Twistzz: "It does suck not being able to play Cluj"

"I wish I could say skipping was the team's decision," added the Canadian.

Liquid qualified for the IEM Katowice stage two with a statement 13-0 victory against Wildcard on Anubis to put their opening-day loss against HEROIC behind them.

The win helped Liquid take a weight off their shoulders following their decision to skip PGL Cluj-Napoca, which could have meant they would tumble down the rankings in case of a bad result in Katowice.

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Strike #1: Liquid's Cluj mistake

"It is what it is, we'll make the best out of it," Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken said about the decision. "It just means we have to make a deeper run in this event."

The Canadian also talked about his love for entrying, Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz's aggressive role, and Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage's adaptation to new positions.

Twistzz, a 13-0 to end your Stage 1 run, a stark contrast to map one. You were just coming in and looked a bit tired there, what's that down to? The second map looked easy for you guys.

Yeah, the second map was easy, but you have to celebrate after every round. Even if you feel like 5 rounds on Anubis CT is enough, the more rounds the better, and you always wanna celebrate that.

T side Inferno got a bit complicated, we haven't really played it that much, against Complexity we never got into mid or late-round situations because of how they played. Wildcard kinda tested where we are at on this map. But I took a tech pause, adjusted things, the pacing, and I feel like it went a lot better, we were in control the entire OT, so I was not really worried.

The first series... I don't know, it was a fun day, it was a very good day of CS, and regardless of bracket we cannot underestimate our opponents here.

Was it hard to manage your energy levels? You had a bit of a break between the series, but was that something that plays a part?

No, I had full energy the whole time. If you're asking why I'm tired now, it's just cos I'm obviously the IGL, but I'm also calling a lot all the time, including a lot of stuff on CT, too, which is new to me even if it's regardless of position. Today, especially in the last series, the whole team really contributed and NertZ and ultimate are very, very good players. I think ultimate had some of the best communication that he's had since he joined this team on Anubis, and everyone could definitely feel it. He was on one and so was NertZ.

No, we did really well at balancing our energy. We have Edward [Cleland, performance coach] for a reason to help us with that, but I think people in this team are aware of that. They don't wanna do too much, we know when to conserve our energy and when to use it. It's also nice when people are giving each other energy. A lot of good vibes.

Tell me about the NertZ addition. NAF said in one interview that you guys had looked at him in one of the previous rebuilds, so it was someone you had your eyes on for a while - tell me about the thinking and philosophy behind of the change and what it brings to the team.

I was eyeing NertZ for a while. It was supposed to be him and ultimate together back then. He has a very unique trait. Some of the other Israeli entries, I feel like he's also sharing this trait with them where he can be a pretty pure entry, he knows how to go first, he's playing on pure instincts, and he has such a solid understanding of the game. It helps me a lot and I can put a lot of trust in him. But yeah, I was definitely eyeing him for a long time.

The entrying has been a point of criticism, whether you have someone who can be that pure entry in situations where it's necessary. Is that something you had in mind when you were going into this change? How do you deal with that to balance out this - I don't know if you can call it a problem.

It's not really a problem. It's just getting things in place to where the roles are there. Me and NertZ are the aggressive players, we're gonna be the openers no matter what. Entrying in executes and this type of stuff, taking map control, kinda just getting others to understand, 'you help us and you'll end up in a clutch' kinda thing. I feel like we're finding the right balance.

jks has had some difficulties adjusting to positions... CT side Ancient is a new spot. Usually there's some positions in the game where it's like, you have it or you don't in the position, and I feel like sometimes he's tasks with learning difficult roles. But I consider him a very versatile player, and he's very keen to learn and study his spots. I put a lot of faith in him to make adjustments. But yeah, I don't think anything has been an issue lately. Even if our games have not been the cleanest, it's giving us good experience as a five.

For you it came with being set up more rather than setting up other people in this move to being more aggressive again. Does that position fit you better than what you had before, or do you think your versatility is high enough to be able to slot in depending on the need?

I really enjoy entrying. There are some maps where I am slightly more supportive, I obviously don't want to limit ultimate and his movement, especially if he has an AWP on T Inferno. So I'm all okay with holding flashes and I understand when I am needed as well. I balance it out on most maps, where I'm a bit supportive and then I'm aggressive.

But lately I just like it, I just enjoy getting set up, I enjoy going first in the execute. It also helps when I'm making the execute for my team, so I understand as an entry where my flashes are landing. And I enjoy taking map control. Like I said, I've been trying to transition into an aggressive player for a while.

I know NertZ has kinda been labeled for some reason as a passive player, but I always saw he had good entry stats on HEROIC and on ENCE as well, and I think he's getting to flourish and abuse his mechanics a bit more, because he's a very insane player. I enjoy entrying, especially when that guy is behind me.

Speaking of some of the games not being as clean, you played HEROIC twice already this year and lost both times. What happened?

I don't know, the Liquid curse or something? I went from FaZe to Liquid, haven't beat them. Now he went from HEROIC to Liquid, haven't beat them. Some things just stick in the org. Some things that we have to break and get over. I don't think it's a mental hurdle, I just think we are a new team. NertZ has a completely different skillset than YEKINDAR, so it is an adjustment period. He is in a very important role and I'm trying to match my calling to make sure that he feels like he's getting as utilized as possible.

You accepted a couple of invites for Katowice and ESL Pro League but skipped Cluj-Napoca. Does that put more pressure on you to perform at this event to be able to stay in that invite cycle, when you could be somewhere on the edge of that if you don't have the good result?

I wish I could say skipping was the team's decision. I'm always ready to play every event. Points matter a lot, I know experience matters a lot, so the more I can play and call under this lineup the better. It does suck not being able to play Cluj. It is what it is, we'll make the best out of it. It just means we have to make a deeper run in this event.

It is a bit surprising how early the cut-off is for the Major, it's a bit insane, but it's fine. It's also a learning experience for Valve. This is the first time they've taken over. I think it's important that TOs and orgs speak up and be like, 'yo, this is a bit crazy.'

But at the same time, we have hindered ourselves with not accepting the Cluj invite, so it is what it is.

There's a new Valve rule that touches you and Wildcard. What are your thoughts on how Valve have deliberated on what region you'll be assigned to at the Major depending on where in the ranking you fall in the specific region you belong to?

I like it because we're not the ones to choose. If we end up in the Asian region, it's not our problem. Valve put us there, so you can't really hate the team or players at that point like we've seen in past situations where teams have chosen to either manipulate the system in some way or other to gain an advantage.

It's whatever. It kinda makes sense, to be honest. If we're labelled two regions, they'll give us whichever one is putting us deeper into the event. I don't think of another way they could have balanced it out to be honest.

You're also a dual-region team in other terms. Technically you can accept invites to other tournaments depending on region. Is that something you're thinking about, and is that an advantage to be able to double dip?

We can consider it. We bootcamped in Singapore before the Major last year and we saw that practice is actually not so bad over there. If it makes sense with being able to make progress as a team, then we'll just choose accordingly.