xertioN on path to playoffs: "We never really got tested like this in a Major before"

The 20-year-old feels MOUZ's tough campaign has prepared them well for the playoffs, saying "it's good we got tested."

MOUZ enjoyed a successful first half of 2024, picking up a couple of titles, including the ESL Pro League Season 19 trophy, and peaking at No. 1 in the world ranking.

The young squad maintained a high level after the player break, posting deep runs at IEM Cologne and IEM Rio, but they also suffered some notable blips, like failing to make the playoffs at EPL Season 20 and exiting BLAST World Final with a single win to their name.

As such MOUZ came into the Major considered a dark horse at best, and their performances in the Elimination Stage did little to bolster their reputation. The European combine lost to the two best teams they played, The MongolZ and FaZe, and only made playoffs by virtue of beating lesser opposition, namely paiN, 3DMAX and MIBR.

Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman saw the positive side of MOUZ's testing run thus far. "We played basically all the maps in the pool, and I feel really prepared. It's good to play extra maps."

The rifler did admit, however, that MOUZ "needed a confidence win going into playoffs." "It's nice that this was our first game that wasn't really close, it just feels great to win this way."

With a playoff campaign on the horizon, xertioN also spoke with HLTV about the pressure of playing in such a high-stakes event, and gave his opinion on what is different about MOUZ now which will allow them to exceed their previous ill-fated Major runs.

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

---

Dominant win over MIBR to make playoffs, but not the easiest road for you guys. What are you thinking after making it?

I'm obviously extremely happy to make it, it's a first step in our ultimate goal. Before the last two games we didn't really show our true level here, but that's also a good thing, as we never really got tested like this in a Major before. In Copenhagen we went 3-0, and in the quarter-finals we crumbled a bit. It's good we got tested, we played basically all the maps in the pool, and I feel really prepared. It's good to play extra maps. I'm happy.

You went 3-0 at the RMR, beating NAVI there. But here, you beat paiN, lost to MongolZ, lost to FaZe, close games against 3DMAX yesterday as well. You said you felt tested. How did you feel after those tests before the MIBR match?

Before this match, we were super confident. Also with 3DMAX, we were 1-2 but we have great minds in the team, a great mentality. We knew how to bring each other together and do what we needed to do. The teams played well against us but also we didn't, so I'm super happy we could step up, and going into playoffs I'm super confident.

With those losses, you say you're still super confident. Can you tell me about that mentality?

I'm very confident in our ability in-game, in that moment. We were mentally not playing great, mentally not on the server, and we were doing some things that we don't usually. For me it was like, 'Okay, in bootcamp we played really well, RMR we played some really good CS.' So it cannot be about the game stuff, it has to be more mentally, and we managed to fix that for the last two games.

The Major's the end of the season. You had a bunch of time, you stayed here I'm guessing after the RMR. What was the practice like?

The practice here was pretty good. We played quite a bit, but had a good balance of free time and practice here. It's the most unique situation in CS ever probably, that teams stay so long at one tournament. You really need to prepare for it, but with the team we have behind the scenes, I'm not worried about that.

Everyone feels really good now, we knew that as soon as the Major started we would get a lot of energy from it and that's the case now. We're just going to keep pushing.

Going into the series, MIBR hadn't played well on Mirage but did you expect it to be as dominant as it was?

We are one of the best Mirage teams in the world. When we play well, when we have a certain idea we want to do, we play that map super well. Of course their win-rate isn't good on it, but it's never good to underestimate anyone, and I think we didn't do that. We took it comfortably, and I'd just say that I think we played pretty well on it.

You played pretty well on Nuke too, I'd say, how does it feel to close out the series like that?

It feels great, we needed a confidence win going into playoffs. It's nice that this was our first game that wasn't really close, it just feels great to win this way. Our map pool has been tested, we know what to work on, we know what is good already. Moving on from here, we just need to be confident and mentally be in the game and the sky is the limit for this team, always.

You touched on it earlier, you said you kinda crumbled in the quarter-finals of Copenhagen. Coming into this Major, with most of the big teams making it, how do you feel going into the bracket?

We feel really good. We're all super excited, I think it's one of the most competitive Majors of all time, so the top eight is absolutely insane. It will be a pleasure to play against any of the teams there. Everyone is chasing the same goal so I will be excited to share a passion with any team.

But we are ready, we've played five stage games here right? It's not the biggest crowd but they get pretty loud, they're super passionate, so we got tested and we are ready for playoffs.

What's going to be different?

We're just confident in our abilities. That's it.

Confidence only takes you so far sometimes though, right? You can have a rough matchup, off-games, so what's the change up this time other than just confidence?

I think we've improved a lot mentally since our last time. That Major, we were not a lineup for that long actually back then. Even in-game, we were not playing our best CS. In-game we improved a lot. Mentally, we're at a completely different level now. We're much more comfortable to play on stage, each one of us. For me, I would just want to see us go out there and enjoy it.

In Rio there were a few positional changes, like taking Long on Dust2 off Brollan. siuhy mentioned that there were some changes from the team preparation environment side too. You're playing well but the whole team seems boosted up as well.

We're still figuring out what is best on some maps. Brollan is a really good player, he played one of his best games in MOUZ today I would say. It made sense to give him a role where he'd get some freedom [on Dust2]. I played A Long for basically my whole career, I'm pretty comfortable there. It was an adjustment to make everyone else comfortable in the team. Preparation, we're still learning. Everyone learns, it evolves all the time, it's nothing special.

It's the first time the Major is at the end of the year. But it's going to be like this in the future as well. That does mean there's a lot of pressure going into it, a lot of teams who are making changes after this. There's been conversations about where MOUZ goes after this, for a few months even, how do you feel about that?

Of course, there is pressure. There's pressure at any event when you're such a good team like us. For us to feel good about the season, we should make a really good run here and hopefully win the title. I'm looking forward to that as well. The focus is always here, the future is the future. I can't predict what will happen, but I'm just super comfortable and confident that we will make a good result here in the Major.

Lastly, something that's been talked to death almost has been you guys with the crowd. It's been a long time, that conversation is kind of exhausted, you showed that in Rio a bit, but do you think you guys can take it over the line now?

I would hope so. I think we are ready for sure. It's been a conversation, and sometimes it was fair as well, we were maybe not the best on stage. But we've had Rio, we beat Vitality, we beat FURIA, the crowd favorites, and it was a competitive final versus NAVI. We are ready, the Chinese fans really love us which is something I really appreciate. I'm just looking forward to playing on that stage.

Last two times you played in China, you had two losses to FaZe in two grand finals. You might not meet them this time, but do you want to change that narrative? Whether it's FaZe or just winning a final in China.

It would be a dream come true, of course. We have to take it step by step. Every team that makes the playoffs will be an amazing team. Everyone is looking forward to the last tournament of the year, especially the Major, so we cannot underestimate anyone. We have to go step by step, and hopefully it comes to life this time.