Wildcard Secure Americas Major Spot Before Anyone Else

Their match against 9z really put Wildcard in the spotlight, especially Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz as an IGL when they came back from an 11-5 situation on the first map, only to take it to overtime and win it out 16-14. Such a comeback must’ve shattered 9z’s morale as they could not contest much on the second map where Wildcard easily picked them apart with a 13-6 win. With their win against 9z, stanislaw will go on to play his seventh Valve major while his teammates will all debut in it. Following such a monumental accomplishment, stanislaw spoke to HLTV about it.

When asked about how it feels to play another Major again as well as what that journey as an IGL has been like, stanislaw said

It feels incredible to be back. I've worked really hard for this opportunity and I'm really happy to have done it with the team I have now. I knew I'd be back, I knew I had what it takes, I still had the competitiveness, the motivation to play, and I think that's all you need. Then I have a team that I believe in, that believes in me, and I believe that's what has got me here.

I think it's just love for the game. Counter-Strike has always been my life, I never once thought about going to VALORANT or playing any other games. Like I said, as long as I felt I was always contributing and capable, I always thought that I could do it. I knew it was going to be a long and hard process, but once I got on that journey I knew I was on the right path. 

When asked about the secret behind the team performing so well over the tournament, especially when they pulled off that comeback against 9z, stanislaw said

For us, we feel we are capable of beating anybody. For them, maybe they are underestimating us, it's more of a question for them. We are the ones who are very confident going into every game. We just play our game going into them, so I feel like it's a bit of underestimation on their end and then also, the surprise factor comes from our hard work and preparation over the last few months. 

We've had a great bootcamp, we've worked really hard to develop our game, and it's finally showing. No inspiration, just business as usual, round by round. Even when we're down, we don't feel like we're down, you always play to win, you don't take your foot off the pedal and that's what got us back in it.

When about how his Swedish teammates are adjusting to the new region in order to solidify the team’s top 30 placement, stanislaw said

Practice in North America is still tricky. We have some good days, some really bad days, so I hope that in 2025 we can figure out a way to become more consistent with practice. Then, like you touched on, the Swedes having to travel a lot to play in North American tournaments, and ping difference.

My other teammates alluded to this, teams have just got to be a bit nicer to us. If they were in our position, we would give them a fair server and they're intentionally screwing us over on servers. So that's not fun, but yeah, I just hope that 2025 is more consistent all-round for our team to play together so we can have results like this. When we're together, when we're productive, in the same environment, the results are going to come.

When about how his relationship with teammate JBa and what it feels like to reach the Major with him, stanislaw said

It's really good. We've been together for nearly a year now, I think. I got to teach him a lot, and I think he's growing finally. I was nervous about his first couple of LANs, he didn't really handle them too well, but now he's proved us all wrong — but he's proved me right, because I saw the potential in him from his in-game stuff. It's just about how he deals with travel, and all these other things, and he's doing great. He's a really big part of our team and we're all happy he's finally growing into his role. 

Towards the end, when asked to briefly sum up his anticipation of the upcoming Perfect World Shanghai Major in December, stanislaw said

It's going to feel really good. Chinese fans are some of the most passionate, respectful, fans out there and I cannot wait to play in front of that crowd.