After an awe-inspiring lower bracket run to qualify for the BLAST Open London Finals, M80 was looking for more. They were not happy with just attending and wanted to send some teams home. Unfortunately, they didn’t achieve this goal, but they can still walk away with their heads held high after pushing MOUZ to a third map in the quarter finals.
After the North America team got eliminated, UKCSGO caught up with UK coach Rory “dephh” Jackson for the second time this weekend to talk about their game versus MOUZ, the support of the UK fans and how important playing on the stage was for the young squad.
Commisserations on the loss. Yesterday, you said to us you weren’t satisfied with just being here. Are you still taking a lot of positives away from the fact that you guys pushed MOUZ to a third map?
In terms of expectations, I think the guys played beyond them for me. Ancient [map one] was 10-10, and we could have even won that map, and it would have been 2-0. For a first stage game for a lot of these guys, it’s more than impressive, and I’m really proud of what they’ve done this tournament.
How does it feel to come back home and get the reception that you did? I don’t know if anyone expected it to be that grand; they were always cheering for you.
You can hear it, even though you’ve got those helicopter headphones on. I could hear every time we were making plays, we were getting the cheers, then they were booing their saves. I honestly didn’t expect that much. It’s really nice to know that the UK fans are still loyal.
How important was this stage experience and going the distance against MOUZ now, seeing that you guys are on the rise, and the aim is to play on the stage more?
Yeah, that is always the goal. I said to the guys before we started, the goal is to make this feel like normal. Not just play online games and these shit qualifiers to try and get VRS points, we want to be in that range where we are getting invites for these tournaments. Then these guys can experience it over and over again. So I think that’s the next step for us.
M80 celebrating after beating MOUZ on map two
Have you guys exceeded your expectations, considering you’ve just signed a new player? Have you hit some expectations earlier in the lead-up to the next major?
I always worry about that a little bit. I just think the work ethic that the team has is that they always want to play and they always want to practice. It doesn’t feel like a honeymoon period; I’m not feeling that. I’ve felt it before on teams, but I’m not getting that now. As long as we are still practising and can spend some time in Europe, I think the next event will be even better.
What are you guys looking to achieve in the latter stage of 2025?
It is 100% the Major now. Every team is in panic mode to try and get as many VRS points as they can. Touch wood, I think we’re almost solidified in there. Having a good Major run will also leapfrog us into next year, too.
