Falcons lost to MOUZ in their final BLAST Open Porto group stage match, advancing to the playoffs as the second-place team in the group. After the match, karrigan gave an interview, discussing the Ancient pick, the takeaways from the group stage, and the reasons for the slow start to the season.
Q: What do you think went wrong in this series?
karrigan: Our pick Ancient, we tried it three times at this event and never got to play it. Inferno was also pretty sloppy, but I'm really proud of that Nuke game. So there's a lot to learn from this match, and it's also an opportunity for us to expand our map pool, because we always end up picking Dust2. For me, this match provided a lot of data to improve on, because we still have a long way to go.
Q: You've been picking Ancient throughout this tournament—is it for extra practice, or do you really think this map is worth picking in matches?
karrigan: We've put a lot of work into this map. When I joined, it felt okay, but practice has been really good this season. Of course, we also know that scrim results can sometimes be misleading, but that's one of the reasons we picked it. Also, we've played too much Dust2, so we need to practice other maps. This is probably our fifth time playing Nuke in the last 90 days, so it's good to play other maps more.
Q: How would you evaluate your overall performance in this group stage? Although you advanced, your form seemed very inconsistent — you struggled against Lynn Vision and MOUZ
karrigan: In a sense, playing tough games in the group stage is better for us. That's how we came through the Major as well — battling hard all the way, dropping maps, learning and improving. At EWC we cruised through smoothly, then ran into Legacy and lost 0-2. Today did expose some issues; it wasn't our best group stage, but it wasn't our worst either. We qualified, and MOUZ played really well on the last two maps.
Q: Do you feel like you're starting to find your rhythm for the season now? You had a noticeably slow start — the online BLAST and that EWC game against Legacy didn't look too good.
karrigan: I think it's a bit better now. Every official match is really important for us, and we have a few days of rest before playing at the venue, which I'm looking forward to. More real-match experience is really good for us, especially with a two-and-a-half-week break after this event. We're not at our ideal level yet, but we're starting to see what's working and what isn't, and that needs to keep being fixed in official matches.
Q: What was the reason for the slow start to the season? After all, the excitement of winning the Major hadn't worn off yet.
karrigan: I think we're still in the early stages of gelling. I joined the team for 60 days and then hit the off-season, which is definitely not the best situation, but that's just reality. We played really well at the Major, and we want to get back to that level, but we need to do it consistently. That takes some painful losses and good wins to build up.
I can't quite pinpoint the exact reason. There are times when individual performances are good and team coordination works well, but sometimes our floor just isn't high enough. To become the best in the world, you have to be able to win even when you're not in good form, and that's what we've been striving for.
Q: Looking ahead to the playoffs, can we see a better Falcons? Your team has a tradition of breaking out at home.
karrigan: Hopefully so. That's probably the value the team saw in me when they signed me. I'll do my best to get the team ready. Of course everyone loves playing on the big stage, where the pressure is the greatest, but you have to be able to perform — that can't be an excuse.
We successfully advanced from the group, that was the first goal. Finishing top of the group would of course be better, but I can't seem to remember the last time I finished top of a group, maybe the problem is me (laughs).