nilo: "We tried to do a lot of freelance, and I think we just need more structure around it"

The Swede says he still needs more practice with the team to find his consistency.

HEROIC took the fight to Spirit in the lower bracket of IEM Chengdu, securing victory on Overpass and fighting back into overtime on Dust2 before bowing out with a blowout loss on Ancient.

A lack of practice has made it hard for the team to find the stability they're looking for, but a win over Natus Vincere and a close battle against Spirit give them something to be happy about as they exit their last big LAN of the year.

"I'm of course sad that we lost, but Spirit are a great team and we didn't have such an expectation when we went into this game," Linus "⁠nilo⁠" Bergman said after the match. "We're just happy we did a lot of damage and we'll try to build on this confidence and just work harder."

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Commiserations on the loss. You started out very strong on Overpass, close on Dust2, and then it fizzled out here on Ancient. What's going through your mind after that series?

I'm not really sure. I feel like we are lacking a bit in ideas and things on T side right now. It depends on the day, so we need some more backup things that we can bring when we're not on our A-game.

I'm of course sad that we lost, but Spirit are a great team and we didn't have such an expectation when we went into this game. We're just happy we did a lot of damage and we'll try to build on this confidence and just work harder.

It does seem like you're on a bit of an uptick as a team, you also beat NAVI earlier. How are you feeling overall with how the team has started performing at the end of the year?

We had a team talk after EPL, after the results there, and we tried to pinpoint the things we need to work on and things like that. After that, I feel like every tournament just looks brighter, so we just need to keep on working.

We have been lacking a lot of practice lately, so we've just been trying to add some new things before the games and things like that, but we need to go back to the drawing board and practice.

How come you've been lacking a lot of practice recently?

It's been a tight schedule since CAC. We've been on the road now for almost three weeks, and before that we had a bit of time off, so we didn't practice before that.

It's been a bit since you came in, so how are you adjusting to the team now?

Okay, I think. I feel like I still need more practice to get more comfortable, and... I don't know, we tried to do a lot of freelance, and I think we just need more structure around it. I think I will be way better in it.

At the start of the year, there was a lot of hype around you coming in with the level that you had back then. What are you missing individually to return to that level?

I'm not sure. It could be a lot of things. I feel like experience, trying to find consistency as well. I've been, I think, having great consistency before IEM Chengdu, now I dipped a bit. So just trying to focus on the consistency and things like that.

You aren't at the Major, so this is the end of your year for LANs. You have a few online events like a CCT or something, what do you make of ending your year like this?

It's of course hard to miss out on the Major, it's the biggest thing in CS, but there will come new chances. And we're going to take this, try to play some smaller tournaments, find some more experience together, and just make the best of the situation right now.

Lastly, Alkarenn joined on loan. Do you know if that's something HEROIC is continuing forward with?

He's been doing great. It's not my call, so I don't really know what the plan is.