XTQZZZ: "We also have a tournament next week and I don't want to start like this again"

"We have to work on it, especially for the Major with two best-of-ones on the first day," the French coach said.

Vitality stumbled in Chengdu, missing out on a chance to qualify for the playoffs after enduring their second loss out of 10 matches against MOUZ. A shaky start to the tournament also saw Vitality barely scrape past Virtus.pro, a match which Rémy "⁠XTQZZZ⁠" Quoniam says his team "should have lost 2-0," and comes three weeks after Vitality dropped their ESL Pro League Season 22 opener to Gentle Mates.

"After what happened in Pro League, we spoke about it [the slow starts]," XTQZZZ told HLTV after Vitality dominated Lynn Vision in the lower bracket. "I don't know if it's because lately we had three weeks between each tournament, I don't think it's because of that, but it's something that we have to work on, especially for the Major with two best-of-ones on the first day."

The 36-year-old coach admitted that MOUZ's Train pick caught him and assistant coach Mathieu "⁠MaT⁠" Leber off-guard, spoke about Vitality's fight to match or beat Astralis' record of 10 trophies in a year, and credited Virtus.pro for their showing at the event so far as a potential rematch of their opener looms for a spot in the playoffs.

Listen to the interview here.

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You just beat Lynn Vision, very dominantly as well. How was it to bounce back in that kind of fashion after losing to MOUZ yesterday?

It was pretty easy, actually. We knew we didn't play that good yesterday, but we also knew that there would be two best-of-threes today so we were just focused about the next step.

You've had MOUZ's number most of the year, that was only your second time losing to them, so how did you adjust coming into today with that in mind?

It doesn't change anything because lately we've lost more games. We are still alive, and we want to keep our playoff streak as well, so we are really focused on finishing the job in the group stage right now. So nothing wrong after the MOUZ game.

We were, let's be honest, a bit surprised about their map pick, so probably me and my assistant, we were not aware on that, so it's our fault, basically. So today we tried to make sure we cannot be surprised at all.

You mean them picking Train into you, right?

Yeah, because... I think they probably worked on it just before, they cooked something before the tournament, because lately they didn't play the map at all. Even though they had a 100% winrate in the last 3-6 months, but they played it twice, so yeah, it was our mistake and we expected another map, to be honest.

You mentioned losing a couple more matches recently, especially compared to the first part of the year. It seems to be in the early stages of the event for you right now, like the Gentle Mates loss at EPL and now the MOUZ loss. What's changed in that sense, why are you having some of these earlier issues right now?

I would like the answer, because after what happened in Pro League, we spoke about it. And honestly, against VP, we should have lost 2-0 in my opinion as well.

So I don't know if it's because lately we had three weeks between each tournament, I don't think it's because of that, but it's something that we have to work on, especially for the Major with two best-of-ones on the first day. So we will think about it, even though we had a talk before starting the tournament, unfortunately it didn't work out.

It's interesting you say that though, because part of your dominant streak earlier this year was also you spacing out your events a bit to have that practice time, and it seems like you're still doing that. How do you feel like more time between events is hindering you?

Yeah, I wanted to say it's okay to have time (laughs), to prep a bit, especially after the first block with four tournaments in a row. We needed it. But in the first part of the season, I don't think we had three weeks off to be honest. I'm not sure, maybe once, but also we are thinking about finishing the Grand Slam, preparing for the Major.

Of course, EWC and Cologne was the main goal at the beginning of the second part of the year. Now it's the Major, so maybe... I will not say less motivated, but we have to take care of that because it cannot happen twice. We need to finish the tournament, but we also have a tournament next week and I don't want to start like this again.

With this tournament and the one next week, apEX has mentioned before that there is a potential goal to beat Astralis for the number of trophies they've won in a year. How is the motivation for that in the team, is that something you've talked about?

Yeah, he said it, and honestly we said it before starting the second part of the season as well. Like, 'Okay, we won everything, what can we do now?' But right now we are just thinking about improving our game, our communication, our basics.

Of course, after the tournament we say, 'Okay, it's going to be tough now' (laughs), but just after Pro League we said, 'Okay, eight tournaments, let's see, it's still possible.' It's not a huge discussion we have, it's just sometimes when we won a tournament or we felt at home that we're not focused that much in practice et cetera, it's something we can bring to the table. But we don't need it so far.

Going into the next matchup, you don't know who you play quite yet, it's going to be G2 or VP-

Honestly, it's really close (laughs).

-Yeah, exactly. You played VP pretty close already, and you beat G2 at EPL but they beat you in London, so tell me your thoughts about that potential matchup.

I mean, I got surprised by the level of Virtus.pro, they played very well in my opinion, and they smashed FaZe yesterday. Okay, they lost the first map, but after that. And G2, yeah, I think they want revenge. Especially, I know huNter-, we are close to each other, he wants to stop our playoffs streak, I know him. So no matter what, it'll be an interesting game, and let's see who is the best.