Before FISSURE Playground S3 Suzhou kicked off, MAGIC rifler tenzy sat down with HLTV to discuss the team's ups and downs since their breakthrough in Astana, the impact of the long break on form, and his feelings on earning EVP at EWC.
magic previously finished fourth in Astana, which earned them spots at events like BLAST Bounty and EWC. However, tenzy said the long off-season break disrupted the team's momentum. Now in Suzhou, he believes magic has top-20-level strength in the world, but the team still needs more time to truly stabilize.
Q: You had a very good result in Astana. What did you do right at the time that allowed the team to go that far? And to what extent were you able to carry over that progress into BLAST Bounty and EWC afterwards?
tenzy: When we were in Astana, I remember after the first two matches, we had a talk, and it went really well. We figured some things out, and since then, every win has given us more confidence.
We started to realize that we could actually remain composed against many teams. Of course, I'm not talking about all top-tier teams, but those within a certain range.
Once we reached the knockout stage, I think one thing that really helped us was that we were no longer shy about expressing our emotions in front of each other and the live audience — we completely let it out. That gave us much more confidence.
Also, our comeback from 0-2 in the group stage gave us a huge boost as well.
To be honest, our result in Astana helped us a great deal, as it earned us invitations to BLAST and EWC.
But at BLAST, we underperformed a bit. We had just come off a long break, and the whole team was out of form.
It wasn't until EWC that we started to gradually regain our form and achieve some results. We made it to the knockout stage, and I think things will only get better from here.
Q: In those two tournaments, you failed to replicate the success of Astana. What do you think was missing the most?
tenzy: The main reason is that our match form was affected, especially at BLAST.
Because we just went through a long break, and teammates haven't seen each other for a long time, with no face-to-face communication and contact, so we need more time to play matches together.
After BLAST, we started to regain our form, spending more time together and communicating.
By EWC, these things had already brought us some results, we were fairly satisfied with that outcome, but we could actually have done much better.
If we hadn't gone through that off-season at the time, I think we could have achieved a better result at EWC than we ultimately did.
Q: After these tournaments, where would you place magic? Specifically for FISSURE Universe S3, do you see yourselves as favorites who rightfully deserve to reach the playoffs?
tenzy: Overall, I think we are definitely a top 20 team in the world.
What we still lack is stability, and like any team, that takes time to build.
As for this tournament, to be honest, we never considered ourselves the favorites. We just joined the server, focused on playing our own game, and whatever result we got was what we got.
If we are worthy, if we earn this qualification through our performances, then we will naturally advance to the knockout stage.
We don't feel that we "must" reach the knockout stage or go further. What we really need now is to spend more time together and deliver a result that we ourselves are satisfied with.
At least play an impressive game first, truly going back and forth with the opponent in a match.
Q: You qualified for Rift Worlds S3 as FUT's replacement team. How much impact did this have on your preparations? What areas did you mainly focus on strengthening during preparation?
tenzy: Actually, it hasn't had much impact on our training.
At some point, we realized we needed to dedicate more time specifically to preparing for this event.
For example, if we used to spend ten hours together, we now need even more. We need to regain our match form, and we also need to talk and communicate more, to at least rebuild some chemistry.
Q: Although you finished 9th-16th at the EWC, you earned EVP alongside players like try, m0NESY, and molodoy. What does this individual honor mean to you?
tenzy: When I first saw this news, we were playing in the IEM Beijing closed qualifier.
I saw it at the time, but didn't pay much attention. A few hours later, I looked at it again, but I didn't get that "wow, how amazing I am now" kind of feeling.
Compared to individual achievements, team achievements are more important to me.
Q: Are you satisfied with your current personal state?
tenzy: If we're only talking about this moment in time, I'd say I'm satisfied.
But if you look at Astana and the period after it together, I still really hope to rediscover the form I had back in Astana.
If I can get back to that level, my personal performance will naturally improve as well.
Q: What are your goals for the second half of the season, especially regarding Majors?
tenzy: Our goal is the same as everyone else's, we certainly hope to make it to the Major, but in the end it all comes down to the results.
We will make every effort for this.
Rather than treating "qualifying for the Major" itself as our sole goal, I hope more that we can truly play well as a team and put in all the effort we possibly can to do so.
If we deserve this spot, we will naturally make it to the Major; if we put in enough effort, the results will follow.