Legacy AWPer Santino "try" Rigal has said that he is relishing the chance to prove his worth at the highest level after several years of ups and downs.
The Argentinian averaged a 1.17 rating as Legacy progressed out of the EWC group stage with wins over Ninjas in Pyjamas and MIBR and a defeat to FaZe.
The French event marks try's debut tournament for Legacy after taking over the AWP from Guilherme "saadzin" Pacheco. He is now preparing for his first playoff appearance at a Big Event since ESL Pro League 20, almost two years ago, with Imperial.
"I'm very happy," he told HLTV after the match against MIBR. "It’s been a really tough few years for me, playing a tier-1 event here and there but never consistently, never a full season.
"This is the first team where I'll have the chance to prove myself in tier-1, and I'm very happy to have the chance to return to tier-1.
"I think my level is improving little by little. I believe I am not at my peak yet. I am working to get there."
Earlier this year, try joined Passion UA from Imperial hoping to take the next step in his career, only for the project to fall apart within months.
He had more offers on the table, from other Brazilian teams and international projects, but it didn't take him long to decide where he wanted to go.
"I already knew latto and dumau [from 00NATION] and the staff," he explained. "I only didn't know arT and n1ssim, but I've been greatly surprised by their level.
"arT is an excellent captain. I get along really well with him. He's very smart. I really like how he makes the team play.
"It ended up being a pretty easy choice for me."
try hopes that Legacy will help him achieve one of his biggest goals: winning an international title. Only three months ago, the Brazilian team successfully defended its CS Asia Championship trophy after beating Falcons — who would go on to win the IEM Cologne Major — in the final.
The jump to Legacy, who are currently ranked eighth in the global VRS, came at the right time for try, with Argentina set to host its first-ever Major in Buenos Aires in less than a year.
"I'm very excited for the Major in Buenos Aires," he said. "I never imagined that there would be a Major in Buenos Aires.
"I'd like to thank FiReSPORTS for making it happen. And I hope we will reach the playoffs of this Major, which is going to be very cool."
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Marco 'Snappi' Pfeiffer
Martin 'stavn' Lund
Rasmus 'sjuush' Beck
Roman 'n0te' Hamze
Kacper 'xKacpersky' Gabara
Richard 'Xizt' Landström
Guilherme 'saadzin' PachecoPast 3 months
Legacy
Andrei 'arT' Piovezan
Eduardo 'dumau' Wolkmer
Bruno 'latto' Rebelatto
Vinicius 'n1ssim' Pereira
Santino 'try' Rigal
Alan 'adrrr' Riveros
FaZe
David 'frozen' Čerňanský
Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken
Ryan 'Neityu' Aubry
Jakub 'jcobbb' Pietruszewski
Jason 'JBOEN' Boe Nielsen
Niclas 'enkay J' Krumhorn
Falcons
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
René 'TeSeS' Madsen
Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov
Maksim 'kyousuke' Lukin
Danny 'zonic' Sørensen
MIBR
Linus 'LNZ' Holtäng
Lucas 'nqz' Soares
Breno 'brnz4n' Poletto
Felipe 'insani' Yuji
Carlos 'venomzera' Eduardo
Nestor 'LETN1' Tanić
Imperial
Santino 'try' Rigal
Vinicius 'VINI' Figueiredo
João 'felps' Vasconcellos
Lucas 'decenty' Bacelar
Kaiky 'noway' Santos
Santino 'try' RigalPast 3 months
Imperial
Guilherme 'saadzin' Pacheco
Vinicius 'VINI' Figueiredo
Lucas 'decenty' Bacelar
Kaiky 'noway' Santos
Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedes
Marcos 'tacitus' Castilho
Passion UA
Tiaan 'T.c' Coertzen