Zyphon: "We know we can beat good teams. We expect to qualify"

Sprout are on the brink of qualification for Rio, and Rasmus "⁠Zyphon⁠" Nordfoss has provided HLTV with some insight as to how.

Sprout revamped their lineup in the off-season, surprising many by putting together a promising roster on paper with the additions of Zyphon and Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali.

The added tier-one experience appears to have paid dividends as Sprout have hit the ground running in Malta to go 2-0, putting them within touching distance of qualifying for the IEM Rio Major.

Zyphon impressed in victory over Spirit with 24 frags and over 90 ADR

After claiming victory over Spirit to bring a Major spot within touching distance, Zyphon sat down for a chat with HLTV to discuss how Sprout made it this far, how good the squad can be in the future, and his feelings after leaving his previous team.

How are you feeling being 2-0 and on the brink of qualification, it must be exciting?

Yeah it’s pretty exciting, of course I feel like we got pretty easy matchups for the first two so we were expecting to win both matches, or at least we had a good chance.

It was a strong CT side that got the job done against Spirit, how were you able to dominate so much on your defence?

When we anti-stratted them, they had major tells that told us “when they do this, they are 100% going to do this,” so every time they did one of these tells we just stacked the other site.

So it was all about the preparation?

Yeah exactly.

To rewind a bit and talk about the forZe game you played yesterday, why do you think you were able to make such an impressive comeback in the second half on your T side?

It was mainly because of their playstyle, they were giving us all the space so we could do all the things we wanted to do and they weren’t going to interrupt us in doing it. We could mess with them all that we wanted, and they never knew where we were.

Then it was just about doing the things right, we did the things right, and we did it together as a team. It was pretty easy.

We have two huge talents on the team in lauNx and Staehr. Rasmus "⁠Zyphon⁠" Nordfoss

At half-time when you are that far down, do you expect to be able to make the comeback? Was the mood good in the camp?

Yeah I felt the mood was pretty good. Of course everyone is not as excited as if it was the opposite, but the mood was good and people were ready to play. It wasn’t like people gave up.

Also, 11-4 has been told to be…

Zonic’s law?

Exactly (smiles).

What were the expectations for Sprout coming into this event?

From the outside, many would have had you as a borderline team, with chances to make it through but not a favourite.

I think we knew we could qualify, that the chances were pretty big, because of the teams that are in the group and also because of how we know we can play. We know we can beat good teams. We expect to qualify.

Talking more generally, there was a fair bit of excitement when this Sprout lineup came together because it looked great on paper, but how is it going from your perspective?

I feel like we are making progress every day, people are doing better every day we practice, and also we have two huge talents on the team in lauNx and Staehr. These guys are improving so much every day, I cannot even say how good these guys are, they have the chance to become really great players.

I think the way we progress is just that we keep building as a team, and also we let these talents thrive. We don’t stop them doing their thing, we let them do their thing, they are going to get so much better, and who knows where we end up.

It was an insane opportunity to take a step back so that I could improve a lot as a player. Rasmus "⁠Zyphon⁠" Nordfoss

I was going to ask something along those lines, you have plenty of talent on the roster, so where do you think the ceiling is for the team?

I think we can become really great.

Even refrezh, he has been a caller for three months and is still learning, BERRY is helping him a lot. If he keeps improving and the calling is great, and the other people on the team keep improving, then the ceiling is so high.

Taking a step back, I wanted to touch on you leaving Copenhagen Flames.

You had plenty of success together, going deep in Majors, and it still felt like there might have been more potential to fulfil. How did you feel leaving that roster behind?

Of course it was not a nice feeling. I had been playing with those guys for like one and a half years, we are still really tight friends to this day, we still talk on TeamSpeak every day. I think the bond we had on that team, I don’t think I am ever going to experience that tight bond between people again, so of course it was really hard and sad. We had so much more potential to give.

You have now joined an international project, what was the reason for taking that route rather than staying with a Danish roster?

I was waiting and also trying to look for Danish offers, teams I would like to join, but they just never came. Sprout was a nice opportunity, I know Staehr, refrezh and BERRY, so I was just like “let’s go for it.”

Also, this is a place where I can grow and evolve as a player. I am the second most experienced player on the team, so this means I have more responsibility than I used to have so that lets me evolve even further. I have to take more charge now, I have to talk more, I have to do more things.

It was an insane opportunity to take a step back so that I could improve a lot as a player.

Sprout #31 Ismail 'refrezh' AliFritz 'slaxz-' DietrichRasmus 'Zyphon' NordfossVictor 'Staehr' StaehrLaurențiu 'lauNX' Țârlea Ismail 'refrezh' Ali Age: 24 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1010 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.65 Rasmus 'Zyphon' Nordfoss Age: 18 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 449 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.66 Spirit #15 Leonid 'chopper' VishnyakovBoris 'magixx' VorobievPavel 'S1ren' OgloblinRobert 'Patsi' IsyanovIhor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov