XTQZZZ: "Not happy to be in the finals because the only goal for us is to win the Major"

Vitality are through to the BLAST.tv Austin Major finals with a 2-1 win over MOUZ. As the French organization are far and away the favorite for the Major anything but another championship would be a significant failure for the six-time champions of 2025.

This is the mood Rémy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam brought to a post-match interview with Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore, telling him that being in the finals is nothing to be "happy" about. They also discussed the win over MOUZ, the loss on Inferno, and whether winning his first Major is on XTQZZZ's mind.

All questions and answers were slightly edited for clarity.

How do you feel locking in the Major finals after that showdown with MOUZ?

I think it was somewhat up and down today especially on Inferno, but on Mirage and Train we played very well. We respected the plan so I'm happy about that but not happy to be in the finals because the only goal for us is to win the Major.

What do you think went wrong against MOUZ on Inferno?

I think we need to talk about that because so far this Major we've only lost Inferno. It was our best map before the Major. The first game against Legacy we were so disconnected on CT and we didn't respect our strats and it was exactly the same on the T-side. We forgot to throw some utility like smoking CT for example.

It cannot happen in 2025 so I don't know. We need to fix that for the final tomorrow.

Does it give you pause for thought about whether Vitality will allow it through tomorrow.

I don't know actually. We will see, I don't think it's an advantage for example to watch the semifinal etc. We are the best example as MOUZ had one day off and we beat them. I don't know, we'll just take a rest and prepare for the game.

Many people wouldn't expect paiN or the MongolZ to be in the finals tomorrow. Does that give you confidence Vitality will be able to smash them tomorrow?

Of course we have some confidence, but it's the Major and we have seen so many surprises in the past [three weeks]. I disagree about MongolZ a bit, I think they can make the semifinals, maybe not the final because we know they are not used to playing in front of the crowd and they have lost some games this year.

But, no matter we cannot underestimate and we will prepare well I hope so and give our best to win a second Major for the organization.

You're chasing your first Major. What would it mean to be the first French coach to win a Major in many years?

I'm not thinking about that. I just want to give my best for my players to help them make sure they can achieve their... I don't want to say "dreams" because it can happen but our main goal. That's the only thing and maybe after that I will enjoy it a bit.

Vitality will await paiN or The MongolZ in the finals tomorrow.