Ahead of BLAST Porto, Spirit's star sniper sh1ro talked about winning the EWC, the team's current form, his views on the current CS2 scene, and the team's goals for this season.
Q: sh1ro, tell me, what do you think of Spirit this season so far? Are you satisfied?
sh1ro: Satisfied, because we won the EWC championship and finished second at the BLAST Bounty, which is a good result for us, and this time we can strive to do even better.
Q: Your first match at BLAST Porto is against Dendele, a Brazilian team. Do you enjoy playing against relatively lesser-known teams like this, just like you played against JiJieHao at the EWC?
sh1ro: They are not a very well-known team, because I've watched some matches, Dendele seemed to have beaten FURIA on Cache? That was back when we played the first event of last season. They are a decent team, but we need to focus on the game itself and try to win it. It's not like a BO1 in a Showdown, this is a BO3, so we have more margin for error.
Q: sh1ro, are you satisfied with your current form?
sh1ro: Satisfied, but we also had a whole lot of problems and mistakes in the tournament, but we'll fix them all. It just takes a lot of work. When you have so much to do, it's really hard for me — especially when we have to play so many tournaments in a row. One after another, we have to reach the finals, fix problems, and still need time to improve on an individual level. It's really hard, but it's okay. I love CS, and I love improving.
Q: We've heard many players saying they're a bit tired, having accumulated some fatigue due to too many tournaments. Do you feel the same?
sh1ro: We're not tired, because this year we have to win more trophies — last year Vitality won eight or nine trophies, and we need to step up as well. We can play as many tournaments as possible and try hard to win trophies. But after this event, we'll have a break, about a week, which will be a good reset for our mindset and individual form. After that, we can push for improvement once again.
Q: sh1ro, we've seen many strong teams lose matches at the EWC and before that. I remember you previously talked about "randomness" in CS2. Compared to what you saw in CSGO, is there more randomness in results and matches nowadays?
sh1ro: I think CSGO and CS2 are like two different games, the rounds are different and the total number of rounds is different. CS2 is actually not that random, but if you make a lot of mistakes in a match, you will lose the match. You lose the pistol round, lose the first gun round — just like we did in that match against Jijiehao. CS2 is quite random, but as long as you have a good team, good individual form, and a good mindset, you can win a lot of matches like Vitality.
Q: As a sniper, how is CS2 playing for you?
sh1ro: CS2 for snipers... Back when I played CSGO, I spent a lot of time training (with the AWP). But over the past year or two, I haven't practiced much with the AWP; I've mostly been practicing with the AK and M4. But CS2 is a different game, and I need to put more focus into the AWP. It's really hard, but it's okay.
Q: What is Spirit's next big goal? Is it the Singapore Major, or are there other goals before that?
sh1ro: No, in my opinion, we just need to focus on the game itself. There's no need to keep saying "we want to win the Major, we want to win the Grand Slam" — that's a lot of pressure for us. We just need to focus on the matches and on improving. First, we need to think about the next tournament, and then do our best to play well there.