Spirit added another title at BLAST Open Porto, while donk claimed the HLTV MVP once again thanks to his consistently outstanding performances. Although teammate sh1ro also mounted a strong challenge, it was donk who ultimately lifted the individual award.
More importantly, Spirit also exacted "revenge" in Portugal — they defeated MOUZ in the final, the team that had beaten them earlier this season in the BLAST Bounty S2 final.
"This feels amazing because MOUZ is the last team we hadn't beaten yet," donk told HLTV in an interview after the final. "I think we've beaten all the top teams, pretty much the top seven in the world, the only one we hadn't beaten was MOUZ."
However, even though Spirit have won two events in a row, donk is reluctant to rush to declare that the team has already peaked under magixx's leadership. In his view, the real test is whether they can sustain this performance going forward.
Q: How does it feel to successfully get revenge on MOUZ?
donk: It feels amazing because they are the last team we hadn't beaten yet. I think we've beaten all the top teams, pretty much the top seven in the world, and the only one we hadn't beaten was MOUZ.
Their win over us at BLAST Bounty was fully deserved. They train very hard every day, and their two new players were in excellent form, so we didn't feel particularly down after that loss.
That was a game we should have lost.
Q: What do you think is the biggest difference between the last matchup and today? Because today looked pretty easy for you.
donk: Yes, I think we dominated all four maps.
We just started playing better and improved a lot as a team, that's basically it.
Back then, we were worse as a team, but now we have improved a lot and fixed many of the problems we had before.
Q: Do you think this Spirit with magixx as the IGL is starting to approach its peak? You look more stable now, especially at this tournament.
donk: That remains to be seen. The hardest part of being at the top is how to stay there. So we need to see what kind of performance we can deliver next after winning these tournaments in a row. Our next event is EPL in Katowice in a month. Let's see how we perform then, and I think it would be more appropriate to discuss this question afterwards.
Q: Why are you unwilling to lift the trophy?
donk: I don't know either.
Q: Is it just that you simply don't want to?
donk: I think watching them... will be more interesting.
Q: Watching your teammates lift the cup?
donk: Yes.