oSee: "We have had no issues with the language barrier"

Liquid have long been the shining light of North American Counter-Strike; at the BLAST Paris Major they were the first NA side to make the playoffs since 2019, however, the organization ultimately opted to depart the region in the off-season, moving towards a European core. The addition of former Spirit rifler Robert "Patsi" Isyanov and the more unknown Aleks "Rainwaker" Petrov replaced NA stalwarts Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski and Nick "nitr0" Canella.

Whilst no doubt disappointing for their NA fans, Liquid hasn't completely left their ties to the region, retaining the services of Canadian legend Keith "NAF" Markovic and American AWPer Josh "oSee" Ohm. After struggling in his first year with the team, oSee has stepped up to a new level in 2023 showing the consistency that was previously missing from the young sniper's game. Ahead of BLAST, oSee talked to Dust2.us' Gonçalo "GoncOak" Carvalho about the new additions, his role in the squad, and what Liquid fans can expect from their new roster.

How has your time been in Europe, how did the bootcamp go?

We were in the Netherlands for ten or eleven days, at the beginning it was a little rough because we have two new players so it was expected for there to be little cohesion and not flowing that well in-game. Towards the end of the boot camp, we feel how we play with each other and how our playstyles are now. I think the boot camp went really well, you can see the improvement already from the beginning of the boot camp to the end. We can have a really good showing here.

Have you been adjusting well to your new teammates?

Yeah, I would say so. It is pretty easy to play with these teammates because Rainwaker is a really passive anchor and he has played a lot of tier two in Europe, so he has a lot of knowledge in situations. It doesn't feel like we have to tell him what to do a lot of the time, the same thing with Patsi who has played in tier one for a while, he makes it very easy with how he communicates. He is always communicating 'They can't be here, I feel like they are going to do this, it should be this' and stuff like that, so honestly it has been very easy to play with them so far.

How has the communication been with the new players, has it been a bit chaotic, especially with Rainwaker and Patsi communicating in English?

It hasn't been chaotic at all, our comms are pretty good. I'm sure in a match situation it might be different because we are a little more stressed. In scrims and stuff our communication has been really good; with Patsi and Rainwaker I was a little bit worried about how their English would be but we have had no issues with it. They are always communicating and saying what they are going to do and what they think the other team is going to do, we have had no issues with the language barrier.

With Cologne right after BLAST, how long is the team planning on spending in Europe?

We will be here for another month and a few days. After that we have the Gamers8 tournament in Saudi Arabia and then we will be going home for about a week and a half to go home and see our families. Then we will be back in Europe after that.

Liquid decided to move towards a European roster but they chose to keep you and NAF, how does it feel for them to trust you as a key piece of their new team?

Obviously, it feels nice to feel they have a lot of trust in me to keep improving. I am not at the point where I want to be but they see the improvement and trust me that I will keep working hard to get to that point. It feels nice that they have put a lot of trust in me and NAF. I'm going to do everything I can to keep making NA proud even though we are a European team.

Do you feel like the support from the fans has declined, has that affected you in any way?

I think the support has definitely declined a little bit but I don't think it has affected any of us really. Our main goal is to win and I understand where the fans are coming from, nitr0 and EliGE are two massive staple NA players with large followings so for us to lose them and switch to a European team I understand their frustration. We are just trying to win in the end and we felt these were the necessary steps to get to that point. We don't let it affect us because we know what's best for us in the end.

What can we expect from this lineup out of the gate?

I think you can expect us to still be placing in playoffs, it's hard to say we should be winning tournaments right now because we are still brand new with two additions. I feel like we as a team are ready, we feel very confident in our ability, we just started and we already feel a lot of chemistry in the game. Maybe in the first tournament or two, we won't show our best, but we know that we can only improve from those tournaments and we will come back even better, I have high hopes for this roster.

The BLAST format is quite forgiving, if you don't make the top two of your group here you still have another chance to qualify for the next event. Does that change your mindset for the tournament?

No, I don't think it really changes our mindset. Of course, we want to do our best but we understand there is a possibility we don't qualify at this event. We don't want that, but we understand there is the possibility of that, we still really want to win but we are taking it as a learning experience. We can use these matches to see what mistakes we make and improve on them because scrims and matches are completely different environments, we want to qualify but we aren't taking it as life or death. If we lose, it's ok, we will learn from it and come back stronger.

Your individual performances have been improving over the year, and we are seeing you get more consistent. Do you think the roster changes will influence your individual form?

I think a lot of my improvement individually was the mental side. I was going into matches and not having that much confidence or trust in my ability. I knew I always had it in me to make the right decision but I was hesitant in some matches, I really got over that hump of overthinking stuff and being a sitting duck. Also, I understand the game a lot better now; I have been playing in the tier-one scene for a while and the team has been helping me a lot. I try to absorb everything people tell me because it is really valuable and I can learn from it. I think just a lot of discussions with the team and sitting down with myself and getting over that, trusting my own ability, and I have been getting better at that. With the new additions, I think I will get even better because Patsi makes the game very easy to play because of how he paints the picture for the teammates.

Have you had to change your playstyle at all with the new additions?

I haven't really had to change my playstyle, we have two super aggressive riflers and so for me, I don't have to go for a lot of opening duels. Obviously, I will still do that but I am more of a supportive AWPer. I do take into account that sometimes I should be a little bit more aggressive, but I haven't really thought about changing how I play.

You face m0NESY and G2, how are you looking forward to that match-up individually and team-wise?

Individually, I have played against m0NESY a good amount of times now. He is a very strong AWPer, very young as well, and he has a bright future, like the sky is the ceiling for that guy. G2, we have struggled against them for a bit, but I feel a lot more confident in our roster at the moment. They have been together for a while now and they have the same roster so I feel we will be a bit of an underdog coming into that but I think we can win if we are all playing well.

To end the interview do you have anything to say to North American fans?

I guess, I know there has been a lot of doubt about our team and wondering if we have the capability of getting to the top with our roster but I just want them to trust in us and understand that we have our reasons for why we made these moves. Ultimately we are just trying to do our best so if they put their trust in us we can show we are able to do well and be a top team.

Liquid will be facing G2 in their opening BO3 in Group C of the BLAST Premier Fall Season on Saturday at 06:00AM.