susp on starting in Stage 1: "It's easier to come into the Major if you start off playing against these tier 2/3 teams"

Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore had the chance to speak to with Tim "susp" Ångström of Wildcard ahead of their opening matchup with Metizport.

susp commented on his team's preparation for the Major, Wildcard's development as a squad, and the matchup with his brother, Adam "adamb" Ångström, in the first round.

The full interview can be found below on YouTube or in text form. All questions and answers have been slightly edited for length and clarity.

Coming off of your bootcamp in Poland, how are you guys feeling about your preparation for the Austin Major?

We feel pretty good, we had a productive bootcamp. We changed some roles. We worked very hard, like last time we went to the Major we had a very good bootcamp. I think we got pretty far ahead in the bootcamp. We're ready.

Last time we saw Wildcard on LAN was at the at the BLAST Rivals event where the squad went 1-2 with a win over paiN and losses to Vitality and Spirit. You did make it look competitive against them which was promising, how do you feel about your last LAN showing?

Against paiN, we played pretty well. Against all of these tier 2 teams, we're beating most of them. We're not on the level to beat Spirit, Vitality, and all those teams. They're a few steps ahead of us and it will take time, practice, work until we can try to compete with them.

With the team slotting into Stage 1 of the Major that means you're going to be taking on squads that are at that tier 2/tier 3 level. Do you think that's good for you guys to be able to ease your way into the Major?

I think it's always good to get warmed up. Yeah, for sure it's easier to come into the game if you start off playing against these tier 2/3 teams and you build up your confidence. You also have some time to work on your mistakes, you can still win while making mistakes. So it's good to start off in Stage 1.

You've been working under stanislaw for a couple months. In an interview with HLTV, you referred to him as the Dad of the squad. Can you expand on that? What's your working relationship with stan? More specifically, do you think he's changed at all now that he's been in tier 2 longer?

Before, he was always competing for trophies. He had to take some steps back and work his way up again. He started at ESEA Advanced level when he came back. So, of course, it's going to feel a little weird for him to not compete for trophies at the start.

I think we're doing well on that. When we started this team, our first goal was to make these LANs. Then we placed Legends in the [Shanghai] Major. Of course, he has higher expectations for the team. We have to take it step by step.

On a personal level, how has that relationship developed with him since you joined Wildcard when they went international?

My personal relationship with stanislaw is very good. We're friends outside and inside the server, we go to the gym a lot together. I would say the whole team is a very good group of people. Mixed characters, but still have the same hobbies.

Looking at another personal relationship, you're going to be facing your brother tomorrow. People have beat that topic to death, so I wanted to ask you something slightly different; what's the mood like at home with your family? Are they leaning one way or the other? What's the chatter at the household about this brotherly matchup?

We're not really talking too much about it. I spent a week at home max in the last two months. I didn't really have time to talk with my parents about it. It's a joke around the family, "Now it's time to see who the best is." Of course, there's a lot of trash talk between me and my brother. That's how it's always going to be, especially when it's your twin brother.

Did your mom send a text saying "I hope both of you have fun" or what's her words to both of you ahead of this Major first?

Of course, they're messaging and saying they're excited to see us play against each other. It's hard for them as well. They cannot cheer for one of us, they have to cheer for both of us.

Something I was interested about in the way you and your brother's career trajectories have diverged; he seems to be relatively committed to the Swedish scene whereas you were more of a nomad, playing with international European squads and now of course with an NA-mixed roster.

Was that something intentional in your career path? Why do you think you ended up diverging from your brother?

When I started, I was still going to school when I was playing CS and there was not a lot of Swedish teams that were able to adapt to my school schedule. There was only Young Ninjas at that time and it didn't work out for me. I had to go this way, I was playing with mixes until I quit school. That was the reason, then I just kept playing with international teams.

What about adamb? What went differently for him?

He just had a better opportunity to do it. Young Ninjas were adapting to the school times. With Metizport it was the same, he could go to school and play CS at the same time.

Wildcard will face Metizport tomorrow at 06:45PM.