Kursy on rifling: “I wanted to [change], and I really like it”

3DMAX went for an out-of-the-box roster change during the recent offseason, replacing Pierre “⁠Ex3rcice⁠” Bulinge with ex-GamerLegion AWPer Jeremy “⁠Kursy⁠” Gast.

The 24-year-old would not pick up the Big Green in the squad, however, but fulfill a completely new rifling role.

“I need to understand it more, it’s not finished, and I have a lot of progress to do,” admitted Kursy, while saying that he feels more confident on the rifle than on the AWP.

He also spoke about the GamerLegion removal, his new team, and their expectations for BLAST Bounty.

You joined 3DMAX after almost a year away from the server. How does it feel to be back playing?

I wanted to play every time. It was something that I was thinking about all the time. I wanted to join a team just to play, that’s what I wanted, and it feels really, really great to be back on the server and to be able to show what I’m capable of.

You’ve played four tournaments already, which didn’t give you much time to settle in before going straight into officials. How was this period for you, especially considering you have a new role in this team?

Yeah, the time on practice was not… I didn’t have a lot of time between the first tournament and the first practice I had, and to change every position was kind of hard. I wanted to [change], and I really like it, but I’m trying to be better every day, to understand my new role as well. I need to understand it more, it’s not finished, and I have a lot of progress to do. I think every day I can show new things and learn new things as well.

About this switch to rifling. Why was this the decision you took?

In GamerLegion, I don’t think I showed a good me, as I can say, and it was hard as well to show my best. Rifle was always easy for me, an easy way to play. I think I’m more comfortable with the rifle than AWPing since I played, and they just asked me to join as a rifler, and I said, “Why not?” I knew that I wanted to play rifle as well.

Your stats across these tournaments look inconsistent, with some really strong maps and some weaker ones. Is that down to being in a new position with a new weapon, or something else?

I know that I’m inconsistent. I can show a really good map, and the next day I can show a bad map, to be honest. But it’s a question of time, I will say. I know that I can show good things every time, but I have to gain more experience in the position. Every time I take on new things in my position, and I don’t always know how to react. That’s why I’m working with the staff, you know? It’s just a question of time to try to be consistent.

Does being back in a French team, with the same language and culture on and off the server, make this transition easier?

Yeah, of course. To be in a French team makes it way easier for me to grow into a new role, and I think that’s really good, because if I was in an international team, I don’t think I would progress like this, and I would have more trouble. Being in a French team helped me a lot to grow and to gain more experience.

Your time at GamerLegion was short, especially considering how little experience you had in tier one or international teams before that. How do you look back on that period?

That’s just life, it’s okay, it’s like competition. Even if I did a bad map or bad stats, that’s how CS works, I have to be good. I just had trouble switching from a French team to an international team, because I never talked English in-game before, and I think that’s important. The way we played was different from my other team as well, and the environment was completely different. So I had a lot of things to change and not enough time, I will say, but that’s life, and it changed me, so it’s okay.

You’ve played Cache seven times so far, more than most teams. Has being comfortable on a map others aren’t practicing as much helped you close out matches against higher ranked opposition?

We are comfortable on Cache, but we lost, I think, the two or three last maps we played there, so it didn’t really help us this tournament since we weren’t winning on it. But overall, yeah, it’s helped a lot, because we’ve worked a lot on Cache and tried to find new things, and I don’t think people worked on this map as much as us. Everyone’s working on it now though, so Cache is a good pick for us, but everyone can find new things, so it’s kind of tricky as well.

Making the top eight is already a success, but you’ll get to pick your opponent today and likely face either MOUZ or Spirit. With favorites like Falcons and Vitality already losing this tournament, do you see this as a good chance to make an underdog run even against one of those two?

Of course, I think everyone wants to win, and I think all the upsets happen because people want more. We’re going to play Spirit or MOUZ, I don’t know yet, but we’re going to give everything. It’s not about who we’re playing, it’s about us, and we have to give everything against a top 50 team or a top three team. I think we just have to give everything and see. It’s a good chance for us because we can win a lot of points, and being in the playoffs is really good. We gave everything to be there, and we have to keep giving everything to try to have a chance to continue.