NertZ: "I deserve it"

It wasn't Heroic. It wasn't FaZe. It wasn't Liquid. After barely missing out last year, ENCE raised the IEM Dallas trophy, bringing a few fresh faces to the squad this time time around. Among their new lineup is Guy "NertZ" Iluz, who only joined the international squad earlier this year.

After celebrating with his team, smiling as the confetti fell around him, NertZ talked with Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore to discuss his journey, how the team feels, and what the celebration plans are.

How does it feel to be the second Israeli player to win an S-tier tournament?

It feels amazing. I deserve it because I've been playing for so much time. My dream was cut off because of my mandatory two year military service. I finished and I instantly joined Endpoint, and after that ENCE, and now I've won. It feels amazing to have this journey.

We've seen the Israeli scene come up so quickly, with you, Spinx, and more coming up. Do you think the Israeli CS:GO era has started?

I believe we have a lot of potential in the Israeli scene. The main problem, I think, is how people are outside the game. But I think in CS2 we'll see a lot more players.

You and maden are new to the team, this is your first tier one team. How do you stay ice cold on stage?

I believe that in crucial moments, when I make a play, I don't think about what could go happen, because most players will think "oh if I do this, I will die, and someone will blame me" but I don't care about that. I know what I need to do to win the game. If I do it and I die, it is what it is. This is how I believe I should play.

This win over MOUZ did win you the grand finals, but a huge narrative is you've now beat FaZe three times in a row. Is ENCE now the best international team?

I don't think we're the best international team in the world. We would need to win a couple events to say that. FaZe are really good, they're just better than us on stage. They have experience and they show it. We saw it yesterday. When we played in the group stage, we smashed them. But in front of the crowd, they were amazing, they played insane. We have a lot of experience to learn.

Snappi brings a lot of fragging power compared to other IGLs. How important is that to ENCE?

I think after the Legends stage, snappi focused more on himself and what he should do, not about the team. This is really important, and we saw it by winning this event. I hope every player will be like that.

ENCE are one of the only organizations to post a profit, and they do it by picking up yet undiscovered talent like yourself. Does it feel good to reward the organization with a big trophy to end the season?

ENCE is doing a great job with the management behind us. It's really nice to be in ENCE, they're a good organization.

What's the celebration plan for ENCE?

I think the whole team is going to Korean barbecue. For me, the prize pool will go towards business class in the flight back. [laughs]