After MOUZ confidently advanced to the ESL Pro League Season 24 playoffs with a 3:0 record, we spoke with Spinx. The player talked about the advantages and disadvantages of young talents, xertioN’s development in the IGL role, and the influence of coach sycrone on his development.
Spinx also shared his thoughts on his own playstyle following the roster changes, assessed the new system for distributing Major sticker revenue, and explained why he preferred the old capsule system.
Full interview with Spinx is already on YouTube!
Hi, Spinx! Congratulations on making the playoffs with a 3:0 record. First question: what do you think are the main advantages and disadvantages of young players in a team’s roster?
The main advantage of young players joining a team is that they learn very quickly. Usually, young players have good aim, a lot of energy and motivation to prove themselves. Their egos are not yet formed, so they are easier to work with.
As for the disadvantages — they still lack experience. I think that sometimes having a bit of an ego can even be useful, but usually young players don’t yet have the proper work discipline. They come, for example, from FACEIT, so they have a lot to learn about team play and how to play as part of a team.
I’m not necessarily talking about my teammates, but young players in general. But yes, I would name insufficient work discipline and a lack of experience as their main disadvantages.
How much has xertioN changed as an IGL over the past five months, and how much has sycrone helped him develop in this role?
I think xertioN has changed, but I would say only a little, not dramatically. He was a pretty good IGL from the beginning, so you can’t say that he needed to improve a lot.
Of course, he needed to adapt to the role and develop his own style. And, of course, our coach sycrone helped him a lot with that.
They had a lot of sessions together, they have a great relationship, so they work together a lot in the practice room. At home, they also sometimes prepare the plan for the next day together the evening before and do similar things.
So I’m sure sycrone helped him a lot. xertioN has changed somewhat, but I wouldn’t say there were any dramatic changes. I think he was pretty good from the beginning.
How has your playstyle changed after the new players joined the team?
If we’re talking about whether my playstyle has changed, I would say a little. Maybe I have more responsibility, more leadership and help the team more because of my experience.
But individually, my playstyle hasn’t changed much. I don’t think it is dramatically different from what it was before.
I feel comfortable now. I think we are playing quite well, so I feel comfortable and confident in my abilities.
What do you think about the new Major sticker system, and do you think the way the money is distributed is fair?
I think the money is distributed fairly enough. I don’t think it makes sense when one player earns a lot of money and another earns much less.
As far as I remember, there was information that the smallest sticker payout was only around $14,000.
I don’t know exactly how much each person earned, since it depends on your Valve ranking and other factors. Of course, we all know that the payouts this time were not as big as at previous Majors.
But I think the main problem is the sticker system itself. Personally, I really liked the capsule system, when you open a capsule and don’t know what you’re going to get. You can get a gold sticker that is worth a lot of money, or you can get something else.
Now it’s more like you simply choose the sticker you want and buy it. And I think that’s a big difference and the main reason why players didn’t earn as much this time as they usually do. You no longer open capsules — you simply buy a specific sticker.
So there aren’t even capsules now?
Exactly.
You didn’t have the best performance at StarLadder StarSeries, but here you have already confidently made the playoffs with a 3:0 record. What helped you turn things around, and what exactly did you work on during the break?
After Barcelona, we had a good discussion about what the problems were, why we couldn’t perform the way we wanted to, and what we could do better. After that, we simply continued working on everything we talked about and practiced it ahead of the tournament.
I think it’s also normal when a team changes its roster and immediately shows a very good result — for example, winning a trophy at the very first tournament. After that, there can naturally be some kind of dip.
I’m just glad that it happened at a tournament like this and not at a Major or some other big competition. So we’re simply learning from our mistakes and working on what we can improve.
And the final question. Your previous rosters had some difficulties performing on big stages. How do you assess the current roster’s ability to show its level in the later stages of the tournament — in the semifinals and final?
I feel more confident. I think we have all the necessary pieces. They were actually there in the previous roster as well, but now I feel a little more confident.
I think we are ready for this. We all really want to show our level on the big stage. For me, the main goal is to show quality gameplay on stage in front of the spectators.
After a confident 3:0 start, MOUZ continue their fight for the ESL Pro League Season 24 trophy. The team has already shown that its disappointing performance at the previous tournament did not become a serious problem, and now it has the opportunity to show its level on the big stage.
For Spinx, the main task remains simple — to show quality gameplay in front of the spectators and prove that the current MOUZ roster is ready to fight for the highest places.
As a reminder: "I always wanted to stay with Vitality" — apEX on 8 years with the club, m0NESY, BC.Game, and the future of his career.
