confident in how much impact they could have," he told HLTV after the match against FaZe, crediting an increased focus on communication for the team's uptick in form. "That's kind of the meme on our team right now, be like Van Gogh, be a painter (laughs)."

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 20
18/09/2024	Liquid 20:00 Complexity	Match

Complexity have looked like a more cohesive unit in Malta. Everyone has been pulling their weight, dispelling the notion that the team is just a one-man show. (EliGE is only Complexity's fourth-highest-rated player in the tournament).

"Now it's feeling like how it was then [at the beginning of CS2] again, where we can win these games against the really top teams and have really good teamplay."

If you cannot see the SoundCloud embed above, listen to the interview here.

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First off, congratulations. How are you feeling after that series?

Feeling really good. I think that it's nice that we started off our whole EU venture before EPL started and everything was going really poorly, even in practice, and we've kind of levelled up throughout the whole tournament and beaten a lot of teams that we were definitely the underdogs against.

Over the course of EPL, you've built up a solid resume of wins: Astralis twice, MOUZ, which is a really big one, and now FaZe. What does that do for your team's confidence?

Everyone is definitely feeling better as the tournament goes on, and I think that we're leveling up our teamplay, which was the main thing that was going really poorly for a while. So this definitely should be something that shows the guys that we can beat these teams. If they're going to give us an opening then we're going to take it, and I think that's something that we've been doing really well.

It's not really up to us if our opponents aren't playing in their tip-top form, we have to punish that, and I think we're doing a good job at that. We've had a lot of good individual step-ups from all of the players, Grim, floppy, hallzerk. I think we've been playing really well as a team, and it's been showing.

Do you think that's maybe the result of the better teamplay, the fact that others are able to step up? At points, it's been you carrying a lot of the load in terms of fragging, but as you say, others have seemed to step up now.

I think that part of it is individual confidence. I think everyone didn't really have a lot of confidence in their abilities before this tournament, and it was getting lower and lower because our results have been getting worse as we've been going on.

There was a time at the beginning of CS2 when I was playing super well and the team was playing really well, it wasn't just the EliGE show or anything. Now it's feeling like how it was then again, where we can win these games against the really top teams and have really good teamplay, and people are popping off when they should, when we have these openings everyone believes in the call to go for it and it's being executed properly. So I think that it's just opening the eyes, I guess, that everyone can do it. Individual confidence, you just have to believe in yourself and get it done, and we can win.

What do you think the issue was there? It's one of those things where if you play without confidence, you play worse and lose games, and then if you lose games you lose confidence. But what came first, what was it for your team?

Hmmm…

I'm sure if it was an easy answer, you would fix all the problems and play great!

Yeah (laughs), it's actually really hard because it's something we've constantly been trying to find the answer for as the year has gone on. We're trying to be like, 'Is it this?, 'Is it that?, 'Should we focus a different way in how we practice?' And I don't know.

I would say the point where it actually turned was when we lost to M80. We had a team talk and were figuring out what we should do, and the consensus was that everyone didn't feel confident in how much impact they could have, even when things were kind of happening in their areas of the map. I think the thing that changed the most was just reiterating that we all need to be able to read the game and understand what's happening in our spots, and focus on what the read of the round is, as opposed to what exactly is happening on our screen. If we're just saying what's in front of our screen, the people on the other side of the map understand where the smoke is or where the pressure is, but they're not understanding the big picture of the round. That leads to less focus on what could be happening in front of them maybe. For example, they could be putting pressure somewhere but they're getting ready to double-peek the other side of the map.

If you're painting the picture, that's kind of the meme on our team right now, be like Van Gogh, be a painter (laughs). We've been saying to paint the picture for everyone, and I think it's been really helping, as soon as we've been reiterating to be like Van Gogh and paint the picture for their teammates, everyone's been feeling it a lot more.

Obviously the tournament is not done, there are still plenty of games left and you've got a bit of a gauntlet coming up, Liquid first and then G2. We'll talk about Liquid: how are you feeling about that matchup?

We've already taken down MOUZ twice, Astralis twice, and FaZe now, so I don't think we should be feeling scared of any team. Of course I think that all of these teams are really good, Liquid, FaZe, G2, and we just have to keep beating the people in front of us. It's not like any of these teams are unstoppable gods, I don't think we're at a point right now in the scene where everyone is insane, I feel like a few teams are really good and a tier above the rest, but everyone else is fighting for that spot to be up there with those guys. We need to be that and we need to keep on fighting. I'm really happy so far with what we've done, and we have to keep moving forward with it.

Like you say, coming in off the player break this European venture, especially Cologne, started not so great for you. We've also talked about that high at the start of CS2, Sydney and all that. I think there's a consensus within the scene that Complexity were starting to stagnate a bit, is that something you have felt within the team?

We definitely felt like our level was dropping and getting lower, kind of like what I was saying earlier, where our results were progressively getting worse. Ever since the start of the year there have just been results that we're definitely not happy with, and we're trying to find the solutions and we can't find them, and that's usually when people start thinking something needs to change. We're trying to figure out what to do, but if you can figure out the form of the individual players and bring these things back up, then you can have a resurgence in the team, and I do think we're playing really well right now.

We were thinking, 'What should we do?', 'What can we do?', 'Do these things make sense?', 'Do our options for getting better actually improve us?', 'Is this too big of a risk?' We were talking about it and trying to figure out what our solutions were, but we've chosen to keep going forward and we've played a lot better in this event especially. It's something we're going to have to keep moving forward with and keep expecting the best of all the players.

Does having the Major at the end of the season impact your thinking in that regard? Because it almost presents a bigger risk to try and make a change or do something drastic, because you still have to qualify for the Major.

I do think the Major being at the end of the year is like some sort of target, like can we get it done in time for this. Kind of like what NAVI was saying, where they want to level up and make sure they're at their best at the Major, and if it doesn't work at the Major then you need to make changes for sure. So I think some teams are definitely thinking of that and it does complicate things, because we don't necessarily have a situation like in League of Legends, where all the contracts end at a certain date. So things are still difficult, but it has cemented, the Major being at the end of the season, the time to make changes, so I think it's a nice change.

The only criticism I have of that is the roster deadline for the lock, it was really early…

Yeah it was in September, it just passed right?

It was even in August earlier and they changed it because it was really really early, so I'm glad they stepped back on that. That was the only thing that was weird. But I think it's a good change to have the Major at the end of the year, and it's something we've been asking for for half a decade, I think (laughs).