Grim: "I love Brazil, I really like their culture, I'm super excited to go if we can qualify."

Coming from a comfortable win over paiN, the Complexity star talked with Dust2.us Dafydd Gwynn about the team's improvement, the current momentum of the roster, Håkon "hallzerk" Fjærli's impact in and out of the server and more. Michael "Grim" Wince has seen an eruption in form in recent months after the addition of hallzerk, which has also led to the whole Complexity team performing better.

The three big NA teams are now 2-0, how much has the scene improved from the last RMR?

Personally, I think it's important a lot, I think all the NA teams have been putting in a tone of work, we've been spending so much time in Europe I think that is really paying off because we get a tone of prac against the Europe teams. We get to fix our mistakes faster that we would against the normal NA teams at home, I think it's helped us a lot, you can see that the HLTV ratings have gone up, we are all playing better, and we are all competing now and Liquid almost won the grand finals of Pro League so that is a really good look for NA and I'm proud of everyone.

Just in that last match, you went 7-1 up and they brought it back? How much did paiN push you guys and what are your takeaways from that match?

They were playing pretty well but I think for us we were making a lot of mistakes that we don't normally do on our T-side. After the team we were talking about it and were like "damn we made a lot of mistakes" and yeah we did, but all we can really do is go review and fix it, we know we can play better so we will be looking at that to make sure we have Ancient prepared for the next game. But I think that we are all confident, especially me, on our CT-side that we can destroy most teams on CT-side Ancient just because of how CT-sided that map is. I think Overpass and Ancient are the most CT-sided maps in the pool right now and we have a very good CT-side on that map, we have a lot of stuff and a lot of protocols that we follow and it helps a lot. So I was confident the whole way, even with the 8-7 half, I was like "oh well 8 or 7 rounds T-side is still good, and let's just win CT now."

With that win and with Liquid's win, you are either going to play 9z or Liquid, is there a team you would rather play and how are you feeling about those matchups?

Honestly, I'd rather play 9z because I think Liquid is the best team here right now and it would be tough to play them but I'd honestly love to play Liquid. I always like playing them, they're my former teammates and it's always fun with them. Honestly I think we match up better against a team like 9z just because we have gotten really good at punishing aggression recently. I think a team like Liquid plays really slow with YEKINDAR mid-round calling most of the time and I think that they are definitely a hard team to play against because the rounds are getting down to ten/ five seconds every time and they're really working on that. I think a team like 9z will be playing a bit more agro which our style is really good at countering. So I'd rather play 9z for sure but I wouldn't mind playing Liquid.

You mentioned Liquid, at the last RMR I asked you about Liquid and you said you wanted to play them and there was a friendly rivalry with them being your former teammates. Would you say that rivalry still exists?

I don't think there's a rivalry, even back then I don't really think there was I just think it was because I got replaced on the team so recently so I wanted to beat them because it was so recent. But now it's been a long time so I would say there isn't a rivalry at all, not that there ever was in the first place. I just always like playing with ex-teammates, it's always fun, because we are all friends and get to beat each other and BM each other every now and then and get bragging rights. It's always nice to win, especially against your local region so I wouldn't say it's a rivalry at all but I definitely enjoy playing them whenever we can.

You qualified for the last Major, what would you say the biggest difference is in the team right now from then?

I think the biggest change from when we had Junior was that we have a lot more structure, and we have a lot more support. I think we are all on the same page more, and the motivation is definitely a bit higher on the new roster, I think that we have been spending a tonne of time in Europe and that's really helped us a lot like I said earlier. The support and personality hallzerk brings to the team, we all love Junior, we are friends with him but, hallzerk just fits in so well with us. We replaced Junior and brought in hallzerk but the personality is like we are still all good friends, even though Junior is a good friend of ours but I just think we have a pretty good atmosphere in the team right now. Everyone's motivated and dedicated, we are all putting in more work like we never had before and I think it's showing in the server.

You are now playing with hallzerk at an event that just has NA and SA teams. How has he found that experience, is he enjoying going up against other NA teams?

In the first game against ATK he was like "these guys are just taking my head off" while I'm just running around, killing everyone. He definitely hasn't played NA that much in his career, so I still think he is getting adapted to how fast they play and some of the mistakes you normally don't expect against teams like FaZe, which we were playing last week. I think he is still getting a bit used to it, but right now he is doing his job, and playing really well and I couldn't be any more happier about how he is playing.

Would you say he is the most American non-American?

