5star may not have ultimately progressed to the playoffs but the Mongolian side firmly made their mark at FISSURE Playground 3, picking up the two biggest upsets of the event by eliminating both The MongolZ and Astralis in the group stage.
“We didn’t expect it,” Tengis “rate” Boldbaatar admitted to HLTV in the wake of his team’s efforts in China. “We played our game against The MongolZ and Astralis, we really surprised them and that’s it.”
Looking forwards, rate hopes his team will be able to bootcamp in Europe to help them build upon their performance. “We want to bootcamp in Europe because they have really good teams. We are Asian, we cannot play against the European S-tier top teams.”
You’ve made it from the qualifier to almost making the playoffs. How happy are you with this result?
We are really happy for that because it is our first S-tier tournament.
What do you think of the opponents that you managed to beat? You beat The MongolZ. What does it mean to you to beat the likes of bLitz and 910?
Of course The MongolZ is a huge, huge name and also the Mongolian number one team. And also top 10. It’s a really good run for us, it’s good for our confidence. We’re so happy.
But did you expect that you could actually do it, beat both The MongolZ and Astralis?
Actually, we didn’t expect it. We played our game and The MongolZ and Astralis, we really surprised them and that’s it.
We had good practice in our country, that’s why
How did you manage to surprise everyone at this event? Did you prepare, or were you feeling good?
We had good practice in our country, that’s why. We were working hard. [They thought] ‘it’s a bad team, 5star is easy for us’, but we just smashed them.
You went up in the rankings. How important is that for you?
We want to go to the Major, that’s why the VRS is really important for us. And we will really try our best in the future, of course. And then, we beat The MongolZ and Astralis. It was really a confidence boost for us.
We will go home, and maybe there will be some people that want to support us
You’re in Mongolia, and it’s a remote region. Do you think this kind of environment you have is enough for you to develop? Or do you think you might be going to bootcamps in Europe, for example? How is it looking for you?
Actually, we need to improve as soon as possible. We want to bootcamp in Europe because they have really good teams. We are Asian, we cannot play against the European S-tier top teams. It was really good experience for us. We just try our best in the future. Unfortunately we couldn’t make it [even better] result against G2.
Do you think this run could help you to, for example, secure support for having a bootcamp in Europe?
Of course, it will. The Mongolian scene, they really like to watch esports, especially CS2, because of The MongolZ. They affected so much, and now tomorrow we will go home, and maybe there will be some people that will want to support us.
