The BLAST.tv Austin Major Semi-Final was a hard-won battle for Vitality, the tournament favorites. Despite a rough first match on Mirage, MOUZ came in on a tear and kept Vitality down on Inferno with a 13-4 win. But it wasn’t enough, as Vitality kept their tradition alive, beating MOUZ on Train, and doing so handily with a 13-6 scoreline.
After the match, we spoke with Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás, Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo, and Dorian “xertioN” Bergman about what this Major has taught them and how they’re keeping their heads up against a team that stands to win their sixth Major. One of the things about MOUZ was that each of the other team members who walked through the pressline was ready and open to talking with us, really the first of the playoffs to meet the microphones and questions about their loss openly instead of sulking away.
Get BWT in your inbox!
Get BWT in your inbox!
MOUZ showed their professionalism, competitive spirit, and ability to keep their head up in a way. But to be honest, taking a lost in the BLAST.tv Austin Major Semi-Final when their opening dealed them a 2-0 loss, this wasn’t a run to be entirely sad about. If MOUZ showed one thing this Major season, it was that they didn’t have a problem playing from behind.
Speaking about their comeback on Inferno, the leader of that round torzsi said, “Going into Inferno, we knew that we needed to step up, and we didn’t want to let this slip. We know that they always beat us on Inferno, I mean [Vitality] is just the best Inferno team in the world. I feel like we just played as confidently as we could. We did the moves, we punished them. That was what was needed on Mirage and Train. Still, I think we were just nervous [on Train]. We didn’t have a good game, and I didn’t have a good game.”
In their playoff debut, the crowd was entirley agaainst them, with boos accenting every round win. But again Vitality, the Moody Center was on their side, torzsi, the MOUZ AWPer added, “It feels nice when the [arena] is cheering for us and supporting us, but it feels bad that we couldn’t give [the fans] the win. But what matters to us is in the booth and what we do there.”
After Jimpphat mentioned that it was the support of the fans that kept them in the game as long as they were, we asked him what this match and this Major taught him about himself. “I’ve learned a lot of resistance. At the beginning of the [Major], we didn’t play so [well], myself included,” Jimpphat started, “We went 0-2, and out of that loss, we came back and made it all the way to the Semi-Finals, and to do that, we showed a lot of mental resilience that we as a team built up together.”
MOUZ’s loss to Vitality in the BLAST.tv Austin Major Semi-Final pushed the team.
Adding to that, exertioN offered up a similar answer, making the team one to admire even though they didn’t make the Grand Final. “We learned that we are lions, willing to fight anyone at any moment,” exertioN said, “We made so many comebacks, and I think Train was starting to look like that if we didn’t lose the one round on B. Today, we just couldn’t get our combos going. It’s a shame we’re on the back foot so often, but at the same time, I’m really proud of the resilience we’ve shown.”
xertioN added, “We’re all super sad and disappointed not to make the final. We’re going to look back on the season, think about our next progress, but we’re going to take a deserved break at this moment.” And ultimately, despite leaving Austin without the trophy, xertioN still says, “One of the best experiences of my life here in Austin.”
But if there is anything MOUZ proved this season, as the three mentioned, is that they are a resilient force. Playing from behind, pushing the odds, that’s what has kept the team together and powering through. When asked about the advice that he had for anyone at home hoping to take on Counter-Strike professionally, Torzsi said, “Keep your head up and believe in yourself, that’s the most important thing, and work hard.”
