Jee: "We plan to go to Europe for a bootcamp and see what we can achieve [at EWC]"

The Chinese player says that not bootcamping in Europe before the Major hurt the team in Cologne.

TYLOO have been eliminated from XSE Pro League in Guangzhou after losing in the quarter-finals to 9z — a team they also lost to at IEM Cologne —, in a three-map series that the Latin American squad closed out convincingly.

The season is barely underway, with the tournament in China taking place during what is the off-season for most teams, but Dongkai "⁠Jee⁠" Ji already shared some of his thoughts ahead of the next Major cycle, as well as showing his enthusiasm for the event in Singapore.

"Winning the Major might be a bit far for us right now," he told HLTV, "but reaching the playoffs is the current goal." That statement was currently the "highest dream," while reaching Stage 3 is perhaps a more feasible next goal.

Other than talking about the match against 9z and the next Major, the 21-year-old, whose personal goal is to be the best AWPer in Asia, also spoke about the importance of bootcamping in Europe, and was enthusiastic about the prospect of practicing in Europe before the Esports World Cup.

You lost the quarterfinal against 9z. Tell me about this game. What went wrong?

We had a good start on Nuke on CT side, but then we made a lot of mistakes. It wasn't very smooth. On the technical side, the opponent seemed to know our setups, which made things harder.

Nuke is 9z's strong map, so they performed well there. On map two, we played our game and had a good performance, but on map three we only managed four rounds. Our CT side was a real letdown.

You also lost to 9z at the Major. Was getting revenge important, and did you work on your mistakes against this specific opponent?

In this match, the map veto was different from last time; Overpass was removed from the pool, so it was a different situation. But I think the main reason for the loss is that our overall level still isn't quite strong enough compared to 9z. They have more profound map skills, which is why they performed better. Also, three of our teammates had the flu, which affected our performance.

Initially, your team wasn't supposed to be here. You got invited after another team withdrew. With it being a LAN in China in front of a home crowd, how important was it to attend and perform well?

It's very important for us to perform at our home venue. As a Chinese club, we get so much support from our fans. TYLOO is one of the most popular CS teams in China. Even though Chinese teams aren't at the level of European ones, we still get a lot of attention and support here.

TYLOO has a profound history in China, so when we play at home, we represent China, and that's a great pleasure. Playing against other teams, wanting to win every tournament in China, especially at a home venue. Chinese fans are really emotional and passionate. Their cheering makes me really excited. I love playing in front of an offline audience.

You reached stage two at the Major but couldn't go deeper, and here you had a strong group stage but got knocked out in the quarterfinals. Are you satisfied or disappointed with this kind of performance?

For a team like ours, the goal is always to do better than last time. At the last Major, we went out 0-3, and this time it was 1-3. So we improved compared to before, and we want to keep progressing step by step.

We want to break into the playoffs. That's our highest dream. Winning the Major might be a bit far for us right now, but reaching the playoffs is the current goal. And personally, I want to be the best AWPer in Asia!

What does the future hold for the team? What are the next steps TYLOO will take to become more competitive and chase that Major dream?

For Asian teams, it's really important to go to Europe for bootcamps. Before this Major in Cologne, we didn't do a bootcamp in Europe, so it was actually a bit surprising we still made it to Stage 2. But as an ambitious team, we still need to put in more effort.

For the Esports World Cup, we plan to go to Europe for a bootcamp and see what we can achieve there. TYLOO is a team with high ambition, and our next goal is to reach stage three of the Major.

[Shouting] Singapore, Singapore, Stage 3, TYLOO!