SunPayus: "I just want to be next to sAw until he kicks me from his team"

The Spanish sniper is pleased to be following sAw to G2, but the duo have a job left to do in their last event with HEROIC.

The job is done for HEROIC, as they progress from the Austin Major's Stage 1 with a 3-0 record.

It's the team's last dance, with Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García and coach Eetu "⁠sAw⁠" Saha set for G2 after the event, and the Spaniard ended the Swiss stage with a 1.34 rating in his best event of 2025 so far.

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SunPayus and sAw to join G2 after Austin Major

There's still a while to go for him to reach his 2023 form, however, where he was ranked as the sixth best player of the year.

"I've had not the best mentality since I left ENCE," SunPayus admitted when he spoke to HLTV. "I have worked on it a lot and I am still working still on it every day."

Next is Stage 2, but only after a well-earned "beer and good dinner" with the team.

3-0, how did that one feel?

I'm feeling good about it. yeah.

Tell me a bit more, a lot of people were expecting 3-0 but were there any nerves going through it?

No, not at all. We were resilient, in the moment, and we didn't have expectations. Obviously we knew we were the top dogs, but still, you never know about these BO1s, so we were focused on every match every day.

We all know it's the last dance, what was the preparation like coming into this?

We have been preparing a lot. We had a really good focus after Dallas, it was the first proof against tier-one teams. We did a decent job, we found a lot of mistakes from our side and we worked on them. I can't say we're really good now but I think it's good that we can go to Stage 2 and have another stage, right? I don't know if it's the last dance or not, it's going to be good for them in the next season.

Tell me a bit about your own form, do you feel any closer to that 2023 form? Especially this tournament?

If I am fully real, I don't think I am back on my form. I have had a lot of expectations about myself. Lately I thought about it, I don't want to have any expectations, I just want to be in the moment, try and do my best. Even if I have a good game, just be in the moment, don't be super fancy about it. If I have a bad game, don't care too much, don't be super hard on myself. I don't know what will happen. Obviously I am working my ass off every day but you never know about these things.

What do you think is the main difference? Is it still a CS2 thing? What's the main thing stopping you feeling 100% comfortable?

I would say it's more like the mentality. I've had not the best mentality since I left ENCE. I have worked on it a lot and I am still working still on it every day. I think I am getting better and better, but obviously this is a process, right? The main goal is to have fun always, be in the moment and not take it so seriously because at the end of the day it is just a game. I hope it pays off.

How do you think the move to G2 will affect that? Are you able to speak on that a bit more?

I will talk about it, but in another moment. I'm happy about it, and we'll see how it goes.

How important is it that sAw comes with you?

It's really important for me. He's really good, I don't have a bad word to say about him. He's insane as a person and as a coach. He makes you a better player, a better person, I just want to be next to him until he kicks me from his team [laughs].

Someone you might miss is tN1R, especially playing like today (he ended on 61 frags), what's it like playing next to someone like that?

He's super hungry. He's fierce, it's his first events at this level and he's showing up. He's really good and really talented, working hard every day, working on mental things, healthy outside the game. He will be insane in the future and we will, for sure, see him in the HLTV top 20 at some point.

The thing that surprised me most standing next to you guys is how vocal he is, already. Did that surprise you at all?

In this team, I feel like the chemistry we have outside the game is insane. That is shown every day, it's why we have so much fun when we play with each other. There can be mistakes, there can be something that didn't go our way. But we always smile, we always talk about it, we have no problems talking about our problems, it's super good.

This last dance, do you think you might make the arena? Just missed out in Dallas, but is this the time?

I don't know. We shouldn't be focused on that. We should be focused on having fun, being in the moment, we have a lot of things to fix in the next few days. We will talk about it for sure, but we will have a beer and a good dinner. We deserve it. I'm proud of the boys, of the team, and yeah, we just need to be in the moment.

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