huNter-: "We don't want malbs to be NiKo"

I was disappointed to not be there to help the boys, it was heartbreaking for me to watch my team play without me for the first time and not be able to help. Especially because we had a really good bootcamp with hades and we were really ready for Astana.
It just feels bad to not play, we haven't been able to practice because they've been there playing and I've been at home, so now we'll go to Dallas without having been able to play with each other for some time.
But, I'm really proud of the effort that the boys showed. They really tried their best for me to get there first of all, and then they played great. they had unlucky games, especially against MIBR and ODDIK, and I think they could have won those, but it is how it is. I'm proud of the effort, two wins with a coach and a stand-in is a really great result.

He's a very good guy, a very good teammate who is ready to do anything for the team. He appreciated our call to play, so he's grateful to be with us and we're grateful to have him. He's a very nice guy, very humble, and he's working really hard. He's ready to do any role, any kind of support, and I'm really happy to have him in the team.
He played really well in Astana for his first event and first games for G2, so I'm very happy with his efforts so far.

It hasn't changed them that much, I'm not the kind of guy who goes in expecting to win the event. For me, everything is one game at a time. The first game in Dallas, for example, is against Lynn Vision. We just need to focus on that game and then go step-by-step from there.
First, we need to play out the group stage and see how everything is, and then if we play good CS, I'm looking forward to playing a playoffs after that. I think we're capable of getting to the end, it's really difficult to win tournaments nowadays because of how many good teams there are, especially Vitality.

[laughs] Yeah, since then I'm the only one left from that team. There's more guys from that team in Falcons than in G2, that's crazy for me.
But yeah, it was a crazy story. We won Katowice, we won Cologne, but that Dallas is something I'll never forget. The whole crowd was with us with Stewie, and that was just amazing.
After two or three months I would think about it and it was like a dream, we lost against Vitality pretty hard in the group stage and then we beat them in the final. The whole story was crazy.
I'm really proud of what we did at the time, I'll never forget it.

I've been watching Astralis because of HooXi, and I'm really happy to have him back. He's a really good guy and we have a lot of good and bad memories that we went through together.
We're really good friends outside of the game, we write to each other and alwayssupport each other. I'm really happy that he's back and that he's doing good individually, I just hope he'll keep going like that and I think that Astralis is a good team for him. He has good teammates around him and he'll be good for them. Sadly, they didn't pick him up earlier, because that was my expectation before cadiaN, but they didn't and I think they'll be much better with him now.
I'm looking forward to seeing him, I wanted to see him in Astana so bad so we could get a drink together and talk about life. We haven't seen each other since he left, it's been a year almost.

It's been really tough for us since the beginning of the year. Losing NiKo was tough, losing m0NESY was tough, but we've had some decent results. First event we got to semis, PGL Bucharest we got to the final, so it wasn't that bad, but it's not good either.
I feel like I haven't played for three months now, the last game I played was the Bucharest final with m0NESY on the team, so I'm just looking forward to playing more and seeing what we can do until the end of the season. Dallas is very important for us, and the Major is the most important event for everyone, so it's a big time ahead of us.

Yeah, at the beginning everyone wanted malbs to be NiKo, and malbs himself wanted to be NiKo. But being NiKo isn't easy, it's not impossible, but it's very hard.
Now malbs has changed a bit and he's doing better, we just want malbs to be malbs. We don't want him to be NiKo. I think he's doing great, he's a good teammate and a good guy and he's shooting insane. He's getting more experience in the roles now, it's not easy to switch all the roles he has switched, he needed time, of course.

I think he's a very consistent anchor, that's what we didn't have for the last however many years, to have a guy you can count on to do good job whenever he is alone. We always had improved anchors, malbs was one, Snax is one, but HeavyGod is one and that's what we didn't have before.

I've thought about it many times, I've even been asked to do it by a number of our coaches. It's really tough to say now, I don't think about it right now, because right now I just want the season to be done.
After the Major, I will consider what G2 will offer me and what we'll have, it's really tough after what happened in the last couple of months. It's been tough for me and for everyone in the team. It's hard to focus on it now.

I feel good, I feel good without the RMR because the teams that are on top deserve to be at the Major, but I do feel sorry for teams lower down because they had more chances to make it with the RMR. I understand that because I played for CR4ZY when we qualified for the Major, so I get it if those lower teams don't like it.
The format is good, though. If you've been good throughout the season and deserve to be there, you will be there. I think that's very good.