cadiaN: "We're just very inconsistent in terms of being on the same page"

The Danish IGL highlights how inconsistency is plaguing his team as they prepare for the all-important MRQ.

Astralis suffered a painful elimination at the hands of Virtus.pro on the final day of the PGL Bucharest's Swiss group stage. The Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov-led squad put the final nail in Astralis' coffin after the Danes had suffered defeats at the hands of 3DMAX and Betclic despite an opening round victory over FaZe.

Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller took some time to talk about what happened in Bucharest, where this leaves Astralis, and the upcoming BLAST.tv Austin Major Europe Regional Qualifier.

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You're in this pack of teams in the ranking with teams like FaZe, who you beat here to kick things off, but then you dropped the ball against 3DMAX and Virtus.pro. How was it getting that initial high and then struggling against teams that were even below you, in that Apogee upset, and these two other matches?

Stylistically we face off pretty well against FaZe. We've shown that at a few tournaments other than BLAST Lisbon. In terms of the ranking, the only team we lost to that was [far] below us was Apogee, so in that sense, losing to 3DMAX and VP — who both secured the direct Major spot in front of us —, just means that they deserve that and that the ranking reflects the current situation well.

The last time you were here in Bucharest it was quite different. It was such a good moment for Astralis. You made it out of the group stage and into third place in Cluj. It was very euphoric, you said you were proving that you belonged on the stage. After that, you go to Lisbon and get the insta-loss, which any team would get against Vitality these days, and then you lost to FaZe, which is the team you beat here. How did things get twisted from PGL Cluj-Napoca to now?

We're just very inconsistent in terms of being on the same page with the game plan, decision-making, and communication... It's really good, or really bad, and I think it's also reflected in the rollercoaster of results because we can beat some great teams, but we can also lose to some underdogs. We're trying daily and weekly to adjust these things and fix these things, but it's also not something that happens overnight.

We expect more, but I also think that some of the teams that we're losing to are also playing pretty well. 3DMAX and VP are two good teams, and they've beat other great teams as well on their way to their position in the scene right now. Of course, we want to do better; the best case is that we remove some of the losses against lesser teams like Apogee and stuff, but yeah... We definitely want to be in a better place than we are right now, but there's only one way to fix it, and it's to work your way out of it.

This team has now been together for some six months. Do you start to get these thoughts creeping in about hitting your ceiling?

I'd say, for me, it's not so much about looking far ahead; it's more about trying to make sure that we become better for the next game. Nothing is a constant, so there will be many days where we feel like, 'Okay, we're getting a little bit better, we're getting a little bit better,' and then there will be a loss or a moment where you feel like, 'Okay, all of the work was for nothing,' that kind of feeling.

But it's a part of being in any sport. If the favorites or the big names were to just win every time, why would people watch it? Why would people enjoy it? So right now, my perspective is just to try and get better for each game. Right now, that's the MRQ, where we'll play some of these lower-ranked teams who maybe don't have so much depth, but they're really good at what they're good at, and that's something you have to be prepared for.

The MRQ is coming at us fast, it's just a few days away, so how do you bounce back from this? How do you get yourself mentally reset and prepared to take on a challenge like that? Also with it being online, which may not be the best for the big teams there.

Resetting is the natural thing. Only one team leaves the tournament without having to reset, and even they have to reset in a different way, so I don't know. Losing is a part of playing, and we knew that we had this tournament and the MRQ coming up directly after. We were also prepared to play it from down here if we were to reach the playoffs, but with this result, it seems we'll be going home and playing it from Denmark.

So yeah, it doesn't really change our mentality. We also knew that the MRQ was the more important one of the two. It doesn't mean we didn't try our best or prepare hard for this one, but I think it means that the things we'll try to learn from these games are more valuable, and even more valuable when you suffer more losses because things get exploited or become more obvious when you lose.

How important is it after the last couple of results to now have a good MRQ, especially for the integrity of this team as it is?

It's probably pretty important.