The left-handed sniper "hates" third-place matches, but is glad the team won. Aurora's international roster earned another confidence boost after beating Spirit in Katowice to finish third.
It was heartbreaking to lose 1-2 to Vitality yesterday, woxic admitted, and waking up this morning to play another match was "mentally a bit tough," but this win did earn Aurora a lot of crucial VRS points. After the victory, Aurora is currently ninth in the live VRS rankings, with a 98.8% chance of locking in an invite to Stage 3 of the Major.
The international Aurora roster is finally back to the level of the Turkish roster. But can they surpass themselves? "Why not?" woxic said. "If we can play like we did here in every event, we can go beyond that."
Q: Congratulations on finishing third. You said before the match that this game was important for Aurora. Is that why you beat Spirit today?
A: We just played our own game. We didn't say, 'This is the third-place match, don't take it seriously' or anything like that. We just did our own thing, [played] as if we were going to make the final, you know? That's what we did. So that's it. And it was also an important match for us, for VRS and a third place with a medal and stuff. I think it's always good to take at least something away from the tournament. Win or lose, it doesn't matter.
Q: Is beating a team like Spirit on stage, even in a match like this, a big confidence boost?
A: Yes, we've been feeling really confident against strong teams lately, because in the end it's always... even when we lose, it's a close game. We just made some small mistakes and stuff, so we lost. So overall I'm pretty satisfied with our performance, and of course, every time you win a match, you gain some confidence.
Q: Yes. If you could choose, would you want the tournament to have a third-place playoff, or is it hard to play another match after losing in the semifinal?
A: I find it tough. When you wake up knowing you've already been knocked out of the tournament, but you still have to play the third-place playoff, that's hard. Mentally it's a bit tough, but that's our job, that's just how it is. I actually really hate these games, the third-place playoffs, because you have to stay an extra day as if you were playing in the final. So it feels a bit bad, but overall, we're doing what we're supposed to do.
Q: Yes. As a team overall, I mean, this is another... two very good results in a row. Does it feel like the team is building good momentum ahead of the Major and the end of the year?
A: Yes, of course, as long as we keep up our good form. We're going to Malta for the next tournament, so if we can do well there too, of course. Everything keeps improving. In one tournament you improve three things, in the next you improve five things, and in the next one you might only improve one thing. So it's always good to gain experience as a team, because compared to other teams, we are a very new team. But since we're making the playoffs and building confidence like this, I think it will help us at the Major.
Q: A few days ago I saw someone say that they feel a Turkish roster, an all-Turkish roster might have a higher ceiling because you all speak the same language and things like that. What do you think about that? Do you think this international roster, even speaking English, can have a higher ceiling?
A: Why not? It's in our hands. If we can play in every tournament the way we played here, we can surpass them. We can surpass the previous lineup, and... but maybe we never will, so you never know.