xertioN: "dexter has done a really amazing job at telling me 'be free'"

发布时间：2025-04-20 15:03:57 来源：cs2 keydrop 作者：case drop

The Israeli ended the first day of action at IEM Rio as the highest rated player on MOUZ, and was a crucial part in his team reaching the 2-0 pool in his Major debut.

MOUZ cleared the first day of play at IEM Rio with a 2-0 record, beating Outsiders 16-6 in their opening match before taking out Evil Geniuses 16-10 to get within one series win of qualifying for the Major's Legends Stage. Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman was one of the key players in MOUZ's clean first day of play, finishing his first match with a 1.77 rating in his Major debut. He then topped the board against Sanzhar "⁠neaLaN⁠" Iskhakov and company, posting a 1.71 with 124 ADR and 29 frags in 26 rounds.

We caught up with the 18-year-old after MOUZ's second victory of the day to hear his thoughts about his Major debut and adjustment to the team now that some time has passed since his promotion from MOUZ NXT. The Israeli player struggled at first, saying at the RMR that he was uncomfortable during rounds at times. Adaptation seems to bee going well, however, as the youngster sounded more upbeat and positive about his progress and growth with the organization's main squad.

"I felt very nervous, I wasn't making my moves, and I had a lot of discussions with dexter," xertioN said of his start with MOUZ. "I told him that I need freedom, I need to feel the game and play it myself. He has done a really amazing job at telling me 'be free.'"

It's your first Major, you haven't even been playing on MOUZ a long time and yet you're out here with a 1.73 rating after the first day of play. How are you doing this?

I'm very comfortable in the team now, I've had two months to get in the role and feel out the game. I'm very comfortable on all maps now and I believe my level will keep increasing. I just need to keep working hard and stay humble. It was a really smooth transition, thankfully, with MOUZ and the team.

What made that transition smooth?

The fact that I kind of know the way the system works here, in a way, and I know the organization. I don't really feel pressure, I really enjoy it and embrace it. Even if I feel nervous at the beginning of games I can really snap out of it very easily and just enjoy it. I think that's what's helping me.

Every player's dream is to make it to a Major, have a sticker in the game, and be a part of the atmosphere. Did you feel any pressure in that sense, did you work on it in any particular way?

It will sound a bit cliché, but I have very big goals for myself and for the team, as well, but I just take it step by step and don't really think about it or feel it.

What are the team's expectations now? You played the first two best-of-ones and went 2-0 on the first day. What's the feeling like in the team now, how good do you see yourselves?

We had a really good bootcamp and a lot of good practice days. I think we're ready to beat anyone and I think our map pool is really solid now. Of course, you can always improve, but I think we're in a very good state.

What is it that brought you to this good state?

This team is a unit and I'm very happy to be here now because there's so much unity in our group. We all love each other, we're really good friends, and we work together really well. We can all give and receive criticism and I feel like we have a good group and a lot of support from MOUZ. I'm just very grateful to be here.

You said you had a good bootcamp, tell me a bit about the preparation and the lead up to the Major.

We finished the RMR and it was a lot of work because we played EPL and the RMR back to back. When we got home we had a few days to relax and then we practiced from home. After a few days of practice we went to Germany for a four-day bootcamp and even though it was a bit short, it was very good for us. It was very needed and we felt very ready today.

You bring up unity in the team and everyone getting along. Does it have to do with being with some of your former NXT teammates and your former coach. Has that helped consolidate the group?

Yeah, I know all of them, even frozen and dexter, I talked to them in bootcamps before I was even on the team. It's been a really smooth transition because of MOUZ and the teammates. I've been given a lot of freedom and I'm very thankful for it. I hope I can keep putting up good performances to justify getting freedom in the team because it's a lot of responsibility. It has been very easy because we're all family.

You're 18, you just got promoted to the main team. How did you get to a point where you're given that freedom and responsibility?

The first week, when I joined the team, practice was not great for me. I felt very nervous, I wasn't making my moves, and I had a lot of discussions with dexter. I told him that I need freedom, I need to feel the game and play it myself. He has done a really amazing job at telling me 'be free.' And David [frozen] gave up a lot of roles for and I'm really grateful for it. They all helped me so much to get where I am now and I'm very grateful to them.

You're 2-0 now, where do you see the potential for this team going? You're moving to series play now, which changes things. How do you see the event moving forward?

I really like to take it step by step, but the sky's the limit, if we play well we can go really far here. Personally, I would love to go to the playoffs because of this amazing crowd. It was very good today and very fun to play. As you said, we're going to BO3s now, so it's going to be much more difficult, in my opinion. We just have to go game by game, but I think we can do really good here.

Talking about the crowd, it's just the Challengers Stage and there's already a loud, passionate crowd. What was it like stepping onto the stage and playing in that atmosphere?

It's amazing, the passion and intensity of these fans is incredible. It's unmatched, really. I've never seen this before. It's kind of funny that my first event is the biggest one in CS history, right? I'm just really enjoying it and the atmosphere is fucking amazing.

Little by little we're starting to see Israeli Counter-Strike emerge. You're here, Spinx is in Vitality, flameZ in OG. Do you guys talk, what's it like having this little group being spread out on different teams?

We keep in touch every day. We all support each other, it's like a family, we're a very good community. We're all friends and we go out when we're in Israel together, we chill and hang out. That's something that was maybe missing in the Israeli scene before, and I think the unity that we have now brought us to where we are as a scene.

How's the scene doing these days, anyone we should be keeping an eye out for?

Yeah, there's a couple. Nertz is the closest one to reaching tier one. I think he really deserves it, he's an amazing player and we'll see him here soon. He'll be smashing it, I'm sure. There's also a lot of new people, meztal, MOREE, HeavyGod, BluePho3nix, all of them deserve a shout out, there's so many players. They just have to keep working hard and believing that they will make it.

Coming from NXT, was it a team that followed the philosophy of the main team? And once you got to the main team, how has the adaptation gone playing at a level you hadn't played before?

I would first of all say that the systems were very different from NXT to the main team. In a way, it was similar, but not the same. It's similar because we're in the same organization, obviously, but the way we played the game was a bit different.

In NXT we were all kids so everything was more immature, which is good, but here it's a bit more mature because we have veterans and it's at the highest level in the world. I enjoy both and can adapt really well to environments, and I think that's the biggest reason why I'm making improvement already. My growth is pretty steady and fast, and I just hope that I can keep it at that pace.

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