Torzsi: “Everyone used to called me a cheater. My first big LAN, V4, changed everything.”

MOUZ NXT is the strongest academy roster we have ever had, winning back-to-back seasons of the WePlay Academy League, they have established themselves as the team to beat in the League. Powering their campaigns is the Hungarian Star, Ádám "torzsi" Torzsás. Eports.ggs's Arnav Shukla sat down with the torzsi to discuss his career so far and the MOUZ NXT project.

Arnav "XL" Shukla: Let's start at the beginning of your career. Your first recorded results go all the way back to 2017 when you played on Titanium Cloud, then moved on to teams like Hyperion and Gamerzone. What were the early years of your career like?

torzsi: Yes. So in the beginning, it was just really amateur things. I even played Handball next to the CS, so I didn't commit to it 100%. And I didn't look at it [as a career]. Like it was my dream to become a professional esports player, but it didn't seem true. So I focused on other things as well. And also I was going to school back then and like, afternoon practicing. It was just really amateur things.

XL: So you mentioned that you played handball. Something that a lot of CS players talk about is that coming from a sports background has helped them a lot in counter-strike. Do you think that's the case for your career, too?

torzsi: I left handball because I had to play CS more, and I really liked playing CS. I didn't have too much time because I had training every day and matches over the weekends. And I knew that handball was not my way. And I didn't like it as much as CS, and I committed to CS when I left handball completely.

But I think it's important to play some sports because you can learn some things like that. You have teammates. It's a team sport, just like in CS, and you have to be nice with your teammates and you have to be kind. You have to be friends and you can learn a lot from normal sports.

XL: When was it that you finally made the switch to CS full time?

torzsi: It was in very early 2018, I think.

So one of your biggest early events was the V4 Future Festival 2019, which for many CS fans would be the event where Tricked the Bubzkji-roeJ lineup made their name. Since it was an event in Hungary, how was the feeling of playing a LAN on home soil and even getting a lot of praise from people like the legendary Brazilian player fer?

torzsi: It was really nice to qualify there. And the LAN was amazing. But sadly, we didn't play on stage in front of the Hungarian crowd. And I was a little sad because only the top eight were on stage. And we got knocked out before the top eight, but it's really nice to play there and play bigger events. I mean, it was a tier-one event. And it was really nice to play versus teams like MIBR. It was very nice. I think I learned a lot there. And also I did pretty good versus MIBR. And yeah, it was really nice. It really felt nice when Fer and Fallen said nice things about me. I was delighted; I was talking to Fallen back in the hotel, and he was really nice too.

You played in Gamerzone at that event, and from there, you moved to Salamander in 2019. What was the move like and how did you get noticed by them?

torzsi: So before Salamander and before the V4 in Hungary, I wasn't that noticed in Hungary. And the older guys always called me a cheater because of my VAC ban back then. And that was my first big LAN. When I proved myself there, that was like the point where they noticed me. Oh my God, this guy is good on LAN. And after that LAN, everyone just said sorry about the past in Hungary and messaged me on my DMs after that, they just messaged me and kory [Kornél "kory" Szedlár] that they would like to create a new team, and that was it.

It must have been a great moment to finally get recognition from your seniors in the scene.

torzsi: Yeah. It was a lot of pressure off of my back. You know, on LAN people couldn't cheat, and it was really nice to prove that I can do it on LAN.

Then we come to 2020. When the world went into the pandemic and all the top teams moved online, many of these teams like Complexity were playing in the online cups that you guys played. Did playing against these teams help you grow and gain experience against the top teams?

torzsi: Yes. We played a lot of higher teams in 2020, and I was really inexperienced back then. We were in Salamander back then. Yeah. I gained a lot of experience there, and we always watched back the demos after we played the match. We really learned a lot from better teams.

So looking back at your career in Hungary, what were some of the key moments that shaped your future?

torzsi: I think the biggest moment was the V4 for 100%. And yes, I think the V4 changed everything.

Since many fans don't keep up with the Hungarian scene much, who would you say are the other talents from that scene that might come up in the future for us?

torzsi: I wouldn't say young talent, but kory, he's older than me, but he is a really good player, and I think he can compete on a really high level, and he's really good. So, kory 100%.

Before the MOUZ NXT project was even rumored to be out there, you were linked up with JDC and xertioN after you played a cash cup with them. Did you guys come together because of the MOUZ NXT project, or were you already interested in playing together in the future?

torzsi: No. So this team we had never played together before this project on the cash cup. I played with JDC and xertioN. I knew that JDC will be on the team, but I didn't know about xertioN, but, yes, it was because of the project. If there were no MOUZ NXT, we wouldn't be playing together.

What was the process of assembling the roster from your perspective? Since you were very early on in the talks with them?

torzsi: Yeah. I think I was the second or third guy that Dennis, our coach, contacted, and he told me about Jon. Later on, he thought about xertioN. JDC was the first guy who they talked to. And after that, they contacted me. There were some days that I was watching some demos with Dennis with our coach to get some players. And then we find Izako Boars guys, Kamil and Hubert. That's how it went.

In my interview with Sycrone, He said that the main MOUZ line-up not having the time due to EPL meant you guys haven't talked to each other that much, despite having played a couple of practices. Has that changed since then?

torzsi: No, not really. We still don't get in touch with them too much. There are some days when one of our players can go to their practice and watch them and learn some tricks and watch them how they communicate and they play. But we are not talking to each other.

Since you have played in a variety of different orgs coming through the Hungarian scene, what's the difference between playing in those regional orgs versus playing in a big international organization like MOUZ?

Mouz NXT torzsi: There are a lot of things. For example, MOUZ is providing us with everything we need. If we want to boot camp, they can get it like for the Academy League season before the LAN starts. We always boot camp, and they are doing really great. And they are helping us in everything. And also they are in touch with us every time. If we message them, they are answering. So they are doing everything that we need and they just want the best for us.

Stay tuned for the second part of our interview with torzsi, where we talk about his journey in MOUZ NXT and Future goals. Check out our previous interview with MOUZ NXT coach Sycrone here and stay up to date with all the latest happenings in CS:GO on esports.gg.