TeSeS: "The other guys are pushing me to set myself up a little bit more"

The Danish rifler is acclimating well to his new role in Falcons.

The new-look Falcons are gathering steam after winning four of the last five matches. René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen is keeping his feet grounded, however, and admits that the team is not aiming to peek so early into the season.

"We have agreed at the start of the year that we are not meant to peak or be at the top of our level right now," the Dane told HLTV after his team beat Astralis in the PGL Cluj-Napoca 1-1 pool.

TeSeS also spoke about having more playmaking responsibilities in his new team, the environment in the organization, and Falcons' expectations for Cluj-Napoca.

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Games against Astralis have been special for you for a long time. When you were in the Danish HEROIC, it was a huge derby, now a lot of your former teammates are in Astralis. How does it feel to beat them?

It feels good of course, it's always a little bit special to play against your old teammates. Every time I'm always thinking that I just have to push it a little bit away, stay calm and relaxed before the game, not overthink too much, and not dwell too much on the past. It seems to work most of the time, and it did again today. But I think they played overall pretty well, and especially the first map, they kind of schooled us a little bit, but we managed to come out on top.

You're 2-1 now. What are the minimum expectations for this tournament?

Now we are in a good position to make the playoffs, but what we have agreed at the start of the year is that we are not meant to peak or be at the top of our level right now. We know that, and there are so many things that we need to work on, and so many small things that we can perfect a lot more. That will come with time, but right now, it's just about the process and how we can improve the fastest.

We have been seeing some really good progress this tournament. Also on some maps where we're running into some problems and go back to old habits, we are able to adjust during the games, which is really important. We have to keep bringing [that] and make it more consistent.

You say that results aren't very important right now, but recently you guys found some form online, and now here. How important is it to get some wins under your belt because of the VRS and your confidence?

It's obviously important for the rankings, but also it will speed up the process. With the results, confidence will also come, and it just makes us believe a lot more. The confidence speaks for itself, it's just making you play better, and in the end, that's what we're here for.

I also wanted to ask about your new team. You joined Falcons over the winter, so how are you finding this new environment?

I find it great, and I'm really happy to be here. There's some new stuff that I'm not used to, but mostly I'm like 90% transitioned already. Some of the values are the same as where I come from, from my previous teams, so it has been an easy transition for sure. I like it here, and I can't wait to keep playing here.

Your individual form has also improved last year, and then this year even more at Falcons. Is there anything special that you're doing in this new team that helps you be more active and more impactful?

It's a little bit more special for me this year I would say. I have gotten some better positions, and the other guys are trying to push me to take a little bit more resources, set myself up a little bit more, and do what I want.

It's not something that I've been completely used to, as I've always been thinking of myself as a guy who gives a lot of resources to the team and sacrifices a lot. So it's been changing a little bit, and I hope that I can perform even better when I get fully used to it, because there are some new roles that I have been struggling a little bit in, and with time that will get better for sure.

The HEROIC core jumped over, but now you have two new teammates and a new coach. How has that been like meshing all of the voices together from your perspective?

It's been good, we have set the roles on who has the last words and stuff like this, as NiKo said in the HLTV interview also, I think it has been working really well in the beginning, and I think in the future it's gonna be even better when everyone can chime in and start building on the small details. Right now it's kind of broad, we have many details on point, but it can be better over time.