Jee: "It's really painful to lose in such a fashion"

The Chinese AWPer is confident TYLOO can clear the MRQ and qualify for the Major in Austin.

TYLOO's time in Sweden has come to an end after elimination from ESL Pro League Season 21 at the hands of GamerLegion in a tight series where both maps, Ancient (15-19) and Inferno (20-22), went to overtime.

The elimination series loss followed defeats against Natus Vincere and Spirit, but TYLOO's bitter 0-3 record in Stage 2 is dampened by three sweet opening stage victories over 3DMAX, Eternal Fire, and FlyQuest.

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TYLOO edge past FlyQuest to qualify for ESL Pro League Stage 2

Dongkai "⁠Jee⁠" Ji, who has beocme one of the rare Asian players to catch Western fans' attentions due to his bubbly personality during broadcast interviews, took some time to speak with HLTV about his experience at ESL Pro League, TYLOO's new roster, his move from Lynn Vision, and his expectations for the upcoming Major Regional Qualifier.

First of all, commiserations on the loss. It was two close maps, and the whole second stage had a lot of close games, although it was 0-3 in the end. How do you feel after the loss and elimination?

It's really painful to lose in such a fashion because both maps went to overtime, and both of them were very close, so it feels really bad. I also didn't perform really well today. I made a lot of mistakes, so in general, I'm just feeling really bad.

You went through the first stage, beat some really good teams there, and proved to the international crowd that TYLOO is back to compete. Are there some positives you can find in this EPL run?

Our current roster was formed less than a month ago, so we've only had this month to practice with Attacker back to a pro level after two years and Mercury picking up in-game leadership.

There are a lot of positives we can take away from this tournament. We beat some strong teams in Stage 1, and we're really proud of that, but there's a lot of stuff we need to work on. We met some very strong opponents in Stage 2, and it showed that we need to work on our map pool as well.

Did you bootcamp in Europe before EPL?

We didn't. We just practiced a lot in China, against Asian teams, and our coach and analyst did their best to prepare us for EPL and polish what we had been practicing before coming here.

You were pretty emotional about making it through Stage 1, and later on, people found out that you were fairly criticized in China after leaving Lynn Vision and about your play style and stuff like that. Was it sort of a vindication for you?

Yes, I think so. I spent a lot of time in Lynn Vision before joining TYLOO. After a while, I just decided not to focus on the negative noise outside of the game, and what I want to do right now is pursue my dream with my teammates.

TYLOO hasn't made the Major in a few years, so I guess there's some pressure for you to make it to Austin. What's the plan for the next few months, and what chances do you have of making the Major?

We're definitely confident about qualifying for the Major. We have to be confident, or otherwise, there's no point in playing the MRQ, right?

So yeah, we're confident, and we're looking into possibilities for a bootcamp before the MRQ. It depends on the schedule. But yeah, the MRQ is the most important part of our next step.

Do you have a favorite moment from your run at EPL?

JamYoung's Desert Eagle 4k.