The MongolZ ended a 14-month trophy drought at 1win Private Club Season 2, culminating a run through the lower bracket with a 3-0 sweep over PARIVISION to secure a title victory in their debut with Yesuntumur “nin9” Gantulga.
The 28-year-old spoke to HLTV after the match to discuss his early impressions of the team, their recent results, and being offered the opportunity to join the roster.
“Well, obviously I’m happy,” he began. “I wanted to be here. I’ve adjusted my roles accordingly because they needed something different than the other guys. So I’m trying to fit into that role, and I’m still trying and adjusting myself.”
nin9 also spoke about The MongolZ‘s limited practice time before the event and a need to fix the mistakes they made during their run, something which will be made difficult with back-to-back appearances at PGL Masters Bucharest and IEM Beijing.
“Hopefully we can win the next tournaments,” he said. “And it’s going to start the day after tomorrow, so we don’t have much time to practice and teams are going to be watching our demos and stuff, so it might be a little bit harder than this. But I think we can manage.”
Congrats on the victory. Win at your first event. Did you expect such a result?
Well, I was hoping to win, obviously, but realistically we didn’t have that much practice. So it was just map after map; we were making mistakes, and we were just fixing them on the spot. So yeah, happy we managed to get the win.
So you first lost to BIG, then you won over them. Did you fix some mistakes on the fly in this specific matchup?
Yeah, we tried. On Cache, there were a lot more mistakes, so we obviously tried to fix them. But there was practically no time during the tournament; we had to prepare for other teams and stuff. And so we tried, but on Cache it was just one too many, I think. So on the other maps it was much more comfortable for us because we came here about a week in advance, so we had some time to prepare. Yeah, and that was kind of it.
I’m old compared to most people, so I don’t feel that much pressure
Did it help you that you’re sort of a new team, so you did not really consider yourself maybe a favorite and it kind of helped you to not be affected by the pressure? Did you feel like it was light in terms of nerves?
At this point, I don’t want to say that, but I’m old compared to most people, so pressure-wise I don’t feel that much pressure, I guess. And at the same time, my teammates make it much easier for me to focus on my own game. So that also helps.
What is your impression of playing with this iteration of The MongolZ? How are you liking it, how are you fitting in?
Well, obviously I’m happy. I wanted to be here. I’ve adjusted my roles accordingly because they needed something different than the other guys. So I’m trying to fit into that role, and I’m still trying and adjusting myself. So, I think map after map, day after day, we can get even better than today.
cobrazera also joined the roster. He was on the team before, then he was removed, and now he’s back again. So do these pieces all work well together at this point?
Right now I would say yes because we’re winning, so why not? We didn’t have much practice, and we’re just fixing things on the spot. But yeah, we’re winning; we’re playing decent. Not that good, but decent. Decent enough to win games. So, yeah, we can make this work.
Can you tell how you received this offer to join this team and what you felt?
Well, my reaction was… obviously they lost the previous tournaments and I was kind of expecting they might make a move, so it was a bit expected on my part. And yeah, we just talked and I had that confidence in me that I could be the piece they needed to win games. So, we just talked and managed to get the deal done.
The VRS situation is obviously kind of fucked
Coming into this event, MongolZ lost a little bit on the VRS. Did your team feel secure to go to the Major before this event? Or were you feeling like, ‘Oh, we need to perform here to guarantee our spot’?
Well, yeah, the VRS situation is obviously kind of fucked, and with the other teams coming in, changing regions and stuff. So at first, everyone thought we were safe, then stuff happened, a lot of tournaments came up out of nowhere, and that kind of changed the situation. But I don’t think we felt that much pressure from the VRS or stuff like that, so yeah.
And your ranking, you fell below the top 50, and that affects your future invitations. You have two Big Events upcoming, and also the Major. Do you think you will be able to show up there to recover in the ranking to get invites in the next season? Or do you expect that it might be tough next year?
Well, hopefully we can win the next tournaments. And it’s going to start the day after tomorrow, so we don’t have much time to practice and teams are going to be watching our demos and stuff, so it might be a little bit harder than this. But I think we can manage.
But does this win give you confidence that this roster works and you can gain back your position?
Yes, of course. Even though we won today, there were still a lot more mistakes and a lot more things to fix, so we can get better than this.
