Monte is preparing for the ESL Challenger Katowice 2024 with a new captain, Olek “hades” Miskiewicz. The former 9INE and ENCE player took on the role of In-Game Leader (IGL) after joining the Ukrainian organization in July 2024. However, Hades admits that he is still working on developing his captaincy skills.

“I wouldn't call myself a real captain yet,” hades said in an interview with HLTV. “I try to do the best I can and sometimes I use the captain's approach, but I still lack that captain's mentality.”

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Preparing for an important tournament

ESL Challenger Katowice will be a key test for Monte, as it is the last major tournament before the end of the year. “This tournament is very important for us, as our recent online results have been unstable. We've spent two weeks training and we want to show that the work is paying off,” said Hades.

Monte, despite being the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, has every chance to prove itself in the LAN tournament. “We're a team that is emotionally dependent on playing on LAN, so I feel like we can do well.”

New captaincy and challenges

The decision to become a captain was made at the end of his period in 9INE, when hades tried himself as an IGL. “I liked it, so when the opportunity arose in Monte, I decided to keep trying. I can't call myself a full-fledged captain yet, but I'm trying to grow in that direction.”

The main challenges for Hades are consistency and team management in the middle rounds. “Sometimes players want to do their own thing and it can lead to chaos. We are working on it to coordinate better.”

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Polish-English communication

Monte has an international roster with four Polish players and a Ukrainian player, DemQQ. Communication is mostly in Polish, but sometimes switches to English for DemQQ to better understand. “He understands about 80-90% of what we say. If he doesn't understand something, he quickly asks and we explain it in English.”

Plans for the future

Monte understands that 2025 will bring new challenges, in particular due to changes in the format of tournaments based on Valve's rating. “It's a mixed bag, because there will be a lot of new opportunities for the second tier teams. We hope to have a good start to the year and receive invitations to major tournaments.”

Source: HLTV