coldzera: "Our rivals are just the best teams in the world"

Following 00 Nation's opening upset victory over Astralis in the IEM Cologne Play-in, Dust2.us' Liam "Slevo" Slevin was able to sit down with Marcelo "coldzera" David. The two discussed how coldzera is feeling about taking on Spirit later today, how it feels to be back in the server after missing the Major, and which Brazilian team in Cologne has the biggest chance at surprising people.

After taking down Astralis in very impressive fashion in the first game of the Play-in, how are you feeling?

We're feeling really good, we came really prepared against them. We didn't have too much time to practice, we had, I think, two and a half weeks. So, I think DreamHack [ESL Challenger Valencia] was a good start for us, so we got a lot of experience from the tournament and I think some rhythm. I think, when we came here, we came with a different mindset, especially since we have three kids in the team now, so they're pretty young and they need a little bit more experience. It was good that we played DreamHack.

You obviously said you were pretty prepared for this game. Mirage came in as the pick, was that a surprise for you or were you ready for that?

So, when we were discussing yesterday, we thought that they would pick Inferno so we prepared for Inferno. But, in the meantime, we prepared for Mirage and Ancient. We thought they'd pick Inferno because they had some games from us to study and they had no games to watch us play Mirage. So, when we knew it would be Mirage, we were a little bit happy because they don't know what we do but we know what they do. So, it was kind of a little bit of a surprise for us but at the same time, we were prepared for them.

And also in terms of preparation, you play Spirit later on today, how are you set for that?

Yeah I think Spirit is going to be a hard matchup because they play good, the addition of the new AWPer is nice, he's a good AWPer. But, I think in the meantime, they don't have too much time to prepare as well, so I think the match is going to be a little bit tight. We don't have too much time to prepare, they don't have too much time to prepare, and they have a new player. So I think this can shake up their chemistry a little bit so, I think it'll be a good game and we're going to be prepared for them.

You had a bit of time off after not making the Major. How was it to go into Valencia and be back on the server with these young guys?

It's really nice. It was a little bit of a sad moment with the Major, we were really prepared but the team I was playing on before had a different mindset so we had some problems inside the team. When we have this new team, the mood was really good from the beginning, it's nice to play with TACO again. try is really happy to play with dumau and latto, and I am as well. I think we have really good chemistry together, people work really, really hard, and I think we have a good chance to make it through the Play-in.

You said the mood was really good from the start, but how much better did the mood get after beating FURIA in Valencia?

I think it was a nice game. FURIA is a top 10 team so, they play really good. I think the match against them was special because it was a Brazilian match, right? So, in the meantime we were really prepared for them, we were in control of the game most of the time. We didn't get any surprises on their game, so they played the same game that we watched. It was a bit easier to play against them. I think that was a different thing, they don't know how we play but we know how they play. We were ready for everything.

We also have Imperial here, your former teammates, you and TACO on one side, FalleN, fnx, and fer on the other, do you think that's set for a big rivalry now in Brazil?

Myself and TACO don't care about this. If we play against them, it'll be a nice game anyway. We don't have any rivals. Our mindset is higher than this, so our rivals are just the best teams in the world and not the teams below them. So, for us, the match against them would be a nice match, we'd have fun as well, and it'll be nice to play against them for sure.

You and TACO have obviously played together previously, do you think it's different this time around or do you think it's right back to where you were when you were the best team in the world?

I think it's kind of different a little bit. We were filling the more supportive roles for the team, and we let the kids just bully everyone. They are playing CS 24 hours a day, they're hungry to win, and me and TACO are the guys who have the most experience inside the team. We try to guide them for a good future, for a good part in their careers, so we're trying to do our best to help them conquer what they want.

You guys are in a good position to go through to the main stage with this BO3 against Spirit, there are other Brazilian teams here in the Play-in like MIBR, paiN, Imperial, and FURIA in the main stage. Who do you think are the ones to look out for the most, and who might be the biggest surprise for you?

I think the biggest surprise for me, it's hard to say. I think paiN was a big surprise as well, I think they got a bit of bad timing versus MOUZ, they went to overtime but they were playing good. I think paiN, for me, are going to be the biggest success in the Play-in.

00 Nation are now set to face off against Spirit at 10:00AM. A win versus the Russian team would see coldzera and company book their spot in the main event, where they would join their compatriots in FURIA.