xertioN: "There are times when the attention is a bit overwhelming"

2025-04-21 04:34:44 [casebattles] 来源：cs go free cases

MOUZ NXT star Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman discussed being the most talked-about academy team, recent changes, and chances to make the 'threepeat' in the upcoming WePlay Academy League Season 3 finals.

MOUZ NXT are about to enter the WePlay Academy League Season 3 finals looking to maintain their dominance over the junior scene after picking up the first two titles.

Over the break, the team lost star AWPer Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás and coach Dennis "⁠sycrone⁠" Nielsen to the main roster, bringing in former AGO player Miłosz "⁠mhL⁠" Knasiak instead, but despite key changes they have remained the clear favorites of the league and have so far lived up to their status, making it to the finals with a 7-1 record in the group stage.

xertioN says getting picked three times in Bold predictions was shocking

Before they kick off their finals campaign, which had originally been slated to take place on LAN again in Kyiv but had to be moved online, we spoke to xertioN while MOUZ NXT were bootcamping at the Kinguin Esports Performance Center in Warsaw.

The Israeli star spoke about the overwhelming attention he and the rest of the academy squad have been getting from the community as well as pro players, and about getting picked by Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants, Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken, and Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut as their 'Bold prediction' in this year's Top 20 players ranking.

He also delved into the changes the team had undergone during the break and explained why he thinks MOUZ NXT have been having a difficult time in the new season, before discussing his goals outside of the academy circuit.

You guys are the academy team that everyone talks about at the moment, the highest-ranked academy team, two-time WePlay Academy League champions, and you have these players that a lot of people say should be moving up. What makes you so special?

I would say it's the way we work, it's very different to other academy teams. I think that it's pretty easy to succeed in the system we created, especially with the last team. We had a lot of fun with each other, we were basically a family. I can say from my experience meeting the other teams that they seem a bit more apart, not sitting with each other all day, together, while in our team it was just default to be together all of the time, be it eating, playing, having fun, going out, everything just happened naturally.

Was it conscious, was there someone behind the scenes who pushed you a bit, or did you all just become friends?

It's just a group of friends, you can't even force that, if you try to force it it's probably worse. We all just really like each other and like to hang out even more than with other friends.

You're getting a lot of attention from the outside all of a sudden, and you're all in the early stages of your career, except for mhL who has been around a bit longer than the rest of you guys. How do you deal with that?

It's crazy, the attention I was getting from the CS community was going uphill, then I played with s1mple a couple of weeks ago and everything blew up, everyone is following me, followers are coming in and it's mind-blowing. That's the point in the CS community and how strong it is and I'll be honest, it's difficult, there are times when it's a bit overwhelming. Especially after the second WePlay Academy League we won. I was talking to launders — I'm a big fan of his work — and he said he would make a video about me and it was very overwhelming. I had a hard time managing it and even cried after, it's amazing.

Followers are coming in and it's mind-blowing. I'll be honest, it's difficult, there are times when it's a bit overwhelming Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman

What is it like being mentioned by these big pros, like in the bold predictions we do — I think it was broky, Twistzz and ZywOo who picked you. How do you react to that?

It was incredible because it's people I look up to and admire, of course — they're the best in the world. It was a bit shocking and mind-blowing, I didn't expect them to pick me. Maybe someone like ropz for example, because he was in mousesports and there were more common things between us, but I was shocked when I saw broky, then Twistzz, I was like 'what the fuck, what's going on?' But yeah, it was very surprising, and very humbling and motivating to say the least.

Talking about the team, you recently went through a change and got mhL. How has this made the team different? Looking at the Academy League results he's the highest-rated player on the team, so he has taken the star role already.

Yeah, of course it's very difficult to change players, especially when our coach — who created this project — left to the main team. I'm happy because he deserves it but sad because he was very valuable, in my opinion. I really enjoyed working with him and I learned a lot. The same goes for torzsi, he's an insane individual and the thing that made us so close was that we both had personal issues with attitude at the beginning of the team and everyone helped fix that.

As soon as our issues were fixed we became really good friends, me and him. I can openly say that at the beginning we didn't really get along together, and after like three months we sat and had a talk with a psychologist from MOUZ and he helped us both be more open-minded. I think that will help in my career, as well. But yeah, it's a big change and it's hard, especially without a coach, but mhL is a good player.

Being a tight-knit group in an out of the server helped MOUZ NXT become the dominant academy team, xertioN claims

Talking about torzsi making the move up, that's the goal for everyone in academy teams, to make it to the main team and the tier 1 scene. Is that the goal that you have, as well?

I mean, yeah, obviously. I, personally, in the most humble way possible, don't like to set goals too much because I feel like you limit yourself a little bit, but I would say that looking forward to the future I would like to play tier 1 and be the best in the world and all of that, right?

Going back to the team, you now have a Polish core and there's the meme that you're now the best Polish team. Has it gotten noticeably more Polish or has it remained the international side you always were?

Well, we have siuhy, who is Polish but lived in Northern Ireland for like 8 or 11 years. So he is Polish but doesn't necessarily involve himself as much in the Polish scene. Either way, we try to keep it international so everyone can feel involved when people are speaking, although obviously in their free time they can speak Polish if they want or do whatever, but I didn't let that happen because I don't think it's healthy for the team.

Everyone looks at you as the big favorites of the WePlay Academy League, but just before we started rolling you talked about this not being the greatest period for you. Can you talk a bit about that and how you guys are feeling ahead of the playoffs?

We're very confident still, we believe in our potential, and I do believe we have a lot of potential in this roster even without a coach, but it's just that we have some internal issues that we're having a really hard time fixing. I'm pretty confident going into WePlay to win it, of course, but yeah, only time will tell.

I do believe we have a lot of potential in this roster even without a coach, but it's just that we have some internal issues that we're having a really hard time fixing Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman

Some of the other big names haven't looked as good as before, NAVI Junior also lost a couple of key players for example, and the finals teams are quite different now. Is there anybody you see as a threat in these playoffs?

To be honest, I think that all teams right now have a different special ability. BIG Academy is really good, I respect them a lot and I love their players — Krimbo is great, and prosus, and I enjoy playing against them. Maybe they have too much structure in their game, just like the main BIG team.

Then you have Spirit Academy who have less structure and rely a lot on KaiR0N- fragging, who is very good obviously. Astralis Talent is a pretty balanced team, the only thing is maybe the individual players, they are lacking compared to like BIG Academy, for example, but everyone has their special ability and that's very common in the academy league. All of them can be a threat on a good day, but I only think we're facing ourselves to be honest and if we lose it's our fault.

What about goals outside of the academy league? You're one of the few teams from that group that also plays a lot of other tournaments as well. How are you looking to step things up moving forward?

I would really like to win a Pinnacle Cup or Malta Vibes because it's one of the best tier 2 events and that would prove that we're not just an academy team, although I think we already did it because we're top 30 in the world without having open or closed qualifiers for big tournaments because of the main team. I think that's our temporary goal right now, to win something big like that.