torzsi: "Practice before the Major was not the greatest"

MOUZ learned valuable lessons after a rough first three days of their bootcamp in Europe, and have arrived at the Major knowing they have to play at 100% no matter the opponent.

MOUZ arrive at the Austin Major as one of the favorites for the title alongside Vitality and Spirit, and their odds only got better after one of their primary adversaries, Falcons, met an early demise in Stage 2.

In an interview with HLTV on the media day ahead of Stage 3, Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás admitted losing one of their main opponents for the title is a boon for MOUZ.

"Seeing Falcons lose, obviously it helps us, and also other teams because they are a team that could beat Vitality, they could beat anybody, because they are really good, they have really good individual players, but they couldn't show their full potential here as everybody could see," he said. "I think a lot of teams are happy with it."

MOUZ stayed in Europe to practice before the Major, unlike a few teams that remained in the US after IEM Dallas because they were playing in Stage 2, and after a rough first three days of their bootcamp, torzsi says his team learned some valuable lessons.

"This week's practice before the Major was not the greatest, and that opened our eyes that even if we are the favorites, we need to be at 100% versus everybody because this is the time that everybody is playing their best."

If you don't see the embed, you can listen to the interview here.

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Welcome to the Major. It has been a bit of time since Dallas, and we already have Falcons eliminated here, some upsets, so tell me how you're feeling coming into this.

Thank you. I'm feeling pretty good, excited for the Major. We were obviously following the stages, we saw some... interesting results, obviously, and yeah, we're just happy to be here, happy to start from Stage 3. Of course the teams who played already will come prepared and hot, so we'll have some good games.

Are you excited to play some best-of-ones?

Yeah, actually I am excited. Because usually with MOUZ, the last two or three Majors, the best-of-ones were pretty successful for us. In Copenhagen we went 3-0, the last one we went 3-0 as well if I remember correctly [Editor's note: MOUZ went 3-1 in Shanghai]. And I just want to add that every time we practice, we try to focus on the first four rounds because it's really important in BO1s, if a team can beat anyone in BO1s then that's great.

BO1s in general, the format of the Major, has been a big topic because of some of the upsets that have already happened. Does it shake your confidence at all? I know you said you're working on it a lot, but seeing some of the results that have already come in, like with Falcons out for example, does that make you a little bit more stressed at all in terms of how this stage might go for you?

No, I don't think we're stressed about the BO1s. We're happy to play them. As I said, we have a good record with them and we are looking forward to playing them. The teams that were struggling in BO1s, for example Falcons and maybe FaZe a bit [Editor's note: FaZe struggled in the BO3s], I don't think they had the best pre-planning for the Major. I don't think staying in Dallas, in the US, was a great decision from the teams who stayed. It was much better to go home.

Obviously they were in Stage 2 so maybe they had another idea, but just for us it made much more sense to go home, practice in Europe, have a bootcamp, get ready together, have the chemistry going on, and also to not already spend a month together just before the Major. But obviously it was their decision.

How has that pre-planning been going for you then, other than the actual practice?

Other than practice, it was trying to push the sleeping schedule a little bit later, focusing on things like this. Also getting in shape individually, having the correct routines, going out, runs, things like this, because it's really important — especially in Majors where you have to play BO1s and you have to play two games in one day — that you are mentally sharp, but also physically you need to be there. You cannot get tired because as you said, BO1s are really close games and it will slip on the small percentages, so that is what we are focusing on.

Putting this Major into context, last time out in Shanghai there were rumors about MOUZ making changes, whether Jimpphat was going to stay or not, but coming here it's a completely different conversation. You've been playing super well, contending for the top team in the world. Obviously Vitality is the clear favorite, but what do you think in terms of that conversation and how you're feeling about your status coming into this Major, is MOUZ feeling like now is the time to actually get it over the line?

It is a good question to be honest, because on statistics, we also said maybe we are one of the favorites, and it didn't put pressure on us, but for example the practice we had just before the Major was not the greatest. We had some rough games in practice to be honest, and we had really good learnings from that. That opened our eyes up, that maybe we didn't play the best teams but they beat us in practice, and usually that didn't happen.

