s1n: "It seemed like we stagnated [with reck] so we had to make a change"

Last night M80 locked in a spot in the finals of Fragadelphia 19 following a close win over Brazilian squad Fluxo. This win marked the most significant result for the M80 roster since replacing Ethan "reck" Serrano with Jadan "HexT" Postma during the summer player break.

This change has thus far paid dividends for HexT as he has boasted strong numbers and meshed well with M80's IGL Elias "s1n" Stein, with s1n telling Dust2.us' Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore that he appreciates his voice and input after feeling the team stagnated with reck.

The duo also discussed the team's run at FRAG 19, Michael "Swisher" Schmid's form, and their upcoming match against KOLESIE, among other topics.

The full interview is available below and on YouTube. All questions and answers have been edited slightly for clarity and length.

How are you feeling after locking in a spot in the finals following a great win over Fluxo?

Really good, it was a really fun game, definitely not an easy game but this kind of level from our team and from the voices in the team it shows what we can do when we have a really good day.

It's a good sign for the future and we're really happy we got the W today.

Are you happy to finally have a chance to prove yourself at FRAG 19 against a team that is of a similar level?

I don't really care who we beat, we'll beat whoever is in front of us. You're right in that it was the first game where we played against Top 50 opposition. They picked up two great players but are also a new team so I wouldn't overrate this victory but overall I can say I wouldn't underrate it either even if we lost a map.

It just shows a bit of our inconsistency and that's always the downfall of teams. We need to be consistent and that's what we're working for step-by-step and day-by-day.

HexT closed out the series against Fluxo with a great 1v2. Is that the X-factor M80 were looking for when picking him up? Otherwise what were the main considerations in the move?

Honestly about HexT the only things I knew about him was from playing against him. From there we got a vision of how he plays the lurk spots but reck was obviously a crucial part of our team. I would say that now with HexT we have a louder voice and more opinions on our team which will help the evolution of the team.

X-factor is a matter of all of our individuals. How far can we go as individuals to reach the top because that's the goal. Especially regarding the change it seemed like we stagnated so we had to make a change.

If HexT keeps coming up with ideas in the rounds it will help us a lot but overall the ceiling for him can be really high. It's up to him as an individual to perform at that level.

Swisher also had a great game. He struggled in some regard last season, has anything changed within M80 to put him in a better position and perform better?

The way you said it that Swisher had a rough period can probably be seen in the stats, but honestly it wasn't really that deep. It's not like he's been the downfall of our team or he's been dragging us down.

Honestly I just know Swisher is back with fire again and he's really happy. He got engaged recently so life is good and he's just happy to be here in the squad. The newly-lit fire with HexT elevates everyone, but regarding changes honestly we did change a few spots but honestly only just because we made a change and wanted to start with a fresh face and change up some maps.

It's not like some real big changes with Swisher being in a new position or anything. We just swapped around a bit and this Lake-Swisher combo is still intact on bombsites.

Looking towards the finals tomorrow you'll be facing KOLESIE or BLUEJAYS. How are you feeling about those potential matchups?

It's Bo5, right? That's good news. We have a nice map pool right and honestly I don't really mind.

We watched KOLESIE when they played Game Hunters so we got to see how they play and honestly I'm surprised they beat Betclic Apogee and with BLUEJAYS beating NRG. The two favorites bombed out but again it doesn't really matter to us, we just need to look forward to a Bo5 that will benefit us.

I'm just happy to play more maps at this amazing LAN and get some cheers for us going.

s1n and M80 will face off against KOLESIE in the finals of Fragadelphia 19 today at 08:15PM.