HooXi: “I thought I wasn’t good enough, and now I’m standing here with the trophy”

The G2 organization ended a five-year long Big Event trophy drought in Abu Dhabi following a 2-0 series victory over Liquid in the title-deciding match of the BLAST Premier World Final, with Ilya “⁠m0NESY⁠” Osipov and Rasmus “⁠HooXi⁠” Nielsen taking to the stage to lift the trophy together following the win.

2022 was a rocky road for the international composition, who began the year with the blockbuster signing of m0NESY and seemed to be in good form at the onset as they finished as the runners-up to FaZe at IEM Katowice. From that point on, though, the team struggled in their tournament appearances and were unable to truly contend for titles, ultimately resulting in two more changes during the off-season as Justin “⁠jks⁠” Savage and HooXi were brought on board.

The team initially impressed in the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 16, making the playoffs with a flawless record, but were ultimately eliminated in 3-4th place. Tragedy struck shortly afterward as the team were eliminated from the IEM Road to Rio Europe RMR and entirely missed out on the second Major of the year, ending the organization’s streak of 11 back-to-back Majors.

Coming into the last two events of the year, the BLAST Premier Fall Final and World Final, G2 had one last chance to make a statement. The former event ended in an early elimination as the team were sent home in 5-6th place by eventual champions Heroic, and upon landing in Abu Dhabi for the latter, HooXi received the devastating news that his father had passed away.

Despite the news, G2 and HooXi overcame their troubles from the year and fought past personal tragedy, recovering from an opening round loss to FaZe by defeating Outsiders, Vitality, FaZe, and Liquid en route to the trophy. After the final match, BLAST spoke to HooXi to get his thoughts on the win.

“It means the world to me,” the Danish in-game leader said of the win. “This is the event where I won my first arena match, and then I win the trophy as well, that’s pretty perfect.

“I think it’s obvious what I’m going to say next, I’m not going to stand here being a crybaby because I’ve been crying for a week straight, but obviously I wish that my father could see that I actually accomplished something. I think he would be proud of me for once.”

In a subsequent interview, HooXi added further context around his feelings since joining G2. “I said on stage that I didn’t want to be a crybaby, I can tell you I’ve been a crybaby for the last six months. The second day of bootcamp with G2 when I joined the team, I was sitting in my hotel room crying because I thought I wasn’t good enough, and now I’m standing here with the trophy in my hands… I honestly don’t know what to tell you.

“It’s been extremely tough, exhausting, by far the toughest year I’ve had in my career both personally and career-wise. I think I’ve slept, and this is not a joke, like I think I’ve slept maybe two hours average every day since I came to Abu Dhabi. That, combined with anti-stratting, just waking up in morning is tough.”

He also touched on the grand final match itself, speaking about getting off to a solid start on the CT side and how the team came together to secure victory in the end.

“I’m not shy to say that NiKo took over for a few rounds, he called insanely well, he killled everyone, did everything, and then I kind of got my groove back and that was exactly what I needed. I really felt like it was a team victory, so I’m super happy about it.”

NiKo’s calling helped keep the ball rolling for G2

In speaking about the upcoming year, HooXi was candid, stating that he hopes the team can keep up their trajectory heading into 2023 and that they can remain stable without roster changes shaking things up. He closed with some words for the fans, and what being on the receiving end of both positive and negative messages have been like.

“I love every single good message that I get, and I read everything, both good and bad,” HooXi said. “But I will say to the people who send bad messages, please think about what you are writing to people on the internet. You don’t know what situation they’re in, honestly I’ve been having a really tough time the last couple of days, all week, and it hurts even more when you get a bad message, so please stop the toxicity. Besides that, I’m so happy for all the support, especially from all the crazy Chinese fans.”