Just after they won StarLadder Berlin Major 2019, we’ve interviewed Emil “Magisk” Reif from Astralis. You may just watch it on YouTube or you can find the transcription below.
Gamerbase: Against Team Liquid, you’ve picked Vertigo. Some people thought that’s because both of the teams weren’t prepared as much as you are prepared to other maps. Did you prepare enough just after it got into the pool? What was the reason for picking Vertigo?
Magisk: I think the reason was actually practicing a lot and pug like throughout the whole bootcamp we had before this tournament. We put a lot of effort into actually playing the map and making sure we found out the meta and how other teams are playing it. You know, finding all these ways people are playing it, copying it, getting good at it, feeling confident about it and eventually being able to play it here in the big match. It’s definitely because we felt confident about it but also because we had a good idea that they weren’t the best team on it. Because of the break they had, they didn’t have too much time to actually play all maps and keep up on all maps. We had a good idea of that Vertigo was probably one of the maps they probably couldn’t give so much time. I’m not saying they are really bad on the map, but I think it showed we are the better team in the end on Vertigo and that I’m happy it paid out.
Gamerbase: What was the most challenging team for you in Champions Stage of the Berlin Major?
Magisk: I mean we lost against NRG so I definitely think that they are pretty good opponent at challengers stage, but I think also team CR4ZY played pretty good. They have pretty good individual players and you could definitely feel that they really wanted to win as well so I think it would be NRG, but CR4ZY was a good opponent as well and it was a fun match to play.
Gamerbase: Astralis was dominating the era for a long while but lately, you were slightly worse. Even though this, you’ve never changed any player in the roaster, but some teams prefer to do such changes quite frequently. Do you plan to stick with the same squad for a long while? Have you ever thought to change a player in the roaster?
Magisk: No, It’s wasn’t even a topic at all. We’ve never talked about the idea or anything like that. We’ve won almost everything in 2018, we started 2019 pretty good, we’ve won a major and we won São Paulo. Yes, it’s been a rough few months, but I think it’s easier to just quit the project. Just giving up and maybe changing some players… But I don’t think that’s the mentality anyone on the team have. I think everyone knows their place in the team and they know how to play in a team. We all know how we should improve ourselves both individually but also as a team. Also, we are just good mix of people outside the game. I think we are always having fun, we are always enjoying each others company and I think it’s really important if you want to stick together and play on the same team but also if you want to be good in game. Anyway, it’s never been actually a topic we’ve talked about and I don’t think it’s gonna happen in a long time.
Gamerbase: That’s really nice to hear, thank you for your time.
Magisk: Thank you.
