“We definitely need this win. It’s time”

Virtus.pro shocked at EPICENTER 2017 after defeating the new Major King, Gambit and then the world No. 1 team FaZe Clan in the group stage. Continuing this phenomenon, VP sent G2 away after winning 2-1 in the end.

Jarosław “pashaBiceps” Jarząbkowski talked about the match against G2, the preparation for rival SK gaming, the ‘plow’ phenomenon and what kept them motivated.

PashaBiceps, congratulations on reaching the finals at EPICENTER 2017. Can you talk about the match against G2?

All 3 maps are very difficult. Starting with the cache, we thought we could have gotten more rounds on the CT side, but we ended up playing really well on the T side. Everyone communicates well and especially plays as a team. On the CT side, we combined flash, grenade and smoke phases well. People help each other in every situation – if anyone needs help, we will rush to help that person without hesitation.

Map 2 is Nuke, VP’s strongest map. We were probably the best Nuke, but unfortunately we lost. We didn’t win the pistol on either T or CT, which made the game extremely difficult. Even though the team lost 14-16, it was still a very close match. We want to go back upstream, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. When at 14-15, despite having the upper hand, VP made a few mistakes and lost 16-14. We could have won or at least pushed to overtime.

The third map is Inferno, the map that VP probably practices the most. Every time we practice at home, we play the map Inferno. The team practiced a lot on this map because we felt everyone beat VP in Inferno, both LAN and online. The members know that one day, they will be able to take advantage of the practice. Here, Inferno really brings success to VP.

In the final, you will face SK Gaming, so did everyone prepare anything special for today’s match, what is the mentality when entering this match?

We played against SK a lot of finals and semi-finals so everyone knows how they play and they know how we play. Each team will only be given 1 map, since this is a best-of-5, the better team will win. We’ll be fine – you can lose 2 maps, but then win the next 3. Tomorrow will be a very interesting match.

A lot of people didn’t think VP would make it all the way to the finals. I talked to NEO before and asked him, “How can you ‘plow’?” So how does the team do this?

You know, at the beginning of the year when VP won DreamHack Las Vegas, we should have also won the Major in Atlanta. Unfortunately, that’s when we started having problems. We don’t feel any pressure from the organization or the people, it just comes from the ‘haters’ (anti-fans).

For me, the biggest motivation is that I am playing in Russia. This is probably the biggest non-major event for the organization, and this is where VP’s fans gather. VP needs to win, we definitely need this win. It’s time. I feel people are very motivated to win in Russia.

Last sentence, what do you want to say to the people who didn’t trust VP, and most importantly, your fans?

Of course if you keep winning, people will follow you. If you start losing, a lot of people will leave. I want to thank everyone who has been with me and Virtus.pro, I really appreciate this very much and I will always remember this. People come and go, but thank you for standing with me. I hope good things will come.

You know, it’s like the lottery sometimes. You win, you lose, but the most important thing is that we are always together. There were bad thoughts like “someone needs to leave the team, etc.” Only calm helped us through those difficult times.

Source: cybersport