HooXi on m0NESY: “I try to use him in a way where he gets to use his crazy individual skill”

Rasmus “⁠HooXi⁠” Nielsen took the time to appear on a late-night episode of HLTV Confirmed on Wednesday. The G2 captain answered questions on a multitude of topics, ranging from how he uses the various pieces of his star-studded lineup, the international combine’s infamous failure to qualify for the IEM Rio Major, as well as sharing insight into how it felt to play in the grand final of the BLAST Premier World Final in Abu Dhabi.

One of the first topics of conversation during HooXi‘s time in the hot seat came in the form of dissecting the way in which he utilises the players on G2; of particular focus was their wunderkind, m0NESY, and how Nikola “⁠NiKo⁠” Kovač also contributes to the young Russian’s development.

“I try to use him in a way where he gets to use his crazy individual skill mechanics; I think he wasn’t used like that before. It felt like… on a map like Nuke, the AWPer is often on T roof throwing nades, and it felt like m0NESY was playing Nuke on every map, which doesn’t make sense to me. Even on a map like Inferno, he can walk up Middle and kill one guy, no-scope another guy Short and then we have the round. It’s pretty easy to call then if you just send your 17-year-old kid up Top Mid and you’ve got the round.

“I think I have something to do with it but I think NiKo has much more to do with it than me because he’s been working with him since January and they play a lot of spots together. NiKo is generally a guy that’s good at teaching on the fly when we play practices; not so much after the practices, though he can do that obviously, but that’s one of the similarities between him [NiKo] and roeJ.”

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HooXi: “I thought I wasn’t good enough, and now I’m standing here with the trophy”

A chat about joining forces with NiKo rounded out a player-by-player breakdown of the lineup by the Danish skipper. HooXi praised the Bosnian for his unmatched desire to win and his continuous support for his teammates, in stark contrast to whispers that often paint NiKo as a difficult player to work with. “The only NiKo I know is a guy who wants to win really badly and he wants to do everything in his power to do [that]. He is really professional, he works a lot, he helps our teammates to develop, and he helps me calling as well.

“I remember saying in the interview after the final on Mirage that, when it went bad for my calls for a few rounds and I kind of lost my groove a little bit, he took over for a few rounds and I was back on track because we got some momentum and it’s way easier to call… If you go back and look at his point of view in the grand final, he’s entrying more than anyone on the team, which, I don’t know if this is true, but I don’t feel like he would do before… He’s entrying for the better of the team because someone has to run in and he was in the position to do it and it makes sense because of the timings. I think that’s maybe some personal development, but I’m definitely happy to have him on my team.”

HooXi had plenty of positive things to say about NiKo

Spirits were high in the G2 camp after a strong run through ESL Pro League Season 16 back in October, where they suffered just one defeat to Vitality, the tournament’s eventual winners. The side’s strong form earned them a seat as one of the favourites at the upcoming Regional Major Ranking event for the IEM Rio Major, and the general expectations were that HooXi and company were on track to secure their organisation another appearance at a Valve-sponsored event.

This plan of booking a place at the Brazilian Major soon came crashing down. The team bowed out in 12-14th place, a disappointing and lacklustre 1-3 record leaving their 11-Major-attending streak in tatters and the lineup, made up of sharpshooters like NiKo and m0NESY, was forced to watch the $1,250,000 spectacle from the sidelines.

“I don’t think the success [at ESL Pro League] set us up for a fall. I think it was our own mentality, the way we thought about the two different tournaments… Our whole mentality for EPL was we were hungry to get through the groups because G2 apparently couldn’t get through before. Suddenly we were hungry to get through and everything clicked — it was nice. There were no expectations really, we were just happy to be there and progress and to see where we were going with the team.

“The next tournament was the RMR. It was a complete 180-degree turn from EPL because, in this event, we have to win, we have to qualify. There’s nothing else on the line. All of a sudden, instead of doing our normal things from practice and not being scared of anything, it feels like every time you make a move, it’s life and death, and it doesn’t make any sense to play that way.”

HooXi thinks G2 crumbled at the RMR because of self-imposed pressure

Chad “⁠SPUNJ⁠” Burchill later quizzed the Dane about his feelings and emotions during the grand final matchup versus Liquid at the BLAST Premier World Final — a game which netted the team a $500,000 payday after reigning supreme over the North Americans, 2-0.

HooXi then went on to speak about the experience of playing their title-deciding matchup versus Liquid, comparing the game to when the 27-year-old made his first, and only, playoff appearance with Copenhagen Flames at the PGL Antwerp Major. “The first thing… of it being over like this [snaps fingers] and then not remembering anything is how I felt at the Antwerp Major in my first arena game. With this one, I remember a lot of things, a lot of details, a lot of small stuff and what we said to each other and how, with this conviction, we won rounds that we shouldn’t even win.

“I think it’s a complete reverse of the RMR, right? At the RMR, we had no conviction, we were hesitating, everything was not clicking, I guess. Here, everything was going our way.”

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HooXi: “I thought I wasn’t good enough, and now I’m standing here with the trophy”

G2 now head into the player break adding the first piece of Big Event silverware to their organisation’s trophy cabinet since DreamHack Masters Malmö 2017. The team also shot up the world ranking following their gold-medal finish, leapfrogging their way to the third spot behind Heroic and Outsiders. G2‘s next chance at nabbing a trophy comes in the form of IEM Katowice, with the European combine earning a spot in the $1,000,000 event thanks to their position on the ESL world ranking. The team’s campaign through the flagship competition begins on February 2, giving HooXi and co. seven weeks to work their way up to championship-level form.

Those interested in watching the full episode of HooXi‘s appearance on HLTV Confirmed can watch the video embedded above or watch it off-site here. Other episodes of HLTV Confirmed from earlier in the year can be viewed on the HLTV.org YouTube channel, where you will also find weekly news recaps, instalments of our Counter-Quiz series, and much more.