Falcons remain on the hunt for a trophy in the Fall season coming into IEM Beijing, where two of their biggest rivals, Spirit and Vitality, are absent.
Two weeks without officials since their fourth-place finish at Thunderpick World Championship have seen the team go back to focusing on the basics after playing scared, stressed and overpeeking repeatedly got the better of them.
"The most important thing on this level — it's going to sound weird — but I think to remember the basics that you have learned from the beginning of CS," Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov told HLTV on the media day at IEM Beijing. "They're very basic things. It's kind of how to play off your teammate, how to support him. Analyze as fast as you can how to play in the situation: you should either swing here or you should not. We shouldn't really overthink it too much."
The Russian sniper also spoke about Maksim "kyousuke" Lukin's dip in form, stating that he hasn't seen it dip in practice or on FACEIT.
"I just think sometimes maybe during officials, he thinks he's always forced to say something because he has a very important role, very important roles where he has a lot of responsibilities, let's say, to say to the guys what he sees and what he hears," m0NESY said.
"And maybe sometimes he overthinks and he thinks that he's forced to say something, to always do something. But everything that he needs, most of the time, is to just focus on his crosshair and be himself."
Watch the interview here.
m0NESY, media day before IEM Beijing. A couple of weeks off for you since Thunderpick, so what's the mentality like coming into this event after your exit over there?
Good question, good question. What mentality? Mentality, personally, I always come to the tournament, I would say, very confident. Obviously, there are a lot of good teams, and there are a lot of teams that we can win and lose against. But I always come with the mentality that we should always show a good level of CS, personally and team-wise. Always with a strong mentality.
Mentality has been the thing you are trying to find recently, right? I know zonic talked a lot about trying to figure out your way through some of the stress you all are feeling during games, and sometimes playing a little scared. How have you worked on that leading into this?
Yeah, I think sometimes we should remember our strengths, strengths that we had when Finn joined our team, strengths that we were building together as a team. So I think after the Major, after the vacation, we just forgot some things. For example, at the Thunderpick tournament, we threw away the game against BETBOOM and also against Aurora the first time. The first map against BETBOOM and first map against Aurora, we won. I think we smashed it. And after, we just kind of, I don't want to say relaxed, but we threw away the games. I don't know how to explain.
I think we also need to remember sometimes the basics; it comes with teamplay. Obviously, playing not scared or playing stressful — you always have some rounds where you feel a bit stressed, but it shouldn't really affect you, give a very bad effect on you in the game. You shouldn't play not to lose, and not scared. You should always play with confidence and with the experience that you have. You should always rely on your intuition and these kinds of things.
And yeah, we just tried at home to... It's hard, for example, in five or six days when you have a tournament, to prepare everything to be as sharp as you can. But we try our best because we know what we are capable of.
Do you know why you've been struggling in that kind of aspect? Did you talk about it and figure out why you've been feeling stressed and what's led to this whole situation?
I don't know, but I think the most important thing on this level — it's going to sound weird — but I think to remember the basics that you have learned from the beginning of CS. The basics, they're very basic things. It's kind of how to play off your teammate, how to support him. Analyze as fast as you can how to play in the situation: you should either swing here or you should not. We shouldn't really overthink it too much.
But if you're a professional player, you can analyze faster. I don't know the word, I think it's [what separates us] from other players who are playing for fun in CS, that we can analyze the situation faster than any other non-professional player. So remember the basics and do not overthink.
Talking about those basics and those fundamentals, looking through some of the matches, that was definitely something the team was struggling with. I know overpeeks have been a big topic of conversation between some of the players. How much focus did you put into that? You say you're focusing on the basics a lot more in that sense.
Yeah. As I said at the beginning, I think we also need to remember what strengths we had when we played at the Major, and also before the Major when we took second places. We should rely on our intuition more as well, in the game. We should give good communication in the game, have very good comms. But when you practice, you have some good points to practice on. Let's say, for example, the point in practice will be communication, so you want to focus on that specifically. I think that was our first point, this goal, and obviously to play as a team.
Something else we've seen this season is kyousuke struggling a little bit individually and in some of the decisions [he makes]. How've you been talking about that in the team and trying to get him back to the level he was at before? Obviously he had a good Major, but it's been a bit more difficult recently for him.
Yeah, to be honest, I don't really see him struggling individually, for example, outside of officials. I think he's always in very good form. Maybe he thinks that he's not, but obviously, when you say individually, you don't always look at aim first of all. You look at the player at his full... How to say it? Like aim, comms, decision-making.
In general, of all the things, he's not really... Individually, he didn't really struggle, for example, in practice or when we played together on FACEIT. For example, before, at ESL Pro League, he just clutched 1v5 when we played FACEIT together. He just smashed everyone.
