m0NESY: "It just feels like there's a different connection when I play with NiKo"

The Russian AWPer is excited to reconnect with his G2 teammate and start his new chapter with Falcons.

Only a week has passed since Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov's blockbuster move was finally unveiled, but the new Falcons are already in action at IEM Melbourne and have notched their first win with the new addition in Australia in a straightforward match against SAW.

After having the first few days of practice and their first official, m0NESY was all smiles during his first official match back together with Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač, with whom he briefly parted ways at the beginning of the year.

"I'm very happy that I'm playing with NiKo again. It just feels like there's a different connection when I play with him. We just have this balance... It's just nice to play with him," he told HLTV.

The 19-year-old is also excited to team up with Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen, a coach he has looked up to for some time. "After a few days of practice, talking to him and everything... I don't know how to explain this feeling," he said.

"It has only been a few days; in the future, I will find out more about how he works. But after those few days of practice, today's official and talks before, I am really excited."

Read more in the interview below, or listen to it on Spotify.

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A 2-0 victory in your first match with Falcons. How does it feel? Is it the kind of debut you were hoping for?

I mean, today it was not, like, pretty, pretty, but a win is a win, you know? The most important thing is that we won. I think we played well. Obviously, there is always room for improvement and I really think we can do even better. Like, much, much better. I don't know. I just came into this game without expectations. I just played my game and we were focused on not letting ourselves down during the game, like if something goes wrong. On the CT side, we lost five rounds in a row, and we didn't let it get to us.

You joined the team only a few days ago, so everything is still very fresh. Everything is still very new. NiKo said on the broadcast that you only had one day to practice with the team. What did you do during that day? Was it mostly going over the maps, seeing what everyone likes to do?

We had, like, one and a half days, I would say. We played a few practice games at home, also a few practice games when we arrived here in Australia. I just had to learn all the strats they have and position names that are different. We just tried to play with each other to understand… like, I needed to understand how Damjan, kyxsan, is calling, how other players play, how people are communicating, connecting with each other, all these things. Obviously, because I'm a new player, I just need to know it. But yeah, practices were also good. And that's it.

Read more

m0NESY: "When I looked at other teams, there was only one I wanted to join"

A lot of people were very curious to see you play with NiKo again, side by side. How was it after a few months apart? Is your understanding of each other still on point?

Yes. I'm very happy, to be honest. I'm very happy that I'm playing with him again. It just feels like there is a different connection when I play with him. I understand him well because we worked together on G2 for a long time. So we could get on the same page. It's very easy to connect with him because he can call some things mid-round and at the beginning of rounds as well. And sometimes I'll call what I want to do. We just have this balance…It's just nice to play with him. There's not much more to say.

In your interview with BanKs, you mentioned that playing under zonic was a longtime goal of yours. What is your first impression of him? What has he told you about the way he wants to utilize you in the game?

I remember when I was in NAVI Junior, in the academy, I knew I was not going to play on NAVI, and I really wanted to play with zonic on an international team because he was insane at the time. They were having an insane era with Astralis, and I just wanted to have this experience with him. After a few days of practice, just talking to him and everything, I really like… I don't know how to explain this feeling. First of all, it has only been a few days; in the future, I will find out more about how he works and everything. But after those few days of practice, today's official and talks before official, I am really excited.

Some people look at Falcons as a team that can challenge Vitality. What is your opinion on this?  How do you think that the two teams stack up against each other at the moment?

We'll see. Vitality are a very strong team right now. They're beating everyone. I don't know if they have this win streak going, but it doesn't matter. But they're a very strong team, with a lot of firepower as well and very experienced players. We'll see. I don't really think about it. If we play against them we play against them and you will have to step up and show your tier-S level of Counter-Strike. But I also have this kind of confidence because I played against them on G2 and we beat them a couple of times. It's this confidence because you played against them and you beat them, you know?

Yeah. And it can happen again.

It can, of course. I mean, everything depends on us. It depends on how we're going to be, how we prepare for the game, how we're going to play during the game. Will we struggle or not? Everything depends on us in the end.

After this event, you will go to BLAST Rivals and also IEM Dallas. Do you have any goals set for these tournaments, or do you think you will mostly use them as preparation for the Major?

I think this tournament is mostly about, not practice, but getting experience learning about each other. As I said before, we didn't have too much time to play with each other. We will see, but obviously, the more games we play, the better it will be for us. But we don't have any set goals. But, I mean, every tournament is important. It's not, like, 'Fuck this tournament. It's practice. Let's not win it.' Obviously, we want to fight. We want to fight until the end. We want to win it.