m0NESY: "What am I thinking now? Just to start the Major already"

The Falcons AWPer just wants to get playing again after two weeks without officials.

Falcons arrive in Texas as one of the main contenders for the BLAST.tv Austin Major trophy, and will start their run from Stage 2.

That is one stage before Vitality, the overwhelming favorites for the title and the team that has played spolier to Falcons' first three events with Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov, but 'The Flash' says he doesn't care where his team starts in the tournament.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Stage 2
07/06/2025	Falcons 17:00 B8	Match

"The more games you play, the more lessons you can learn from, more games to rewatch and more practice, so maybe for us it's better because we need to practice more and more," he tells HLTV on the media day ahead of Stage 2. "Personally, I don't care where we start from, so let's start from Stage 2 and let's go until the end."

The Saudi organization finished as runners-up to Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire's men at IEM Melbourne and BLAST Rivals Season 1, and were eliminated by Vitality again in the semi-final of IEM Dallas after a close, three-map series.

Falcons squandered a 6-12 lead on the Nuke decider in Melbourne, but had limited practice with m0NESY and now head into the Major with a lengthy first bootcamp under their belts.

"We did a lot of work on that, just to get me to know their playbook and their structure in the team," m0NESY says.

"It has been a long time already since I joined, like two months I think, and we played 3-4 tournaments together. We had a lot of practice and... I would say I'm there, but not 100% yet. It's good enough."

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Stage 2, what's it like being here now?

What am I thinking now? Just to start the Major already. We had a long bootcamp with the team, so I'm just looking forward to starting the Major already.

How are you settling into Falcons now? It has been a few months, we know they've done the onboarding stuff with Lars [Lars Robl, Falcons' sports psychologist] and things like that. How has that been for you?

I feel very good. We had the first bootcamp with the team, I feel incredibly nice, and there are very good vibes in the team as well, a good atmosphere. We did a lot of work.

TeSeS said it takes 2-3 months to get a new player up to speed with the playbook and everything. Do you feel like you're there yet, with learning everything?

I will repeat myself, I think we did a lot of work on that, just to get me to know their playbook and their structure in the team. It has been a long time already since I joined, like two months I think, and we played 3-4 tournaments together. We had a lot of practice and... I would say I'm there, but not 100% yet. It's good enough.

It's the first time we've spoken to you since you left G2, so can you speak a little bit on that decision from your perspective? We've heard the other side, but what was your main reasoning?

My main reason was my feelings, I would say. I just felt [it was] something that I had to change, and... I mean, if you feel something inside of you, that maybe you don't feel comfortable playing in the team or you want something to change, then this time comes and you have to make a decision.

The G2 CEO kind of said that he wanted you to commit to the future. Why do you think that you couldn't do that in the team?

I don't comment on that. I don't want to speak about it.

That's fine. Going into this Major now, we all know the storyline, it's still trying to get NiKo his first Major, but it's also you're still trying to get your first Major as well. How are the team feeling, are you ready to try and get that crown?

Yes. I mean, coming to this Major, we all feel very excited. And also in the bootcamp, on the last two days, we felt like we already want to go and play at the Major because it's been a long time since Dallas, that we haven't played a tournament.

As a professional player you always miss these official tournaments, official games. You always want to play against the teams, you always want to be competitive, you want to compete. Also coming to the Major, it always is like a special tournament in the air. So yeah, we come here on a good note, we want to show ourselves, we want to prove to ourselves that we did good work in the bootcamp and that we can be very good in this competition.

Does that help, being in Stage 2 and having an extra stage to warm yourselves into it since it has been a while since your last officials?

To be honest, I don't really care where we start, if it's Stage 3, Stage 1, Stage 2. The more games you play, the more lessons you can learn from, more games to rewatch and more practice, so maybe for us it's better because we need to practice more and more. Personally I don't care where we start from, so let's start from Stage 2 and let's go until the end.

One of the reasons you wanted to come to Falcons as well was linking up with zonic. What has he worked on with you? Have you got the zonic you expected?

Yeah, he is a very nice person, very nice coach. I feel like sometimes we are always on the same page in the way we see the game, and it's just nice to talk to him. He's a legend in the game and you just want to only learn from him. The things he tells you, the things he shows you, you take a lot of lessons.

Can you give an example? Has he done much one-on-one coaching with you or anything like that?

Yeah, we talk one-on-one, even when we walk outside for example, together when we have team walks. We always talk to each other and try to spend more time with each other, to understand better. Just being on the same page is the most important in the team, for players, for coach, even for staff as well, to understand what you want and what you prefer.

If I give you examples, it'll be in the game. I mean, he's a coach, you know? And I'm a player. I need to play better and the team needs to function better, so if we play good and we play well enough, he puts a lot of input in that.

You've got a lot of voices in the team, right? Even Magisk IGL'd for a bit. Are you finding it okay to try and get your voice in still, what's the balance of having too many people speaking, or enough people speaking?

First of all it's five players, and everyone has their input and voice in the game. How do I explain? We're all players and we know how to say something important, and when you don't have to anything.

We have kyxsan, he's an IGL, he's the main IGL, and we have NiKo who's controlling a lot on CT side, and we also have other players who also sometimes want to chime in and say something. I would say we're all active players, we all know when to say some stuff, I'm also an AWPer, I know my job as well, and... yeah. We're all well-experienced, we know when to make a difference.

One of the things that everyone knows you for is that you're always the guy that says, 'Let me play CS.' Is that still the case in Falcons, or because it's a long-term project do you want to have more say in where the team goes in the future? Has anything changed for you?

Honestly I didn't understand the question, but it's fine. The most important thing in the game is that you just do what you love to do. I don't care about the things people are saying on the internet, about leaks and rumors, or some bullshit trash-talk and everything.

The most important thing for me in life is to just do what you love to do, play CS, and this is also my team, my family, it's very important. I don't give a fuck about people talking some bullshit about the team, you know? This is my team, my second home, second family, and I will stay with them.

I more mean, are you able to give your opinion on where the team goes in the future in terms of the roster, things like that, like how important are you in that side? Because maybe you didn't want to in the past or something like that.

I don't know. If we need to do some changes or something like that, it's up to the team. The team will decide.