Johannes ”nex” Maget. Photo: Hltv.org

The German squad of Mousesports didn’t make it through the group stages of ESL One Cologne.

Afterwards they replaced Timo ”Spiidi” Richter for Nikola ”NiKo” Kovac and now they are focusing on becoming a world class team.

– We need to work our asses off in the next weeks so we don’t embarrass ourselves like at ESL Cologne, Johannes ”nex” Maget tells Aftonbladet Esport.

Some of the best players in Germany got their first real breakthrough in PENTA Sports. Among the up and comers, the 23 year old Johannes ”nex” Maget stood out as a particularly skilled fragger.

Statistically Nex match up with stars such as Tyler ”Skadoodle” Latham and Robin ”flusha” Rönnquist. He describes himself as a consistent player that can develop into a dangerous carry when the situation arise. Still, there are areas in which he needs to improve.

– The problem I have is that I haven’t found a balance yet in the games where I don’t ”go off”. In those games I tend to play too passive and I do not have the impact that my team needs me to have to win against the best.

”We crumbled under pressure”

PENTA managed to upset some of the best teams in the world. Ultimately, however, Nex and his team mates Denis ”denis” Howell and Timo ”Spiidi” Richter left the squad to join forces with Fatih ”Gob b” Dayik and Chris ”ChrisJ” de Jong in Mousesports.

– Throughout my time in PENTA we always struggled to find a solid structure in our play. We always lacked a decisive leader. With Troubley we had a player with a lot of experience, but unfortunately he could not perform as our in game leader on a continuing basis, Nex tells Aftonbladet Esport.

The weeks passed by and Mousesports steadily rose on the world rankings. Soon new challenges revealed themselves as Spiidi got replaced with the Bosnian talent Nikola ”NiKo” Kovac.

– On paper we had a very young but hungry lineup which could upset the tier 1 teams on a regular basis, but in reality we crumbled under the pressure at the big stages. Even though we had some very good results which we can look back on proudly, we could not reach the next step to become the top team that we strive for, the German star says and continues:

– The purpose of this team was, and still is, to become a top 6 team and we are working hard to achieve our ambitions.

How do you feel about releasing Spiidi?

– The lineup with Spiidi had so much potential, but the lineup was still very young and inexperienced. If we wanted to make this lineup work we would have needed a few more months for it to pay off. With NiKo we have another high impact player that can change situations in an instant to our advantage. Players like that are very rare and I’m looking positively on our teams future.

– To sum things up we improved skill wise but took a downswing in the communication department. We need to work our asses off in the next weeks so that we will not embarrass ourselves like at ESL Cologne.

”Fatih has so much knowledge of Counter-Strike”

Mousesports has an in game leader with experience reaching back to the days of 1.6. According to Fnatic’s coach Viktor ”vuggo” Jendeby, he might be one of the smartest players in the world. It’s under the leadership of Gob b that Mousesport hopes to reach greatness.

Has your style changed when playing with Gob b?

– Fatih has so much knowledge of Counter-Strike that you have to be lethargic not to pick up a few tactical improvements in your gameplay. Though lately I made some steps back confidence wise.

– Losing when you should win always scrapes against your confidence and slowly but surely it affects your gameplay. You’re suddenly not taking duels that you usually would take without a second care.

”It was like a needle poking your heart”

The German squad attended major tournament ESL One on home turf in Cologne, Germany. However, the dream of playing in Lanxess Arena in front of their country men quickly died. After losing in the group stages to Cloud9 and FlipSid3 Tactics they were out of the tournament.

– The whole team was devastated. We were watching the tournament from the VIP lounge, and whenever the audience were cheering for the teams it was like a needle poking your heart. We knew that this could have been our audience, it could have been our stage, but we blew it.

The seats in Lanxess Arena got sold out and the fans were everywhere. Gamers2 star Adil ”ScreaM” Benrlitom said he couldn’t walk around for 10 seconds without a fan wanting a picture. For Nex and his team mates the experience was similar.

– The whole atmosphere in Cologne was absolutely beautiful. I seriously had goose bumps whenever the crowd was cheering after an amazing play. We held a signing session for abut an hour, and after we finished signing autographs and taking pictures with the fans I saw that the queue was even bigger than it was at the start.

– It was amazing to see how many people support what you do, an experience I would not want to have missed. It gave me so much motivation for the upcoming weeks.

”One has to work as hard as possible”

Mousesports recently decided to skip Dreamhack London – instead they are focusing on Dreamhack Stockholm. The event serves as the offline qualifier for the upcoming major in Cluj-Napoca. In order to secure a spot the german team needs to place top 2 against Team Liquid, Mythic and Renegades.

– Right now we’re spending every available day to scrim against different teams so we prepare ourselves against a variety of play styles. Our group is by no means easy, but i’m very confident that we will make it to the next major.

Where do you think you’re heading as a player?

– Tough to say, I personally have the ambition to be one of the best players in the world and I truly believe I have the skill and talent to make that happend in the short time I have in esports. But to achieve greatness one has to work as has as possible, and I’m happy to go this road with the support of my team Mousesports.