“I loved getting ENCE the first time around,” says CS:GO: Zakk

Anyone who thinks that only FURIA, Imperial and MIBR are Brazil in the world PGL Major Antwerp 2022 in Counter Strike: Global Offensive †CS: GO† This 9z against Brazil zakk, who is also the coach of the team that finished second in the Major for the Immortals. in an exclusive interview with This enemyhe mainly talked about qualifying for the most important tournament of the year, he explained behind the scenes, talked about his relationship with the Brazilian fans and also about the prospects for the conflict in Belgium.

Read more†

The march before the RMR

“Date”. This is how Zakk summed up the 9z rank for the Major. In fact, it’s impossible not to agree with the coach as it’s the first time the Argentines, Uruguayans and Chileans have gone this far. April 15, 2022 is a date that will truly leave its mark on South American CS history.

But making this story wasn’t easy… For Zakk, the start of this journey wasn’t the start of the Americas RMR, but when he joined 9z in 2020 and knew little about the cast, and xand him -even quickly changed course and went to VALORANT.

Within the team, Zakk had only bitten like the man he trusted. But in the end, it was exactly what the coach needed.

†It is not easy to transmit experience to young players, especially since a very experienced man is not always didactic. So it was great to have a bit on my side from the start. I learned a lot from him inside and outside the server. Seeing how he explained his point of view, today I can explain mine much better to the players. He helped me a lot in that regard and we guided this team very well. We made a great duo!“recalls Zakk.

During this march to RMR, the 9z coach highlighted two other crucial moments in making the rankings possible. One of them was the FiReLEAGUE title at the end of 2021 and “a game changer for the teamBecause there the players started to believe more in themselves. The other was the period that 9z spent and developed outside of South America.

†Our international experience has certainly been decisive. Without them, if we had just played in SA and gone straight to RMR, we would never have qualified.“She cheated.”The training here is much harder, more serious, more intense… From round one to round 30, every situation is taken seriously and we are constantly learning. Except for the construction problem, because at least in our country, it’s been a long time since the Internet crashed and lost a map or even a day of training, but that didn’t happen here. Everything was great and we managed to be very focusedexplain why.

CMA of the Americas

At RMR, zakk thinks the 9z championship format has helped a lot. With one set a day, he and Max were able to work on the next opponent and prepared very well:It was even easy to make, except on the last day PaiN looked at us. I admit that I was a little scared at that time. We came out of the game very tired against EG but everything went well and it was a historic game.†

This factor was crucial for the ranking, but on top of that, the coach’s motivational speech was a bit…different….

†I have to admit that my conversation with them was a lie. After 0-2, in the rehearsal room, I said that I had already experienced that with the Immortals, we were 0-2, we qualified and we went to the Grand Final. The truth is, it didn’t quite happen, but they thought it did. I don’t think they remember…he said laughing.When we broke up, David remembered it and said, ‘Look, it was like the Immortals’ and I just said, ‘ahem, that’s it!’ I said.” he added, laughing.

But of course, the Brazilian’s speech wasn’t just ‘lying for good’…

†I also told you that we fought a lot in our time on Immortals and we were much more united in 9z. It was a different time back then, so we’ve played about eight maps in training in the past and talked very little. We play a little less cards now, but we talk about it a lot, mistakes, reactions… Sure, there were tactics and stuff, but a lot of things were fixed in the line of sight. Now I think it’s more about reacting and being on the same page. Talking can be stressful because there are different opinions, but without conversation it is impossible to achieve the current ideal.†

Finally, classification came after so much effort. For those who don’t remember, 9z started the RMR with an 0-2 campaign and won five MD3s in a row. As Zakk so aptly put it, historically. No wonder the party is even bigger.

†The conquest was much stronger for them than I had imagined. Everyone cried a lot back then, and I think a lot happened in there too. I also remember Luken saying he was very stressed during this championship and he came to talk to me and said he was mentally exhausted and he didn’t know how to keep playing like this . When we graduated, I hugged him and said ‘was it worth it?’ I asked, then burst into tears. It was a beautiful scene to behold and well worth all our effort.Zack said.

Relationship with Brazilian fans

Being in a list with no other Brazilians, Zakk can often go unnoticed by fans in his country. Still, that’s not why she sees it as the main reason why this relationship isn’t as close as she’d like. There’s a lot more to him than that, and he explains it like this:

†I receive messages from Brazilians, but the support of the Argentine people is much more important at the moment. I think the problem is that people in Brazil still have a lot of prejudice against Argentinians because of MCC and I totally understand that because I’ve been playing CS since BETA and I’ve played a lot of CCC with Argentinians who fooled me. I understand very well… But you have to understand that you can’t generalize because if someone on my team calls someone a monkey or something with a racist connotation, I’ll kill them!“Zak explains.

†The guys here are really good people, fighting for the dream, so I really wanted Brazilian fans to understand that South America has to be united. It will be useful for everyone‘ continues the logic.

For Zakk, the relationship with the Brazilians improved somewhat after Gaules backed 9z at the end of the game. But he doesn’t always expect it, and he thinks it’s only natural that Brazilian designers are more interested in their country’s athletes and teams.

†Gaules and FalleN are the biggest opinion makers in our storyline. I think Gaules is even more so, because that’s where he constantly broadcasts and talks. I saw him lean towards us a bit at the end of our last match, which was pretty cool… But it was clear for the rest of the bt0 championship and liminha spoke more to the other teams. But that’s okay, let’s be clear. It’s the show. Free the show!†

PGL Major Antwerp 2022

9z’s first match in the first Major will be at 10:45 p.m. on Monday, May 9. The opponent will be ENCE, and oddly enough, that’s something Zakk and his team celebrated.

†I loved taking ENCE for two reasons. The first is that our team tends to give a lot more, both in training and in play, against such giant opponents. It’s even a weak point for us, but it will become a strong point for the Major because it’s the only way for them to have opponents. ENCE are also the team we’ve seen the most in 9z, long before we knew we’d be facing them in the first Major game. We watched at least one DEMO a day, even funny… So I think it will be a good game!†

While 9z knows a lot about ENCE, the European team is considered by them to be one of the two most dangerous teams in the first leg.

†The ENCE results speak for themselves. They come with a very big crescent and I think they are even candidates for the final. There is also a great team with G2, an experienced team and NiKo, m0NESY… For me, these two are the absolute favorites of the Challengers Stage. As for the others, I see them at a good level and I honestly think anything can happen. Even Mongolian men can surprise‘ said Zack.

The coach says he wasn’t more specific about the expectations.

†Our goal was to get here, so it’s already done. what happens from now on“, comment.”We’re here to learn a lot, have fun, enjoy the moment and the matches as if they were the last… It’s unbelievable, but we’re here at the Major! We may even be amazed, but we prepare really hard, about 9 to 10 hours a day, I think that’s the maximum possible time because after that it won’t work anymore. Let’s do our best!“, continued.

He ended with an unusual thank you at the end of the interview: “I would like to thank all the teams who trained with us. We’re just training against a Tier 1 team like FaZe, so even though it was a short training camp, it was awesome!†

The PGL Major Antwerp 2022 will be held in Antwerp, Belgium from May 9-22, and will chase 24 teams the Most Wanted CS:GO title and the lion’s share of the $1 million prize pool – over $5 million from BRL.