PR: "We realized that playing the Tier 1 LANs is not for free"

Following their victory over paiN in the quarterfinals of IEM Atlanta, Nathaniel "Gadj" Singer sat down with rising star Oldřich "PR" Nový. GamerLegion have been in solid form lately as they also made the top four of BLAST Fort Worth and Stake Ranked Episode 1.

PR talked about the team's improvement, his time at MOUZ NXT, and SINNERS representing the Czech scene at IEM Cologne.

A transcription of the full interview is underneath. All questions and answers have been slightly edited for length and clarity.

You got a lot of support from the crowd during the event. Was it surprising? Did it feel good?

I expected it because of Snax. I knew people like him a lot, so I was pretty sure that people were going to cheer for us, but not 100%. The crowd was nice, and I enjoyed it. Hopefully, tomorrow it's going to be the same.

In the group stage, you guys made pretty quick work of Astralis and Liquid. What was working for you then?

To be honest, I don't remember. We were listening to Snax, hitting our shots, and we were on the same page.

What do you believe has changed recently?

It's only about the amount of time that we get more practice in. We are getting better over time. That's why.

hypex has been showing huge improvement in form, stepping up along with you and REZ. Do the three of you work well together as the engine of the team?

It's the same as the last question: the more we play together, the more we understand each other. We have the team chemistry, and we keep improving together as a team.

You went to a few smaller LAN tournaments recently. What's the experience like at those compared to a bigger event like BLAST and IEM?

For example, at the Parken in Denmark, we were playing like five BO1s in one day, so it was pretty wild. We realized that playing the Tier 1 LANs is not for free. You need to try hard in these events as well.

We got our foot back on the ground, and then we realized the value of these events. We try hard for everything. Hopefully, we are back in the best events. Everyone wants to play the best events.

What was your experience like in MOUZ NXT, and why has that academy produced more talent than the others?

Probably because they have good coaches at MOUZ NXT. I have only good memories working with TOBIZ, who's currently on Heroic as well. He picked a good squad. I would say I'm in contact with everyone at MOUZ NXT. We were a good group, and it worked out.

GamerLegion switched from ash to imd. Can you tell me a little bit about what imd brings to the team, and maybe some similarities or differences?

He's staring at me, so he's probably the best coach I've ever had. Nah, I don't know. I have had him as a coach for one year already. Since I joined, he's been coaching me.

I don't really see such a big difference between an assistant coach and a main coach, so he was bringing value from the start. And it's not like something big happened. I enjoy working with him.

SINNERS qualified for the Major, a pretty huge milestone for the Czech scene. What does it mean for them to finally make the major?

Finally, the Czech organization made it. I'm happy for that. Also, our teams disappeared on the Czech scene. I don't want to see it no longer existing, but the best teams either went international as SINNNERS or ECLOT, for example, they disbanded. Then we have UNiTY and maybe Brute around the top now. At least beastik and SHOCK were really close many times, so finally it worked out for them.

What does IEM Atlanta mean for your team?

Hard to say. We treat it as any other event, and we are trying our best. We don't have any expectations. We are playing the game, trying to be the best version of ourselves, and we take it game by game.

Any thoughts or expectations going into your semifinal against Legacy tomorrow?

Nothing.

GamerLegion will return to the server tomorrow at 04:30PM for their semifinal against Legacy.