Magisk: "They had some good gimmick plays in the first game; today we were just ready for it"

Falcons found the adjustments needed to take revenge after a disastrous group stage match against GamerLegion.

After getting off to a terrible start at PGL Bucharest in blowout losses to Complexity and GamerLegion, Falcons are now through to the semi-finals after locking in their fourth win in a row.

In the quarter-finals, the team took revenge on GamerLegion despite a tough loss on the opening Train, and moved on to play FaZe for a spot in the grand final.

Following the victory, Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif told HLTV about the adjustments Falcons made to win the rematch and their outlook for the rest of the tournament.

"I believe we can go to the final. I also believe that, on a very good day, we can lift the trophy. But it's hard to be consistent for so many days in a row," he said in a video interview. "That's the difference between the people who end up being the champions and the teams that end up going out or losing a final, potentially."

The anchor-lurker also spoke about his struggles to put up the same numbers he had in a much more disfunctional previous iteration of Falcons and his work to get back on the horse.

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How was it, to get revenge on GamerLegion after such a poor showing against them in the group stage?

It's always a good feeling to get revenge. The first two days here in Bucharest, we didn't really arrive as a team, but also as individuals. So, to be honest, the first two days were hard for us, but when you have the back against the wall, it's all about focusing and being in the zone, and I think we managed to do that for four days in a row now.

I still see room for improvement, but I think we're getting better with each game, and I think it's something we'll take with us for tomorrow because the deeper you go into a tournament, the better the teams you play, so every single day we need to do a little bit better. For tomorrow, as well, if we want to have a chance of winning the semi-finals, we can't have these maps where we're getting blown out of the server — that's going to be really important for us.

Tell me about the Inferno in this match. You got nine rounds on CT side, that's seven more than you got in the first match against GamerLegion. What did you do differently?

They had some good gimmick plays in the first game, looking at us and finding some good gimmick plays that could win them rounds. Today, we were just ready for it. We didn't feel like the pressure was on our shoulders. We knew they had to close out Inferno to go to the semi-finals, which is a big thing for that team since they haven't been in big tournaments like this before. So yeah, we just kept our cool and had a better idea of how we wanted to play.

In general, we locked down all of the gimmick plays, and they didn't have the same room on the map that they had in the first game. Today was a little bit easier for us because we had a better understanding of how they wanted to play, and it enabled us to get into good positions and good setups to kind of shut them down when they were coming.

Last year, even when Falcons wasn't playing very well, you were still thriving from a numbers and output perspective. This year seems to be a bit more of a struggle, even when the team plays a little bit better. Where are you at right now?

It's still a work in progress. I'm obviously not 100% where I want to be, but I do also think that coming into a new team again, after so many times in the previous year, it's difficult to adapt and have the focus on yourself. Once again, going into this project, the focus hasn't been on me, it has been on NiKo, and on TeSeS and also degster to give them space in the team.

I have to leave space, and once we've built the structure, we've built the team, then I get the space to make moves and to do these types of things. It can be difficult, coming from last year, you have to fight with your mental power because you have a lot of things you want to do, but there's not much time for it. It's something I'm willing to give up for the greater good of the team, and it has always been one of my strengths — to give space in a team and do a lot of things that other people are not willing to do.

It's always a balance because a guy like NiKo needs space, that's very obvious, he's a way better player than I am, there are no doubts about that, and I just want people to be comfortable and in good situations, and if that means I have to be in hard situations and give a lot of freedom to the team, I will gladly do it. I also believe that if the team was performing a little bit better — we had one good result this year —, then it would also make it easier in my roles to perform on a higher level.

It kind of comes hand in hand that if we're getting slaughtered, then it's hard to be a lurker because it's going to be hard situations. There's not going to be that much space on the map, but other than that, I'm focusing on how I can improve and what situations I need to play better. It's something I'm very aware of, and something that I spend a lot of hours on every single day, trying to find these small things where I should have done better in certain situations.

I do believe that it has been an upgoing curve for the last month — except the two games we had here at the beginning when no one on our team actually played Counter-Strike. So yeah, it's a slow process, but I know my capabilities, and I know that once we have a stable ground and a stable team, then I can also perform on a higher level.

You mentioned that one good result you had this year, which was at PGL Cluj-Napoca. The group stage was here in Bucharest, at the PGL Studios. It seems like they're maybe becoming a bit of a talisman for you guys. Come Sunday, do you think you could repeat or even better the result you had in Cluj?

In Counter-Strike nowadays, anything is possible. I definitely believe we can go far. I believe we can go to the final. I also believe that, on a very good day, we can lift the trophy. But it's hard to be consistent for so many days in a row, and that's the difference between the people who end up being the champions and the teams that end up going out or losing a final, potentially.

It's about being consistent every single day and that's the difficult part about CS2 because there's a lot of different things compared to CS:GO, where it was a lot more about playing your own game, a lot more about not winning duels in the same way as CS2.

I also think that MR12 helps the underdogs, which, in our situation, might be a good thing right now. It's not going to be easy; we need to show an even better face than we have the last four days to be able to actually win even the semi-final, but I believe we can do it.