Mantuu Interview: "BIG has insane potential right now"
Before BIG stepped into their first match at the CCT Online Finals #5, BO3.gg caught the opportunity to talk to the only legionnaire of the German team, Mateusz "Mantuu" Wilczewski.
We talked about his experience of playing Counter-Strike in Germany, expectations of upcoming event, the progress of BIG and recent developments in its map pool.
It's not your first CCT event so far. What do you think about your team making it to the finals this time?
Coming into every single CCT tournament, I think our chances are super, super high. I think, like, right now, we had a 10-day kind of break from officials. We still practice, of course, but I think we're really confident going into this last one. We don't feel, like, a lot of pressure. We want to start strong from the first game. And yeah, I think our chances to qualify are super high. On the imaginary scale of teams in the tournament,
Do you see your team among the favorites?
Yeah, I think in every CCT, we're kind of the favorites, except maybe now with G2 coming in. So apart from us, I feel like G2 and us. Especially they had obviously a roster change, so I would say we're kind of on the same level with G2.
There were quite a lot of CCT tournaments out there in 2023. And you had your fair share of them. Do you feel like it's a current formula for teams that are only getting together to grind through many officials?
Yeah, I think CCT is a really good platform for just overall, like kind of tier two teams to kind of like establish themselves and get to, you know, being on the CS scene. It's a good thing, especially with CCT because they offer a high price for a lot of tournaments weekly, right? So it's a good kind of, especially if it's tier two coming out. The most important thing was grinding and with the CCT tournaments that are available, it's super nice that CCT gives us these tournaments so we can grind, practice, and yeah, and just hopefully qualify for the next things.
It is your last tournament this year. So we can wrap up the year for BiG with you, at least since the summer break. Are you satisfied with your results so far?
The first half year, obviously, was CSGO, and I think we were all satisfied with how we performed. We made playoffs in the ESL Pro League. We played against really strong teams then, against Heroic.
Of course, going into CS2, I think it was shaky for not just us, but every single team. So it was most important to just grind as many tournaments online and offline as we could. Right now, of course, we're not satisfied, especially with the CCT, like the previous tournaments, I felt like we could just get first place, sometimes we're sloppy in some matches. So, of course, we're not fully... For example, against Pain. So that's super satisfying, and that's why we're practicing right now a lot, and hopefully it will be much different in this tournament. Look for you like a solo Polish guy in a completely German environment
Was it hard for you to like to adjust to the new conditions of your gameplay?
I don't think it was hard for me. Before OG, I played like a lot of years on the German scene.
And of course, I know a lot of players, like I know Gob B, I knew tabseN, right? And I also like the German playstyle or kind of attitude, how they are as people, right? Like the culture. So it wasn't like anything hard to adjust to, especially with the playstyle, right? Because you always think of German teams, you feel super strat-heavy, good execute, right? So it's just something like I understood straight away and I quickly adapted to it.
Understood. I'd like you to tell me, please, about the adjustment period in CS2 because many pro players say that the game still has a lot of room to improve. What are your opinions on the game right now? Yeah, of course, the game is far from being optimal.
Obviously, there's a lot of like, especially with the AWP, being an AWPer, right? There are a lot of issues. There still are a lot of issues with the accuracy. There are a lot of issues with the movement in general in the game. And yeah, obviously, those issues at the start, there's nothing you can do about it being a pro player. Obviously, you can just suggest for those things to be improved. Hopefully, they will improve. Of course, most AWPers are playing more like rifles, especially. I don't mind, for example, still playing the AWP. I think out of all the AWPers, Jame and I, right now, have the most AWP played per round out of all the snipers. So, I still don't mind playing the AWP.
Of course, it's sometimes annoying because of bugs. When you hit someone, you miss, for example, stuff like that. Or people strafing, right? The strafing is a little bit different now, something you need to get used to. I feel like a lot of AWPers got used to it right now. So yeah, hopefully month by month the game will get better.
Looking through your results as a team in the past six months, surely there are transition periods, the adjustment period, and the first two couple of months when the team is just trying to feel each other. But what do you see as challenges regarding the team's improvement right now? In terms of general progress, where are you now as a team?
