MOUZ have reached the BLAST Open Porto finals, having successively defeated strong teams like Falcons and Vitality on their path to Championship Sunday, further consolidating their status as one of the world's top-tier teams.
Journalist: Tell us about that game from your perspective.
xelex: To be honest, I feel relieved. This is my second time playing against them, and I'm glad we won this time. Actually, I had a feeling we could beat them because I believe we're playing really great CS now. Of course, some rounds could have been better, but we're still learning and getting in sync. Anyway, I'm really happy.
Reporter: You delivered an amazing individual performance in this tournament—what do you credit that to? Your improvement has been particularly evident in your map-to-map consistency.
xelex: I have put a lot of work into the mental side, as I have mentioned in multiple interviews. I think the most crucial point for me now is to truly focus on my own matches, trying to bring my attention back to the game itself, even when I sometimes get distracted by unexpected situations. I don't want outside noise to interfere. I pay great attention to this, and I believe it currently helps me the most—allowing me to refocus and prevent negative thoughts from taking over my mind.
Reporter: You're not just a young player; you've represented MOUZ's youth team and have been with this club for a long time. How does it feel to find success so early?
xelex: This is awesome, that's the only fitting response. I'm super happy because no one could have predicted at the start of the season that the new roster would perform so well. All I can say is that we'll strive to maintain this consistency and aim for it in every tournament we compete in. Ultimately, we just need to play our brand of CS, and the results will naturally follow.
Reporter: As you said, I think many outsiders didn't have high expectations for this MOUZ lineup at the start of the season. Did this give you extra motivation to prove them wrong?
xelex: Of course it feels great to win the match, but honestly, I didn't pay much attention to the doubts. Sometimes I see some comments, saying... you know. There are also quite a few kind messages on HLTV. But I think the only thing you can do is prove them wrong. I didn't dwell on it too much; we just need to focus on the game itself. When we beat these strong teams—we ourselves are already a top-tier team—but when we defeat them, the results speak for themselves.
Reporter: Tomorrow is the finals. How do you feel about this match and your opponents?
xelex：I'm very excited, this will be my second time participating in a major finals, so I'm super hyped. We've beaten Spirit once before, why can't we win again? That's all I have to say. Tomorrow we'll prepare hard, play some great CS again, and see what happens.
Journalist: I feel that MOUZ is often perceived as the "villain" when taking the stage, but today the audience seemed to give you a lot of support. How does that feel?
xelex: It feels great, of course it's nice when someone supports you. But for me it's actually the same—having support is great, but even if they boo us, I won't care. Bro, it doesn't matter to me; I only focus on the game. When you win, they can boo all they want—I won't overthink it.