TheSwedishJoker

Blix • 14th February 2023

Magisk: "we're going to be enemies, but afterward, we're gonna be friends"

In this 2 part interview Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, sat down with Emil "Magisk" Reif about their time in Vitality and playing against his former team Astralis.

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: You've been a Vitality for about a year now. How would you say that the first year has been for you?


Emil "Magisk" Reif: I think the first year has been good and bad in some way. I mean, there's been good and bad about it. Obviously, winning has been, that's a good thing, but w

Blix • 14th February 2023

Magisk: "It's a lot about figuring out how people react in certain situations."

BLIX: Do you think that that new M4 update has had any impact on your playstyle so far? Have you had to change some stuff in the way you played the game and approach the game?


Magisk: No, I think for me, it doesn't really change too much because I'm usually playing like anchor positions, so now I have a good reason to play with 10 more bullets in that sense. So I don't really sit and spam like 200 smokes per round because I'm not usually in those positions. So it doesn't really make a differe

Blix • 6th February 2023

Vorborg: "The reason why I chose EG was more for the long-term"

During the media day for the group stages of Blast Premier Spring, TheSwedishJoker had the opportunity to talk to Vorborg about transitioning to the team, his thoughts about players and the changes to the map pool.

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: You are six months into your tenure as a coach for EG. How do you feel that the transition has been so far from being with a fully Danish team to an English-speaking team?

Daniel "Vorborg" Vorborg: Yeah, I think the full transition is s

Blix • 31st January 2023

Buzz: "a lot of people have eyes on Astralis"

TheSwedishJoker met up with Christian "Buzz" Andersen after his 2-1 win against OG.


Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: How would you summarize this first tier-one event with the main roster?

Christian “Buzz” Andersen: I think I've learned a lot. Obviously, we lost some matches in the beginning, and we really needed to play some officials to test everything we had in practice and find out if we could take what we have in practice into the officials. We just learned from that and c

Blix • 31st January 2023

Spinx: "We just said to ourselves, let's keep going. Let's not leave the foot off of the gas..."

We caught up with Vitality's Lotan "Spinx" Giladi both before and after their win against Evil Geniuses at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups to talk about the team's preparations going into the event and the pressure leading up to qualifying for the Spring Finals.

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: Congratulations on the win! How was it to finally get back into it after the winter break?

Lotan "Spinx" Giladi: It's good. It's nice to start the year with a win and I think it means more

Blix • 31st January 2023

gob b: "Those eight months have helped me to know how important everything is..."

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: Last year was a bit rough for you guys. You had quite a few events without a full roster and still managed to come second at ELISA and got to the Legends Stage at the Major. How was it for you guys and how did you manage through this period where you didn't have a full roster?

Fatih “gob b” Dayik: Yeah, it was not easy, for sure. It was hard to stay motivated as well because you're practicing very well and then one player is out again to illness or

Blix • 31st January 2023

gob b: "The only way for young players in Germany is to go to BIG right now and they should have at least more options."

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: Anubis came out not too long ago in November and was played at the BLAST for the World Finals. What have your thoughts been on that map so far in practice?

Fatih “gob b” Dayik: I was thinking after playing Anubis for two or three practices, I said I felt like they need to bring in more maps like this because it's a good map. I don't think anyone would say it's not a good map. I don't think in practice everyone loved it and everyone who I talked to

Blix • 31st January 2023

YEKINDAR: "In terms of the opener runner-up, I respect NiKo, I think NiKo is a great player"

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: YEKINDAR, you've been with Liquid for about half a season now. How would you summarize these first six months with the team?

Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis: I think overall the first six months were great. We definitely had a honeymoon phase where we were playing well until EPL, I would say... that was when people didn't know how we played because there was a lot of work done and there was fast growth and it was easier to play than after you show your

Blix • 30th January 2023

Aleksib: "headtr1ck is inexperienced, but with experience, he's going to be good."

At the media day for Blast Premier Spring Groups, TheSwedishJoker had a chance to talk to OG’s in-game leader Aleksib to discuss new player headtr1ck, what’s changed now that he’s here and the team’s overall preparation.

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: Your new AWPer, headtr1ck, was announced recently and you guys are coming here for your first event with him. How has it been so far?

Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen: I mean, it's been nice. I feel like I've been a part of this for li

Blix • 30th January 2023

degster: "OG helps me improve, not only in the game but also outside of the game"

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: How would you say that the first six months in OG have been for you so far?

Abdul “degster” Gasanov: It was interesting. I liked it a lot. There were a lot of things that I just needed to learn for myself, to be a better version of myself at least and be a better player. It also helps me develop my English and team-playing experience. So, the thought of joining grew on me, and actually, it was a good decision for me, even if it was hard sometimes a

Blix • 30th January 2023

Grim: " if someone's having a bad game, we can rely on other players to step up..."

