Note: This article is a text port of our live interview with nephh. The video interview can be found here.


Today's match was for elimination and you went up against KRU Esports. After watching their opening game against DRX, did you have any thoughts on the matchup?

"Before Champions, I was keeping track of their games in VCT Americas, and I think they are a very strong team. You know, they were the third seed, and they brought pretty close games against Leviatan, a very strong team. I know their style is more aim heavy and I think that's where we failed miserably today."

whzy said in today's opening interview that “if KRU can play as well as FNATIC, then we'll go home. However, you're not”. How confident was the team in today's matchup initially, judging by the statement?

"For both games against FNATIC and KRU, we were pretty confident going into them. We knew they were both very strong teams, and it wouldn't be easy to take victories. Coming into today's game against KRU, we thought it would be a much closer match. After the veto came out, we thought we had a really good shot of winning, but our defense on the first map was very lackluster, and we weren't good at adapting to what they were doing. In the second map, we just got outplayed."

The game kicked off on Lotus – a map BLG previously lost 4-13 to FNATIC in your opener. What were some of the main mistakes from the match you looked to fix with the downtime you've had since the loss?

"Against Fnatic, we were running a Cypher composition, but after the game, we realized it wasn't playing to our strengths. We have a really good Viper player, so we decided to change the composition. That helped us a lot on our attacking side, and we could have won more rounds, but we got thriftied one or two times. We knew the defense side was going to be hard with this composition, but we thought we'd be okay and able to fill in the holes. Unfortunately, we weren't as good as we thought we would be."

Defense didn't start your way with four in a row going for KRU: what did bail cover in the round 17 timeout and why did things still not work out for BLG afterwards?

"In the pistol round, we lost, which was fine, and then subsequently the eco round and the first buy round. That's when the problems really started. We kind of forgot our game plan, and there were smokes being put in the wrong place and positions not being taken up correctly by the players. It's a team problem, in the end. After the timeout was called, bail told us it was time to change things up, and we tried, but after that, I made a big mistake on the first gun round after the timeout by not falling back into B Heaven and got stuck in A Link. I think that's where things really snowballed from there, and I think that loss was on me today."

Lotus ended 9-13. As a whole, do you think anything else went wrong?

"After the first half ended, we were up 7-5. Other than the problems I mentioned, maybe it was just the lack of time we had for this new composition. That's not an excuse, just how I feel. They were really sharp, and our five individual performances weren't up to standard. I think that's where we lost the map."

BLG has only picked Icebox three times throughout Split 2, with the map also usually being a second ban for the team. Why did BLG opt to pick Icebox heading into map two, despite not having many reps previously?

"We picked Icebox because we knew it was a map KRU wasn't very comfortable on. We were feeling pretty confident on the map, judging by our performance in scrims. I think it was the correct pick, even though the scoreline says otherwise. The first map loss really affected us, and going into the second map, our game plan was to play post-plants. We planted the spike many times, but due to our lack of communication during those situations, we ended up only getting three rounds."

bail mentioned after the first map in an interview that part of the reason that things didn't go right on Lotus was because of some communication issues. How big of a issue was communication really in today's match?

"I think today communication was part of it, but the main problem was that we just weren't up to standard in our own performance, like our aim and decision-making. Although our comms were very bad today after the first map, back in VCT CN, our issues weren't as punishable because the teams weren't as good as the teams here at Champions. I think teams like KRU and FNATIC really punished us, and this is a learning experience. Now we know the importance of improving our communication."

With the loss, your season is now over, and your contract ends with Bilibili Gaming soon. What do you think will be next for you in the future?

"I'm not really sure. I took a big risk coming to Bilibili Gaming to play in VCT and moving to China in general. I think it's time to give myself a short break before I think about what's next. I'm really burnt out from competing over the past three months. Coming into a new team and making it to Champions was a really good accomplishment, but I think we could have done better."

You're also the first non-Paper Rex Singaporean to qualify for an international event, much less Champions. How does it feel to represent MY/SG on the global stage despite the results shown here?

"I felt really proud knowing that even though I wasn't part of Paper Rex, I was still able to compete, even if I'm not on PRX. I was really happy at first, but after today's performance and the past game, I realized I wish I could have done better to put MY/SG on the global stage."

Your appearance here in Champions also comes off the back of an unfortunate end to your 2023 season, having to leave BLEED previously with National Service on the horizon. From being in Ascension to now proving yourself internationally, what are your main takeaways from 2024 as a whole?

"Ascension was really a big deal. In a sense, it's the biggest tournament of the year if you're not in partnerships. I learned a lot from Ascension. When I first played Ascension, I was very nervous and shaking during every game, but coming into the leagues for the first time, nothing really fazed me. I wasn't panicky in Champions or in the group stage back in VCT CN. I think I've learned a lot, mainly from Ascension, and I hope to carry what I've learned from this year and last year into the future. I hope to compete in the VCT again next year."