Filip “NEO” Kubski is about to make his LAN debut as Astralis’ skipper, having joined the Danish organization two weeks ago after his nearly three-year-long stint with FaZe, his first team as a coach, came to an end in March.
“I can understand the point of view, and I don’t want to get into details too much, but the team needed some changes, and changing the coach is one of the first steps orgs tend to take,” he said about his removal from the team. “So it’s part of the game, no grudges, it is what it is. But I’ve learned my lesson.”
The Pole says he is taking his learnings from FaZe into Astralis to work with Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen, who has a different approach to Finn “karrigan” Andersen that he is still learning about, and hoping to help the team realize its potential.
“Just like joining FaZe, I joined a team that’s played together for a while, so they have their own ways of playing, and there’s a learning process for me,” NEO said. “The journey so far wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t ideal either, but there’s room for improvement for sure, and you can see the potential. There’s just plenty of work ahead of us.”
Listen to the interview here.
You’re now the Astralis coach. How have you found the first few days with the team?
It felt really nice, refreshing to be in a new environment with different personalities, getting to know everyone as people and as players. I like what I see, there’s huge potential in the team, a lot of work for sure, but it’s nice to be back.
This is only your second team despite how long you’ve been coaching. Is it strange not being surrounded by the FaZe people you worked with for so long, with a new test in front of you now?
I didn’t really feel it until I saw the guys today in FaZe jerseys, that hit me a little different. I enjoyed my time in FaZe, I really like the people around the team and the team, so it was good times, and I’m happy and glad I had the chance to be part of it. But it’s been a couple of months, so I think I got used to the fact that things changed, and it’s a next step for me.
It’s part of the game, no grudges, it is what it is. But I’ve learned my lesson
karrigan told us the team didn’t expect you to be the one removed from FaZe. Now that some time has passed, how do you look back on that decision?
I can understand the point of view, and I don’t want to get into details too much, but the team needed some changes, and changing the coach is one of the first steps orgs tend to take. So it’s part of the game, no grudges, it is what it is. But I’ve learned my lesson.
You achieved a lot with FaZe, won tournaments, but also had rough patches, and it was your first coaching job. What’s the biggest thing you’ll take from that experience into Astralis?
I’ve learned a couple of things for sure. I was a player for much longer than I’ve been a coach, so maybe I looked at things more from a player’s perspective, but a coach needs a different approach, and I’ll change some things working with Astralis.
Throughout my coaching career I’ve only worked with one IGL, and the coach works closest with the IGL, so I’ve only known karrigan’s ways of doing things. Now I’m working with HooXi, getting to know him, he has a different approach, different ways of handling things, so I’m learning that as well. But I’m very glad I had the chance to work with karrigan, he’s a great captain, and I’ve learned a couple of things from him.
You mentioned the IGL-coach connection. HooXi is also Danish but has a different style. How do the two compare? Do they have any similarities due to being in the same local scene?
I’m not sure if that’s a Danish thing, but there are some similarities, some differences too. I don’t want to go too much into details, but they are quite different people.
The journey so far wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t ideal either […] there’s just plenty of work ahead of us
Results have been up and down so far, a good run at Bounty and qualifying for LAN, but the StarSeries qualifier didn’t go to plan. Is that just growing pains as you implement your vision, or something else? How would you rate these first days?
Considering it was mostly online games, it’s always a bit different than playing offline, I’ll probably learn more here. We had a bootcamp, which was really good. I had the chance to get to know the guys. Just like joining FaZe, I joined a team that’s played together for a while, so they have their own ways of playing, and there’s a learning process for me. The journey so far wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t ideal either, but there’s room for improvement for sure, and you can see the potential. There’s just plenty of work ahead of us.
Another new thing is the addition of Cache. You’ve played it three times, won two, lost one. From the outside the macro play looks similar to before, do the new smokes and skybox make it feel different, or does it feel largely the same?
It changes a little, but not so much. You could compare it to Dust2, which was removed and came back, and you see most of the same things happening again. There are some new approaches thanks to the skybox, but it’s actually quite funny to see strats from 10 years ago being run. It’s nice to have Cache back in the map pool, I’ve always liked the map and liked playing it. It’s a simple map though, so it’s enjoyable.
You said some of those strats go back 10 years. Does that experience help you set the team up on the map? I was talking to MOUZ earlier and their entire roster played four officials on the map, you’ve played it a lot more than that. Does knowing the map well let you know what to expect?
Yeah, for sure. Knowing the map and having played it in the past, I have some ideas for the guys on how to play their positions and execute certain strats. Some things change, in CS2 you can break smokes with an HE, so it’s a little different, but a lot of the things are still the same, so it’s definitely helped in getting the guys to know the map better, faster.
Many favorites went out in the online stage, which means you’re a top seed here and won’t get to pick your opponent. Does that make this a good chance to get a strong start to the season and rack up VRS points, taking pressure off results over the next few months so you can focus on progress instead?
Yeah, for sure, it’s a very important tournament and we’re happy to be here. The picking part, being picked or not, doesn’t really matter, you just have to play good CS and go as far as you can. We’ll just try our best to keep working, get better results, and be more stable.