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: Congratulations on the win, Grim! I want to start by talking a little bit about Anubis. Now last time you guys played Anubis was against your old team, Liquid, where you guys lost 16-2. What was different today against EG compared to Liquid?

Michael “Grim” Wince: So, I think when we lost that game, we had a huge team talk we went through and we were like, "guys, we all know we need to be better", especially on Overpass because we easily could have

Blix • 30th January 2023

NAF: "I think Anubis is a good step in the direction that we need in Counter-Strike..."

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: Congratulations on the win over your North American brothers in Complexity. I want to start by talking about Anubis. Were you guys a little bit disappointed that you weren't able to get that 16-0 and let them have two rounds?

Keith “NAF” Markovic: I mean, I got some friends on Complexity there, you know, with grim and all that. So, I don't wanna 16-0. I wouldn't want to do it to them like that. I'm happy they got some rounds, but we're confident an

Blix • 29th January 2023

dev1ce: “We are still just at the beginning of the process of learning about how each other work”

Following Astralis' match against OG, TheSwedishJoker caught up with dev1ce to get his thoughts on the tournament and what's next for the team.

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: We talked a little bit on the media day but I would like to ask you now, how has it been for you coming back on LAN and playing against pros instead of FACEIT?

Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz: I mean, it's obviously a big difference for me. It's still like a learning process. The first few tournaments here are jus

Blix • 28th January 2023

EliGE: "Anubis is a way more complete map compared to Ancient and Vertigo..."

Our interview with Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski continues with his thoughts on the latest CS:GO update, the North American scene and more.

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: What do you think about the new update so far now that you guys have had some time to play it?

Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski: I think that it's been more fun. I like it a lot. I think Anubis is a way more complete map compared to Ancient and Vertigo when they first came in, especially Vertigo. Vertigo was not an

Blix • 28th January 2023

EliGE: "We all just want to win and make new memories better than our old ones."

We caught up with Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski from Team Liquid for a two-part interview at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups. In its first installment he talks about Liquid's last season, changes in the team and more.

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: Did you practice in North America or Europe coming into this event?

Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski: We did both to start the year off and I'd say so far, it's been a decent start to the year. I mean before the Major we had our best prac

Blix • 27th January 2023

es3tag: "I'm just going to have to put my foot down instead of playing like six or seven really supportive roles..."

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: es3tag, congratulations on the win! I imagine that it feels really good now when you managed to help FaZe qualify for the BLAST spring finals.

BLIX: Mirage almost went to OT, but you guys managed to close it out. Why do you think that it got so close in the end?

es3tag: I mean, there's a lot of chaos on Team Speak. We definitely had a few, like, communication issues, but other than that, I feel like we were kind of controlling the entire way. We,

Blix • 27th January 2023

G2 jks: "We're synergizing really well together as a team."

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: Congratulations on the win and qualifying for the Spring finals. What do you think went your way today?

Justin “jks” Savage: I think we just had a really good game plan before going into the game. Everyone put together a good game plan. Mostly HooXi and Swani, but everyone else chimed in as well and I think we all followed it really well. I think we're a really good team and we just follow what Rasmus [HooXi] wants to do and in the middle of the ro

Blix • 26th January 2023

m0NESY: "I can see myself growing as a player"

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: So, m0NESY - 7th on the HLTV top 20, you won rookie of the year and highlight of the year on the HLTV Awards, BLAST world finals trophy, and Katowice fina all in your rookie year. How would you describe your whole first year in top-tier CS?

m0NESY: I mean, it was just an amazing year for me and for my team. I mean, it also could have been even better, I think, for us. For me, this year was just my experience here at tier one. I started with the BLA

Blix • 25th January 2023

huNter- : “It was tough even for him [XTQZZZ] because he couldn’t explain himself...”

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: You’ve been in G2 for a little bit more than 2 years now. And you finally managed to win a trophy after being close many, many times in the past. Has it sunk in yet that you have finally managed to get that long-sought trophy after so many tries?

Nemanja " huNter- " Kovač: I mean 3 and a half years it will be in G2. So yeah, I won the first tier one trophy at the beginning when I joined the team. After a couple months, I already won one trophy, but

Blix • 25th January 2023

huNter-: " if they remove Inferno, Nuke now and bring in two new maps it's not CS anymore"

huNter- chats with us about the new update at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups. Be sure to check out part one of our interview to here more from G2's rifler.

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: Last year CS came out with a new update from Valve. Nerfing the M4. Are you disappointed or do you feel like it was a good update from valve?

huNter- : I mean I was disappointed with the map changes that they were doing. Not because of the change but because they brought new maps again and not