After losing the quarter-final against ENCE and getting eliminated from the Major, we had a talk with Rasmus "Zyphon" Nordfoss.

- Honestly, it feels horrible, at least for myself. After that Nuke, I felt like I could do so much more. F.x refragging or coming up with calls, with this that I know or things that I see.

The 18-year-old also goes in-depth about what went wrong in the match and comments on the future of the Copenhagen Flames in the full interview down below.

Zyphon

After seeing FaZe and Spirit secure their spots in the semis yesterday, ENCE and Copenhagen Flames now had to try to do the same. When the two faced each other earlier in the tournament the Flames took a dominant 16-8 victory in a Bo1, but things would not go as smoothly for the Danes this time.

The Bo3 kicked off on the Flames' pick of Vertigo, where the Danes looked solid to start. They were getting entries and had good spacing on the map, but at the scoreline 3-3 their T side started going down the drain. ENCE completely shut them down, and while "Spinx" was playing very well, the real story was the tremendous defensive work "dycha" did in difficult situations. This led ENCE on a nine-round streak, and to a 12-3 halftime lead.

It looked much better for the Flames as they turned to the CT side. The young duo of "Zyphon" and "jabbi" was doing some heavy lifting for the team, but the halftime deficit was too hard to overcome for the Danes and ENCE were now halfway there.

"roeJ" and "nicoodoz" who were surprisingly absent on Vertigo had a much better start to Nuke. They stepped up individually very early on and as the rest of the team soon followed suit the Flames took a 9-3 lead. ENCE found a bit of flow towards the end of the half and reduced the Danes' lead to three at halftime.

"hades", who had been the lowest-rated ENCE player at this tournament so far, woke up as his team took to the CT side. He was excellently holding down the fort in Yard and around the Garage. This was one of the major factors in what was a lockdown defensive half for ENCE where the Flames were only allowed three rounds before it was all said and done.

With the win, ENCE secure a spot in the semi-final where they will be facing the winner of the Na'Vi/Heroic matchup.

ENCE - Copenhagen Flames 2-0 | PGL Major Antwerp Legends Stage

16-10 (Vertigo) | {cflag:IL} Spinx - 1.52 Rating / 26-13 K-D / 95.8 ADR

16-12 (Nuke) | {cflag:IL} Spinx - 1.43 Rating / 24-15 K-D / 84.8 ADR

MVP: {cflag:IL} Lotan "Spinx" Giladi - 1.47 Rating / 50-28 K-D / 90.1 ADR

dycha

Jabbi

Spinx

hades

roeJ

nicoodoz

ENCE

Copenhagen Flames

The last game of the Legends Stage had Copenhagen Flames face Imperial. Copenhagen Flames and Imperial faced each other in the very last game of the Legends Stage. The Brazilians and the Danes battled for the eighth and final quarter-finals spot in Antwerp.

Imperial's go-to map of Inferno kicked off the series, and the Flames on the CT side took advantage of that. Every single Flames player was playing at a high level, and  "Zyphon" was at one point 14-1. On the other side, the individuals except for "VINI" were really struggling for the first fifteen rounds, which netted the Danes an enormous 13-2 lead.

The Copenhagen Flames unsurprisingly quickly ended the map, and Imperial now had to battle from a ginormous 16-2 loss.

Copenhagen Flames picked Vertigo as the second map. It is a map that has treated them well in the past, and it is one of the weakest maps, if not THE weakest map for Imperial.

As the percentages suggested, the Flames got off to the best start. The Danes took a 9-3 T side lead before giving up the last three rounds of the half to the Brazilians.

Imperial crucially won the second half pistol round and converted the following. The Flames tried to push back with some wins of their own, but after eleven second-half rounds the Brazilians had tied up the game. All thirty rounds of regulation and more were needed as Imperial failed to take advantage of map point and the map went to OT.

After failing to convert on two map points in the first overtime, the Flames kept it clean in the second where they won all four rounds to close out the game.

With the win, the Copenhagen Flames claim the last available quarter-finals spot and send Imperial home.

[twitchClip:pgl/clip/DirtyFantasticFinchKappaRoss-bCVMMemThNpGYgwU]

Imperial - Copenhagen Flames 0-2 | PGL Major Antwerp Legends Stage

2-16 (Inferno) | {cflag:DK} Zyphon - 1.82 Rating / 20-3 K-D / 90.7 ADR

18-22 (Vertigo) | {cflag:DK} Zyphon - 1.41 Rating / 34-21 K-D / 90.1 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DK} Rasmus "Zyphon" Nordfoss - 1.54 Rating / 54-24 K-D / 90.3 ADR

VINI

Imperial

Copenhagen Flames took the CS:GO world by storm when the promising Danes participated at the PGL Major in Stockholm and IEM Fall, where the massive underdogs managed to upset superstar teams like Heroic, Astralis, and G2.

Going into this 2022 season, Copenhagen Flames' position and status in the CS:GO scene has changed - If you ask the team itself. 

- I think we see ourselves as a Top 10 team. And we also see ourselves as a team who never should lose to teams in Top 20, because I think we are smarter than that. It just feels like we have lost 2% that wins us the rounds, Zyphon said in an ESL press conference and continued:

- If we need to keep going and be able to stay as a Top 10 team, then we need to get these 2% back and do what we normally do.

