nexa on tech issues in Rio: “The one that got in our heads was the round against FURIA”

OG find themselves in the 2-2 pool after three days of play in the IEM Rio Major’s Challengers Stage. Their journey started with a victory against Grayhound after an hours-long delay before falling to fnatic at the end of day one. Nemanja “⁠nexa⁠” Isaković and his team then got to experience the crowd on stage, where they lost in overtime against FURIA, before bouncing back on day three with a 2-0 victory over IHC to secure a spot in the final round of decider matches.

The international squad is still to play their best CS, according to nexa, who says that their performances at the last two BLAST events they attended and the RMR were better. Their hopes of advancing on the last day of play pass through the hands of Abdul “⁠degster⁠” Gasanov and Shahar “⁠flameZ⁠” Shushan. Today’s game was very important for [them],” the IGL said in the interview, “[…] they both played really well and I hope they can transition the confidence and level of play they had today into tomorrow. Those two guys are the win factors for me.”

The Serbian in-game leader also spoke about some of the issues that have plagued OG during the event, the matches they played, and how Maciej “⁠F1KU⁠” Miklas and Adam “⁠NEOFRAG⁠” Zouhar are responding to playing their first Major and even going on stage in front of a roaring crowd.

You made it to the 2-2 pool and you’re going into that last match of the Challengers Stage. How has the road been so far?

I think we’re yet to play our best CS, or to play as we did at both BLASTs in Lisbon and at the group stage. Even at the RMR, I think we played better there than we are doing right now. The great thing is that we have the last game, the redemption chance, and it doesn’t matter who our opponent is. The 2-2 game is always a coin flip and we won’t underestimate anyone. We’re going to go in with everything we have because I know that we all want to go to the next stage, we want to play against the best of the best.

We still need to wake up a bit, I don’t think we played bad, we had a close game against FURIA and I feel like we were cheated a bit because of that eco round, but it is what it is. It’s life. The game against fnatic, as well, we had that one in the bag, it was on us. We weren’t getting smashed, we were playing well, but we can play a lot better and I’m hoping that tomorrow we show what we’re actually capable of.

You mention the FURIA round, and in the first match you were affected by tech issues as well. Has it been something that has gotten into your heads, have you lost focus over it?

The initial tech issue against Grayhound, it didn’t get to us so much. We tried to keep positive vibes, we understand that it can happen, and we kept playing. The game against fnatic, we played that at like 22:00, it was super late and considering that our first game was at 12:15, it was a bit difficult to stay focused throughout.

The one that actually got to us, that got in our heads, was the round against FURIA. F1KU crashed at the beginning of the round but there was like HE damage for 2 HP somewhere completely irrelevant and the round could not be replayed, as per the rules. So that was really unfortunate and set us back, but I think we brushed it off. It had a big impact, initially, and we lost like the following three or four rounds in a row because of it, but we reset and brought ourselves back into the game. We played a good T-side, we had three match points and we could have closed it. We had good situations, but it didn’t go our way, the crowd gave them the extra push they needed and it is what it is at the end of the day.

We lost against Grayhound at 4-0, but it was like ‘OK, brush it off, it happens.’ Against FURIA we just won the forcebuy and broke their economy, we were about to steamroll the half, we were all feeling confident and then bam, get fucked. That one was rough, but it’s OK, it happens.

You played IHC today and won 2-0 with a 9-14 comeback on Ancient. What was that like?

We knew as soon as we took control of the economy and won our fights in middle that we would lock down the CT half. They’re a very good team, especially on T-side, they’re very drilled. When I watched them play their previous games they always know what they want to do, it’s not some random Asian CS or whatever. They have a plan, they have goals, very good utility, and I think something that was missing from the Asian scene — they actually shoot hard. They’re a great team.

The game was in our hands starting from Inferno to the end of Ancient and if we play confident, we play our game, and there’s no external issues getting to us, games like that shouldn’t be a problem.

You played out on the stage in front of the crowd. What was that like, especially for the younger guys who haven’t experienced an atmosphere like that?

I think we all enjoyed ourselves in front of the crowd. The vibes and the atmosphere itself was amazing. Even though the crowd was obviously against us I could still hear some of our fans cheering and screaming for us, as well. When I was on stage with the headset on, it was almost as if the noise cancelling didn’t work. I could still hear all of the screaming and shouting and everything. It’s definitely the loudest crowd, even in this smaller arena it’s the loudest crowd that I’ve ever played in front of, and for me it was an amazing experience.

What’s the confidence like in the team right now?

It doesn’t matter who we play now, we’re going to be confident. We know that the games we lost were super close and we’re playing at a very decent level. We can compete with anyone at this stage of the tournament. Today’s game was very important for degster and flameZ to get some kills, some momentum, they both played really well and I hope they can transition the confidence and level of play they had today into tomorrow. Those two guys for me are the win factors.

How about NEOFRAG and F1KU, how are they handling this new environment?

They’re handling it pretty well, so far. I think NEOFRAG is the kind of person who is lost in space in the sense that he doesn’t really know that we’re playing in front of a crowd. He doesn’t care where we are; if we’re at home, backstage, on stage, he doesn’t get affected by anything or feel any pressure. At least that’s the vibe I get from him, I sit next to him and he’s just a straight shooter. He doesn’t care if it’s in front of 10,000 people or at home, he’ll make the same exact plays all of the time.

F1KU, he’s been solid. I understand that this is their first Major, they don’t have much experience with crowds, so I don’t have the expectation set as high for them as I do for the other two guys, but they’ve been doing a really solid job from the RMR to now and I think they’re fulfilling their roles to the best of their abilities. They’re doing a pretty good job and I think that once they fully settle into the team and master their roles, we’re going to become a way more consistent team.

You said you haven’t been playing at your peak, your highest level. What’s that little extra bit you need to be at your best and make the Legends Stage?

The little extra is the communication, we have very sloppy communication — especially at the beginning of games. We’ve been starting halves down like 1-4, 2-4 in all of the games that we lost and the ones that were super close. It was best-of-ones, now it’s best-of-threes, so maybe that’s a bit easier because in best-of-ones if you sleep at the beginning there’s no forgiveness — if you sleep, you get punished.

The communication and being awake as soon as the match goes live, coming into it with full focus and confidence, that’s the key. That’s how we need to build it up. Start confident, know what we want to do, how we want to play, and then the confidence just comes and we keep speaking and we’re all activated. When we’re sleeping people start second-guessing, and one guy isn’t doing his job correctly so the other tries to compensate for him and then we become a bit messy. We can still make it work, but it’s not smooth.

Is there a way to work on this and get it smoothed out so that everyone is ready from the start?

It’s about the times that we play at, like we played games at different times; early in the day, late in the day, and then sleep is also affecting it as well. Like last night, we went back to the practice room late and didn’t even know who our opponent was going to be so we had no heads up about when we were going to play our next game.

We had to wait for the last game, Imperial vs. Cloud9, to finish, and they finished late at night. Then 30 minutes after that they told us ‘you’re playing at 11AM tomorrow’ so we’re like ‘OK, fuck, pack up and go sleep.’ That could be a factor, at least for me it is, it’s hard to plan the day to be mentally ready when you play if you find out right before you go to sleep when you’re going to play the next game. For me, personally, that’s a factor that comes to mind.