Cloud9’s captain is mightily impressed with his new star rifler, who underwent a big role change to slot into the roster and shone in the Major qualifier.
Cloud9’s online beginnings with the new core featuring Timofey “interz” Yakushin, Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko and Kaisar “ICY” Faiznurov weren’t much to write home about, but the new team has come alive at the RMR to ensure their qualification for the Perfect World Shanghai Major.
A big part of that were the two new star additions in ICY, who lit up the server in the team’s qualification match against SINNERS, and HeavyGod, who ended the first European RMR as its fifth-highest-rated player.
Captain Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov is particularly impressed with the Israeli rifler, who has seemingly had no issues slotting into more aggressive star roles after being more of an overqualified hard anchor in his previous stint in OG, and not just because of his in-game contribution.
“He was not afraid about changing roles and different positions,” the in-game leader said about HeavyGod’s development an interview with HLTV. “He’s a really positive guy and I’m feeling this energy, it’s like a young me.”
If we want to see our real level, we need to show what we can do. You can’t show it if you’re nervous
Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov
“I’m really happy we found this atmosphere because Ax1Le and interz are really quiet, ICY is really young to show the emotions, so it’s really good that HeavyGod is an emotional guy,” Boombl4 went on.
Cloud9 now look ahead to the Major’s Opening stage, where Boombl4 hopes the team will shake off the nerves from the RMR. “I just wanna see more confidence in the next matches. It was really important to qualify for the Major, but everyone needs to step up individually to not be nervous a lot like we were in the RMR,” he said.
“Right now I’m saying to the team every day that we don’t need to be nervous. If we want to see how we’re playing, the real level, we need to show what we can do. You can’t show it if you’re nervous.”
I wanted to start with the first four months after you changed the core. Online was a bit up and down, and when we spoke to HeavyGod he was talking about that it was down to a lot of differences in opinions. What do you think were the issues at the beginning of this team?
I think it’s everyone coming from different schools, different teams, and it was a really hard three months to know each other. Of course we were thinking about the first Major, and this was the main goal, but our online results were not the best. Our main goal was Thunderpick as well, but we didn’t qualify and it was really bad, really bad feelings in the atmosphere of the team.
But after we qualified for the Major in the RMR, we feel more confident right now, and I think we can show good CS tomorrow. It won’t be as nervous as it was before in the RMR. Like I said before, it was different schools, ICY was in AMKAL, HeavyGod in OG and he was speaking English, and interz has some teamplay with Ax1Le as well, but with a different IGL, nafany. So the first three, four months were to know each other.
ICY and HeavyGod are two players who don’t have a lot of international experience, but they found quite good form in the past few months with the new team. Can you tell me your impression of them?
ICY is a really young guy and I’m trying to teach him day by day. I know he’s nervous a lot, I think the main guy who is nervous, but in the last match versus SINNERS he showed what he can do. Our goal is to give him this confidence level versus SINNERS in every match.
HeavyGod, this guy is evolving day by day. When he came into the team, we told him, ‘You will be the second caller in the team, the second voice.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, okay.’ He was not afraid about changing roles and different positions, he’s saying like, ‘Okay, I can do it.’ He’s a really positive guy and I’m feeling this energy, it’s like a young me. I’m really happy we found this atmosphere because Ax1Le and interz are really quiet, ICY is really young to show the emotions, so it’s really good that HeavyGod is an emotional guy. We can make the atmosphere in official matches and to hear something (laughs).
Otherwise it’s too quiet.
Yeah, yeah.
HeavyGod called himself very versatile, and that’s what you were just talking about as well. He went completely the opposite way from what he was doing in OG, from a hard lurker and anchor to a star rifler. What made you utilize him in this way?
I think right now in the team we have two star players, Ax1Le and HeavyGod, and we are two supports with interz. It was our way we think the roster will work, so we’re going this way. It’s really cool HeavyGod isn’t afraid about his roles because he’s a really young player and he’s ready for everything, so this was a good moment for him.
You also spoke about Ax1Le and interz. They’ve been pairing up a lot on different bomb sites, and I think we’ve seen better form from Ax1Le since the change. Do you think it’s because of that extra support he’s getting from interz, or what is it down to?
I think it’s all about the game. Ax1Le really liked CS:GO and maybe he needs more time to like CS2. Like NiKo – NiKo was starting to play CS2 and the individual result was not the best, but now he’s showing the best. I think Ax1Le is doing this as well. He needs more time, maybe. Of course the new teammates and new roles, he’s feeling more confident and more freedom right now.
You went through the RMR with a couple of stomps against two of the underdogs, then you struggled against SINNERS, and the matches against FaZe maybe showed you’re some ways away from the elite teams. I’m sure you’re happy that you got the job done and qualified, but what did you think about the performance overall?
I think we don’t have a lot of matches against top teams on LAN, so I think we just need more official matches on LAN. Tomorrow we have the first match with an audience, so we’ll see what happens, but I think only three times we played versus tier one teams, and three times it was FaZe Clan. I think we just need more matches to see how it works.
Did you take the RMR success as a confidence booster, or do you think it was more of a learning experience for you?
Of course we’re trying to get more experience and, of course, we have more confidence right now because, like you said, the first three, four months were not the best results online. After this, when you go into the RMR you want to qualify for the Major because if you don’t, it will be really hard for everyone.
Right now we are in the Opening Stage and I’m happy we’re not Legends because I want to play more matches, and if you wanna win the tournament and show you can compete, it’s a good chance to have more matches and more experience. We will see what happens.
When you made the changes in the summer, you eliminated yourself from the tier-one circuit, losing out on invites and not being able to enter the circuit. Coming into the next year, you’re ranked around 40th in the world at the moment, so the Major result is important. Does that put a lot of pressure on the team to perform here and get a good result?
I’m trying to not think about it, I’m trying to enjoy everything. In 2021 I won 10 tournaments in a row and right now I’m top 40, but before Cloud9 I was in 1WIN and playing online tier-three Counter-Strike. Life is going and I’m trying to enjoy living and playing Counter-Strike. I don’t think about crucial things, just playing and just enjoying.
What do you think is the ceiling for you guys here? Is there a goal?
I just wanna see more confidence in the next matches. It was really important to qualify for the Major, but everyone needs to step up individually to not be nervous a lot like we were in the RMR. It was two easy scores, 13-2, 13-5, and a really nervous match against SINNERS, but right now I’m saying to the team every day that we don’t need to be nervous. If we want to see how we’re playing, the real level, we need to show what we can do. You can’t show it if you’re nervous.
Leave a Reply