After winning the Cologne Major, Falcons had a rough start to the new season, suffering an upset loss to 100Thieves at BLAST Bounty and missing out on the LAN finals.
But at EWC Paris, they bounced back quickly, winning consecutive matches to reach the playoffs. TeSeS admitted that insufficient preparation after the break was the main cause, and that loss instead became a "wake-up call" for the team, making them train harder and fight tougher. Now Falcons are back on track. TeSeS said: the team's hunger goes far beyond just one Major title.
Q: Congratulations on making it to the playoffs. After beating K27 and Astralis back-to-back, talk about the team's overall performance in the group stage? It felt like only the Dust2 against Astralis was really close, mainly because the economy never recovered in the second half, plus you guys might have been too eager to close out the game.
TeSeS: We played really well against K27, our mindset before the match was really good, so much better than against 100T. We all knew what happened at BLAST couldn't happen again, so being back on LAN everything feels like it's getting better, and I'm very happy about that. Against Astralis today, just like you said, we really struggled on the last map. There were several rounds where we had a huge numbers advantage, with four or five of us alive, and we just threw them away, with teammates dying at some really strange timings. Astralis also played really well, with a very direct style, and they really caught us off guard in some rounds. So they equally deserved this win.
Q: Let's talk about the BLAST Bounty loss to 100 Thieves. How did the team view that loss at the time? Were you worried about it, or since the season is so long and you planned to take it slow, you didn't really mind that much?
TeSeS: I think there was definitely some worry, more or less. It was like a wake-up call, absolutely not the way you want to start the season. Whether it's online or not, you care about these matches, and once you're in the game you don't want to lose. That loss hurt, it was really frustrating, but precisely because of it, we came back and practiced harder and pushed ourselves more. So maybe in a way, it was what we needed, a chance to wake up again. That's what we took away from that loss, and then kept moving forward.
Q: After winning the Major championship, an incredibly important goal for everyone, what was the atmosphere like when you regrouped? Do you think the team has readjusted and stayed focused and motivated for the competitions in the second half of the year?
TeSeS: We talked about this specifically during bootcamp. I think everyone's mindset was in the right place, and the training intensity was the same as before the player break. But I can't really say exactly what went wrong. I don't think anyone did anything wrong, or that anyone was slacking off, I think we just needed a bucket of cold water thrown over us to bring out that last bit of form. That's pretty much it. Of course, everyone was celebrating during the holidays, and we didn't do much warm-up when we resumed practice and before the season started, which was also one of the reasons we didn't play well during that period. But that's behind us now, especially for this EWC, we've put in a lot of time training, we've practiced a lot. We hope this effort pays off, both for ourselves and for the people watching the matches.
Q: When planning your season, how important is EWC to you? Do you consider it an important event close to a Major?
TeSeS: As players, we definitely still feel the Major is much more important, but we also understand what EWC means to the Falcons club as a whole. So we really want to perform well and earn as many points as possible for the club. And I think in the future this tournament will become more and more important for all clubs, and everyone will have more opportunities to compete. Its prize money is for the entire organization, and this event will definitely become more and more important in the future, given the size of the prize pool. For CS alone, this prize money is historic, so of course it is very important.
Q: Falcons are currently ranked second in the Club Championship and are also the defending champions. Considering the special significance of this event to the club, does this bring you extra pressure?
TeSeS: I think we actually didn't think too much about this. Maybe it crosses our minds before or after a match, but during a match we never think, "Oh no, if we lose, will everyone flame us." No, the club has always told us to just go out there and enjoy the game and have fun playing. I think that's also the state where we perform at our best — taking it one game at a time and just playing our own game.
Q: Looking ahead to the whole season, what are your main goals? Who do you think is your biggest opponent? Especially with Vitality using a stand-in later on, and some uncertainties remaining on Spirit's side.
TeSeS: Honestly, the situation right now is pretty chaotic. It's really hard to say what happens next with the other teams. Like you said, Vitality and Spirit both have roster-change factors. It's the same with NAVI, you just can't tell — no one knows how they'll perform this year. So I'm actually quite curious to see how this season will play out. But honestly, I don't care what others do, I only focus on ourselves. I want to win, I want to win every tournament we can. Of course we know which tournaments matter more, but I can say that everyone on the team wants more, much more than one Major. What we want is not just to win one trophy and be done with it, but to build something that lasts.
Q: You have six days of rest before the knockout stage. How do you plan to use this time?
TeSeS: We will definitely train, but we'll probably also rest for a day or two, it depends on how the coach arranges it. Anyway, just spend more time on training, adjust myself to the most comfortable state, and prepare as best as possible for the playoffs.