SALO_MUX: "We're not aiming for anything less than making the Major"

GR have broken through as the first team from the Russian Far East to reach the Asia RMR.

When fans think of the Asia RMR, teams like The MongolZ and FlyQuest certainly float to the top as squads to watch for in the eight-team event. Others, like ohnePixel's DRILLAS, Hansel "⁠BnTeT⁠" Ferdinand's Alter Ego, and Aaron "⁠AZR⁠" Ward's TALON may also stick out, but few will think of GR.

The Russian Far East side secured their place in Shanghai through the East Asia qualifier, besting notable Mongolian sides Chinggis Warriors and ATOX along the way.

With triple-digit ping to the closest European servers, the Russian side has almost entirely honed their craft against Mongolian and Chinese squads, getting European experience only from coach Suleımen "⁠dukefissura⁠" Orazaly and from some time spent in St. Petersburg to prepare for the all-important RMR.

Date	Matches
Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 Asia RMR
11/11/2024	Rare Atom 12:30 GR	Match

Ahead of his team's campaign in the Perfect World Shanghai Major Asia RMR, GR captain Arkadii "⁠SALO_MUX⁠" Balanda spoke to HLTV regarding the difficulties involved with playing from the Far East, how the team benefits from the growth of the Mongolian scene, and their hopes heading to Shanghai.

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The first Asian RMR for a team from Russia. What are your impressions of qualifying for the final Major qualifier?

Our impressions are purely positive. We prepared for a long time, for about a month before, we were in a bootcamp in Shenzhen. And we got a new coach who really deepened our understanding of the game. And, of course, luck didn’t hurt either.

Tell the international audience a bit about your team. Where are you from?

If we talk about our roster, we are all from the Russian Far East. I'm from Khabarovsk, two are from Vladivostok, and two are from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Editor's note: 6100, 6400, and 6600 kilometers from Moscow, respectively). So we are quite spread out. The only thing that unites us is that we are from the Far East and that we were given the chance to compete on the Asian stage for a certain period.

That's very far. What are the conditions like for you when you play in terms of ping?

If we talk about Asia specifically, the main servers are in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore. So, Tokyo is around 30, Hong Kong is about 70, Singapore is 90-100. If we compare that to Europe, Moscow is roughly 100. Germany is about 130, Sweden is 110. So Asia is more interesting.

Tell us about your organization. What kind of support do they provide?

If we talk about our organization, I think it's as young as we are. They noticed us when they were still in the process of restructuring, I think. They had a roster from Hong Kong, five players. And, well, we showed ourselves well, so they signed us. As for the organization itself, it's growing, just like we are. It's not something huge yet.

We help them, and they help us. If we talk about the bootcamps we've had in China so far, all expenses and organizational issues fell entirely on the organization.

Recently, the Mongolian scene has grown a lot. Does that help you? Considering they are also part of the region, does their growth allow you to compete and also improve?

Yes, absolutely. If the Mongolian scene didn't exist, there wouldn't be anyone to play against, because there are very few Chinese teams. In the Southern part of the Asian region, there's almost no one there. So yes, the Mongolian scene is growing, and most of our matches are against them. And we're growing along the way.

But the difference between us and the Mongolian scene is that our coach is European, and he managed to play in Europe, gain experience, and then come to us and share that knowledge. And that's why we're here.

How important is it for you to adopt more of the European style and experience to stay competitive in Asia?

Actually, it's quite important because all the new tactics and methods first appear in Europe, thanks to the huge amount of praccs and scrims there. So, of course, Europe is where the best and newest stuff comes from. For example, we were recently in St. Petersburg, we played there for the second time. It was tough, really tough. We learned a lot there, and we fixed some things. So the best praccs we've had were in Europe.

Regarding ping, does it make sense to play praccs against Europe, considering the ping?

It absolutely makes no sense, because you can do things that should work in your head, but then someone just comes out and gives you a headshot. And that's it, your whole strategy just falls apart. So, ideally, both teams should be in completely equal conditions. Meanwhile, we have 130-100 ping on our end, and it is really tough.

For you ping must be a very sensitive issue. How big of a difference is there between CS2 and CS:GO in terms of ping perception?

Well, I'll speak for myself. For me, it stayed the same. 70 ping feels the same, it feels like. But it seems that some of my teammates think there is a change. We’ve already gotten used to it, it's been over a year since CS2 was released. So now everything is fine, we don't complain about it.

In general, do you see the Asian region developing in CS? Do you expect the level of play to rise, or do you think things will stay roughly the same?

Honestly, right now I don't see much progress in the Asian region. Mongolia is getting huge support, I think, from the government, which sponsors tournaments, leagues, and everything else.

In China, it's much tougher. The people there, as far as I understand, aren’t really interested in Counter-Strike. And about six months ago, Valorant was released there, and this is where the hype is. So if China had more interest in esports, had more organizations, more tournaments, the growth would be much, much faster. But for now, I think the Asian region will either decline or remain at the same level.

Given this, do you have any doubts about the future of professional CS in your region? Have you considered moving to a different place permanently to compete, either individually or as a team? Or are you more of the mindset that 'we'll make do with what we have?'

Obviously, we always want more. But at the moment, we haven't thought about it because this is our first LAN tournament for our current roster, we've just made it to the RMR. So, for now, our focus is just on qualifying for the Major. After that, we'll think about future plans. We might meet and talk more about it at a later point.

You recently won the MESA 1xBet Series. Did that victory give you a bit more confidence going into the RMR?

If we're talking about confidence, it didn't really change much. Those were basically practice matches for us. We were just warming up, playing against the guys from Mongolia, showing the level we're at. We didn't even drop a single map during the tournament, if I'm not mistaken. We're confident in ourselves, and that's why we want to show that on November 11.

So this is the first LAN for you guys, but you already seem to have some serious expectations. Will you be satisfied with nothing less than a Major spot?

We're not aiming for anything less than making the Major. Of course, we didn't come here just to see the city or see what's around. We came to play and to win. That's our main goal.