I feel BIG as a team has insane potential right now. In terms of like individuals, like how we get along outside of CS, it's perfect. We're all really close to each other. We're all kind of best friends. So that's not the issue of, you know, making people, forcing people to be friends, you know, so it's better than CS.
I think our main issue is just putting that trust, which we have outside of CS, into CS, right? Into the rounds, into the communication, into trusting each other, right? Being there for each other. I think that is the biggest challenge we have. And, of course, gaining experience since we have players from BIG Academy. In general, we just need to play a lot, experience a lot, and adapt a lot.
What is the most challenging thing for s1n and prosus when playing on a higher tier of Counter-Strike?
Yeah, so I think aim-wise, everyone has insane aim. It doesn't have to be just the BIG Academy players. It can be anyone coming into the team. Everyone has an insane aim. I think the most important is mainly going to LAN tournaments, right?
Playing in front of like a crowd or something like that. I think those are the most important things. Trusting each other. What do you do in certain situations when the pressure is on? I would say those are the most important and challenging things for new, up-and-coming players.
I am wondering, do you have this moment in a game when, for example, you were the first who died in a round, and you have four other guys speaking in German rapidly, and you're like, what the hell, guys, what's happening, I don't understand.
Not necessarily. When I die, they continue to speak in English. I think it's only, like I said before, when we go, like, at a tournament, let's say it was ESL Pro League. When the tensions are high and adrenaline is high, we're about to win a game, right? Something like that.
I remember, I think it was against Heroic, where we won the round. It was an insane round, and then we still had one more round to win. And then the round kind of like this freeze time. And then TabseN starts calling in German. And I understand it because I played obviously in a lot of German teams. So you pick up some words, and you make a picture out of just common sense, right? And I just started laughing! Because I understand what he meant. And during freeze time, I'm like: “Bro, you know, you just spoke German”. And he's like all freak-out, and we just laugh.
Usually, it's always English in a normal environment, even when I die. But maybe every once in a while, there is some German sleeps through.
You've been playing in the team with Germans for almost your whole career. So, what's the secret to playing consistently with Germans? Because I'd say, they are one of these regions that manage to stay true to themselves. We don't see much income from this region of players in the international rosters. They tend to stick to their own. Do you feel like a German after playing with the guys from there for so long?
No, I don't think so.
I feel like I'm just the guy that kind of like is in between. I understand everything that's happening. And I don't mind the culture, the people. I'm used to it.
What's the thing about German Counter-Strike that probably is way too underappreciated on the pro scene?
The commitment they have to the game, the number of hours, the grinding, making sure everything is perfect, not being kind of satisfied with the current state, and always trying to improve. So, I think it's a huge difference, especially compared to OG. It's like night and day, you know? With BIG, we are constantly playing tournaments, trying to get better, fixing stuff, bootcamps, non-stop bootcamps, right?
That’s kind of a punch in OG?
It's a difference, I feel. Right now, we are playing insane amounts of officials, and in OG, we didn't do that. We always had two or three weeks of practice and then a tournament. But here, it's like a constant flow of online tournaments, constantly trying to improve. I am constantly trying to fly up to Berlin to the boot camp. I really like it.
What about BIG not playing Mirage? For me, it's like the epitome of Counter-Strike because it's the most basic map for everyone. Can you expand on the reasoning behind this?
We played in Mirage in CS:GO, and after the CS2 release, we also started practicing Mirage. It just got to a point where, like, a new game? Let's try Nuke, right? We always wanted to try Nuke, but we never had the time. And then with CS2, I felt it was a perfect time to start a new map. So now we don't like Mirage.
Imagine a situation where we really go to Mirage one day, we dominate, and the next day, we just get smashed. It's completely random. That's how we felt as a team on the Mirage. So it was a perfect time to play Nuke. I also really like Nuke. I played it with OG before. It was a map we constantly kind of picked or played in BO3. So that is the main reason.
Good luck at the CCT tournament. Hopefully, we will see you in the Final!
Thank you for having me!
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