Although MOUZ had defeated Spirit in BLAST Bounty Season 2, Spirit clearly dominated in the maps they won during the BLAST Open Porto Finals, ultimately lifting the trophy.
After the match, xertioN spoke in an interview about the issues in this final, the progress the new MOUZ roster has made in a short time, and the confidence he has gradually built since taking over the IGL role.
Q: Unfortunately, you lost today's match. Can you take us through this series and the issues you encountered on a few maps?
xertioN: Right now, it's really hard to say anything too specific. We need to go back and re-watch the match first.
But on the T side of Dust2, we did throw away some opportunities in a few very critical rounds. The CT side may have also dropped a few key rounds, but overall, I think our CT side actually did okay.
Looking at the series as a whole, across all maps, we had quite a long stretch where our form dropped off a bit, and that allowed them to cut right through us on many occasions.
Unfortunately, we couldn't show our best level today, but I'm still very proud of the progress everyone has made during this time.
Q: Given your current strength, and considering that this lineup hasn't been together for long, do you think games like today's are precisely because you haven't played together long enough to truly win a championship? Perhaps that could change in a few months?
xertioN：Of course, we can use "still a new team" to explain some issues.
But at the same time, we really train very hard, so every loss hurts a lot.
I think Spirit was the better team today, they played better. In my opinion, Spirit is currently the strongest team in the world.
So there's definitely much to summarize from today's match. But overall, I'm still very proud of the performance we've shown recently.
Q：Since taking over the in-game leader role, it seems you've become more confident in your on-stage presence. Has this position given you a confidence you didn't have before?
xertioN: I'd say, maybe compared to some others, I'm not the kind of person who is particularly flashy or has a very strong presence.
But within the team, I feel my personality is actually quite open.
Now that I am the conductor, I feel more confident to step forward, to engage the audience on stage, to rally their support for us, and to strive to be the one who leads this team from the front.
I simply hope to lead by example. So I wouldn't call it a sudden change, nor something I forced myself to do—it's just that I've gradually grown accustomed to taking on this responsibility.
Q: If winning the BLAST Bounty Season 2 made you believe more in this team and in MOUZ's new chapter, then what will today's loss bring to you?
xertioN: I think it will only make us even more motivated to keep improving.
Our training and investment are absolutely impeccable—we've truly pushed it to the limit. We have been working very, very hard during this period.
So I would feel disappointed because we couldn't repay these efforts with a championship.
But at the same time, making it to the finals is also a foundation we can continue to build upon.
We are still a very young lineup, and compared to the past, this is the first time we have stood together on such a big stage to compete.
Overall, I'm very satisfied. We will definitely use this match as fuel for continued improvement and strive to defeat Spirit the next time we meet.