aristo: “We want to dominate every tournament in Asia”

TYLOO are a team synonymous with Asian Counter-Strike, for a long time they have been the power-house of their region with four Major attendances under their belt. However, more recently the team has not been able to find the same success as they failed to qualify for the most recent Regional Major Ranking event for IEM Rio Major.

Since not qualifying for the RMRs, TYLOO has made some changes by bringing in WingHei “⁠Freeman⁠” Cheung and Junsheng “⁠aristo⁠” Jin. The new look roster will be debuting at BLAST Premier Fall Showdown Europe.

For one of TYLOO‘s new additions, aristo, BLAST Premier Fall Showdown serves as the first tournament outside of Asia that he will compete in.

We were able to sit down with aristo ahead of the event to discuss joining TYLOO, playing with his former teammate Freeman again and facing off against the number one ranked team in the world in the first match.

You have recently joined TYLOO, can you talk me through the feeling of joining such a well-known organization from your region?

It feels fantastic. I never have never played an event that is as massive as BLAST, I was playing tournaments that are more local and not international, so at first, I might feel some pressure but now I’m feeling well and I’m willing to face the challenge.

You mentioned pressure, you and Freeman are coming in to fill the shoes of Attacker, who has been a long-standing member of TYLOO , is that slightly intimidating because he was such a big name in Chinese Counter-Strike?

It’s not actually because Freeman is well-known for playing well. Maybe at first, it seems like there could be some pressure on it but now, I’m only feeling confident.

You and Freeman have been teammates in the past, has that helped with the transition of joining TYLOO?

Yes, not much but yeah for communication and tactics.

You’re coming into TYLOO which was once the powerhouse of the region, TYLOO is synonymous with Chinese Counter-Strike, which seems to be changing now with other Asian teams taking over as the dominant force in the region. What do you think it will take to bring TYLOO back to the top of Asian CS?

First of all, I think the environment of Asian Counter-Strike is not as decent as European Counter-Strike, and I think for the entire Asian CS, we have to be more connected to the European CS scene and have more events related.

In terms of TYLOO, I think with BnTeT leaving, because he was speaking English before in the team and right now we have five Chinese and we can speak fluent Chinese, we have better communication and I think that’s something that’s going to make us play fluent again.

How has the communication been in the team so far?

It’s been much better, just better I’d say because communication is faster and more fluent.

You mentioned the general Chinese scene and how it compares to the European scene, now that you are competing in Europe, what would you say the biggest difference between the two scenes is?

The biggest difference is that there are not many teams in Asia, there are a lot fewer teams, so every day you practice with just those few teams. In Europe, you can practice with different teams every day and I think that’s a massive difference because every team has different tactics and different playstyles.

Speaking of the Asian scene, did you watch the RMRs, and what did you think about them?

I felt that for Rare Atom that maybe they were too nervous for it, they were too nervous to get stickers and I felt like they could have won it but they just didn’t. So I felt quite sorry for them. Rare Atom is a good team and I feel like they should have won it.

Moving onto the BLAST Showdown, your first game is against Vitality, how are you feeling about that matchup?

So currently, on the HLTV ranking, I think we rank about 191 and they rank as the top one team in the world. So for us, there is nothing to lose, so we have to do everything we can do, and just be confident about it.

Would you say you enjoy being the underdog in this scenario?

Yes, I enjoy it and I feel like we have the confidence to win it actually, to defeat them.

For the event overall and just coming to Europe, what are you hoping to gain as a team?

Definitely, we want to gain experience in international events, and we want to gain experience from having tournaments with top-tier teams. I think experience is what we want most.

For TYLOO, what are the aims for the future, and what aims have you set for yourself?

First of all, we hope that we can at least play 100%. Our first goal is to become the top team in Asia, that is for sure. We want to dominate every tournament in Asia. Another goal that we want to achieve is to compete with top-tier teams and then defeat them.

What would you say is the biggest thing you need to improve on as a team if you are to get to those goals?

Skills and experience. I think experience is the most vital thing to have, experience against top-tier teams is something that you really need in order to compete in the current Counter-Strike era.