Argentinian CSGO prodigy \u2018try\u2019 ready to wreak havoc again on return to Europe 9zSantino \u2018try\u2019 Rigal helped 9z pull off one of the biggest CS:GO upsets in recent memory when they beat Vitality earlier in 2021. In an exclusive interview with Dexerto, the 17-year-old star discussed that match and what he sees for his future in the game. 15 April 2021 was a day for South American esports to remember. Minnows 9z, then ranked just 88th in the world, shocked world No.8 Vitality in the first round of the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown. It was a less-than-ideal sendoff for Vitality\u2019s C\u00e9dric \u2018RpK\u2019 Guipouy \u2013 who was moved to the bench after that match, as announced by the French organization days earlier. He ended up not playing anymore before confirming his retirement from the game a few months later. On the broadcast, CS:GO commentator Mohan \u2018launders\u2019 Govindasamy labeled it \u201cone of the best upsets I\u2019ve ever seen\u201d, and rightly so: Vitality, the BLAST Premier Fall champions, were overwhelming 1.03 favorites to advance in the tournament. To rub further salt into their wounds, 9z were without Martin \u2019rox\u2019 Molina, who missed the online event in Europe due to personal reasons. In his place was Rajohn \u2018EasTor\u2019 Linato, a Spanish AWPer playing in Europe\u2019s tier two. The match featured two Majors winners and Mathieu \u2018ZywOo\u2019 Herbaut, the best player in the world of 2019 and 2020, but it was try who stole the show. As 9z\u2019s players leaped from their chairs and hugged each other in celebration after the 2-1 series win, all eyes were on the 16-year-old Argentinian, who had put in a series-high 1.57 HLTV rating to power his team to victory. \u201cI don\u2019t have words to describe it,\u201d he told Dexerto. \u201cIt\u2019s something that I never imagined could happen. \u201cZywOo is one of my references, like s1mple, for example. It made me very happy that I had a great performance against him.\u201d Meteoric rise It\u2019s startling how quickly try adapted to the highest level in South America after being promoted by 9z from their academy team in March 2020. The young Argentinian was named the 11th best player competing in Brazil in 2020 by DRAFT5, showing incredible promise with the AWP after initially struggling with the weapon. As 9z traveled to Europe for the BLAST tournament, the hype surrounding try was palpable. And if there were any questions about whether it was warranted, they were answered that day. \u201cI think so,\u201d he said when asked if he\u2019s looked at differently since that match. \u201cI think it was a surprise for many people. \u201cI don\u2019t know if people followed the Latin American scene, if they saw the tournaments I played in Brazil, but the game against Vitality was surely watched by many teams. \u201cI definitely think there is a before and an after that match. Because winning or having a good performance against Vitality opens many doors.\u201d Try knows just how important it is to make the most of these rare opportunities to compete abroad. Brazil may send the largest contingent to PGL Major Stockholm \u2013 in part because of the three teams that qualified via North America -, but the rest of the Latin American scene is still struggling to catch up. For 9z and other teams in the same situation, the excitement of facing the world\u2019s best teams is followed by the frustration of reverting to a lower tier and losing whatever gains they made while on the road. \u201cIt\u2019s very hard because we play against the best teams in the world, and back home they\u2019re not even close to that level,\u201d try explained. \u201cIt\u2019s very stressful because you need to readjust to the game style in South America, which is very different from the one in Europe.\u201d A new opportunity Now with their full roster in Europe, 9z will be looking to topple another giant in the first round of the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown. This time, it\u2019s Team Liquid standing in the South Americans\u2019 way. 2\u00d71 @bravosgg y clasificamos a la #BLASTPremier, cerrando ojetes devuelta, orgulloso de mi equipo que nos venimos rompiendo el orto hace un mont\u00f3n. Cya in europe \ud83d\ude09 \u2014 Santino Rigal (@TRYZSE1) September 13, 2021 The two teams are over 50 world-ranking places apart, but that doesn\u2019t seem to faze try. If anything, he is relishing the opportunity to test himself against Gabriel \u2018FalleN\u2019 Toledo, the \u2018Godfather of Brazilian CS\u2019. \u201cJust like everyone else, I followed SK when they were the best team in the world, so I feel very motivated to play against him,\u201d try said. \u201cI admired them when they were the best team in the world.\u201d Try, who turned 17 on September 23, is still in the nascent stages of his career, but there will come a point when he will have to decide the next step for him. Other Argentinian players, like Ignacio \u2018meyern\u2019 Meyer and Luca \u2018Luken\u2019 Nadotti, have had to join Brazilian teams to further their careers. And while some of these players have endured mixed fortunes abroad, this seems to be a natural progression for try, who has unquestionably outgrown the South American scene. FURIA have been touted as a potential destination for the young Argentinian. The Brazilians have struggled in the AWPing department since Henrique \u2018HEN1\u2019 Teles\u2019 departure in late 2020 and have had to make do with academy player Andr\u00e9 \u2018drop\u2019 Abreu after removing Paytyn \u2018junior\u2019 Johnson. Try believes that his future \u201cwill depend\u201d on whether 9z will move to North America \u2013 a plan that was announced at the end of 2020 but that has yet to materialize. Questioned about a potential move to FURIA, he said: \u201cIt could be a great step forward in my career, but the contracts and all that stuff make it harder. \u201cIt would be a good move for me and I would like to play in a team like that. \u201cA necessary step? I don\u2019t know. It depends on what we do with 9z, and if we move to another region or not \u2013 my understanding is that we will.\u201d To this day, Argentina\u2019s second-place finish at The World Championships 2016, in Belgrade, remains the country\u2019s biggest achievement in CS:GO. Many believed that Cinderella run could be the harbinger of a new chapter for Argentinian esports, but the country has struggled to remain relevant in the game. For try, looking abroad for talent \u2013 9z feature players from Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil \u2013 is the only choice for a team like his to be competitive. \u201cIf we keep this roster, I think we have a good chance to qualify for the Major next year,\u201d try said. \u201cBut if you\u2019re talking about a full Argentinian team, I don\u2019t think the level to reach a Major is there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Argentinian CSGO prodigy \u2018try\u2019 ready to wreak havoc again on return to Europe 9zSantino \u2018try\u2019 Rigal helped 9z pull off one of the biggest CS:GO upsets in recent memory when they beat Vitality earlier in 2021. In an exclusive interview with Dexerto, the 17-year-old star discussed that match and what he sees for his future […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37300\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}