s1n: "M80 is the best place where I can learn and grow as an IGL"

Elias "s1n" Stein made his debut with M80 in a big way in the Esports World Cup Closed Qualifier last weekend, besting Liquid, Legacy, and Elevate to claim NA's sole qualifier spot in the Saudi event. Now, s1n and M80 are gearing up for their next challenge in Malta as ESL Pro League Season 19 is set to start tomorrow.

The German IGL is looking to make a big splash with his new squad after being cut from BIG in February. Ahead of his trial by fire against the Russian team, Dust2.us' Ryan Friend spoke to s1n remotely about joining M80, his philosophy as a leader, and what the early days have been like with the NA roster, among other topics.

To start, what was the process like joining M80?

Obviously I got cut from BIG after IEM Katowice, and I got one week into the Major and I said to myself I wanted to wait it out to get the best possible opportunity. But actually instantly when I got cut from BIG, a team approached me about being the IGL so that's when the first thought came to me about whether I want to be a leader, an igl for my next team. I thought about it and I said to myself, 'yes I want to do it', and then actually before the Major M80 approached and then it went pretty great.

It was two or three days before they said they liked me and wanted to work with me and I felt the same way instantly. The job got done pretty quickly.

Was having another German on the squad helpful in making the decision to join M80?

Yeah, I would say so. I played FACEIT with slaxz- a long, long time ago before he was even in the German scene. When I heard M80 wanted to approach me I was playing FACEIT with slaxz- before even talking to M80 so it was kind of a coincidence.

It helped me for sure, slaxz- is a nice guy and I've known for a long time, it's super nice to play with him.

It's going to be a big transition going from a European team to NA team. Are there any concerns you have after meeting with the team and starting practice with them?

No, not at all. I can fit around things pretty well I would say, so I can make myself comfortable. Now being a leader, I also want to show them how I think so it's not like I want to adapt to them, but in general I'm an easy guy to work with, and I got the same impression from the other guys. They're really nice and everything went really smoothly.

M80 have had a system in place under dephh and previously maNkz. What is your leadership style going to be on the team? Are changes going to be gradual or are you looking to make sweeping changes to the team?

When I was talking to them before joining, I thought about what I want to create in this team. When we went to the first bootcamp in EU dephh told me he's going to let me do what I want to do when meeting with the team.

It's not like they forced me to do their style, and that gave me a lot of freedom and this is what I want to give back to them. In the system I want to create, it's a lot about freedom and making players confident. With the NA guys in general, when they are feeling it and feeling really strong they will go for moves and this is when we are the most dangerous. I want to create a system around that where freedom is the top priority. Freedom leads to confidence.

Looking at your career, you previously said you expected to be part of BIG for many years. Did you ever expect your career to take this turn where you ended up on an NA team?

Oh no, actually never. I thought it was cool because I remember the tabseN and gob b days when they went to NRG so I thought that was cool for sure, but expected to be in BIG for a really long time.

But, things don't always happen how we want them to happen, right? I'm not salty about it or anything as life goes on and I'm happy to get a new opportunity. M80 is the best place where I can learn and grow as an IGL. I really like traveling so seeing NA is very nice to me.

You'll be competing in a lot of NA qualifiers and leagues, are you excited about this change in your career?

For sure. The difference between qualifiers in EU and NA is that in EU when you play qualifiers, a lot of the time you're not the favorite and this changes when I'm in NA. Right now, based on what the guys have said to me when they play qualifiers we can beat everyone but Liquid [consistently].

This will be a mindset change but the team has a strong opinion of themselves and that confidence is really important.

Yeah, NA seems to have a different level of confidence when playing in their region. Is that something you're going to be picking up on, and how is it different compared to playing in Europe?

I don't know if it's a European style or a Germans style where we go from game to game and learn from it. It doesn't matter who we play, it doesn't matter win or lose to be honest. Luckily, for example, in the closed qualifier for EWC we got a loss versus Liquid and then we got another chance to improve ourselves and fix our mistakes for the next game.

This is unique compared to traditional sports where you have to play a whole new season to reach the next tournament [or playoffs], that's the beauty of esports where there's always a next tournament every week [to improve from].

You're going to be playing BetBoom tomorrow. If you beat them, there is a solid chance you'll be facing Vitality. Are you even putting that into your mind or is the focus game by game?

Obviously I've looked at the group, but I haven't thought about the Vitality game, we need to play BetBoom and beat them, and that's what I'm focused on. I'm not focused on other opponents [right now], we're going to meet who we're going to meet, and take it from there.

s1n and M80 will make their ESL Pro League Season 19 debut tomorrow as they take on BetBoom at 01:30PM.