TeSeS: "Anything other than the playoffs would be really disappointing"

The Danish rifler has lofty ambitions for the Shanghai Major.

In a European RMR full of upsets, HEROIC became one the first favorites to make it through to the Major. They battled through PARIVISION and Ninjas in Pyjamas on either side of a loss to BIG before dispatching Passion UA in the qualifying match.

Despite making it through, René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen admitted that the loss to the German team was far below HEROIC's expectations.

"I'm both happy and unhappy," he described HEROIC's RMR campaign. "I know we can do a lot better, and I know any day of the week we should beat a team like BIG, but we didn't."

After the win against Rodion "⁠fear⁠" Smyk and company, the Danish rifler also spoke to HLTV about the crucial 2v4 conversion against the Ukrainian side, HEROIC tough schedule at the end of the year, and his expectations for the Major.

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

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First of all, congrats again on making the Major. How do you feel right now after qualifying?

I feel great. I'm so proud of this team right now. If you look at our run here at RMR, it wasn't the craziest, best teams, but I don't really care about it. The RMR is tough no matter who you meet, and it can go wrong in all kinds of ways, so I'm just proud.

The first map today went wrong. How did you reset? I heard sAw say some motivational stuff to you. Was that the biggest thing that helped you turn it around?

I don't think motivation is the factor here, everyone is fully motivated. I think it's more the opposite of wanting it too much and overdoing things a little bit. Sometimes, it can also be because you are afraid of making mistakes or hesitating a second more than you normally do in practice or in other games. What we have worked on the past few weeks and months is that we can adjust from game to game, map to map, and round to round.

For example, on Vertigo, it started getting away from us on the T side a little bit, and kyxsan took a timeout and said, 'Guys, let's chill out. No need to be heroes right now, we'll end it together and not as individuals.' He was adjusting us, and I'm just super proud of him that he's able to do that, it was perfect.

Would you say that was the biggest thing that changed, kyxsan just calming everyone down and telling you to play as a team?

Yeah, for sure. Being able to connect with each other on the second and third maps was something we missed on the first map, and we did that a lot better.

I have to ask about the pistol round. It looked rough, but you committed through the smoke and stopped the plant. What were the comms like during all of that?

To start, the T-side pistol was chaotic, it was really hard to figure out where they wanted to go because we had no information. We just knew there were two here and two there, and didn't know where the bomb was. But in the end, NertZ said to me that there are two or three B apps, but somehow they didn't go yet.

They kind of hesitated, it seemed like, and then I saw they started planting with like six seconds left, and I fully sent it out of the kitchen window. I just gambled that I would kill the bomb plant because I knew they didn't have any good positions on site yet.

You mentioned that you didn't play the best teams here at the RMR. But how would you rate your performances here? Are you happy with what you showed?

I'm both happy and unhappy. I know we can do a lot better, and I know any day of the week we should beat a team like BIG, but we didn't. We'll show that in the Major itself, where for sure we're going to meet a lot of better teams, and there we can show our real level.

Coming into this tournament, you played a lot of back-to-back events. Rio, ThunderPick, and Espoo. Would you do it again, or was it maybe too many games?

I think it was a really great preparation for all of us. We needed some officials together to speed up the learning process and the chemistry when we're actually playing tournaments. We've learned a lot from these officials and also being in these finals, even though they weren't at big events. We found out what we really need to work on, whether it is adjusting during the games, our emotional level, initiative, confidence, or individual plays. That's where we have improved the most.

Coming into 2025, you guys are among the top teams that play the most events. Do you plan on keeping that up?

Knowing our coach, I think we'll go to a lot of events. But I have the trust and confidence in the staff behind me to choose the right amount and the correct events to go to. I believe that they will have a finger on the pulse, and if anyone needs a small break from a tournament, he will take a break or do something else. I think it's going to be all good.

For you personally, I feel like you've had fantastic individual performances since Rio. What would you attribute that to?

I think it's mostly down to my teammates. I think they're really stepping up a lot, taking a lot of responsibility, and just making sure that we are there every single day. I can really feel that, and I let my guard down and just make sure that I'm there for myself. I don't need to worry about my teammates, I know they will do their job to be there, and I'll be there as well.

What are your expectations and what would you be happy with at the Major?

Anything other than the playoffs would be really disappointing, I think everyone on the team kind of feels like that. But the most important thing for me is that we show some good CS, show what kind of team we are, and what level we can bring.

If we lose to the best three teams in the world in the Elimination Stage, we can still look back at it and say, 'Okay, did we actually play our best?' That's the most important thing for me, because the happiness I get from playing really good CS, win or lose, brings me much more joy than anything else. But of course, winning the Major is the top goal.