To open our live coverage of IEM Katowice, we had a word with Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen to reflect on Astralis' last-place exit at BLAST Premier after they started IEM Katowice on the right foot.

dupreeh spoke about developing bad habits in practice at the start of the year, which resulted in a last-place exit in London dealt at the hands of Complexity and Natus Vincere to kick off 2020, and explained what the team has done to get back on their feet in time for IEM Katowice.

dupreeh thinks bad habits were behind Astralis' early BLAST exit

So far in Poland, the team has gotten off well, defeating Cloud9 in the opening match, in which the American-South African side gave Astralis a run for their money on Train but ultimately conceded the series 0-2. Read below to find out what dupreeh thought about the shaky Train performance and what his view on the stacked competition at IEM Katowice looks like.

You've had uncharacteristic tournaments after breaks before, but perhaps none as disappointing as BLAST Premier, why do you think the group went that way?

I think everything came down to maybe some bad habits in practice. The thing is, we had some really good preparation, I think we played really well in practice, and maybe sometimes if you don't get tested too much, all of a sudden, you hit the wall playing against some of the teams that are really prepared for you. I think that's what happened, we got too comfortable playing really well as individuals and, when we didn't hit our shots, we're like "what's going on, guys?" That's probably what went wrong.

At BLAST I think everything came down to some bad habits in practice [...] we got too comfortable playing really well as individuals. Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen

Were you just that good in practice, is that why you developed those bad habits?

I wouldn't say we were dominating everyone, but it just seemed like everything worked for us as individuals. We just took all the duels and we won the majority of them and, all of a sudden, that created a lot of space for each other. When you don't get those kinds of frags you tend to play a little bit more passive, you start playing a little bit scared. I don't think there was anything in terms of teamplay or communication or anything that was particularly bad, and I think we played a lot better against Na`Vi in the second game than Complexity. A mix of jitters and maybe some bad habits here and there was probably the reason.

What did you make of Complexity after that loss and especially of the Vertigo pocket pick that they pulled out?

We're usually a good Vertigo team and we've had some good results, also in practice, so I think it was actually really nice that we got to play it. Everything just came down to losing some stupid rounds, playing badly as individuals, and that resulted in us having a little worse teamplay. Overall, it was nice that they picked it because we feel comfortable on it, but they just played way better than us and they deserved to win.

So with what kind of form are you coming here after BLAST?

Obviously, we had a talk afterwards, and I wouldn't say we put more focus on the game but we just went back to the things that usually worked for us. We had a talk about what we had usually done, so we're trying to get back to what worked for us. That happens to us quite a lot, sometimes we have a blowout at a tournament, it also happened at ECS, and we realize we have to get more focused, so sometimes it's really good for us to get a blowout.

I think it's a very open tournament, I don't see a clear favorite. If I had to pick one it would probably be mousesports because they have had a great run... Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen

We've seen a lot of the big teams struggle so far in 2020 while others like Na`Vi and FaZe have impressed, do you think there are any clear favorites here?

I think the game is really close right now, I don't think there's any clear favorite as of right now. Everyone can beat each other because it's so early in the year and Counter-Strike is in a place where there are so many good players and so many good teams that if you have a really bad day, then you're going to lose to pretty much everyone. Obviously, being prepared well for games and playing against opponents you know how to play helps but, overall, if you don't hit your shots as individuals, which can be a struggle for a lot of people after breaks, you'll end up losing. I think it's a very open tournament, I don't see a clear favorite, I wouldn't say we are. If I had to pick one it would probably be mousesports because they have had a great run at tournaments and they won the last one they participated in [ICE Challenge], so they're full of confidence. But that could eventually change if they get a bad start here, who knows.

You got to play Train against Cloud9 after the changes, with the skybox above ivy opening, how much does that change the map?

I haven't felt any changes yet, I think we've only played against one team in practice that smoked out pop dog from ivy or something, I think that's all we've seen. Apart from that, Train is a really difficult map to play as CT if you don't get control of T mid really fast, and that's what Cloud9 tried to abuse a lot, and we knew that that's what they wanted to do. Overall, it's a good change to the map that you can throw more smokes, it creates more diversity for Terrorists to create new tactics and new moves, so I think it's just a matter of time - just as with Dust2, that people figure out some B executes where you're like "holy shit, there are smokes everywhere!"

I haven't felt any changes on Train yet, I think we've only played against one team in practice that smoked out pop dog from ivy. Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen

You struggled there in the match with tough starts in each half, what did you find yourself going up against there?