Interview with G2’s HooXi: “When I joined the team, I was told very clearly that I had to bring my own style.”

Several days ago, Fragster had the opportunity to interview one of the most successful IGLs in 2023, Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen. I spoke with him about his career, G2’s plans, and Counter-Strike 2. Here’s the essence of what we discussed.

It’s been less than 2 months since G2 won IEM Cologne. And at Gamers8, you were not far from repeating the same performance, so it’s clear that you were in great shape as a team. How would you describe your current form? Are you confident going into ESL Pro League?

Yes, I think that we have the form we need to accomplish good results. But it’s a long tournament and there are many teams that we need to beat. There’s always a chance to have a bad day while your opponent has a really good day. That can be dangerous, so we’ll have to see how far we can get.

What do you think of your first opponent, Lynn Vision? They’re not that well known internationally. They’re probably quite good in the Chinese region. How would you rate them?

I think they look similar to many other Asian teams. They have a lot of individual skill and some good plans from Spawn. But when it comes to mid-round and difficult individual decisions, the European teams are ahead of those from the other regions.

That doesn’t mean it’s going to be an easy game for us. They have the potential to be surprising and we have to be ready for anything.

What’s it like to be the IGL of a team that has players like NiKo and m0NESY?

It’s fun. Every day, in practice, you see something crazy and you just feel privileged to have the chance to play with them. It’s just a joy.

As the team’s IGL, do you know in advance what you want to do in each match or are you constantly forced to adapt to what your opponent is doing?

That’s a mix. I always come into a game with some kind of plan, but you truly see the skill of an IGL when he needs to adapt. You can come prepared with a strong plan but if things go wrong or the opponent adapts to you quickly, you need to find a way to be one step ahead.

You joined G2 more than a year ago. Back then, the roster was struggling to find success and a lot of people had doubts about your ability to change the situation. Now, three important trophies later, we can say that you have proved the critics wrong. When you first joined the team, how confident were you that you could make a difference?

It was a tough situation for me because this was the first time I went to a team where I didn’t know anyone. In all the other teams that I played for, there was at least one Danish guy that I’ve played with in my career. And they kind of know how I think and what I want to achieve.

But here I had to explain everything from the bottom to the top. So it was definitely tough and I had my doubts. But I was also a bit impatient in a way. Now I have a lot of confidence in the team and in myself. Initially, however, I was a bit skeptical. I’m like that in general.

Were you asked to bring your own vision to the table or were you simply tasked with doing standard IGL stuff?

When I joined the team, I was told very clearly that I had to bring my own style. For me it was important to hear that from the start. The rest of the team pushed me in that direction too. The feeling was that if I had simply continued to do the same thing they had been doing, we would not succeed at the level that we wanted.

After getting to know the guys a bit better, I also started pushing some values that I have and which aren’t necessarily related to the game itself but to what happens outside of it.

Actually we kinda dropped the trophy but watch it anyways ✌️ https://t.co/YQuDNXK5WW

— Rasmus🐢Pallisgaard🐢Nielsen (@HooXiCSGO) August 17, 2023

ENCE is one of the strongest teams in the world at the moment and their rise to the top was lightning fast. You played against them at IEM Cologne and won. How strong do you think they are right now and how do you think they have become so successful in such a short period of time?

I think they are very consistent but I don’t think their rise has been fast. They’ve changed some of their players but they’re still very strong and have all of the tools that they need. In some sense, everyone knew that these players would be good.

Probably not that many people expected them to be number 2 in the world though. That’s super impressive.

What are G2’s objectives at ESL Pro League?

In terms of results, we don’t set very specific expectations. But I think that every time we go into a tournament, or at least most in most cases, we should expect to win. We are number 3 in the world.

For me, the expectation is to win, but that’s not something I put too much thought into. It’s more about doing the things that we promised to each other and implementing what we exercised during our practice.

Who do you think will be the toughest team to beat in your group?

That’s hard to say. But probably, with Liquid having some visa issues, Cloud9 and Virtus.pro will be our strongest opponents.

What do you think of Counter-Strike 2 so far? Have you had the chance to play it?

I only played it for a short while and this was a long time ago. However, I’ve looked at it recently and it’s definitely not ready yet to be launched. But if you experienced the CS:GO beta, then this is nothing compared to it. I’m optimistic, I will say that.

Okay hear me out. We keep MR15, but CTs only get half the money they normally would receive for saving. That would for sure reduce the saving. Saving is and – in my opinion – should be a part of the game, we are trying to limit it, not removing it.

Thoughts?

— Rasmus🐢Pallisgaard🐢Nielsen (@HooXiCSGO) September 2, 2023

Do you expect Valve to postpone it for next year? Initially they announced that by the end of this Summer it would be released. But now that it looks so unpolished, and with so many players complaining about gun control, movement, and all kinds of other issues, it looks like it will be delayed.

No, I think that they will release it within one and a half months. I don’t think they care too much about the imperfections. Of course they want to make the best game possible, but the sooner they release it, the more data they will have at their disposal to inform their decisions about what needs to be adjusted.

I don’t think they want to release a perfect product, even though it would be nice. Everyone would want that but I don’t think it’s realistic.

Ok. HooXi, thank you very much for the interview and good luck at the tournament!

Thank you as well!

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