GooseBreeder: "I used to have a bit of pressure, but I let a lot of it go"

On the final day of ESL Impact Finals Season 3, FlyQuest RED carried the flag of North America into the playoffs. Unfortunately for the newly minted organization, NAVI Javelins stood strong and eliminated the NA team from the playoffs. Nonetheless, it was an impressive showing from a team which has slipped from playoff contention in recent memory.

After the game, Daniel "Scoobster" Khurgin talked with NA's taliswoman of Impact CS, Mounira "GooseBreeder" Dobie. The interview goes over a variety of topics, including the game versus NAVI Javelins, the tournament as a whole, and GooseBreeder's role as the most visible NA Impact talent.

I first wanted to ask, what went wrong in the game versus NAVI Javelins? What caused you to end up losing?

NAVI are a good team, so I think if we are making mistakes, they're going to capitalize and punish us. We understood it was going to be a fight if we played them either way. I think we just got in our own way a lot; we didn't really have momentum going. We didn't win pistol; we're down 0-6 and just couldn't really find our answer in time. So, it just felt like the moral of the story on that map, and I think we're still dealing with nerve issues. For example, people either over-communicating or not communicating enough and just little things like that.

I think yesterday when we played 9Pandas, they're a good team as well, but we actually were a lot more solid in terms of those types of issues. We definitely got in our own way today; towards the end we were starting to get a rhythm going and it was nice to see that we were starting to come back, but unfortunately it was just too late. They're good teams, so obviously if we make mistakes, they're going to punish us. There's just a lot to learn from that.

About the 9Pandas game, you lost to them earlier in the tournament, but here you actually beat them for a playoff spot. Are the things that you mentioned about the good communication what enabled you to win over them the second time around?

Yesterday, we definitely showed our gameplay like we play online all the time together, and a lot of the time we can perform pretty well. I know what we're capable of and so I feel like the 9Pandas game was more along the lines of what I know we're capable of. I think communication was definitely really good. We started off maybe a little bit shaky on Overpass, but overall, I think it was good and then on Mirage we transitioned really strong. Our communication was good, initiative was good. You know, people are playing to win, not not to lose, just stuff like that. And I think that we were just firing on all cylinders against 9Pandas and today we just showed up flat.

Now unfortunately you do end your run here, but this does equal your best result at an ESL Impact Finals from Season 1. Do you think that this is an adequate placing of where you would rate your team in the women's scene currently? And do you think that your team has the ability to make it further in future events?

Yeah, I think we definitely have what it takes to make it further. It was a good showing for us, and for me it proved that we are capable of competing and hanging against some of the better teams. How I see it is that we placed fair and square; we lost to NAVI fair and square. So, I think that it's like an adequate showing of where we are right now in terms of women’s tournaments. I do think we have a high skill ceiling; we can progress and improve and make it further in the tournament and that's going to be the goal for future events.

You were recently released from CLG after the organization imploded, and then were orgless for a period of time before being picked up by FlyQuest. What effects did that period of time have on the roster?

I think some people are okay financially, and others maybe have more bills to pay, stuff like that. It was definitely a shaky time, but of course we had each other's backs if people did need any help. The biggest worry was visas; we have two international players and me as a Canadian. I can't actually stay in the US without a visa, so it is definitely a bit of a worry for us. It kind of disrupts our life flow and stuff like that and moving is a really big process, especially overseas from different countries. That was the biggest worry for us. But of course, there were a lot of different things we had to think about, but we tried to just stay focused. We let everyone process what happened and then we got together, and we talked like what we wanted to do, and we agreed that we want to go to Dallas together and then we found FlyQuest. So, things are worked out in the end.

As you mentioned, you have two international players, BiBiAhn and Kaoday. What drove you to look outside of North America, as a North American core, for new players?

I think that the North American scene is just a lot weaker than Europe, and BiBiAhn was kind of just like a star from Australia. She has a lot of good mechanical skill and stuff, so we thought she was very buildable. So, that's why we went with BiBiAhn, and Kaoday is a smart player who was also good mechanically. There're just more options when you look into other scenes. With North America losing its veterans, we lost the Emy and di^, those are some of, like, the goats of women’s CS.

Losing both of them as they went to VALORANT means there's just not a ton of options and it's really difficult to build a roster with four brand-new players from NA, rather than trying to find some different experienced players from different regions. Since madss was also a bit of a rookie pickup that we just picked up and uhKelsie only had about a year of experience with our roster, so to build an entirely new roster from NA would have been practically impossible honestly. I don't think we would have progressed in time. Now that we have these players on our roster, we have a fighting chance now that we’ve been together for quite a bit now.

As you said that there lacks firepower in the North American women’s scene, and for example this being the first LAN experience for four of the five players on Shimmer. Do you think we’re finally starting to get to a point where other teams apart from yourself could eventually come up for North American in the international scene?

I'm sure Shimmer are improving, they just need more LAN experience. I think they could keep getting better, I don't see why they wouldn't. I think they have improved, so I'm sure that they'll get better. I definitely think, of course, compared to European teams, they're still like quite some ways to go, but there's potential there.

Being one of the, if not the, most recognizable North American female player, do you feel a burden when you're playing, when you're producing content, or anything like that?

I think it kind of just depends; like it's been a yes or a no at different points in my life. I've taken a lot of pressure off of myself in the last few months or maybe more. I think that I did have a lot of pressure on myself... I don't know, for a lot of reasons, but I think in general I put a lot on my plate and I'm starting to realize how I can lessen that burden. Right now, I just like basking it, you know, I guess I see more pride in it now and I kind of accept it.

Like, rather than being made nervous by it or feeling like it's a more of a burden or a pressure, or everyone's like looking to me. When we weren't doing very well, of course it felt bad because I'm such an experienced player who's had so many achievements. So, performing poorly or having bad results, it feels a little bit worse than if you're a rookie. I used to have a bit of that pressure, but I think I let a lot of it go, and now it's more of a pride thing.