Like usually we have really good practices, but this week's practice before the Major was not the greatest, and that opened our eyes that even if we are the favorites, we need to be at 100% versus everybody because this is the time that everybody is playing their best. Everybody is peaking and we need to do the same. The first 1-3 days of the bootcamp were not the best, but the last three days were amazing and it helped us a lot. Now we are feeling confident going into the games.

And how do you do that? How do bring that 100% every time, is there something specific you realized after those three days that you have to change?

Yeah, it's just more like the mentality, like how we play the practice, how we play the game, that we don't underestimate anybody and we treat everybody the same way as we would treat it if we would play versus Vitality, Falcons, Spirit, or whoever. That's it.

As we've touched on, obviously Falcons are out. In terms of who was going to win this Major, the conversation was really that Vitality were the clear favorites, and after that it was you, it was Falcons, and then Spirit are probably the next one down. With one of the other main contenders being out, does that help build your confidence? How did it feel seeing them go out, for you?

(laughs) Uh... seeing Falcons lose, obviously it helps us, and also other teams because they are a team that could beat Vitality, they could beat anybody, because they are really good, they have really good individual players, but they couldn't show their full potential here as everybody could see. I think a lot of teams are happy with it.

Also, we have been losing to Falcons, in Melbourne we lost to them, last time we faced them we beat them, but of course they were a threat. So I would say it's good that they got eliminated and I think other teams think the same, but it didn't really mean anything special because even if they had made it to Stage 3, they aren't in the best shape at the moment.

Do you at all wish that maybe there were still in, just so you could have beaten them in this stage?

Yeah, I think we could have beaten them (smiles).

Going back to Dallas, you had this insane performance for most of the tournament up until the final, you were going to win the MVP until then. Coming in with that sort of level, talk to me about your individual elevation and how that's helped the team in these last couple of months. You're talking a lot, we hear you on the broadcast, they're playing some clips, and you've always been like that, but how has that helped in this last period of the team?

As you said, I've been playing pretty well, and I'm also happy with my improvements. But of course, this is the Major, and I want to play the same way I did in Dallas and also see improvements here. My inputs for the team is, to be honest, not that much, because we have a lot of voices in the team.

Maybe I understood my place, that we have xertioN who is leading a lot on T side with Brollan, and on CT side is maybe where I come in handy because usually I can shine on CT sides and I can lead a little bit more. With xertioN as well on CT sides, we are obviously playing the main positions, and that's where I try to bring my best. On T sides, I'm still trying to find my place sometimes, still trying to figure out where I can help the most to set up my teammates, but I feel like I can give my 100% on CT sides much more than on T sides.

And yeah, my performances have been pretty good as well because I got a lot of confidence from my coaching staff and they trust what I bring to the table. I feel really comfortable in the team, I'm feeling really confident from my teammates, what they say about me, and also Ludwig [Brollan] has been improving a lot as an IGL, he also puts me in positions where I can shine a lot.

And of course, I still do my things, I work a lot, I think I have a really professional work ethic, and maybe a lot of people don't see that. But I have pretty good routines, I play a lot, I put a lot of hours into Counter-Strike, and that also helps.

Going into tomorrow, your first match is against VP. They played pretty well in Stage 2, so how are you feeling with that matchup?

I didn't prepare versus Virtus.pro yet to be honest, we will do it in the afternoon, so I didn't look at them and how they played yet. We played practice versus them and...

Was it in those first three days or the last three days?

No, we were still at home (smiles), and in practice they didn't seem too good to be honest. But I only saw the results, I didn't see the games, but they won 3-0 you know, like they played pretty good then I guess. I'm excited to face them, I know how they like to play, they have this slow pace, late round endings, things like this, and it will be an exciting game.

And for you, is MOUZ winning the Major, how do you feel?

Yeah, I feel like MOUZ is winning the Major, but there are still 12 days until that. We are just taking it step by step: First we qualify to the playoffs, then we take the quarter-finals, then we take the semi-finals, and after that maybe we lift the trophy. But first we focus on what is in front of us.