NertZ on the SunPayus change: "I don't know if it was needed"

Life at BLAST Open Porto has started great for G2, who took their opening win against Aurora today.

The Samurais stayed mentally strong throughout the game, coming back from several deficits. r1nkle was instrumental in the win, showing why G2 believed in him. However, it wasn’t just him; NertZ was also important to the team, being their second-highest-rated player in the series.

So we’re happy to say we had a chance to speak to NertZ ahead of their game, including about r1nkle, where G2 must improve, and more. Here’s what we found out:

First of all, I'm gonna ask the question that every interviewer always asks, but I'll do it anyway, which is, well, how are you? How do you feel?

I'm doing great. How are you?

Yeah, I'm pretty good. Thank you for asking. So I'm gonna just go straight on 'cause you guys obviously made some changes recently, and I'm very curious. From my perspective, SunPayus is obviously a pretty decent AWPer. I wanted to know what your perspective was on the changes. Was it just the need for change, or if you're able to talk about that, what your perspective on it is?

I mean, I don't know if it was needed. I think we improved a lot before IEM Cologne. And the thing is, everything came as a surprise, I would say. I didn't expect it. I would say that for me, outside of the game, SunPayus was one of my best friends in CS. He was on my first tier one team, and we did amazing together. And for me, it was like a full shock. But this is the game, the name of the game.

Have you had any issues adapting to playing with r1nkle, or has it been a more or less seamless fit?

Not really. I didn't have any trouble with him. I think he's coming to learn. I see someone that's young who wants to go for the aggressive peeks. He wants to be there, and I didn't have any problems. What I like about him is exactly that he's coming and he's honest. He'll say what he thinks at the moment, and that's something super important. You know, when you're holding yourself, you're always holding your nerves kind of. And especially when you're young, when you're a young player, you maybe don't feel comfortable saying the thing you feel, but he's sending it in a good way.

Actually, about his aggression and willingness to peek, is that maybe part of why you guys, or well, I guess the management, wanted him? Because something sAw mentioned in the interview was that he thought you guys sometimes lacked aggressive players, which I thought, you know, you have you and MATYS; you're both able. But is that maybe part of that approach, or was that just me finding patterns?

I don't really know. I saw the interview from sAw. I didn't even read it. But I remember the title of the interview. But I don't think it was about the aggressiveness. I don't really know. Until now, I'm not super sure what and why it happened.

And then about this tournament, and about playing at this event — you guys have an opening against Aurora. They're a changed team. I'm kind of curious: how do you prepare for a team that's so different? Do you just go through their demos? Are you prepared for surprises? Are you just focused on your own game?

I think what we are doing is basically normal preparation against any opponent. Like, for us, yes, they've changed two players, a super important role with the IGL, and they also added Jimpphat. Two amazing players. For us, it will be the same. We'll try to expect how they'll play against us, and we'll do the normal preparation.

And something about the way you guys are set up as a whole. You and MATYS have both played aggressive roles in the past him on Fnatic, you especially early in Liquid. On a team like this, do huNter- and sAw tell you where they want you to play, and do you fit into those roles? Do you have some input between the two of you so you can decide who does what on what maps? How do you decide that between the two of you?

It's separated map to map. I'd say the maps where I need to have more control, or maps where I need to be on CT side or T side. It's split between me and huNter-. And that's the case with the control. I feel like I've come to a point where I can have a bit of input, because I understand the strats, I understand the system. This is the system we're sharing, and we're talking about what we need to add and change.

Something I've been asking pros, because I'm curious how different people approach it: do you guys have a goal for the season? Do you have something specifically you set out to do, or do you take it one event at a time, improving step by step?

I've heard this question for a long time, and I'll answer the same way. For me, I won't focus on results. It sounds ridiculous, but I'm not. I just want us to show good chemistry — what we're showing in practice, I want to show in official. The mental strength that we have, I want the same. I know it's hard, because when you're playing official, the feeling is much stronger. You feel it much, much more on your shoulders, in a way. And that's something that's super important for me. Overall, I just want to show better CS than we did at the start of the season, at BLAST. When we didn't qualify for Malta in BLAST, that was hard to take for me. But just to play better and better from tournament to tournament.

And then on that, and that'll be my final question for you as well, for us to see G2 on a big stage lifting a big trophy, what do we have to see different from the G2 we've seen so far this season?

It's a good question. I think we're consistently making the playoffs. That's been important during the last three months in every tournament we've been to. I'd say we need to start winning quarterfinals. Let's start from there, because, I'm not saying it's a curse, I'm joking when I say cursed. But we're making every playoff and we're not making it into the semis, and that's something we need to get through. I feel like we haven't had any easy matches in the quarterfinals, no matter what tournament it was. Just to play as well as we can and break this barrier, I'd say.

Yeah. Let's hope you guys don't play Vitality or Falcons in the quarterfinals this time. All right, thank you so much for your time, man.

Thank you.