After his team successfully defeated Spirit to advance to the knockout stage of the BLAST London Open, G2 Esports team leader huNter- sat down for aninterview.

He discussed the match against Spirit, his experience as a leader, and other topics. The following is the transcript of the interview.

Q: huNter-, you finished the game around midnight, right?

A: Yes.

Congratulations. Tell us, how are you feeling now? You haven't played offline since March, as you mentioned before. It seems like it's been ages since your last playoff appearance (PGL Bucharest), and the team went through a major roster change since then, and you've ultimately led them to this point.

A: We've gone through a lot of roster changes over the past six months, even TaZ got a chance to play. It wasn't easy, and it's still not easy, but it feels really good. Since we formed the team, especially with the new roster after the summer break, everyone has been working really hard. It seems like those efforts are paying off, at least for now. I feel like we're improving with every tournament we participate in. Of course, there are still areas where we can improve, but I'm very happy with the pace of progress so far. I'm also happy to see that we're trending in a good direction. We started out strong at Cologne (our debut), then it was very inconsistent, with ups and downs. But now we're definitely getting better, and that's exactly the kind of progress I wanted to see.

I think this kind of steady improvement is actually quite rare. It's truly remarkable, not just some fleeting "honeymoon" phase. I think there's one person who definitely helped you a lot, especially in your development as a leader, and that's SAW . What was his role specifically? We heard some of his voice during a pause on the Dust2 map, and it felt like the entire trajectory of the game changed after that pause.

A: Well, everything he says makes sense, and his tone is incredibly confident. It's always proven he's right; you can't argue with him because the results always prove him right. He always explains things in the right way, and I'm truly grateful to have him as my coach and to be working with him. I just need to persevere and work well with him, and we players should listen to his guidance, especially during post-game debriefs and looking for improvement. For example, on the Ancient map, we lost 1-11 to Mouz , but then we went 11-1 on the attacking side. He's a truly great coach and a great person, and he's been incredibly helpful.

You've faced off against donk four times before , and now you're facing Spirit again . Donk is certainly tough to play against, but you also struggled against Mouz before. How did you adjust and regain your form in this match against Ancient?

A: Spirit isn't just about donk, he's certainly outstanding, but they're a strong team as a whole, which is why they made it this far. We don't prepare specifically for donk or any specific player; we focus on ourselves and play against the entire team. We also have malbsMd , who's also a very strong shooter. I know if I assign malbsMd to counter donk, there's at least a 50% chance it will work, especially on Ancient, where he's very confident. So we just prepare as a team, preparing the same way regardless of the opponent.

Q: I'd also like to ask: I remember last year at the London event, m0NESY showed up late, and you guys weren't able to fully perform. This time, everyone's here, fully conditioned, ready to show what you can do. Are you excited?

A: Of course, I'm happy to finally advance, and we're in the top six of this tournament. This is a major tournament with many top teams. It's been a great experience for us. The past three days were exactly what we needed. The practice was very effective, but we need more real-world matches, like last night's match against Mouz , because that's where you learn the most. So I'm happy to have played three matches in a row, and I'm looking forward to the next ones.