HEROIC's captain, Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski, commented on his team's recent victory over G2 during the group stage of the IEM Rio 2024 in Brazil. In an interview with HLTV.org, the Macedonian player noted that HEROIC had been focusing on practice for several weeks without playing official matches, which is now paying off.
"I’m happy that we won; we played great CS in the first half. I’d also say we played well in the second half too, as we should have won some rounds that we ended up losing. Overall, I’m pleased with how we performed. Finally, we had a few weeks of practice, without official games, and I can see that it’s paying off."
Stoilkovski also pointed out the team’s quick progress when playing with their full roster.
"We had some communication issues at the beginning of the season because Degster had some difficulties, then we played with our coach, and later with another stand-in. It’s hard to maintain consistency when you're not playing with the main roster regularly.
Now, we've been playing together for over a month and a half, and we can see the improvements. The practice sessions have been going really well. We’re just happy about that."
IEM Rio 2024 takes place from 7 to 13 October 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with a prize pool of $250,000 shared among 16 teams. The winner will also secure a spot at IEM Katowice 2025. HEROIC will face Astralis in a match for a spot in the playoffs.