After winning the ZOWIE eXTREMESLAND Asia CS:GO Open 2019, we grabbed a moment with TYLOO player Hao Wen “somebody” Xu. The long-term member of TYLOO spoke about the issues his team is facing, the lack of identity within TYLOO as well as their goals for 2020.
CSGO2ASIA: Prior to your match two weeks ago, it’s been a long time since we saw TYLOO play ViCi on LAN. What was your game plan coming into this grand final?
somebody: We didn’t really have a game plan coming into the finals. We just focused as much as we could on ourselves, our game and how we wanted to play. We felt that by doing this, it should be pretty hard for our opponents either way.
CSGO2ASIA: Alright. But the first map against ViCi was a really one-sided affair. They seemed lost on Mirage and had no way of stopping your aggressive T side. Did this surprise you at all?
somebody: Of course we didn’t think the map would be this easy for us, but I think everyone on our team was just hitting their shots today. Everyone was feeling it, so I guess it when that happens it’s just really tough to hold us back.
CSGO2ASIA: And what about your expectations coming into the tournament? Were there any teams that you felt cautious about, other than ViCi?
somebody: Well, to be honest, we didn’t really set any specific goals or expectations for this tournament. We simply came in prepared to play our own game, to play our best, and that’s it. Our mentality was – just bring the A-game and we should win. As far as other teams go, of course, ViCi yes, but also the Turkish team, Demise. We know that they are capable of playing the European brand of Counter-Strike, so we were cautious. But fortunately, we didn’t face them in the playoff brackets.
CSGO2ASIA: You also recently got a coach from China, in the form of ryk. What is his role focused on, is it fixing issues and developing strategies or is he helping you more with the mental aspect of the game, or both?
somebody: He definitely helps with finding our mistakes and all that, helping us to find solutions. But I think he’s helped more with our mental game, especially when we are being dominated or things aren’t going to plan. He really helps just stabilize the team and let us focus on the task in front of us.
CSGO2ASIA: Your status as the top team in China seems a bit shaky right now though, as TYLOO has recently lost qualifier matches to teams like EHOME and Invictus. Do you feel like this is affecting the team in any way?
somebody: Well, you know, no one likes to lose. Losing these online qualifiers like that definitely shakes our confidence, but those are just the facts we have to face. In the end, though, we know how to build it back, and winning a tournament like this one really helps with that.
CSGO2ASIA: Right, got it. It does seem that your team is lacking something though, a certain level of chemistry within the squad. Do you care to comment on this, if you agree or disagree?
somebody: I know we are missing something, chemistry or whatever it may be, but it’s not 100% and that’s for sure. Maybe it’s because we’re switching roles too often and players aren’t comfortable, I’m not really sure.
CSGO2ASIA: After this event, you will play at the CAC 2019, also in Shanghai, and then the ESL Pro League Finals in Odense, Denmark. Is there a big adjustment you feel the team has to make in order to prepare for those type of events, over an event like eXTREMESLAND?
somebody: Yeah, it’s definitely something that affects us right now, adjusting our playstyle with all these different teams. If we’re playing against Asian teams, we know we can use a very straight forward playstyle, just re-fragging and wining duels etc. But with the European teams, we really need to focus on the finer details, our set up plays and the support roles with flashbangs and smokes and stuff like that. I think with Asian teams we just tend to focus more on our firepower.
CSGO2ASIA: In that process, do you feel like TYLOO is struggling with finding their identity then? What is the “TYLOO” brand of CS these days, for you?
somebody: Yeah, you’re right. We’ve been really trying to adapt to a more EU style of play, but for now, it seems like when we go that direction it doesn’t really work for us. I think it goes against our natural instinct of how we want to play. But if we go back to our old style, a more Asia style like dry peeking and being aggressive, that doesn’t work in the long term either. We believe there has to be a balance in between that, and we’re still searching for that. We’re hopeful that our coach can help us figure that out now.
CSGO2ASIA: Finally, what are the goals for TYLOO in 2020 and what are the three biggest things you’d like to see from the team?
somebody: Firstly, I’d like to see our team improve as a team, and not just individually. The second thing would be to see an obvious improvement as a whole, definitely a top 15 team in the World. Lastly, I’m hopeful that we can see Hansel get his IGL magic back, and find his groove because I think he is a really good IGL.
READ HERE: liazz & Gratisfaction – Asian CS is fun to watch, but really annoying to play against.
