TeSeS: "m0NESY is going to have a new, higher ceiling when he finds himself again"

The Dane believes that Falcon's AWPer will continue to develop to even higher levels after a cold streak.

Falcons, who come off of top four finishes at EWC and FPG 2, have kicked off their Pro League Season 22 Stage 2 run with a victory over Astralis.

In that series, Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif was playing against his former team, and René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen against former Copenhagen Flames teammate Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen, although Falcons' Dane denies there being any grudge at all.

We caught up with TeSeS after the match to hear his thoughts on playing against Magisk and HooXi, Falcons' lack of consistency, Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov's cold run, and his roles since Maxim "⁠kyousuke⁠" Lukin joined the team.

You can listen to the interview, here.

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You've started EPL with a win. HooXi was talking a bit of shit, some of it was directly toward you in Danish. How are you feeling after that, with the banter back-and-forth?

I play FACEIT with him at home quite a lot, so I think he was just trying to get in my head or whatever. But to be honest, I couldn't really hear or understand what he was saying. Of course I heard him yell a little bit, but I was just keeping calm and letting him use his lungs (laughs). It was fun to play.

Obviously, you were playing against Magisk. A bit of a grudge match in some way? What was it like on the server?

There's no grudge between us

[NiKo, walking by:] 'Yeah, sure mate.'

[TeSeS laughs] No grudge match there at all. It's quite weird to already meet him now, but he's a really good guy and I hope the best for him for the future.

As Falcons have said a few times, titles aren't the goal you're setting immediately; you're trying to build into that. What does it mean for you to start EPL with a win like this then?

Right now, we're just trying to improve tournament by tournament and work toward being as ready as we can for the Major, being at our A-game at that time. We can feel that our ceiling is very high, and when we're hitting it, we have the feeling that no one can beat us. Probably like any other team feels, but I really think that if we get more consistent in the big games when it matters, then you'll see us as title contenders every time.

What do you need to get that consistency?

Just trying to improve on the things that we lack, but also knowing what's working for us and trying to replicate that over and over again. That's what we're trying to do at this tournament right now.

m0NESY has had a bit of a deflated period compared to the peaks we've seen from him before. I saw NiKo before this event said that we should expect to see m0NESY back, and he had a pretty good series here. What has it been like on the server, trying to help bridge that gap and bring him back?

We tried to work on certain things, and I think Ilya [m0NESY] is going to show himself as the guy he was. But to be honest, I think he's just going to become a lot better with time, and he's going to have a new, higher ceiling when he finds himself again.

And to be honest, even though people are talking a little bit of shit, I haven't felt anything from him, like felt that he was worse or that he was not completely insane in the game. It was also really nice to see today that he was just feeling his clutches and his hero weapons when he was getting them. It was very nice to see.

With kyousuke adding more firepower and with some role changes, how are you finding your place, how are you slotting in now?

Obviously what I have to work with is a bit limited, but it's totally fine. I like to be supportive and help my teammates shine. What I believe I'm good at is finding the gaps, fill out some spots that are open, and when it's time to run first or sacrifice, I'll be the first guy there and do it for the team. That's my main focus, and putting up recent numbers is also one of my focuses, but mainly just helping the team be the best.