zews: "In map two and three we actually started communicating"

Liquid is still alive in IEM Dallas after surviving Falcons in the lower bracket elimination series. The squad started its run in Texas with a win over Complexity, followed by a tough series against 9z that Wilton "zews" Prados described as having "required some big gymnastics to throw away".

The coach also told Dust2.us' Daniel "Scoobster" Khurgin that the series against Falcons could have had the same result if Liquid didn't wake up for maps two and three, as well as lifted the curtain a bit to speak about how Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken has been helping the team with his shot-calling.

What went right during that game against Falcons, that allowed you to win it in the end?

We started playing CS. The first map we were completely out of it, no reactions, no rotations, no initiative, we let them take the duels and we gave them some stupid ones. In map two and three we actually started communicating, going for ideas and I think our reads were actually really good. Russel [Twistzz], Mareks [YEKINDAR], and Casper [cadiaN], everyone had reads on their sites that allowed us to be in positions such as the pistol last round on Anubis. Each trying to do one little thing to keep the boat afloat and it worked out well.

Was there special preparation you did for Falcons?

Yeah, I mean, every team we try to treat the same, so we do preparation on every map for all of them. There was nothing special per se, we did work a little bit more on our map pick as we knew that was something they had more chance, Anubis and Mirage they had a 0% win rate so we just wanted to go with our game, didn't want to base it off of them because they aren't having much success on it and their Nuke, we did try to prepare for them and it was actually pretty correct but at the moment, we were three to five seconds behind on making the decisions and then congrats to them on that map.

Snappi is known a lot for his Nuke strategies over the years. Is there anything specific you tried to counter on that front from him?

No. There are a lot of variations on set utility that just throw you off, so we were aware. It really was us just not showing up. I'm sure they have a great strat playbook there, but it was more on us.

As everyone noted, Twistzz had an absolutely incredible map two in this series. Was there anything special that came from him prior or during that game that allowed that to happen?

He said he had a dream about the T-side, which is where I think he had 20+. He was just feeling it, he had every read and how to get it, and when you have the read and you also have that mechanical prowess that he has, it becomes easy. I am kind of sad, though, I asked him for 38 and he only got me 36 kills.

We did see that during that game, Twistzz was doing a lot of calling. Is that something that he has been working towards?

I think everyone in our team is trying to find the freedom to make their plays, to make the calls, and to understand what's happening on the map. Over the last few months, we have started to incorporate it. It's not something that is easy to do, because we have a lot of active voices but Russel is someone who has a calm way of communicating things and he is in the positions that require us to trust the reads and everything that he is hearing and that kid has got an amazing hearing, because he hears all the rotations and that sets us up really well.

So he is helping cadiaN with the rotations and things like that?

Yeah, he is helping cadiaN but he is helping the entire team. I give a lot of credit, especially that trio [cadiaN, Twistzz, and YEKINDAR], they are very proactive and move everyone else around. It's kind of even the problem that we have, coming from having a lot of active voices but he definitely helps out.

Can you expand a bit on that problem of having too many active voices?

It's a game that requires communication and if it's not our primary language it requires us to have clear and concise communication. Everyone has really good English in the speaking department but it's a different thing when you need micro-second decisions and thought process and every action needs a reaction inside the game, at least in terms of our playbook approaches to these situations and our understanding. If we have a lot of talks that require a lot of thought it just makes you more focused on trying to come up with the perfect solution rather than coming up with a solution and going along with it.

So you guys are working more towards getting those quick reactions?

Yeah, on part. We have some set, I don't want to give too much away, but there are rounds that require you to default for you to be individually aware of what's going on and be able to, on the fly, call audibles based on those rotations, and there are more set rounds where the communications is just a step by step process. I think, we, and every team out there, are aiming to clean up our communication as much as possible.

The reason you are down in the lower bracket is because of the loss against 9z yesterday. Do you have anything to say as to how that happened?

It's a game, for one to win, the other has to lose. I'm sure we lost a lot of rounds, but they also brought a lot of rounds. They were shooting really well, they were playing as a team and they won it. Sounds repetitive but congrats to them. I think they deserved it, but as always, it required some big gymnastics to throw it away but that is what CS is.

Would you say that 9z are a team to look out for, then?

Always. It's hard to say that they will be fighting for the tournament win, they are that team that will be knocking out big contenders. That's always something scary because to us it doesn't matter who wins in the end but we want to be there playing and if you have a team that knocks your chances out of playoffs and puts other teams in complicated situations, that's a dangerous formula.

Speaking of potentially big teams being knocked out, you will be playing tomorrow your tournament life against either MOUZ or G2. Is there a favorite there for you?

Both are good teams, G2 are coming with Stewie2k, so obviously we would prefer to play them. MOUZ has had an amazing year, but in kind of a poetic note, we have been facing MOUZ a lot this year, we have gradually been getting close, even though it hasn't been. It would be nice to knock them out of a tournament for once in a group stage.

Are you looking for some revenge against that MOUZ team?

Yeah. I don't like to lose anything and MOUZ has had our number in quite a few of these matches, it's about time we give them payback.