Grim: "I know if I work hard enough I can be a top 20 player"

After a smooth series against Permitta, where Complexity won the first two maps 16-8 and 16-7, Michael "Grim" Wince talked with Dust2.us' Liam "Slevo" Slevin about the match with the Poles, the elimination game against ENCE, Grim's individual performance and the main goals for 2023 for him and the team.

Grim you beat Permitta pretty comfortably 2-0. Tell me a bit about that series.

We just went in and told ourselves before the game we just need to focus on ourselves. We did a little bit of prep for them but not too much in-depth because we knew we were the better team so we just have to play our game. We were a bit surprised about the veto because they let us get CT starting on both maps. I know they had some kind of gameplan but in my opinion, that's always a mistake, letting the better team get the CT side in a series. We just went in with confidence knowing we had CT side and closed it out pretty convincingly.

Yesterday you had some issues with the game against BIG. Tell me, as a team with such a short turnover in today's game, what is it like trying to bounce back that quickly?

I’d say that we talked about it and agreed that there definitely were some unlucky things that happened, but one thing we knew we had to fix was our CT side Anubis because that cost us in the NAVI game as well as the BIG game now. So I’d say we talked about that and were pretty levelheaded about it. Obviously, some people were heated after the game because of an issue like that where tech pauses aren’t being called on such a swinger like that can influence the game, especially when we lost by only like three rounds. Obviously winning pistol helps too but I’d say we just mentally reset to focus on the next game and brushed it off like it didn’t happen.

You guys are going to have ENCE tomorrow, a team you beat in your great Pro League run. Tell me about the matchup you’re going to have against them.

I personally think we have a good matchup against them and our map pool. I’m feeling confident going up against them because like you said we beat them the last time we played them. I know they were a newer team but we beat them pretty convincingly. I think on Nuke we were up 14-2 and almost threw it (laughs) but good thing we closed it. I think our whole team is going to go in confident, obviously not underestimating them, but we are going to bring the same game we did today and we definitely need to up it against a team like ENCE to beat them but I think that with our prep and our game plan, we can beat them.

Back at the RMR that was our introduction to Hallzerk and we all saw the bromance you two have. What has that been like now that you’ve had the time off over the player break? Has the bromance grown even more?

I’d say so, he’s just an awesome guy, just a nice guy. I mean, pretty much anyone can be friends with him because he’s got that type of personality so I think for someone like me sitting next to him it's really easy to catch on to his funny things. He’s a supernaturally funny guy so it's nice sitting next to him, it's nice to have him on the team because the mood is always laid (back). Like before each game, he is always changing his desk height, and his monitor settings- like today he was on four different black bars on the monitor so he's just a troll, and it's awesome to have him on the team.

You were one of the most improved players on LAN last season. What has that been like for you to see your form step up in this Complexity roster?

It’s definitely been nice because I know if I work hard enough I can be a top 20 player and with time I know I can accomplish that. This year is definitely a good start to that but I am not perfect yet, I am not even close. So I have to keep growing and grow into the potential I have. I know the ceiling is super high for me so I just have to keep grinding, putting my head down, reviewing the mistakes, try to be the best I can be but it means a lot that I’m able to perform like that because I’ve always wanted to, and I know I’ve had the potential but I actually needed to show it on the server which I think I am doing now.

With the start of 2023, JT as an IGL and Tiaan as the coach have had a pretty good duo together. Tell me about the preparation they put in coming into the start of the season.

So I think our prep is really good, I think it is one of our best qualities. We watch the demos and T.c brings up things to talk about and he’ll ask JT what he wants to do, like, to lead the T sides, the anti-ecos, any specific pistol he wants to run- I think it helps to have a good solid gameplan going into a game, especially a map, and I think they do a really good job preparing. But I have to give credit to our analyst Anton, he does a lot for us. Some months he will literally watch 200+ demos in a month just like seeing- If we have a bunch of tournaments, obviously he will watch more demos, but, I think our prep team is really good and I think the way we prep is nice because each individual gets a say in their spot, what they want to do, and how it will work into the big picture of the team.

Based on the whole year for Complexity, what is the big goal for the team?

To make both Majors, right away. We definitely could’ve made the Major last time and we were disappointed and sad that we didn’t, so definitely making the Majors. But also, making it to more playoffs in events and having more big wins, and not choking games away as we did against NAVI. I think that’s a good start for us, making more playoffs and making more Majors, for sure.

Complexity will now face ENCE in an elimination match where the winner gets to go to the Spodek and the loser will go home. The match starts at 01:30PM, today.