n0rb3r7: "[After] nine months on the bench I was so sad, I really missed LAN CS"

HOTU claimed the scalp of the No. 1-ranked team in the world to continue their surprise campaign in Sweden.

HOTU were one of the pleasant surprises to come out of Stage 1 at ESL Pro League Season 22, going undefeated with wins over FURIA, B8, and ENCE to seal advancement to the top-16.

They continued that upward trend to begin their Stage 2 campaign with a shock 2-1 win over The MongolZ, who are ranked No. 1 on VRS and HLTV. The Russian team has been on the upswing since bringing David "⁠n0rb3r7⁠" Danielyan in on loan at the start of September, although the 24-year-old Major champion is just happy to be back competing.

Read more

n0rb3r7 joins HOTU on two-month loan

"It's nice to win [against] good teams again on LAN because... [after] nine months on the bench, I was so sad, I really missed LAN CS," he tells HLTV.

n0rb3r7 credited his teammates for their work in the one-month lead-up to Pro League, and hopes they can keep it up moving forward.

"We'll just keep enjoying the game, we'll try to do our best, and I hope we'll make it to playoffs," he says.

You can listen to the interview here.

---

Congratulations, 3-0 in Stage 1 and then starting Stage 2 off with a really big win over The MongolZ, ranked No. 1 on the VRS and HLTV. What does that mean to you and the team?

For me, it's nice to win [against] good teams again on LAN because... [after] nine months on the bench, I was so sad, I really missed LAN CS. For me and for my team, I'm really happy that we managed to [beat] a team like The MongolZ.

You didn't join this team that long ago, you're even playing on loan. How did you make these kind of results happen so quickly?

It's not only me, it's the whole team working hard. We had one month of preparation before EPL, and we don't have enough time to do some structure. We're just playing default, with confidence and preparation against opponents.

Sometimes playing default against really good teams doesn't always work out, especially for the underdogs. Why do you feel that's working for you right now?

Maybe it's because we don't have expectations from ourselves and from the community. We're just playing CS, we're enjoying the LAN, and we are just trying to win as we can. Maybe that's why we don't have extra pressure on us.

What has it been like playing with this roster? Internationally, they haven't played too much, so what are they like? Tell me about the individuals a bit.

Individually, they are good, but they are still inexperienced. They've played a lot, but they don't have that experience against tier-two teams because as you can see, they played before in the Asia region, but now they let them go to EU (laughs), I don't know why. But it's fine, now we're farming VRS going through Europe (laughs). Everyone is good, even dukefissura, he's 29 years old, and before, he was an analyst for HOTU. Right now he's IGLing and fragging. Everyone is good.

When you have a team like this, that's just making their first steps into these big LANs and getting some of these results, what are you and mou telling them as the more experienced players, the veterans?

I'm not saying something special. I'm just saying some basics, but it's not about saying, it's about how I'm performing in the game. They see how I'm performing and they try to gain this experience.

As you mentioned earlier, you spent some months on the bench, and now you're loaned out here and getting some good results. What does that mean for you long-term? I think your loan agreement is only for two months, right?

Yes, it's only two months, but... I don't know. We'll see after EPL and some online tournaments about my future. I don't know.

Do you feel like you've redeemed yourself now, because obviously VP couldn't come into this event (n0rb3r7 laughs), they missed out last minute, and now you're here getting all these results. Does that feel a little bit good?

No, because I spent three and a half years in VP, it's like my second family. Sometimes I see how they're playing and I feel sadness, because I know what they are capable of but because of some reasons, I don't know which ones, they are playing not good. For me it's sad.

From the outside looking in, can you point to anything that might be an issue or might be going wrong for them?

I have some ideas, but I won't tell it. It's better for me to say it to them than in an interview (smiles, laughs).

As I said at the start, 3-0 in Stage 1, 1-0 now in Stage 2. How is HOTU going to do for the rest of the event, what do you feel like your limit is?

I don't know. We'll just keep enjoying the game, we'll try to do our best, and I hope we'll make it to playoffs.