GooseBreeder on the possibility of roster changes: "I have a lot of faith in this core"

FlyQuest RED missed the opportunity to play in the ESL Impact League playoffs for the fourth time in a row as Imperial Valkyries knocked them out in the group stage of Season 7 Finals this weekend.

Mounira "GooseBreeder" Dobie gave an interview to Dust2.us' Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore right after the elimination, in which both discussed the game versus Imperial Valkyries, her thoughts on the addition of Marie 'marie' Ellen Toft Sørensen this year, and if she still believes in FlyQuest RED's core after failing to make playoffs yet again.

The full interview can be found below on YouTube, with key snippets underneath. All questions and answers below have been slightly edited for length and clarity.

Tough way to exit the tournament, as you had to play Imperial Valkyries in the final group stage match. How are you feeling coming out of that match?

I think we're a little bit disappointed, but I do think we gave them a good fight. I do think we could have won that game, it wasn't an unwinnable game. So, the best we can do is just see our progression

I definitely think we've shown a lot of improvement in this tournament.,so, it does suck to lose here. We definitely made mistakes that I'm sure we can go back and watch, but I think just the fact that we made it really close, and we could have easily turned the tables and won the rounds.

I think it's a good showing, even though we didn't make it, and we did want to beat them. That was like our only option really to get out of the groups.

We've had a chance to talk with NIP Impact's coach NaToSaphiX, and he mentioned that Imperial Valkyries look pretty mortal right now. They're not looking as unstoppable as possible. Do you think that the Impact scene is closing the gap with them?

Yeah, I definitely think so. They had a core that was together for a long time, so they definitely have good chemistry and good synergy. I do think they're mortal, I mean, every team can lose. I think it's more about teams gaining confidence, and also improving individually and as a team, I mean, just the checklist of how to get better.

I think people are getting better, the scene takes this game very seriously. I think the scene is improving, teams are getting better, and people are getting more confident. Imperial Valkyries are losing games or playing a lot of really close games. I do think seeing that it's possible is helpful. I think it gives people confidence, and that I could do that too.

Besides the addition of marie at the start of 2025, this core has been around for some time, dating all the way back to CLG RED. Now that there have been a couple of seasons without playoffs for America's top Impact team, do you think this core should break up to achieve further revolution, or do you still have faith in your core's ability to perform when it matters?

I have a lot of faith in this core, I think we're the best we've ever been for sure. We've always been a good team with good potential, but we just have a hard time showing up. We would probably, like, crumble, and not show our full selves.

I think we've definitely had a lot of time to get LAN experience to build as a team, I think the roster change was necessary, and I think it was for the better. I think things are going well, and you could see just by watching our games that we were feeling a lot more comfortable, people are taking individual risks.

And, even if we made mistakes, we definitely got to play more like how we feel, more like ourselves. I definitely think we're improving, I think this core is very good, and I think we're just going to keep getting better.

Honestly, with just such a short period of time with marie, I think we've done pretty well. Like, we kept having to sub our coach Shakezullah in for different reasons and visas, but marie has done very well, and I believe in everybody here. They're all very good players.

You mentioned marie being very new to this FlyQuest RED squad, and she did, of course, just recently come over from Denmark. Unfortunately, she didn't have the best tournament this weekend, but she's only 17. Do you see potential for further growth in her?

marie just had her birthday, so she's 18 now. But yeah, she's a very young player. I do think she did a good job, it was her first tournament with us in this setting.

I think she has a lot of potential, and she has improved very quickly from when we first picked her up, as she had a lot to learn. She's been doing a very good job, and honestly, I don't even know if she did or didn't have good stats because she didn't show it.

That's important too, when you're having a bad game, you've got to pick it up through comms, you've got to help your team the way you can. And she did find ways to help the team. So, even if she didn't show on the scoreboard, it did show in the server within the team.

She was keeping people energetic, boosting people's confidence. She's doing very good, I have a lot of hopes for her, and I do think she'll just keep improving. I definitely think she's a player people should watch out for.

Next up, you're heading to ESEA Advanced playoffs. How are you feeling about that coming up?

I'm feeling really good, I think we have a pretty diverse map pool. I think we're very comfortable, which is very good in BO3s. I think we're been playing very well in Advanced, and I think we can definitely do some damage in the playoffs.