HooXi: "I was looking to get back as soon as possible, but I don't think the right opportunity came to me"

"I was looking forward to it a lot, maybe too much," the Danish IGL said about his return.

Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen returned to the server after almost a year of inactivity as Astralis' temporary replacement for Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller at PGL Astana.

The Dane told HLTV he was excited to be back and even admitted he felt some nerves for the first time in his career. "I was never nervous in G2, but actually I was feeling a bit nervous before this game," he said after his debut against ODDIK.

While the game was much closer than expected, HooXi and company were in a good mood due to coming into the event with a positive mindset amid uncertainty surrounding the entire organization.

You can watch or read the interview below or listen to it on Spotify.

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I'm here with HooXi after his Astralis debut at PGL Astana. It was quite a tough game in the end, I would say, but I guess it must feel good to start with a victory?

Yeah, it was not as convincing as I wanted it to be, but I'm obviously happy with the win, and I think we can learn a lot from the game as well. It's also actually a good thing that we played three maps because we haven't had a lot of time to practice, so it's just extra improvement, basically.

And how is it to lead a team with so little practice time for you?

It's always tough to get into a new team, an established team and it's just the IGL switching because I'm still using some of the stuff they had, but also my own, and it's hard to mix it together. But I think we spent the time well, we had nine days of practice, and I think we got a lot of stuff done, but we can't fix the whole world in a week.

You've been away from competition for almost a year. What is it like to be back, not only on the server, but off the server as well?

It feels good. I was looking forward to it a lot, maybe too much. I was never nervous in G2, but actually, I was feeling a bit nervous before this game. That was weird and a new thing I had to deal with, but yeah, I think when you get to come back, see everyone, play, and get that rush feeling, it's great.

Talking about this last year for you, what were you up to? Did you reflect about your previous team, stuff like that?

As soon as I realized that I wouldn't be on a team after the play break, I obviously had some time on my hands to reflect and relax. So I took the first few months, I would say, to just get a bit away from the game to get a fresh mind. I started going to the gym and focused a bit on myself in that way. Then I just started working on my individual level as much as I could, followed the meta the best I could. And yeah, besides that I honestly haven't done much, just CS and the gym, that's it.

Were you actively looking to return as soon as possible, or did a year of break positively affect you and your mental state?

Well, I was definitely looking to get back as soon as possible, but I don't think the right opportunity came to me. And now, looking back, I think it was good for me to get a break. I felt way more energized now coming back to practice. When you get some time away from the game, you see it differently, and you come up with new ideas and stuff.

There is currently a lot of off-server uncertainty about the whole team and organization. But it feels like you guys came into this tournament with a fresh mind, and you had fun even when things didn't go to plan on the second map. How has that been? Do you feel any uncertainty among the players?

Well, of course there's some things in the back of their minds, I think that everything else would be weird. For myself, it's just one event and I'm just trying to get the best out of it. I think it's important for us to show that face of having fun, and that we don't really care too much about getting a bad start or something. Because in practice, we're having a lot of fun. I think it's a great group of guys as well and we mesh really well together. So I think you'll see more of that.

For you personally, you said this is just one event. What are you looking to get out of it, and what effect could it have for the future as well?

Well, for this event, I'm just trying to get the most out of it, the best result both for myself and for the guys, and I think everyone wants to do well. This is the last tournament for them as well before the break, so I want to end on a good note in that way. And for myself after, I don't really know, I haven't really had time to think about it. I honestly just went full CS mode again after getting this opportunity, so I haven't put much thought into it.