NRG kicked off their run at StarLadder StarSeries Fall with a 2-1 upset win against MOUZ, earning 129 VRS points to boost their place in the ranking as the race for Major qualification starts to ramp up.
Michael “Grim” Wince is happy for the win, but he’s not getting ahead of himself despite the big victory. “Obviously, we can’t just assume we’re on the top of the world now,” he told HLTV after the match. “We need to keep grinding and keep beating teams.”
Listen to the interview here.
We’re here with Grim. NRG just beat MOUZ in the opening day of StarSeries Fall. So tell me about this victory, because I was talking with nitr0 yesterday, and he was just saying that any win here is good, but I guess this one has to be extra sweet.
Yeah. I’d say it feels pretty good just because I think we had like 130 VRS or something for that game, which definitely helps our Major chances a ton. Obviously MOUZ is a really good team. I think they’re top two VRS right now. But we’re playing pretty well in practice, and we just said to ourselves, ‘If we play how we do in practice, it should be fine.’
I honestly thought we should’ve been up 12-0, and you know what happened last time we were up 12-0
Inferno, NA pracc’s been a bit tough. We had never gotten tested on Inferno really. Inferno was the only map we went undefeated in scrims for that whole month period we were just in NA. So yeah, we’ve definitely got to look back and see what we could do differently against the top EU teams that can play that map really well. But overall, I’d say it was a great win for us, and much needed for everyone’s confidence.
Yeah, and that Dust2, it could’ve been a lot more. You could’ve gotten a lot bigger of a lead. You lost a lot of 1v1s, very close situations in that first half. Tell me a little bit about how it was, with MOUZ trying to get back into the game, forcing themselves back into the game.
Yeah, I was a little nervous there for a second ’cause I honestly thought we should’ve been up 12-0, and you know what happened last time we were up 12-0. But anyway, in a good way, it’s good we lost those clutches. But yeah, all the clutches we should’ve won, all three of them.
The only round we lost legit was like one of the last ones where we went long. So that should’ve been literally an 11-1 half, but I just kept telling the guys, and everyone was on the same page, ‘Man, we are the way better team right now. They’re only winning by lucky clutches, so let’s just keep playing our game and see what happens.’
It was a little scary on CT: I think they won a four Glock round with one Galil or something, and that was bad, but you just have to reset. It’s CS, stuff happens, so yeah.
Yeah, and then I see you’re wearing the Complexity hat. You’re reunited with hallzerk here, so tell me a little bit about what it’s like. You guys had such a long time together playing there. Now you’re back here. How is that reunion going?
Yeah, honestly, it sucks what happened with Complexity, but I love hallzerk. He’s a great teammate, great person, and he’s just super energetic and positive in the game. And when I was pitching hallzerk to NRG, I’m like, ‘This guy I think could elevate us to new heights.’ And obviously at first we had limited practice and lost out at the EWC Open Qualifier, but now that we’ve had some practice, we beat MOUZ, which is really great.
Obviously, we can’t just assume we’re on the top of the world now. We need to keep grinding and keep beating teams. But honestly, he’s a really good player, and he’s been a great addition to our team.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| 18/09/2026 |
17:00 Natus Vincere/Aurora winner |
Match |
Yeah, and so you said this victory helps with confidence, right? If the first goal was just to get a win, now you got this one. What are you hoping for the rest of the tournament?
Well, honestly, just take it game by game. I think that win was really good. Honestly, probably the best win we could’ve gotten here ’cause I think they’re top two VRS. So if we could beat MOUZ, we can beat any of the teams here, so just keep it up.
