It was another successful LAN tournament outing for the main team, who battled their way to the final of the lower bracket, ultimately securing a spot in the playoffs later this month at the ESL Pro League Season 18.
It seems that appearing in the lower bracket is a lucky charm for blameF and the gang. Despite the usual implications associated with the lower bracket, just like at the prestigious IEM Cologne 2023 this summer, the Danish squad ended up conquering all opponents in their path to secure a playoff berth.
Coach casle: Our objective was to reach the playoffs, and we anticipated being able to achieve this goal quite comfortably
Coach of the Danish roster, Peter "casle" Ardenskjold, expressed satisfaction with his team's performance, stating that it met his expectations. He highlighted that the players demonstrated they could advance to the playoffs without encountering significant trouble.
- Overall, we delivered an excellent performance. We demonstrated that we could advance from the group stage without significant problems. If we stick to our agreements, we can display outstanding Counter-Strike gameplay, casle says.
What are your thoughts on making it into the playoffs?
- I'm genuinely pleased about it. Our objective was to reach the playoffs, and we anticipated being able to achieve this goal quite comfortably. As I mentioned, we demonstrated powerful gameplay once we found our rhythm.
In the opening round of the group stage, Benjamin "blameF" Bremer and the team suffered a 2-0 loss to Ninjas in Pyjamas, a team they recently overcame in the lower bracket at IEM Cologne 2023.
What went wrong against NiP?
- Most went right in our matchup against NiP. They just had a stellar day, while we experienced an off day. Individual performances determined a significant part of the outcome. Despite this, I noticed that everyone on our team gave their utmost effort. It wasn't a lack of motivation or anything of that sort. We gave our best, but unfortunately, it was just an off day. We didn't come out on top in any of the crucial situations.
What do you think about your playoff prospects? What do you need to focus on to succeed?
- I am confident we can pull off some unexpected victories during the playoffs. It might be too early to confidently state if we are at the level to secure complete success at this stage. However, if we hit our stride on the day of the competition, I am confident that we can triumph over any opponent.
- That being said, achieving victory requires us to be at our 100% best on the day of the competition. Our focus, as always, will be on ourselves and meeting our objectives for the tournament. Maintaining a commitment to the agreements we have amongst ourselves will be critical, the coach states.
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