I just think sometimes maybe during officials, he thinks he's always forced to say something because he has a very important role, very important roles where he has a lot of responsibilities, let's say, to say to the guys what he sees and what he hears. And maybe sometimes he overthinks and he thinks that he's forced to say something, to always do something. But everything that he needs, most of the time, is to just focus on his crosshair and be himself. So maybe these kinds of thoughts in his head could affect him. But yeah, our coach, our assistant coach, our captain, everyone on this team is trying to help him because, yeah, he needs to perform well.
I've seen a little bit of criticism around whether he still has motivation. Winning the Major so early in a career, do you see that as an issue at all or do you think he's just as motivated?
No. Obviously players are different. Some players it can affect, your goal is done, your dream came true, yeah. For some players it is maybe, but not for kyousuke. Not for Maksim, definitely.
I also wanted to talk about your contract extension. You signed to Falcons till 2030. That gives you a lot of longevity in this team and secures your future. And there was a whole tease about whether it could be Spirit and whatnot. How does it feel for you being locked into this organization, this team, for the long-term?
Yeah, I'm very happy to stay in Falcons. We will have a very long journey together with them, together with this team, with the organization. I share the same goals, I would say, as Falcons.
They want to be the best organization, they want to be the best team in CS. I want the same. I want the same for Falcons, I want the same for our team. They have the same, we share the same ambitions, I would say. They're very... How to say it? Ambitious organization, yeah. They want us as players to perform on the highest level. We all want the same, and they give us everything to do this. So this is the most important, and they always support us in any way.
Obviously, yeah, we don't show the results right now, it's not what we want and not what they want, but yeah, we all want to perform at the highest level and we try because we also believe in ourselves. And as I said, we know what we are capable of, we are trying our best to... Not trying our best, but yes, we want to fucking win some tournaments. Not only the Major.
Low chances of us seeing donk and m0NESY together on a team then for the next little bit?
(smiles) People... I don't know. A lot of people wanted this. I didn't join Spirit, unfortunately (laughs). I'm joking.
I saw another interview from you that talked about Cache. It's not in your pool yet, but you said you'd really like to play it. In terms of the map pool, Falcons have struggled a little bit with trying to find a consistent home ground. Is that something that you are starting to explore? Obviously, you probably won't say if it's something you're practicing yet, but how nice would it be for you to play Cache and have that integrated into your pool?
Yeah. Cache is, to be honest, a very, very nice map. I watch a lot of officials on Cache. I also mentioned in some interview about ZywOo on Cache, for example, as an AWPer. He showed insane numbers on this map. I think it's like, I don't know, average 2.0 rating.
He was like 1.8 or 1.9 for a while. Yeah.
Yeah. It's, to be honest, it's insane. As I said, for me as an AWPer, I think this map is fantastic to play. You have a lot of space, you can build a lot of calls around AWPers as well. You can do a lot of aggressive things. Maybe not a lot of aggressive things, but at least this... sorry, this map for AWP, it's insane.
As a team, I think we could also fit on this map. And it could also be a difference-maker when you do the veto, because a lot of teams are not good on Cache, and by not removing Cache it would give us a lot of space to decide what other maps we want to play, and what to ban.
So is this something you are testing out?
We will see. Maybe before Singapore Major, maybe after already. Whenever we will have time.
karrigan loves to play around with the vetos, you know.
Crazy. Yeah. He's a crazy guy. You don't know what to expect from him.
And then lastly, Vitality aren't here, Spirit aren't here. A good chance for you to get a trophy. And also in terms of the teams you've lost to this season, outside of Thunderpick, it was mostly Spirit, MOUZ, Vitality who've played spoiler to you. You are playing NAVI in your first match, and they're starting to turn their own form around. How are you feeling going into that first matchup and how does that setup your whole tournament?
Yeah as you said, there is no Spirit, no Vitality at this tournament. That doesn't mean that the tournament itself becomes easier for us. This is a long way, and whoever we play against is always... how to say it? You always need to stay focused. Doesn't matter if it's a top-20 or top-15 team, or it's the top-one team in the world. I prefer to always stay focused, doesn't matter who you play against.
We play against NAVI, and I don't know, I always like to play against NAVI personally. This is the team where I grew up, the organization where I grew up. I think it's just nice for me to always meet them. It's also just fun to play against my friend Valera [b1t]. Always interesting games. Also, when we practiced against them, when we play against them, always interesting to play. They have this kind of style in CS that I like as well.
Maksim 'kyousuke' LukinPast 3 months
Spirit
Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov
Boris 'magixx' Vorobiev
Andrey 'tN1R' Tatarinovich
Myroslav 'zont1x' Plakhotia
Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets
Sergey 'hally' Shavaev
Falcons
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
René 'TeSeS' Madsen
Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov
Maksim 'kyousuke' Lukin
Danny 'zonic' Sørensen
Vitality
Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire
Robin 'ropz' Kool
Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut
Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan
William 'mezii' Merriman
Rémy 'XTQZZZ' Quoniam
Ilya 'm0NESY' OsipovPast 3 months
Danil 'donk' KryshkovetsPast 3 months