krazy: "It's really cool to be able to beat teams and players that I used to watch"

The Portuguese player is enjoying a dream debut tournament for SAW.

SAW booked a spot in the semi-final stage of FISSURE Playground 1 on Friday after a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Complexity in a series where the final map went to overtime after the Portuguese side came back from 12-8 down.

It is the first event of this stature for Adones "⁠krazy⁠" Nobre and António "⁠aragornN⁠" Barbosa, who joined SAW last month after the Portuguese organization pulled the plug on the international experiment. With today's victory and the double win against FURIA in the group stage, SAW have moved up 20 positions in the ranking to 27th.

"I was playing CCTs and often losing them almost in the first round," krazy told HLTV after the match. "So it has been great to face these teams and players that I used to watch on Twitch. And it is really cool to be able to beat them."

SAW will have no time to rest as they will face TYLOO on Saturday in the semi-finals. For the first time in this tournament, the Chinese team will be able to field a full-strength roster after fielding head coach WeiJie "⁠zhokiNg⁠" Zhong as a stand-in for Dongkai "⁠Jee⁠" Ji.

"I was watching their game this morning, and they shoot hard," he said. "But we have a good mood and we're in the flow, so I always think we can win."

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It's your first event with the team and you're through to the semi-finals after beating FURIA and now Complexity. It must feel like a dream, no?

Yes, yes. Honestly, we came here without expectations, we had never played any officials together. Our scrims had gone well, but official matches are always different. So yeah, it has been very surprising.

You won this last map, Nuke, after a great comeback from 12-8 down. It's not easy to pull this off against an experienced team like Complexity, especially because you are a young team with two players who have never played at this level before. What was the atmosphere like when you were one round away from elimination?

Yesterday, we also had a comeback against FURIA, and the mentality was always the same: we never gave up, our comms were always the same. We showed resilience. All it took was one round, and we got into the flow of the game and they never stood a chance again.

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story: "If krazy and aragornN continue to evolve, I think we can reach a very high level"

You've come here and defeated not just Complexity but also FURIA, a team with players who have won big tournaments, including Majors… A few weeks ago, you were playing CCTs for Rhyno. What has it been like to handle this sudden change?

Honestly, it's something completely different from what I was used to. I was playing CCTs and often losing them almost in the first round. So it has been great to face these teams and players that I used to watch on Twitch. And it's really cool to be able to beat them.

And coming here and playing on stage in front of a crowd is also a valuable experience for you and aragornN, right?

I think so. Making it to the arena can only help us in the future. Hopefully, we will get to play in more arenas.

How would you describe these first weeks with the team? Has it been easier than you expected to adapt to the tier-one level?

Honestly, it was very easy in practice. I didn't notice a big difference when facing better teams. The biggest difference I felt was in terms of my own team, MUTiRiS' calls and whatnot. It was all very different from what I was used to. But in terms of facing better teams, I haven't noticed that big of a difference.

What went wrong in the match against GamerLegion? Do you think you struggled against their style or that you lacked some experience playing together?

They were honestly better than us. We should have won Nuke, which was our map pick. We still managed to recover and make it 6-6, but we only got one round as CT, which was very bad. And then their map pick, Ancient, is a map they're very good on, and we just had no chance.

Date	Matches
FISSURE Playground 1
19/07/2025	TYLOO 14:00 SAW	Match

You're now going up against TYLOO, you will be playing with their full lineup and a more traditional setup with an AWP. What are your expectations?

I don't even know what to expect. I don't know much about them. But I was watching their game this morning, and they shoot hard. But we have a good mood and we're in the flow, so I always think we can win.

You'll move up in the rankings quite a bit with your results here, especially the two wins against FURIA. What are your plans for the rest of the year?

I don't even know what our rank is, we must be 20th something now. We still haven't got any invites to tier-one events, but we will continue to grind CCTs and other online tournaments. And we will go to every LAN we're invited to. We want to get as many points as we can.

And getting to the Major would be a dream for you, right?

Yes, of course, it is every player's dream, and we will try to make it happen.