Tomáš "oskar" Šťastný is the AWPer for mousesports and a rising star in CS:GO. He broke into the scene in 2016, but due to unforeseen circumstances he was forced to take a competitive hiatus at the end of the year. oskar has since returned to mouz's primary roster will look to conquer DreamHack Masters Las Vegas.

Ahead of the Vegas event, oskar took the time to answer some questions from theScore esports on his 2016, and looking ahead with the new roster.

2016 was an interesting year for you. You’ve built up a profile as a big up-and-comer on HellRaisers, but you’ve run into some speed bumps for a good portion of the year.

What’s your summation of the 2016? What were the big lessons for you? What were the highlights?

Well, in 2016 it was the first time that I entered the professional CS:GO scene. I had a chance to travel and play my favorite game.

I met a lot of good people, played a lot of games and had decent performances, but also failed twice in Major qualifications. It destroyed me because I wanted it so badly, but I know CS:GO is still growing and I want to be part of it. So I keep working hard.

I learned that every game is different and it's never over until you get that 16th point. Also I learned that the aggressive style I had before is not so powerful as I thought it was, so I became a bit defensive, but with some aggressive peeks.

In total, I enjoyed 2016, but I didn't achieve that what I dreamed about, playing at a Major.

You notably took a hiatus from the mousesports lineup, for personal reasons, however the details were never discussed. As some time has passed since then is this a subject you’d be comfortable discussing now?

What can you tell us about that time? What sort of things were you up during that hiatus?

It is in the past and I really don't want to talk about it anymore.

I kept playing and was trying hard to get back in shape and it looks really good right now. I have been watching all the tournaments and I really wanted to come back to the circuit and show everyone what I am capable of.



You’ve kicked off 2017 returning to the mouz lineup. You’ve also personally kept up with your own game, having won FPL Europe in November and December, and played some officials with PENTA. However, do you feel any pressure returning to mouz? How do you feel about being the replacement for Chris "chrisJ" de Jong?

I don't feel any pressure coming back to mouz, I feel great. I will play the game that I like and also I will do what I have to do. I need to keep my head calm and be fully focused so I need to avoid some things from my real life that hurt me.

I was surprised that I got in for Chris, but I don't know what happened. I also think that replacing chrisJ will be hard, because he was the face of mouz for a very long time, but I will do my best to take his role well.

I told my fans that i will win the FPL three times and I hope that my fans will see me again playing tournaments. I won it two times and finished second in January, 'cause at the end of the month I couldn't play as much.

Anyways, I have my team back and now that is my first priority.

This is a fairly different mouz lineup than you played with previously, with Christian "loWel" Antoran instead of chrisJ, as well as Timo "Spiidi" Richter in the IGL role. What are your first impressions of this lineup? What are the main areas of focus in order to improve performance?

The guys are fine, loWel looks good and Spiidi with his IGL skill is impressing me, will be good to see it in our officials. I'm really excited to play under his leading.

I think we just need to play a calm game, have good and fast executions, react on situations well and also just play smart with good communication. We have a lot work ahead of us.

DreamHack Masters Las Vegas will be this lineups first LAN and will be the team’s first test. What do you see as the main obstacles for the team there?

Obstacles? I think 12 days of practice is not too much but we all know it is going to be hard, so maybe we will surprise since there is no pressure. We will try our best against some very good teams.

We can only win at the event so we might as well give it a shot.



Correct me if I’m wrong, this will be your second time coming to America, at least as a competitor. The first time was for the qualifier of MLG Major Championship: Colombus, but this time you’re going to Vegas.

How are excited are you coming back to America and going to Vegas? Plan to see any sights or do anything interesting outside of CS:GO?

Yes, it was my first time in the USA, I enjoyed Columbus MLG, but didn't pass through to qualify, so that was a bit sad. But I can't wait for my second trip to the USA.

Also, I know that many people want to go to a place like Las Vegas and will never get there but I can go and that's something I am thankful for. If there will be some free time I will also go and see some places in that fascinating city, but primarily we are going there to play.

We will mainly focus on CS:GO and we will see what we can do in the tournament first.

DHM Vegas will be the first event to use the latest map pool, so Infer-new instead of Dust II. What are your thoughts on this?



I don't mind it so much, I like Inferno the same as Dust II. In total I like all the maps if I play them a lot and Inferno was my favorite back then.

Of course it's gonna be interesting to watch the new Inferno in official matches.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.