meztal: "It was never easy for us"

DRILLAS are out of the Asia RMR after losses to The MongolZ and FlyQuest.

DRILLAS have been a hot topic ever since they came together to attend the Middle East open qualifier for the Shanghai Major, but the discourse got even louder after they replaced Meytar "⁠AMSALEM⁠" Amsalem with Sener "⁠SENER1⁠" Mahmuti to play the Asian RMR with a European majority.

Despite this, Tal "⁠meztal⁠" Hahiashvili says the backlash didn't affect them too much and the roster never had it easy during their road to Shanghai. "We always took the hardest routes, and it was also like that today, but we finished with a loss," he told HLTV after DRILLAS' elimination at the hands of FlyQuest.

The Israeli also talked about the future of the team, his gratefulness about being part of the project, and his wish for Vladyslav "⁠Kvem⁠" Korol and Volodymyr "⁠Woro2k⁠" Veletniuk to get picked up by a tier-one team.

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

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You've been eliminated from the RMR by FlyQuest. What are your immediate thoughts after the loss?

It stinks. It's been a long way, a long game, which we could have ended a long time ago. They fought hard, we fought hard, and it's really hard to lose when you believe you can go all the way. Yesterday we also could have won because we took one map, but we fucked up after that.

It's the second time I've lost to the Australian boys in the most important match, and it happened the same way, losing insanely weird rounds and clutches. It was the same last time in Melbourne, so it definitely stinks.

You played FlyQuest and The MongolZ and took both to three maps. Do you feel like it could have gone differently if you had avoided at least one of them?

Yeah, for example, Rare Atom had a really easy bracket, but if you want to win a tournament, you have to win against everyone, so it doesn't really matter. But we could have beaten them also. They have a lot of experience in big tournaments, and we are basically a mix that has been playing for three months, with maybe just two weeks of practice in total.

But the vibe was good, I'm grateful for everything. It was a really good road and experience, and I believe we are more than a team. We really fought hard for this, but I guess it's not meant to be. We fucked up.

You say you're more than a team. How would you rate the entire experience from going to open qualifiers to coming this close to the Major while having so many eyes on you?

From the beginning, we were not that close, and it took some time to get to know each other, understand the personalities, and learn to connect with everyone. It was never easy for us, not online, not the open qualifier. We always took the hardest routes, and it was also like that today, but we finished with a loss.

With ohnePixel, it's been really sick. We have a sick team behind us, like Jesal [team manager], zipeL, and ohne, they are all amazing. They made the most perfect environment we could have wished for, and of course, the support is insane. We all enjoy it, but with all the support, there also comes a lot of hate, but that's the way it is. I don't think it impacted us much.

What's next for this project? Is there a chance that you will continue as a team?

My hope for the team is that Woro2k and Kvem get picked up. Kvem is an insane young talent. He should be picked up by a tier-one team that will play to his strengths more.

I don't think we will continue, this was just a project for the Major after all. Everyone showed they could by playing different roles. I played completely different roles also, so we learned a lot. I learned a lot in new roles and new environments, even if the stats don't show that.

With so many eyes on DRILLAS, do you hope this will help you secure a team for the future?

Personally, I played the worst roles and did the hard job. I'm a guy who doesn't care about stats, but in the CS scene, everything revolves around stats. It doesn't matter what people think or say. If someone has stats, even if he baits or he's a shit teammate, he will get a team, while a good guy will not get a team. It's not the end for me, I will continue playing CS until I find my way to make it.