hallzerk: "I've been playing more than ever"

Håkon "⁠hallzerk⁠" Fjærli sat down with HLTV after Complexity narrowly missed out on the playoffs at IEM Katowice.

After showing signs of promise in recent months Complexity put up their best-ever result at IEM Katowice. They came away with a top-eight finish in Poland after eliminating ENCE, MOUZ, and fnatic, and just missed out on their first arena appearance following a close loss to Outsiders in the deciding match.

hallzerk played a big part in the successful run with several carry performances, until he eventually ran out of steam in the final match. We spoke to the Norwegian AWPer to gain insight into Complexity's improvement and their run in Poland, and his impressive display at the tournament.

I'm sure the prevailing feeling at the moment is going to be disappointment, but tell me about your early impressions of what this whole run has been like for you guys.

It's been really great seeing the amount of practice we had made being shown on the server, that we are improving. We're improving rapidly, we have found a way works for us in practice, and just the confidence that gives us moving forward is really good. It's been the greatest tournament, we showed a lot of improvement in a really short time, and if we just keep improving in this way we're going to be at the top in no time.

Tell me about this loss to Outsiders. Just a few rounds away both on Anubis and on the deciding Inferno as well. What were you missing today from making it to the arena?

I think we were missing me, missing my AWP shots. Especially the last Inferno there, I was a bit... I don't want to come with excuses, but I haven't slept at all last night and it's been quite a bad feeling today. I just didn't show up, especially when my team needed me, and it's hard for me personally. All we can do now is look forward to the next tournament and hopefully I can perform as good as I did this tournament at the next one, and hopefully I won't choke like we did now.

Why didn't you sleep? Nerves, or feeling bad?

I don't know, I've just been feeling, the last days, the last 24 hours I've had a stomach thing, so I didn't sleep very much last night. It's been a really long day today, two best-of-threes that both went three maps, so it's not been the best today for me.

Other than that, your performance has been great. What's behind this form? From map to map, you were always there, always on top of the scoreboard, always carrying it through.

I think I've been playing more than ever in the past few months, in December and in the player break I've been just grinding non-stop. I think I've never played more than I've done right now, so I think that's helping me, and also just getting more comfortable in the team right now. We're making sure everyone is on the same page, which is making it easier for me to just aim at my crosshair and doing stuff I want. When I get into a good mood or get into a good game, just keeping the momentum, and sometimes I'm just unstoppable and I just play my own game. Hopefully, we can keep going and just get better in that department.

Can you tell me about the run and what moments stand out? You had some close games, is there a moment that stands out you're particularly proud of?

I think just being able to, versus MOUZ for example, to close out the games. Earlier this year and when I joined the team we were struggling to close out games, so just being able now to close out tight games is a good feeling that we can take with us.

This has been the best result of the team so far, you're building on the previous Pro League where you made it to the playoffs. Pro League is coming up next again for you guys after the RMR qualifiers, so tell me about what you're going to take away from this moving forward? What are you going to learn from this tournament?

I think it's mostly going to be about the improvement we're making, just being able to make the improvement and seeing that we are improving, and just keep having that mindset that we are here to improve. Just improving every single day even though sometimes it goes bad, just working every day to improve and play better every day. Eventually, we're gonna get good.

Are there any goals you're setting for this year after this uptick in performance? How are you looking to keep building on this in 2023?

We have a big goal of qualifying for the two Majors this year. I think if we don't qualify for two Majors this year it's going to be a big disappointment for us. We are looking forward to the RMR qualifier in a week or two, so that is what we are aiming for us.