MUTiRiS on new duo: "I was very surprised with the level they came with"

"They seem pretty chill, and that's really good," the Portuguese captain added.

SAW opted for a change of strategy after a dismal start to 2025, pivoting away from a full Portuguese roster by signing Jan "⁠cej0t⁠" Dyl and Oscar "⁠AZUWU⁠" Bell.

Their debut event at ESL Pro League S21 went well, as the team progressed through Stage 1 with a 3-0 record following wins against HEROIC, FURIA, and M80.

While SAW eventually ran out of steam in Stage 2, they still got the better of Natus Vincere and ran GamerLegion close in their deciding match in the 1-2 pool.

After the loss, Christopher "⁠MUTiRiS⁠" Fernandes spoke to HLTV about SAW's debut event, the scouting process that led to the organization's new duo, and the team's future.

---

Commiserations. What do you think went wrong in the series today?

Well, I think that a lot of things went wrong (laughs). What I can talk about myself is that mentally, in the middle of the game, I kind of went off. That's something that can happen, but it shouldn't happen, so that's the bad part.

On our map we were dominant, they were dominant on Inferno, but I think that we were kinda hesitating a lot in some situations. It is what it is, maybe they put you under that pressure. In the third map I think that we did a bad T side, it was the first time that I felt that the team was very stressed playing. In afterplants and stuff like that, we were not communicating very well. We tried to come back on CT, but it was not possible. I think if we had more T rounds, maybe we could do a better CT side.

Are you still pleased with your team's performance overall? Considering you've not been together for very long, and I don't know how much practice you've had?

If I think about everything, we came to the tournament with three days of practice, and we are in the second stage. So if I think like that I can say that it's okay, but now after this loss, it's very hard to be positive I would say. When you are competing, you can lose against the best team in the world and you are going to feel that you wanted to win. So right now I am sad, and I think that we could be better, but overall of course I need to be realistic. It was an okay tournament.

I think a lot of the community have been surprised with how good SAW have been with the new lineup. Have you been surprised?

For me, when we came here, I didn't know what to expect because everything is new right now. I'm calling in English and we are communicating in English, I'm 32 years old and that's never happened to me, calling in English. I thought it would be very difficult, but right now I feel that it's okay. Of course sometimes I am going to struggle, but I think that I am pretty confident with how things went. I know that people are a bit surprised, but I think that we can have a good level in a couple of months.

How do you feel about the two new players, how do you feel they have been performing?

Really well. It's their first tier-one tournament so I didn't know how to explain some situations, because when I was in my first tournament I was very nervous, for example, but they seem pretty chill, so that's really good. I just told them to enjoy it, and that's what they did. I was very surprised with the level that they came with, they understand a lot in terms of the game. AZUWU adapted a lot and performed really well, cej0t played very well, so I am pretty happy with what they did.

How did you come across these two players? Who scouted these guys, how did that happen?

It was the organization, the coach, and of course me and story gave some feedback. As a small organization, we can't buy some players, we can't have the salaries that the other guys have, so it was about having a balance and free agents. We knew about the news about Endpoint, so they were out of contract, which was perfect for SAW. First of it all it was that, after that it was watching demos and trying to figure out if they would be good in terms of roles.

Looking forwards, where do you see the level of the team, where do you think you can get to with this lineup?

It's very hard to put a ceiling on it, or know what we can reach. I think that this month was very crazy because we were that team in Cluj, and we came here and did a good tournament, which was like fresh air. What we can do? What I always say to my players is that we need to work a lot, work in some aspects of the game, but I think that I have a pack of players that really like to work.

That's really important, they are always improving. At the end of the games they are watching their demos, rewatching everything, and I don't do that (laughs). It's kind of crazy, I'm at the prac room and I look at someone's PC, and he's rewatching the game. That's very pleasant for me. I think we can have a good level, but I don't know what we can do.

Do you think you can get as far as the previous lineup, like making top-four at Cologne? Is that within reach, do you have that level of player?

I think to have that, we need consistency. With the previous lineup, we were playing together for almost two years, so I think that's the key. But right now on SAW, we can't find that balance because something is always happening, so we are going to try and make the players feel good here, and we are going to try to be consistent on that part. After that it's just hard work, and I think that we can achieve good things. I don't know… that top-four is memorable, and the win in Katowice, so let's see if we can do something like that. I don't know.