HooXi on going down 0

发布时间：2025-04-21 10:32:12 来源：cs2 case opener 作者：casebattles

The Danish captain spoke to HLTV after G2 eliminated FURIA from the BLAST.tv Paris Major.

G2 blitzed through the competition in the Challengers stage of the BLAST.tv Paris Major, going 3-0 with wins over The MongolZ, Complexity, and Apeks. Upon returning to play in the Legends stage, however, the team were dealt a rough blow as they faltered 13-16 to both Vitality and Bad News Eagles, fumbling a 10-5 lead to the latter team to end the first day of the top-16 in the 0-2 elimination pool.

The European combine looked reinvigorated in a much better showing on day two against FURIA, crushing the Brazilian roster out of the server in a dominant 2-0 series victory. After the match, HLTV spoke to Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen to find out what went wrong on the first day of the Legends stage, with the in-game leader explaining that the pressure and nerves got to G2 when the matches came down to the wire. The Danish captain also gave his thoughts on the grueling schedule leading up to the Major and at tournaments, stating that it is "impossible to be fully ready" when there are two best-of-one games per day and sharing his dislike of that format.

If you are unable to see the SoundCloud embed, you can go here to listen to the audio version of this interview.

First win in the 0-2 bracket, a dominant 2-0 over FURIA. Tell me about that game, because you looked a lot better than you did at the start of this stage?

Yeah, I think everybody can have an off-day, and we definitely had one yesterday. We got hit a little bit by the nerves, the pressure, and just didn't play our game, we played not to lose. Today I felt like we looked more like ourselves, we continue to have good T sides, and then when we also start to get the ball rolling on CT, it looks good.

Where do you feel like that pressure came from since you started 3-0 in the Challengers Stage? That was kind of confidence-inspiring, but then the pressure started here?

I don't know, I think it's different. I think the pressure against Vitality came just because it's a close game and it's a best-of-one and you don't want to fuck up in the close rounds and be the reason why you lost. The pressure against BNE came because we're down 0-1 [overall record], we play against an underdog, we are up 10-3 and you're sitting there thinking, 'shit, what if it goes wrong?' So I think that's just where the pressure comes from, it's nothing really about expectations or anyone else. It's just coming from ourselves.

Ilya [m0NESY] is having a really good tournament, he was playing exceptionally well. Can you just tell me about playing with him during these matches and kind of the performance he's bringing? How is he being enabled by everybody else as well?

He's just insane. I've never seen anyone who's like, I don't know. It's like he's one with the game, he's born in the game. I think his movement, his intuition, everything is just a joy to watch.

Obviously, the last Major you made it to was with Copenhagen Flames. Now you're here fighting with G2. Can you just explain from your end, as you said there's pressure, but the difference between how you felt back then and how it feels now?

Well, it was two really special Majors with Flames because the first one was our first Major and we were not even supposed to be there, it felt like. The second Major, before we even started playing, I knew the team was dead. So it was weird in a way, but at the same time, there was no pressure in both of them.

Now I play for a top-tier organization, we've been number one in the world recently, and of course, there's different expectations both from the community, the organization, and also ourselves. This is in a way my rookie year in a top-tier organization, and I'm still learning to deal with the pressure, I think everybody on the team is.

You had a really good end to last year and start to this year, but then it's kind of reached a bit of a parity coming into this Major. How did you guys feel about that? A lot of teams were on a similar level coming into this, so between how you started the year and then came into this with not necessarily the rep of being THE team to beat?

I think it was a very small period of time that we were the team to beat. I think ever since the World Finals there's been a lot of teams who could win the title, but before it was more like us or Heroic, and now I feel like there's like four or five teams in contention. So that's the only thing that has changed for me.

Of course, we had a really good period and we won Katowice and World Finals, but if you look at it, it's not even that much that went wrong really. It was EPL, that we didn't prioritize that much, to be honest, and then we were not there at Rio because we wanted to practice instead. So, yeah, you can say it's a drop in form a bit, but I think it's not that bad.

A lot of teams have been telling me about this grueling calendar, the kind of constant games that you're obligated to play in as well with EPL, etcetra. I know that Vitality said that they put emphasis on this Major from the start of the year. Is that kind of similar to you since you said that EPL was kind of 'ehhh' and then you also skipped Rio?

Yeah, we definitely prioritized the Major, that's for sure. I think everybody to some extent does. I don't know, there are just some events that you just really want to win, right? Of course, you want to win all the time, but like Katowice, you really want to win, Cologne, you really want to win, the Major, obviously you really want to win. So yeah, it has been something that we've been looking for, of course, but yeah, nothing really to say about that.

Do you think now you have to de-prioritize events like EPL a lot more than you would have had to maybe a year ago?

Honestly, I don't really know because I've never been in this circuit before, you know, I haven't played too many tier-one tournaments, but the other guys are saying this is one of the hardest schedules that they've ever had. So, yeah, I think that teams have to prioritize differently and sometimes just accept that we are going into a tournament not fully prepared and not with 120 hours in the past two weeks.

Because it's not only the schedule in terms of the year, it's also the schedule when we are actually at tournaments. For example, yesterday I had to prep for the best-of-one. Then I had to prep for another best-of-one the same day, and then I get back to the hotel at 11:30 in the evening, and then I have to prep for a best-of-three today, and then I have to play it. And now I have to go back and prep for another best-of-three. So if I can find six, seven hours to sleep, I'm happy.

Probably a little harder for you [to put in a lot of hours] than it is for someone like m0NESY and NiKo as well?

Maybe. But they still have to stay sharp individually as well, and they want to work hard as well. So when you put everything on the line and you really want to do everything you can, then it's just a hard schedule.

I think it's so stupid that we have to play two matches, even if it's best-of-ones. I think it's so stupid we have to play two in the same day because it's just impossible to be fully ready and play the best Counter Strike. And also, I think I'm one of the IGLs that prepare the most, so it's hard to find time for me to practice individually and prepare the team.

Let's talk about that preparation for your next match. It's going to be a best-of-three against fnatic, who have two of your old teammates on it. So just tell me about that and facing them in a Major to knock them out as well?

Nah, it sucks [laughs]. It's literally one of the worst matches I could imagine playing against them, because one of us has to go out, right? And I don't want either of us to go out. I hope that they have success almost as far as us. If I could meet them in the Major final instead, I would much rather do that, but is what it is, we cannot control it. I will just have to treat it as much as I can as a normal match.

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