arT: "We know the [level of] CS and the potential we have"

Legacy locked up a spot in the quarter-finals of the Esports World Cup after making light work of Natus Vincere thanks to flying starts on Inferno and Ancient.

After the match, Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan gave his thoughts on the match, including the rationale behind the veto, and discussed Santino "⁠try⁠" Rigal's positive start to life with the team.

"Sometimes there’s a little bit of communication missing there for us to understand each other better and faster, but since he’s so skilled individually, he manages to stand out, even though we’re not on the same page all the time," he said of try.

"So I think this is also a process that will only get better."

Next up for the Brazilian team will be a quarter-final bout with reigning Major champions Falcons. It will be a rematch of the CS Asia Championships final, which Legacy won convincingly three months ago.

"They certainly will [be out for revenge]," arT said. "We’ve faced them before, so both teams know very well how each other plays. I think Falcons have also improved a lot since that CAC. So much so that they went on to win the Major.

"So, they’re definitely a different team now — a well-prepared team, a team that’s going to be confident. And it’s up to us to play our best CS, impose our style, and not let them control the match."

A 2-0 victory like that against NAVI is a result that many people will find surprising. Did you expect a match like this, or was it easier than you expected?

I think you always expect a tough match against NAVI; we’ve faced them a few times in the past, and I think we’ve come out on top in most of them. Today we had a few rounds go our way that allowed us to build up a comfortable lead, right? And winning the pistol rounds also helped a lot.

These were exactly the same maps you played against them at the Major, with a completely different outcome. What changed compared to the Major match? And what was the secret behind your victory on Ancient?

I think we prepared well. We knew their pick was going to be Ancient. I think when it came to the veto, both teams were a bit surprised, right? Because they banned Dust2, which we didn’t expect from them, and left Cache open — a map they haven’t played much. So I think that came as a surprise.

We also ended up banning Mirage. I also think that came as a surprise to them, because they don’t like Nuke that much, right? And there was also Cache, which they hadn't played but we had. So we knew there was a strong chance we would play Cache. So I think it was a surprise for both sides, but in the end, we didn’t need a third map.

In the second half on Inferno, w0nderful had some amazing rounds that kept NAVI in the game. Did you ever fear that you wouldn't be able to close the map out?

No, I don't think so. We knew we were creating man advantages and that we were playing the rounds well. I think it came down to the little details — both the 1vs3 that he won and the pistol round. We had advantages, but we just couldn't close it out, right? So we knew that if we kept playing the way we wanted to, we’d keep creating those man advantages, and eventually we’d be able to close it out.

After you won CAC in China, there were some comments, like, 'This is a tier-2 event, they can only win in China.' Do you think this is a good response to those who doubted the quality of the team?

We know the [level of] CS and the potential we have. I think that’s what matters to us. What people say will be more about the results themselves. And our job is just to do what we know how to do and always strive for better results.

This is your first event with try, who had another good performance today. What has it been like playing with him? And did you expect him to play like this right in this first tournament with the team?

I think try has adapted well to the team, but there are definitely still a lot of things we haven’t been able to figure out yet. For example, there are maps he didn’t play much before that we’re playing now.

We’ve also discussed a lot of things regarding his role on certain maps — things we need him to do. That aspect, too, takes a while to get the hang of. We haven’t had enough time yet to run through all the scenarios and go over all the situations on every map.

Sometimes there’s a little bit of communication missing there for us to understand each other better and faster, but since he’s so skilled individually, he manages to stand out, even though we’re not on the same page all the time. So I think this is also a process that will only get better.

What are the main differences between try and saadzin? Is there anything about try that has surprised you?

I think they’re players with a lot of potential; I think they’re very similar in that sense. I think they both have their strengths and weaknesses, and it’s more a matter of being able to fit try in a way that he feels the most comfortable playing CS, just like we did with saadzin. And of course, when you replace a player who’s important to the team, you have to change a lot of things, a lot of the structure, and he’ll even have to make some adjustments. So I think that’s the process right now: focusing on making these improvements and adjustments, since the team isn’t quite in sync with him yet.

What do you think went wrong in the match against FaZe?

I think we made a lot of mistakes on Cache in terms of execution. I think that threw us off a bit during the most important rounds of the game, and then it led to a lopsided score. We then lost the pistol round again, which really made things tough. I don't remember the other map. I think it was Mirage, but I'm not sure. But I think— if I’m not mistaken — we played the first half okay; we just couldn’t close out the second. So, I think it really came down to details.

With saadzin you won two CAC trophies. try's addition raises the bar. How far do you think the team can go?

I think we’re more focused on improving our CS, playing better, and staying competitive. We’ve had our ups and downs, with our last roster as well, and this is our first tournament, so we don't know how it's going to be or how far we will go. But that's our job: to play in this tournament, do our best, aim for the best possible result, try to win the trophy, and focus on this step — and then we’ll see how the next one goes.

Looking ahead to the match against Falcons, this is a rematch of the CAC final. They'll be out for revenge, right? What are your expectations?

They certainly will. We’ve faced them before, so both teams know very well how each other plays. I think Falcons have also improved a lot since that CAC. So much so that they went on to win the Major. So, they’re definitely a different team now—a well-prepared team, a team that’s going to be confident. And it’s up to us to play our best CS, impose our style, and not let them control the match.

Legacy

Andrei 'arT' Piovezan

Eduardo 'dumau' Wolkmer

Bruno 'latto' Rebelatto

Vinicius 'n1ssim' Pereira

Santino 'try' Rigal

Alan 'adrrr' Riveros

Falcons

Finn 'karrigan' Andersen

Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač

René 'TeSeS' Madsen

Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov

Maksim 'kyousuke' Lukin

Danny 'zonic' Sørensen

Andrei 'arT' PiovezanPast 3 months

Santino 'try' RigalPast 3 months

Natus Vincere

Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen

Mihai 'iM' Ivan

Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy

Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov

Drin 'makazze' Shaqiri

Andrey 'B1ad3' Gorodenskiy