acoR: I'm not sure how far Spirit can go in the Spring Group Stage either
Frederik Gyldstrand | acoR has undergone more challenges in early 2024 compared to a long period before.
GamerLegion, a newcomer in BLAST, recently secured spots in the Spring and Fall Group Stages, providing them significant opportunities to compete against top teams. acoR is confident in facing top-tier teams after their struggles in the previous season.
"Last season, we were the first to be eliminated in the last four events, even though we were considered a frontline team. So, the last phase of the previous season wasn't great. Being invited to these major events might help us maintain our ranking. It also means the team can participate in larger events than initially expected. Our current ranking is far from where we were last year."
GamerLegion is in Group B with FaZe, Liquid, and Spirit, a formidable but opportunistic group.
"I can say that when we learned about the groups, it was indeed a very strong group in terms of strength. Now that we know Spirit's players, donk and magixx, can't participate in the event, losing their strongest player and the strongest main defender, they have been weakened a lot. I don't know how far Spirit can go, and I don't know if they can handle all of this. As for Liquid... I haven't followed their matches for a long time, but I saw some of their achievements, and they have also suffered some setbacks." (Liquid lost to M80 and missed IEM Chengdu)
acoR is not surprised by Liquid's performance, despite having a lineup full of talented players. Perhaps, at the moment, they haven't found their rhythm.
"You can say this is a new team, but you can't have higher expectations for a new team. Yes, everyone on their team is very talented, and maybe you can have higher expectations for them. But new teams are often like this, aren't they? Maybe it's difficult to find a suitable playstyle at the beginning and integrate everyone well, so it usually takes a few months to see a stable team."
Many top teams might have started training long after the Christmas break compared to GamerLegion.
"We started training on January 3rd. Two days of training on January 3rd and 4th, then went to a training camp in England, and returned home on the 15th. We have been training from 3-4 days ago until now. So, I would say we have been working hard in training. My game time might be the longest in a while, playing 130 hours in two weeks. I feel great, but I still think CS's new version is a bit weird, clumsy even. Like the AWP, it's challenging to get used to. When you play, it feels strange."
Q: Can you try to express these differences in language?
A: "I feel that kill judgments are sometimes completely inaccurate. I have many times when I feel like going back to CS:GO. You shoot, but the bullets are not there, just disappearing."
Q: The transfer market has become much hotter in recent months than before. Most teams have prepared for the Copenhagen Major, but for teams like Falcons, who suddenly want to form a top team, it has also triggered a domino effect in the transfer market.
Among Danish players, the most high-profile transfer is stavn and jabbi moving from Heroic to Astralis. This means Heroic suddenly had to sign nicoodoz from Preasy. But during this time, there haven't been many rumors about acoR. Have anyone made offers to you in this regard?
A: "No, not this time. I know Astralis was very interested in me before, but the contract and its terms weren't quite right. So buying out my contract and the length of the contract didn't fit my expectations. Overall, just when I was about to renew my contract, a few weeks later, they came to me. But this time, no one contacted me. I believe they also value rating data. When I'm compared to players like nicoodoz, there aren't any standout statistics.
The interview was released before the match against FaZe, so acoR did not discuss the feelings of defeating FaZe.
