Taras Bortnik

Special to VPEsports

Kenny “kennyS” Schrub and his G2 Esports teammates picked up a couple of quality wins defeating both Natus Vincere and mousesports in the first two rounds at ESL One: Cologne 2018. While kennyS struggled a bit against Na’Vi’ going 19/20 K/D he was instrumental in their victory over mousesports leading all players with 76 kills and an ADR of 97.4. kennyS gave VPEsports some time after the conclusion of the day’s matches.

First game — first victory and it was against Na’Vi! You were not a favorite for that match-up, so how does it feel to get that win?

“It’s great beating a team like Na’Vi, since they are now among top-5 teams of the world again. We had a very slow start. They were leading 9-0, but after, we managed to take five rounds in a row–which is a good thing. When we switched sides for T, we played really good as a team. I think we made the right calls in every round.”

That rough beginning… What was the reason of that? Was it another case of first day matches or because of pressure on you?

“I think it’s a lot of reasons, including those. The beginning of a tournament is always very hard, especially against such a good team. We felt some pressure, because we are a new team and due to the expectations we put on ourselves. So yeah, a bit of pressure and a bit of… you know, we were trying to see how they are playing and as soon as we started to understand them, we were able to adapt. It took nine rounds, but in the end we managed to save the side, I’d say.”

Are you and your teammates on top of your game? Are you in top form now?

“No. We are still a young team and we had a bootcamp where we went through every possible mistake while still trying to figure out the basics. Our slow start was expected, but now we are happy of the way we played today because bootcamp last week wasn’t that bright, but productive.”

Playing in this tournament you are the underdog, which is quite unusual for team like G2. Does it help? Does it make other teams underestimate you?

“Everyone knows us. We’ve been an underdog for a while now. The French teams have been struggling for years now, so teams can underestimate us, but i don’t know what is happening in their heads. We are definitely underdogs and we are fine with that.”

Tell us about how you prepare for a tournament? You’ve just mentioned that you had a bootcamp.

“Yeah, as I said we had a bootcamp last week that lasted seven days. We, also have been practicing online for about three weeks so I’d say we’ve had four weeks in total. Still not enough to be fully prepared, but enough to be ready. I think that we are ready now.”

You are different from other players for your chose of weapon for CT side. You prefer to use FAMAS instead of traditional M4A1/M4A4. Can you explain?

“Because it’s my strongest weapon! You can ask my teammates, it’s very comfortable for me to play with FAMAS.”

Now your team has three captains in one roster: Ex6TenZ, SmithZz and Shox. Who have a main caller for this tournament? Can you describe the communication process?

“Main calls are all Ex6TenZ, the mid-round calls goes to Shox most of the time. Now, all of us are experienced enough to read the game so every player is able to make a mid-round call, but the main ones are Ex6TenZ and Shox.”

There are many good teams playing in Cologne. Is there anyone in particular you want to play?

“I think it’s Astralis. They are definitely the favorite of the tournament and strongest team here. But there are also many other strong teams so every opponent is tough. But, it’s not like we want to avoid anyone.”

So what are the differences between playing on a roster with NBK and playing with shox again?

“I will always respect NBK and apEX and mixwell because I have such a great time with them. I don’t really want to compare. Things surrounding our old lineup were very weird. I mean, I didn’t want to change the roster before so that whole situation was weird for me. I really love the time we’d spent together, but i’m really happy to be with my team right now.”

Will this roster ever be what everyone thought it could be–a world champion?

“I really see the potential, but now the level of CS:GO so high that you cannot expect to win a tournament after the short time. We definitely have powers to win some, but it’s hard to keep winning like Astralis does right now. I mean that Astralis in some way is an example for us, they are the one of the teams who reached their potential, which is very hard to do. I think, that we definitely have a potential to be among the top five.”

About French scene…

“There are a lot of French players, but we might be the only one team on which people are laid expectations. Even if I’ve just said that we are ready, we are still in process to learn how to work together. So I’d say that I am confident in our potential to make the French scene great again.”

You must become a president of France after these words.

“Yeah! Thanks!”