HooXi on likely making the Major: "The system isn't fair right now, that's why I expected us to go through"

"To me it's a given that we should be there," the Danish captain adds.

Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen has led an Astralis resurgence ever since he joined the team in May, but the squad was recently forced into a roster change due to Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund stepping down from the team.

In came Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif, which meant a switch to more active positions for HooXi due to the team requiring "more initiative and communication in those central positions."

Early signs have been inconsistent but ultimately successful, as Astralis made the FISSURE Playground 2 playoffs after getting the better of GamerLegion.

After the game, HooXi spoke to HLTV about Magisk's integration, their games in Belgrade so far, and his improved individual form.

Listen to the interview here.

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You made it to the playoffs after an up-and-down group stage. How does it feel to get the job done in the end?

It feels good to make it through to the playoffs, I think that's always a goal we should have, to make it to the crowd, basically. As you said, it wasn't pretty, but sometimes that's also a positive thing. We're able to make comebacks, we have the right mentality to never give up. I have a lot of respect for GamerLegion, so I think the victory today was not a bad one.

And as you said, it wasn't pretty. Do you think that's down to you guys integrating a new player into the team as well?

Yeah, there's a lot of changes all the time. I'm playing a lot of new positions. Magisk is obviously playing them too, everything is new for him. We didn't have that much time together yet, and even if we had six months to practice, I think the first official is always troubling to some extent.

So I think it comes down to that a lot, but I also think that in general, we just need to get better at not throwing away easy rounds, even before when we play with stavn.

Not only have you qualified for the playoffs, but across the tournament you got quite a lot of VRS points. It looks like Astralis are finally going to be back at the Major. How proud are you to be the IGL that finally brings them back?

Not that proud. Honestly, to me it's a given that we should be there. After our first tournament in Astana, I haven't put any thoughts into the Major at all, because I just expected us to make it. That might sound a bit arrogant, but at the same time, I feel like the system caters so much to tier-one teams.

Tier-two teams have a tough time, you know, they have to travel all over the world, to a new country each week, just to scrape some points together. I think the system is not fair right now, and that's why I expected us to go through.

Talking about the circuit right now. As you said, some teams have to travel all around the world. What do you think about all of the open LANs that now showed up right before the Major invite deadline?

I like the fact that smaller teams and organizations get to go to LANs, because that's obviously cool. I wish I would have done it instead of all the online grind. But at the same time, I think it's very tough to have an organization right now at that level, because it's a lot of expenses. I don't know enough about it to be an expert, but I could imagine that it's tough.

You said you changed a lot of spots as well, and it feels like you've really found much more individual impact in Astralis than you did in the previous teams. Is that down to you not trying to sacrifice everything for the team and thinking about yourself a bit individually as well?

Obviously, I try to not overcompensate and jump in every opportunity I get, because it was too much in G2. I always just think what's best for the team still, but I think that I was doing it too much in G2, and it was actually hurting the team in the end. Me having a bad performance is obviously not good.

I also got some way better positions now when Magisk came in, mostly due to the fact that we needed some more initiative and communication in those central positions, and that obviously makes your stats look better as well.

You guys made it to the playoffs now. Do you feel like this tournament will, in a way, begin for a second time, so you can start fresh?

I'm not sure if I want to forget them, I think that we learned a lot from them. The best thing that can happen for us is going 3-2, having a lot of maps and a lot of things we can learn. It's always different in front of a crowd and in the playoff games, so I definitely think that it is a new thing, but we have a lot to take away. That is also positive, so I don't want to forget it all.

What is the result that you would be happy with now that you made it to the top eight?

It's the same old tale with me and interviews. When it comes to results, I don't really care about them. I care more about the fact that we bring energy, we play the way we talk about, the way we practice, and that we can actually see some progress. The result itself doesn't matter too much here in the start especially, but I'm happy we made it through, of course.