For sure. I have said that in an interview before and yeah, this guy is always cracking jokes, his personality is insane, he has got a mullet. I really like having him and, honestly, I wouldn't replace him as an AWPer with anyone right now.

What are your expectations if you do qualify for Rio?

I think all of us want to make the Legends stage, because at the last major, when we weren't as good as we are now we almost did actually make Legends. I think we had a game against Liquid, I think we were both 2-2 and we would have made it. This time around we have a lot more experience under our belt, we are more accustomed to LAN, we are playing better with hallzerk, I think we can actually make it to the Legends stage. From there is just one step at a time. I'm not putting high goals, I just us to make the Legends stage and get on and make the next stage again. Play one step forward, not really thinking too high but, for me personally, the goal is to make the Legends stage.

With Rio they have announced there are going to be crowds in the Groups stage. How do you feel about that, are you looking forward to that?

I love playing in front of crowds. The only time I played in front of a massive crowd was at BLAST Fall Final in Denmark with Liquid. That was one of the best times I ever had playing and ever since I'm like "damn, when am I playing in front of a crowd like that again?" The feelings you get when the emotions are high. When you have a sick round you hear the crowd yelling. I loved playing in front of crowds, and it makes me play better, because I play way more energized than I normally do and I really want to make it just to play in front of a massive crowd. I'm really looking forward to that.

Would you want to play against a Brazilian team with a massive Brazilian crowd there?

Honestly, it definitely wouldn't be beneficial to us, but for me, I would be laughing and enjoying the mood, because you just hear all the hype and the chants from the Brazilian fans doing for their teams, and honestly, that hypes me up too. I don't get discouraged when the crowds aren't on my side, I just like playing with all the hype and passion from the fans as well. It definitely hypes me up, it doesn't bring me down. I like it, no matter who they cheer for, obviously I hope they cheer for me but I understand when we are facing a Brazilian team. I love Brazil, I really like their culture, I'm super excited to go if we can qualify.

I don't know if you have seen much of them, but EG have kind of shocked the world and beat FURIA. How do you feel about that performance?

Honestly to me, them going 2-0 and beating FURIA is not much of a surprise just because I know how much work they are putting in. In Malta, they were grinding every day and we would walk by and see them in the practice room grinding every day. I think with the new roster, HexT is motivated since he is kind of new to tier one, I think that helps with the old guys, bringing new blood in. I think they have a really good atmosphere, and I think that helps a lot. Team environment can make you play better than you are just because no one is raging, everyone's just chill, next round is the next round type of thing. I think it helps them a lot and it's nice to see another NA team in the top tier.

Is there any particular player here you have been impressed with?

So far I haven't checked the EG games, but oSee. I really like oSee and if he keeps performing how he is, his team will be even better. But I think the players who impressed me the most on any NA teams is YEKINDAR. He has been dominating all teams and he will just go and kill two people instantly and it will be a 5v3 and Liquid are slowing the round down. It's really nice to see it, I think he brings in a lot for them.

At the last RMR, it was very South American heavy. They were all over the NA teams. Even though they were more grassroots teams there that were struggling, do you think NA is the more dominant region now?

I'd say it still is more on the South American side, just because they have more good teams than we have in NA. Right now is just Liquid, Complexity and EG, and I guess FURIA if you count them. Besides that, Brazil has a lot of good teams, like 00NATION, Sharks, all these other teams, paiN, they are all really good. I think they have a better tier two region right now, but I think that's going to change if all the NA players are putting in a lot of work. It can change but right now I still think it's very South America sided.

How have you guys been doing with all the traveling? Are you guys feeling burnt out or are you guys enjoying it?

For me it's starting to get a bit too long here. The most I have ever been away is like six weeks, I think this time will be like eight, and especially with the family and friends at home you miss them because the time zones are different, and you can't talk to them. Since we are all friends as teammates, we make it easier for ourselves, we give ourselves days off when we need to, so we are avoiding burnout. I think that is a big difference compared to what we did the last time around. We were grinding so hard with the last roster that it was burning us out and we were playing worse. We were playing more but playing worse. It wasn't that we didn't want to play as much, but when you are burnt out it's really hard. With this roster, we are taking days off when we need them and it makes people feel more refreshed coming into the next big competition. I think that's really important for teams, don't get burnt out.

Do you want to say anything else?

Thanks for all the support so far and hopefully we can impress you and make the major and go forward in the Challenger stage, that's the main goal for us and we'll do the best for NA. We will try our best and thank you for everything.

Complexity have fallen to Liquid in the 2-0 qualification match and now await their new challenger.