Spinx on being more vocal: "There's a responsibility to do it"

Spinx is trying to use his experience to help guide a young MOUZ squad.

MOUZ have gotten off to a flying start with Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi among their number, winning PGL Cluj-Napoca and now securing a spot in the playoffs of ESL Pro League.

The team are yet, however, to get many matches in against the very best sides, something Spinx is well aware of, saying that MOUZ are "testing ourselves" against the strong field at EPL. The one exception to that trend did not go well for MOUZ, as Spinx's former team Vitality bested them comfortably earlier in Stage 2.

"We will just learn from this one," Spinx said of the defeat against his former side. "Hopefully next time we will do better."

After securing a playoff berth in Sweden, Spinx spoke with HLTV to discuss MOUZ's run at ESL Pro League so far, the process of him settling into his new team, and Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire's trash-talking ways.

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Congratulations, how are you feeling after making the playoffs?

I'm feeling really good. Second playoffs for us in two tournaments, so we are doing something good. EPL is not an arena, but we have better teams here than were at PGL, so we are testing ourselves in this tournament, and I'm happy we managed to go through.

The best team you have played so far, Vitality, wasn't the best game for you. What are your thoughts on that, especially since they are your ex-team?

It's definitely not easy to play the ex-team, four of the guys are still the same and everything, so it's not easy. I also think Vitality and Spirit are the best two teams, and everyone else is a bit behind them, so I think we can learn a lot from this game.

I think we could do better -- I don't know if we would win -- but we could definitely do better in some situations. So we will just learn from this one, and hopefully next time we will do better.

apEX was talking a lot of shit in that one. What were your thoughts on that, did it have any impact on you?

I don't hear what people are screaming (laughs). I hear that he is screaming, you know he is talking about something, but I don't hear what he is saying. So it doesn't have an affect, at least on me. I think it's good overall for them, if you manage to trash talk the enemy and stay focused at the same time, I think you should do it. It doesn't do any harm, so I understand his point of doing it, and I have nothing against it. I also think it's a bit funny.

How have you found settling into MOUZ in general? It seems like you've slotted in pretty easily in game.

Some roles I still need to adapt to, some roles I am comfortable in, and I think I help the team in many departments around the game. The team is really young, I'm the oldest in the team, so they are young. They are really good, but they also have some stuff to learn. Everyone is so hungry to learn and improve, so I'm just trying to help in this department, on the small details. I'm just looking forward to seeing what we can do.

I've heard that you've been quite vocal, players have said that in interviews. Is it something you do naturally, or because you are the most experienced at the top level, do you feel the need to do it?

I think it's a combination. Of course I feel the need to do it more than in Vitality, but there is some part that comes naturally, because of my position in the map and me as a player, I'm not a quiet guy. But I'm also not as vocal as maybe an IGL. So it's a combination of me being a guy who talks, but also there's a responsibility to do it, in a way.

In terms of roles and positions, how much of that was you getting to pick everything, and you slotting in in some places?

It was a combination with me, sycrone and Brollan. We talked about the positions, and some positions were instantly 'Yeah, we think I should play here' and I agreed, and some positions we talked about. Of course I want to be comfortable, but I also want the team to be comfortable, so we thought about what would be best for the team. I think when we talked about it, maybe there were like one or two positions that we discussed deeply into, everything else was instant.

Looking forward, when do you want to hit peak form as a team? Obviously there needs to be time for it to settle, but when do you want to be hitting that peak form, and have you set a goal as a team?

We didn't set a goal yet as a team, but for me as an individual, I think… of course we are looking to win as many tournaments as we can, but we also need to be realistic. If you ask me, of course I would want to win the Major or whatever we have next, but realistically I think our peak will be in the next season.