It would be wrong to write that ESL Pro League Season 19 ended badly for Monte. After a successful group stage, the Ukrainian team received one of the most difficult seedings of the tournament, where FaZe, NAVI, and Vitality stood on the way to the championship. And even in such circumstances, they almost knocked FaZe out of the tournament.
Serhii "DemQQ" Demchenko played a key role in this success, pleasantly surprising fans with his form throughout the tournament.
After the competition was over for Monte, we took the opportunity to talk to the Ukrainian
The team in general performed better than at GET Rio 2024, but how do you assess your performance in the EPL group stage?
– Theoretically, if we won FaZe, we could also win NAVI. But this is purely theoretical, no one knows how it would be. But if we played the same way, where everyone kills without a chance, we could reach the quarterfinals. Yes, we performed much better than the last tournament. The task at least was to get to the playoffs, that was the main goal, and then to win as much as possible, although we were not lucky with the bracket, but we played well against FaZe, we should have won at all, but..
Matches against Liquid and ENCE did not end in your favor. Now, at the end of the stage, won't you tell me what the reason is in your opinion?
– We were not able to finish them, everything was "under control" against Liquid, but in the key rounds we lost and that was it. It should have been 1:1 and a decider against ENCE, but as it is.
New players still statistically fall out of the picture, how do you work on their integration into the team? Do you just adapt them for free roles, or something else?
– I can't say in what way, but they have their roles, we help them, they won't immediately be able to show well what we expect from them, it takes time.
This year you show a better individual game than last year, you even overtook Woro2k at the EPL, what is the secret?
– I don't even know how it happened, after Brazil, we flew home, I looked, I had 23 hours in 14 days, plus moving to Malta, and I understood that I would play a tournament with a maximum of 25 hours in 14 days. I was a little embarrassed that I could show a bad result, but somehow everything flew by, I don't know what the secret is.
Looking at your current lineup, it is difficult to name a "star player", as was the case with BOROS, for example. Do you feel that in the current lineup, it is your role to statistically stuff the frags, to use the new space? The match with FURIA - were you just lucky, or is this the level we should expect from you in the future?
– I don't consider myself a "star player", yes, there are games when I shoot better than usual, but for CT positions, for example, I completely play support positions, they are usually not "star positions", so no . I don't think so, although I have all the positions of a lurker for the T side, where theoretically I can give a good difference in numbers.
In the past formations you had sdy who brought a lot of experience and calls, how did you distribute these responsibilities within the team with his absence?
– It's hard to say, we are trying to make own calls, it's a big gap, of course, but we are trying to cover up the holes in this place ourselves, but it doesn't always work out.
Last time at the EPL, you also had a difficult start in the group and were not considered favorites in the playoffs, but you surprised everyone by reaching the semi-finals. Will that experience help you this time? Maybe this is the minimum plan?
– Theoretically, if we won FaZe, we could also win NAVI. But this is purely theoretical, no one knows how it would be. But if we played the same way, where everyone kills without a chance, we could reach the quarterfinals.
What do you think about your bracket in the playoffs? Do you think that you did not get along with your rivals?
– It happens, if we win Liquid, and we would have played in a different part altogether, but I don't regret that we played with FaZe, I liked it)) I have already forgotten a little how it is to play against tier 1.
How did the team feel about replacing Overpass with Dust2 in the map pool?
– Great, we all played Dust2, especially since it can be played in two AWPs, and this is only a plus. So overall we are very happy about it.
Last year, you held an extremely difficult grind of officials. Does the team plan to grind online tournaments like in 2023? The CCT is back, and there are other tournaments and qualifiers. Do you not plan to burden yourself so much this year?
– Yes, our policy has not changed, it is better to play a lot of official games, where you get in shape and are ready for anything, plus there is no such great excitement, because you always have some tournaments, this is only a plus.
After a couple of days, what are the conclusions about the match with FaZe? According to the idea, playing against them is like measuring yourself on a scale of quality, what works and what doesn't? What conclusions did you draw?
We would like to remind you that Monte lost to FaZe with a score of 1-2 (7:13, 16:14, 10:13) on maps.
– We came to the conclusion that we could easily win, we just didn't have enough experience, how not to lose against pistols, and I won't say that you can't play against them. These are the same models as other teams, they just shoot better, that's all.
By the way, DemQQ politely refused to answer the last question: will there be changes in the team in the near future. This only adds fuel to the fire of interest in the future of the team and its players.
The next tournament for Monte will be IEM Dallas 2024, which will begin on May 27 and last until June 2. The tournament will feature 16 teams competing for a prize pool of $250,000.
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