The CIS Minor champions AVANGAR started the tournament 0-2, losing to mousesports and Space Soldiers in their first two matches despite being able to compete on the CT sides of Mirage.

Earlier today, the Kazakh-Russian squad grabbed their first win in the Swiss format, beating FlipSid3 in convincing fashion on Train with Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov spearheading the way.

Gambit have been a role model to qikert & co.

In our interview with Alexey "⁠qikert⁠" Golubev, the 19-year-old discussed AVANGAR's goals at the tournament, their preparation, the aforementioned matches, and the Kazakh scene:

How did AVANGAR for their biggest tournament yet, what did you focus on and how much time did you put in?

In the beginning we had a lot of issues with visas, we had to travel to Kazakhstan just to get visas and it hurt our preparation a lot, we couldn't prepare at all. But then Buster got his visa and we had like one week to prepare for the Major. We played a lot of praccs, I guess we played 40 praccs in that one week.

You were quite competitive against mousesports on the first day, can you tell me about the match and the experience you had in your first match here?

We got the effect from the first game, you have the feeling like your hands are cold, you're not prepared, you're stressed and just didn't play like you had before. But then, after five rounds we just got used to it and started playing our game, but we just gave up our rounds in stupid situations.

Did you feel any pressure?

In the beginning only and then we were brave, we did what we wanted.

What about the match against Space Soldiers on Mirage, there it was a similar story as the first side went quite well but then in the second you fell off...?

This time we came in without any pressure, without any stress, but we did the same things like before against mousesports and we made stupid mistakes, we gave up some rounds, just LAN things that we wouldn't do online.

Was FlipSid3 a good match-up for you as a team that also comes from the CIS region?

It was do-or-die for us. We just got a good start and it helped us a lot, we just felt our game. Buster put his performance in this match, he was carrying the whole game and killing everyone, and Jame made very important calls and clutches.

Can you go over your players and tell me a bit more about them, where you came from and how long you've been together?

We have been together for nine months and we just started playing together, we're just a young team and we still need this experience to play on these LANs. Nobody knew about us in the beginning, but now everyone talks about us.

Kazakhstan has produced many new talents in recent times, where does that come from, being in a region that is quite detached?

We got many young talents, but the main thing is ping and our location so they can't show up. When Gambit won their first Major, it was for us like 'guys, we can do this too' and here we are.

What would you say your goals are here, then?

Our goal is of course three wins here and nothing else. We didn't come here for the experience, we came here to win.