mymTw.com: Hey Martin. Congratulations for your second place at the IEM Finals in Kiev. What do you feel now some days after the final match against fnatic?

Martin 'trace' Bang Heldt: Thank you. I am feeling okay. I try not to think about the finals. It makes me sad because of the fact that I believe we should have won de_train and in the end winning the first prize. With that in mind, I can’t complain about the second place, and I’m glad that we finished above teams like SK, NaVi and FX. But I’m also very tired of losing finals!

mymTw.com: Was it the first time you visited Kiev? What do you think of the city and the location? How was your stay?

Martin 'trace' Bang Heldt: Yes, this was my first time in Ukraine. The hotel we stayed in didn’t really have anything close to it, so it was tough for us to go to a supermarket or anything like that, during our stay at the hotel. But when we took the approximately 30 minute drive to the event, it was nice. The location was good, I really enjoyed it. Good setups, nice stage and good for the spectators as well. We could easily get supplies and such, which is important for me personally. We enjoyed ourselves during our visit in Kiev, even though we spent most of our time preparing for the tournament.

mymTw.com: Did You have some tough matches during the event? Did everything work out as you hoped for? Is there anything you are going to change in front of the next event?

Martin 'trace' Bang Heldt: Not exactly, yet we still managed to claim the second place. Our goal from the beginning was to place first in our group, but FX did a great job winning all of their matches. I think they have improved a lot since the last time we played them. We are not going to change anything, but we will of course try to improve our game. The most important thing is, that we find the mistakes, we did at this tournament and find a way to make sure we won’t make them again.

mymTw.com: Losing such close matches is hard for every team. How do you manage not to lose motivation, spirit, and start struggling in the team?

Martin 'trace' Bang Heldt: Time doesn’t make it easier. It is always the same: extremely painful. I don’t lose motivation when I lose. I just think back at the last time I was in a final and I remember, how I felt when I lost. This keeps me motivated to work even harder and it reminds me what’s at stake. So I give 100 percent for myself. There is no use in starting a fight within the team, but the first couple of days after a lost game or final, it is good to get your frustrations out. So everyone can get something off their chests. In this way, we don’t have to hold grudges against each other.

mymTw.com: SK and specially mousesports did not perform as well as people may believe they will do. What do you think of their performance?

Martin 'trace' Bang Heldt: Well, mousesports haven’t really been doing anything this year. So I didn’t know what to expect from them. I guess I can say, that I’m not that surprised with their performance, even though I thought they would do at least a little better than they did. With new line-up who knows? SK on the other hand was quite a disappointment. I’m sure they also see it that way themselves. I expected them to make it to the top three in the group, but a loss to FX, MYM and a draw against us put a stop to them. They are a new team though and of course we haven’t seen the best of them yet. I’m very much looking forward to see them in the tough group they are put in at the Global Finals. Should be fun!


mymTw.com: With the second place in Kiev, you're qualified for the Global Finals. How are your guys going to prepare for this event and how do you see your chances in Hannover, Germany?

Martin 'trace' Bang Heldt: The only thing to do is online practice as much as we can and to improve in the areas we need to improve the most.  And to come up with a game plan for every team we face, so we know which tactics we are going to use against different teams. Come up with new tactics, so other teams won’t be able to read us is crucial. I see our chances the same as last time. We can make it all the way! This time we intend to. The Global Finals are tougher though, so we have so step it up a notch, if we want to be victorious.

mymtw.com: At the Global Finals there are some teams outside of Europe as well. Is it a harder tournament than the European Finals? You ended up in group b with TyLoo and compLexity as none-european teams. What do you think of them? Do they play Counter-Strike in another style than you are used to play?

Martin 'trace' Bang Heldt: Usually, the tournaments are quite similar. But this time, the Global Finals are the toughest for sure. I’m not sure what to think of TyLoo. I think we played them twice in a second years period, so it is hard to know what to expect from them. This makes them unpredictable, which of course is an advantage and especially in a best of one. The Brazilians are going to bootcamp before the event and I’m sure they are aiming towards a great performance, since its been a while since they competed with the Europeans. We had a good grip on both TyLoo and coL the times we’ve met, so we are going into these games with great confidence. To be honest, I don’t know if they play in another style, maybe TyLoo, I can’t tell.

mymtw.com: We are at the end of this interview and I would like to thank you for your time!

Martin 'trace' Bang Heldt: Thanks! This was a good moment and I would like to thank all of our great sponsors because they help us with all things and our lovely fans that support us.

Interview by Mathis 'LnK' Edel