After being crowned World Champions in Katowice, Team Dignitas ended in 5th-8th place at Copenhagen Games 2018. We caught up with Kiara "milk" Makua to know her thoughts about those results, as well as their ESEA playoffs placing.

Hello Kiara. Suddenly, just after a few months with Team Dignitas, you became World Champion at Intel Challenge 2018. Were you expecting for it to happen so soon after joining?

milk: We had prepped and practiced a lot and we were all feeling really comfortable and confident for IEM Katowice, so we were expecting to win.





You recently attended Copenhagen Games 2018, ending up in 5th-8th place. Although you looked dominant in the first phase of the tournament, you ended up losing in the Quarter-Final. What happened in the elimination match?

milk: Copenhagen Games 2018 seemed like a really unlucky tournament for us. We all just weren't on our usual game of Counter-Strike that we usually play. Also, with WESG involved, we didn't prepare as much or have the time to.





WESG 2018 made it almost impossible to practice prior to Copenhagen Games, due to the scheduling and traveling. How much impact do you think that had in the result of the tournament?

milk: Going back to what I previously said, I think it for sure hindered our ability to win Copenhagen Games because we had little to no time to prepare for this event.





You also came very close to qualifying for ESEA Main, being only one map win away from qualifying. How does this affect your mentality going into the next season?

milk: It doesn't affect my mentality in a bad way going into the next season. If anything, it gives me drive to have a good record going into it.





In general, how do you and the team pick yourself back up after a rough loss? Do you have any tips for other people who are struggling with losses in their games?

milk: How I see it is you can't dwell on losses. Sure, you can see why you lost and how, but I don't dwell on losses as nothing good will come from it.





Let’s talk about you now. How do you deal with the connection issues to the servers that you may have in online matches and practices, since you’re not from the mainland USA? How much do you feel that it has an impact in your gameplay?

milk: Playing with high ping from Hawaii is always going to put me at a disadvantage, but I try to make the best out of it and focus on my own game.





Has it ever been such a problem that you though you couldn’t play professionally while always having potentially bad connections to the servers?

milk: Yeah, it has, which is why I haven't played competitive officially until now. I didn't think I could make it happen to play on an official team.





What does your daily Counter-Strike practice consist of?

milk: Our daily Counter-Strike practice consist of five days a week, six hours a day of learning new strategies, watching demos, and trying to scrim top tier teams in the ESEA leagues.





What tips would you give to upcoming players that may want to try their luck on the professional scene?

milk: My advice to upcoming players that want to try out the competitive scene would to be to continue to work hard as things can't always be handed to you.





Are there any words you would like to say to wrap up this interview?

milk: Thanks so much for taking the time to read this interview. Also a shoutout to our sponsors Alienware, Buffalo Wild Wings, HyperX, Mountain Dew, and WD!





I want to thank milk for taking her time to answer our questions. Don't forget to stay tuned on her social media:

Twitter

Twitch