On the eve of the European RMR B for the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 in CS2, we spoke with Rigon "rigoN" Gashi, one of the players from BIG. In an interview with Bo3.gg, he discussed adapting to a new team, the upcoming RMR tournament, and the prospects of Balkan teams.

BIG missed the last three Majors, how would you describe the feelings and motivation of your teammates for the upcoming RMR?

The teammates and I are really motivated and feeling good, ready to give our best for the upcoming RMR

The previous events from BIG didn't look too confident, can we expect any in-game changes in the RMR? Tell us about the preparations you guys did for the tournament.

Well, the first two months and events were pretty hard for me. What made it more difficult for us I guess is that after we had the Pro League and ESL Challenger Atlanta where we performed fairly well in my opinion, it was only the online games that we lacked. We just had a one-week bootcamp where we finalized things and spoke a lot of stuff.

What do you think about your group at RMR? Any opponents you’d like to play against or otherwise?

I didn't think too much about the groups, I don't have any special opponents I would like to play against, so I look forward to it.

Who would you put as a potential surprise team for your RMR group?

In my opinion, everyone can beat everyone, but if I have to pick one, I would say Passion UA.

What do you think about the match against Sashi Esport? Who holds the advantage in such a match?

I'm not sure it's for both do or die, so I think there's no advantage. Everything matters on matchday, and whoever has the better day and plays better will win.

About the process of your integration in a German-speaking environment, how long did it take you to call the team “yours” so to speak? And how much time have you spent before you found your voice within the roster?

They integrated me really quickly in the team, as I said before the first two months were but after these, I got my voice now and everything is working much better.

Krimbo was saying in the pre-match interview that you also bring that energy to the BIG that they were lacking a little bit. Have you felt it when you joined? Did you give a thought about how to “charge” the team without being overwhelming?

The energy I bring to the team is important, everyone feels good and happy when I shout or bring out a joke. To the overwhelming part, they like it as well otherwise they would tell me and I would manage to do it less.

TabseN said that you are an extremely aggressive player and sometimes BIG doesn’t need that. Have you managed to carb your playstyle or otherwise incorporate it into the BIG general playstyle?

I was aggressive, haha. I managed to change my playstyle since I have Anchor positions on the CT side, but of course, I still have my crazy plays and stuff I did before on my previous teams. Overall, after some months, I fit in and understand the philosophy and the game in BIG.

Surely each team has its own distinct vibe. How would you compare BIG with your previous experiences?

To be honest, the vibe is amazing, but the vibe we had in BNE, is only one time and unmatched 😛

Regarding stats, it seems your performance jumps from extremely good to poor. What determines that moment? Have you figured out what makes you ‘click’ in this team?

Obviously, the first two months were tough. As I said before, I think I've found my game now, my routines, and how to play on my spots, so I've definitely found what makes the team ‘click’. I hope to prove it in the RMRs now.

The last one is about your old team. Can we expect a rise of another Balkan team in the near future like BNE or BLUEJAYS did?

Right now I don't see any teams that could do what BNE did, maybe in the future but especially the Kosovo scene is rising!