Heroic jabbi at ESL Pro League Season 18 – “We just focus on the game in front of us”

ESL Pro League Season 18 Group B is set to get underway tomorrow, and Heroic are undoubtedly one of the favorites. The youngest player on the roster, jabbi, has made a name for himself as an electric rifler, and one of the most consistent in the world in his position.

We sat down with Heroic jabbi prior to ESL Pro League Season 18 Group B to get his thoughts on the upcoming tournament.

We’re a couple of weeks out from Gamers8. How have you guys recovered for ESL Pro League?

We took a few days off and, yeah, obviously we just started to practice as much as we could for this tournament, to get in shape for Pro League.

You’ve got Rooster up first and then either BIG or Monte if you win. How does being the favorite in a match affect your preparation?

It doesn’t affect our preparation. We’ve tried it many times before, to be the favorites, and we prepare for such a game as if it were a big game on stage. So yeah, it’s not something different from the other games.

How does having someone as experienced as cadiaN on the team help you guys on the server?

I mean, he’s really good at keeping an overview for us and helping getting calm if you’re too hyped or if you’re kinda angry. So yeah, I think that is two really strong strengths he has that he can, at least help me with doing that. But obviously, he has many things he can do to help us and just help the team. He is, I think, one of the smartest players in CS.

Over the last year you guys have experienced some very high highs and very some low lows. Which of the two do you think drives your team the most to success?

I mean, if you call our lows lows, it must be really low for some teams I would say! We went to Playoffs in every single tournament, obviously, not every tournament has went how we hoped for, but yeah, we still made a good result from the overview. But obviously, we have high expectations to ourselves as well. Yeah, I mean, every player has kinda their own way of gaining motivation and knows what helps them to want to play and to get that blood on the teeth, if you can say that!

Coming back to ESL Pro League – is there any one team in Group B you want to face in particular or are you just focused on the game in front of you?

I mean right now it’s just to focus on the game in front of us to have a good feeling when we’re playing. That’s like, the most important thing for us right now.

How do you think being in Group B affects things in that if you progress, you’ve got to wait a little while until the Playoffs? Do you think that helps you, or does it hinder you?

I think there’s ups and downs. Obviously if you are in Group D and you go to Playoffs you will play like directly after that. The same stage, the same setup that you’re used to. Now we’re going to be going home for like two weeks, so that is going to be kinda a disadvantage but we also have plenty of time to practice and find new things. I think that’s also a good thing. So yeah, it’s up and down I would say.

Once ESL Pro League comes to an end it seems likely that we’ll move over to Counter-Strike 2. How much are you guys thinking about that – are you practicing at all?

We are obviously focused on CS:GO. It’s the tournament we are playing right now. So yeah, that’s what we’ve been focusing on.

One final question – what’s the big aim for Heroic going into 2024?

I think it’s hard when we haven’t talked about it but obviously it’s always the goal to play in Denmark when the Major’s there, so yeah, the Copenhagen Major I think! That could be one of the best things that would happen.