tabseN: "I never wanted to be an IGL"

Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore spoke with BIG's Johannes "tabseN" Wodarz after his team's victory in the quarterfinal at DreamHack Atlanta Knockout v. FlyQuest RED.

tabseN spoke on the team's performance at the event thus far, BIG's struggles in 2025, and the squad's plans to bounce back in 2026.

The full interview can be found in video format below, with select excerpts in text underneath that. All questions and answers have been slightly edited for clarity and length.

Pretty easy win against FlyQuest RED, how do you think you did in that match?

We did good, they are also good. Overall it was an easy path for us, nothing against them. We are looking forward to the next game against Imperial, they will be the first challenge.

We saw that gr1ks wasn't able to attend the event due to visa issues. You've had to bring JBOEN in. Do you think that's going to be a significant issue for you guys here?

We've practiced much more with gr1ks, but JBOEN is also a talented player. He's very high-skilled and can carry games on his own. We are a little handicapped with the stand-in situation but we will do what we can do and hopefully it will be enough.

Of course, he plays for BIG academy, but were you aware of JBOEN at all before working with him this weekend?

I was aware of him; he's playing really well with the academy squad. Unfortunately, we had no practice at all. We went through callouts for the maps and basic strategies. We've done well so far, but we're looking forward to playing against better teams.

It's been a tough year for BIG, we've seen you below the top-30 in VRS for the entirety of it. With that, you're missing out on a lot of LAN invites. When deciding to attend this LAN, do you think it will be what's needed to start 2026 with the invites you need?

Definitely, with how the system works, you need to attend these kinds of LANs to have the potential to get VRS points to climb the ladder. This is hopefully a good start for us to get some wins and some VRS points and get some invites next year.

You brought in FreeZe to IGL, do you think it was time to give up IGL to focus on your play? What factors went into handing over the IGL role?

I never wanted to IGL, that was the first thing. No one wanted to do it, and I needed to grow into the position. Right now is the right time to give up the role and focus on myself. It's a relief to give up the responsibility and enjoy the game again.

It's been a long time since I haven't had to prepare for the whole team. I can see a different view of the game now. I'm really grateful that I have the opportunity to play for BIG and to make sure everyone sees I deserve a spot in this team.

BIG went on to lose in the finals of the tournament to M80 and just missed out on a spot at ESL Pro League Season 23.