JT: "I'd like to have gone further, but I'm happy that we're at least improving"

Complexity's captain tried to focus on the positives after his team was sent packing in Belgrade.

Complexity's run at FISSURE Playground 1 came to an end on Friday after a 2-1 loss to SAW in the quarter-final stage. The North American team let four series points slip from their grasp as SAW equalized the score on Nuke before eventually coming out victorious in overtime.

Unlike after the Stage 1 elimination at the Austin Major, the mood in the Complexity camp seems to be light. Despite losing to a lower-ranked team in the first round of the playoffs, Johnny "⁠JT⁠" Theodosiou had some positives to take from the team's run in Belgrade.

"We've only had a week of practice with hallzerk back," JT told HLTV after the match. "But I think we're improving really fast, and we can see it from match to match.

"We're making improvements and making changes, adding stuff to the strat book and making different decisions in the mid-rounds. I think today it was a little bit worse than on the other days. I think we're just making good improvements, which is nice.

"I would like to have gone further than top eight at this tournament. But I'm happy that we're at least improving."

For Complexity, there is little time to lick their wounds before they travel to Germany for IEM Cologne. It's a different caliber of a tournament, one that will also feature a different map pool, with Overpass instead of Anubis.

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2025 Stage 1
23/07/2025	GamerLegion 10:30 Complexity	Match

"I don't have any expectations, but the goal is to go far," JT said of Cologne. "I don't want to lose in Stage 1. I want to at least make it to the next stage, get close to the playoffs, and play playoffs.

"I don't think any of us has played in front of the Cologne arena. One of my goals is to get there and have the guys experience such a great crowd.

"But for now, we're just going to watch back this game, try and improve what we messed up, and hopefully we can do better in the next games."

The match against SAW was the first time that Nick "⁠nicx⁠" Lee and Danny "⁠Cxzi⁠" Strzelczyk got the play in front of a crowd — an experience JT hopes will serve as an inspiration for the North American duo.

"Even the three of us, the core, haven't played in front of that many crowds, but for the rookies on the team, they will feel like this was a great experience for them," JT said.

"It wasn't a big crowd, but at least there were people there, and it was a different environment from what they're used to. I think when it was my first time, it was super motivating to see a big crowd and play in front of a crowd. Even if it was a small one this time, I think it motivates you to keep getting better, and I hope that it does for them."

Torbjørn "⁠mithR⁠" Nyborg will remain in charge of Complexity at IEM Cologne on an interim basis, filling a position that has been vacant since Tiaan "⁠T.c⁠" Coertzen's dismissal in March. When the two parties announced they would work together for Belgrade and Cologne, they made sure to mention they were both still exploring their options.

Questioned about mithR's impact, JT praised the former Liquid coach's methods, but he stressed that he doesn't know if the Dane will remain on the team beyond Cologne.

"He has improved certain things that we didn't even think about," JT explained. "We've only had him for one week, and I think there's a list of things that he has helped us improve that have made a big impact on the team.

"I think he's very good. He's a very good coach for our type of team. He's a good teacher and a good leader."