NertZ: "When we have the small details and communication, we will be at the Spirit and Vitality level"

NertZ feels the sky is the limit for Liquid, if they can fix the small details in their game.

Whilst Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz has been in blistering form since joining Liquid, the team have struggled to achieve much of note, exiting BLAST Bounty and IEM Katowice early doors.

At ESL Pro League their mixed fortunes continued but they did enough to claw their way into the playoffs, grabbing a notable win over Eternal Fire in the process.

"I would say the whole tournament is maybe 70%," NertZ said when asked of Liquid's level, clearly feeling they have more to give ahead of an incredibly tough playoff bout with Vitality.

NertZ sat down for an interview with HLTV after beating 3DMAX to make the playoffs, talking about his team's campaign thus far and what they have to do to get to the level of Vitality and Spirit.

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A bit of a hectic series, how are you feeling after that one?

I'm a little bit disappointed for our mentality, I would say, for the first and second map. We didn't have the hype and the energy to play, frustration was even there. I'm happy that we bounced back and we talked about it, we reset, everyone as a team and as players, for the third game.

So would you say that Ancient, your map pick, was more to do with mentality than anything tactically wrong?

I would say personally about myself, I think it was about the mentality, yes.

Was it tough to play a team like 3DMAX? They play quite in your face Counter-Strike, on Ancient that seemed to be a bit of a problem.

I think on Ancient… I don't think they were playing a good Ancient, we didn't punish them a lot of times. We weren't playing our game, we weren't connecting as a team, and that's why they smashed us on Ancient. Overall they play good CS, they have a good map pool, and we see that from the tournament they are playing right now.

How are you feeling to make your first playoffs with Liquid, it must be a nice feeling?

Yeah, it feels good. My goals are not only playoffs, I want to win, but I'm happy about it right now.

How would you rate Liquid's performance overall at this tournament, because it seems like there have been ups and downs.

I think against Falcons on the first day, we played good. The first three days we played really good, until the MOUZ game. I mean there is one player that is really sick, and the second map [against 3DMAX] is about frustrations and stuff, but if we are playing our A game, I think we should go really far in the tournament.

Looking forward in general for Liquid, like you say you want to win, where do you see Liquid right now in terms of your power level?

I would say we are, at the moment, the whole tournament is maybe 70%. When everyone is hyped and playing, when we have the small details and the communication, the small game plans, in my eyes at least, we will be at the Spirit and Vitality level.

We are not there, as you know Vitality and Spirit are playing really good CS consistently, they are always playing with their A game, and when they have the B games, they are still going really far. We need also to figure out how we like to play as a team, we are changing a lot of stuff, but I believe we will get there as soon as possible.