xertioN: "The confidence you get from winning trophies is massive; I think this is a little bit of what broke us in 2025"

The Israeli player opened up on winning his first title as an IGL.

MOUZ locked up a spot in the Round of 16 of the Esports World Cup with a clean 2-0 win over PARIVISION , leaving it late to close out Inferno after coasting on Dust2.

The international team is currently riding a high after winning BLAST Bounty, marking Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman 's first title since he took over as the team's IGL.

Speaking to after the match, the Israeli said that this trophy felt different from the others in his career as he now has "more responsibility on my shoulders."

"I felt prouder of the achievement I made, that I could help the guys, xelex and PR, win their first tier-1 tournament. It's something that I will cherish all my life, my first one.

"So yeah, just a new role, still the same me in some way. I'm still super hardworking, trying to put the guys on the map, in their positions, in their roles, help where I can. And it just meant a lot to be able to have a positive impact and actually see it in a result of a team win, also against Spirit. I was super happy when we won, of course."

The EWC playoffs will feature a much more stacked field than the Bounty Finals, with the likes of Falcons , Vitality and FURIA also vying for the title.

xertioN said that while his team hasn't set any specific targets for this event, he has the conviction that they can compete against any opponent.

"I think there are definitely teams who are maybe favorites against us still," he said.

"But at the same time, I'm really confident that with the form that we have right now, if we play our A-game, we have a really good chance against anyone in the world."

You can listen to the interview here .

xertioN, a victory in two maps against PARIVISION and you're straight to the playoffs here in Paris. First of all, give me your thoughts on the series. It felt like, other than a stretch towards the end, you were in control the whole time.

Yeah. As you said, we were definitely in control the whole time. We had good preparation. We had some really good mid-round ideas from everyone, CT side, T side. I think it definitely got a little bit closer at the end of the stretch, but I think it was just because we maybe got a little bit too ahead of ourselves. But overall, good practice in Inferno CT a little bit also. So yeah, I'm really happy with the win.

You had to play today because you lost to FUT on Friday. What do you think went wrong in that series? All the maps were very close, especially the last two, but it felt like your slow starts really hurt you. You were down 10-2 on Ancient, 9-3 on Nuke, and 8-4 on Mirage. What are your thoughts on that game?

Exactly as you said, it was a lot of disastrous starts. I think it was also a disastrous game in many ways. Definitely we made it close with some comebacks, but I think we played our worst game together as a group. We were super disconnected at times, the communication was not there. We maybe did a little bit too much at times and too little at times. I think we were just doing the wrong things most of the time in the beginning of the games. And that's what will happen when you play against a momentum team like FUT. They are really good when they have the momentum; you have to give it to them. And we just made it a little bit too easy for them, to be honest.

And today I'm happy that we could bounce back. We had a good talk after that FUT game, some key takeaways that we needed. And yeah, I'm just happy to see the boys progress. I'm super proud of everyone.

I want to go back to the victory in Bounty. It was your first title since Cluj-Napoca, and just as importantly, your first title as an IGL. How did it feel? Was it different from the other ones?

I would say it was different. More responsibility on my shoulders. I felt prouder of the achievement I made, that I could help the guys, xelex and PR, win their first tier-1 tournament. It's something that I will cherish all my life, my first one. So yeah, just a new role, still the same me in some way. I'm still super hardworking, trying to put the guys on the map, in their positions, in their roles, help where I can. And it just meant a lot to be able to have a positive impact and actually see it in a result of a team win, also against Spirit. I was super happy when we won, of course.

BLAST Bounty gave xertioN his first title as an IGL It's been a few weeks since PR came on board. How do you think that he's adapting to the team? He mentioned that he has a bit more freedom now compared to his previous teams and that he enjoys playing in your system.

We definitely have a lot of freedom on our team. At the same time, there is, as I said before, a responsibility that comes with it. So if I feel like players are not taking charge in their positions, I will micromanage a little bit more. But if I feel like people are on a good plan and we have a good game plan coming from before the game, then I will need to do a little bit less micro. But I'm a person that really believes in mid-rounds and such, so I think PR is doing a really good job at going first when needed, also setting up others when needed, being in the back when needed. I think that he's super versatile. I think so far he's been adapting super well, and there are definitely, of course, as always, some things to work on. But for our first time together, I think we're all doing a great job with each other.

There was almost no time between Malta and Paris. Did you even have the chance to go through some stuff, or are you just working off of what you had for Bounty?

We did take some days off because it was really important after such a stretch, with Malta. But at the same time, we also want to make sure we have practice. It's really key to evaluate the tournament. Even if we win, I think there are so many things we could do better. We were, at the end of the day, one round away against 3DMAX from going out of the tournament, so it's not like we're perfect at all.

But we are doing a lot of good things, so when we were at home, we were just kind of sharpening some details and improving our system and philosophy of the maps. But yeah, we had a few good days of practice at home.

It feels that for some teams at least, Bounty was not much of a priority. When you were planning the season, where was that tournament on your list of priorities?

Well, of course, maybe Bounty is not the biggest tournament, but at the same time we never knew where we would stand. This victory was a surprise, not only for the community, but also for us in some way. We didn't expect it, but at the same time we were striving for it.

I think with the VRS, you cannot take any tournament for granted. I think any top team that will have too many early exits in tournaments will miss Stage 3, maybe even miss the Major with really bad results. So I think that for us, we take it a tournament at a time. We have always been good at being serious at every tournament we play, putting in the hard work for every tournament we play.

And I think going forward, when we actually start contending for titles more consistently than now, I will say that it will be important for us to find the balance when we reach the playoffs, to still stay in a good mental headspace.

Winning a title is always important, especially for a team that hadn't done that in a while. But don't you think that going all the way in Bounty might hurt your chances here, a tournament that many consider to be one of the most important of the season, because you barely had any time to prepare for this one?

No, not at all. I don't think so. I think the confidence you get from winning trophies is massive, and I think this is a little bit of what broke us in 2025, that we were so close and we kept losing in the finals, in the semis, and I think that that is a hard thing to endure. But when you win, the confidence boost you get, your understanding of which things you're doing are good and which are bad are at a different level. So I wouldn't say it was a bad thing. I'm really happy that we won, and I think for EWC the chances are the same, if not higher, than if we had lost early in Malta.

Now, the playoffs: a single-elimination bracket, no margin for error. What are your expectations?

I don't really have any expectations. We also don't have many expectations as a team. Our main expectation is that we go out and we do our best. We communicate every game, we come in with confidence for every matchup we play. I think there are definitely teams who are maybe favorites against us still, but at the same time, I'm really confident that with the form that we have right now, if we play our A- game, we have a really good chance against anyone in the world. So yeah, we're just going to take it a game at a time and focus not on the result, but on the actual game that we're playing.