In the press conference before IEM Katowice, we also spoke to CPH Flames’ in-game leader, Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen, who opened up about how it has been playing under heavy transfer and acquisition rumours.

HooXi

One month ago nobody talked about Copenhagen Flames as a potential outsider for the PGL Major title in Stockholm. Some of the players on the roster did not even know, that they had the chance to qualify for the Major, when the team arrived for IEM Fall at the end of September. Just being there was a big thing for the Organization, which has always been grinding the lower tiers in the scene, where young Danish talents have had the opportunity to be nurtured before bigger teams came calling.

But the team surprised everyone at IEM Fall and qualified for the Major after a tough match against Fiend. At the Stockholm Major the positive results have just continued. Astralis, BIG, and Heroic all came short against the roster, which contains both experience in HooXi and roeJ, while nicoodoz, jabbi, and Zyphon are new faces on the scene.

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Happy faces after the qualification for the PGL Major at IEM Fall

One of the key players on the Flames roster has been the experienced Fredrik "roeJ" Jørgensen, who we got to talk with on the phone Friday evening.

- We were super happy after we qualified for the Legends Stage. But quickly we started to move on and now we are fully focused on Saturday's matches.

The 27-year-old Dane has been the center of attention with his impressive performances, which has put him on top of the individual leaderboard with a 1.36 HLTV rating. Saturday roeJ and his teammates will face G2 in the opening round at the Legends Stage. A tough opponent but also a roster that Copenhagen Flames managed to beat at IEM Fall.

- We have built up great confidence right now. We have the mindset that we are not afraid of anyone. And I think that we are only getting stronger with this kind of mentality, which is pretty unreal to think about, when you consider, where we were before IEM Fall. 

It is hard not to compare the sudden rise of Copenhagen Flames with the one we saw last year from Gambit, who also have had success with combining an experienced player with young raw talents, that have had the right attitude towards the big grind through the ranks of lower-tier tournaments to break into the A-tier. Another comparison could also be made about the ways, that the two teams are playing. At least according to Fredrik "roeJ" Jørgensen.

- We are inspired by the way, that a team like Gambit is playing. We are not very structured, but we react more to what we see. It is more feeling-based decisions that we like to employ. We really like this way of playing, and I also think, that it makes it easier for the young players to fit in. We don't have a ton of strategies from the spawn, but that also makes us much more unpredictable. It's a way for us as a smaller team to try and equal the playing field against bigger teams, who have a lot of people to analyze the games and strats.

Copenhagen Flames have so far only been playing from their practice rooms at the PGL Major. From tomorrow all the matches will be played in a studio environment, but that should not be a big deal for the young roster.

- I can't speak for everyone on the team, but I don't think it will make a difference. We tried it at IEM Fall, so we already have a bit of experience playing in a studio. I do think, that it will make a difference if we make it to the Champions Stage in front of a crowd, but only time can tell, Fredrik "roeJ" Jørgensen says with a grin. 

Copenhagen Flames will face G2 tomorrow at 11.00 (CEST). Can they do it again?

G2 Esports

Yesterday at IEM Fall Europe, Copenhagen Flames fought a fierce head-to-head battle against Fiend for a spot in the upcoming Major. A matchup, the Danes managed to win meaning that they will travel to Stockholm alongside the CS:GO elite to attend the PGL Major later this month. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"copenhagen-flames-edge-fiend-qualify-pgl-major","isNewTab":true}]

One of the deciding plays in the match was Rasmus "Zyphon" Nordfoss' vital 1v2 clutch on Inferno. The former Astralis Talent player was situated in a tough clutch scenario on the CT-side, with the bomb being planted on the A-side. Despite, a near-perfect double-peek by two Fiend players, Zyphon still succeeds in taking both enemy players down - just in time to make the defuse as well.

Watch the impressive clutch by Zyphon right here.

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Fiend

Copenhagen Flames will be the last team from Europe to qualify for the Major in Stockholm. The Danes grabbed the last spot with a win against Team Fiend in the 7th place decider match at IEM Fall Europe.

The win was secured after an extremely close match, where both maps went into overtime before Copenhagen Flames could seal the deal.

On Nuke it was the Danes who had a 15-10 lead but fumbled the lead. In OT Fredrik 'roeJ' Jørgensen and his younger teammates regained strength and finished off the Bulgarians.

The roles were switched on Inferno. Here it was Fiend who lost a 15-13 lead to give the Danes the opportunity to win the match in overtime after some incredible clutches from Rasmus 'Zyphon' Nordfoss and Rasmus 'HooXi' Nielsen. 

It was clear that there was something out of the ordinary at stake. None of the teams would give in, which gave way for a quadruple-overtime before the match would be decided. Perhaps the nerves kicked in for Kamen "bubble" Kostadinov, who suddenly bought the M249 rifle which left his economy in shambles without doing anything for his team. Copenhagen Flames won the match and secured qualification for the PGL Major in Stockholm after a marathon map on Inferno after another clutch play from Fredrik 'roeJ' Jørgensen. 

Team Fiend finish on the 12th place in the RMR standings, which is not enough to qualify.

Team Fiend – Copenhagen Flames (0-2) | IEM Fall 2021 Europe - 7th place decider

16-19 (Nuke) | {cflag:DK} roeJ – 1.48 Rating / 33-23 K-D / 94.9 ADR

25-28 (Inferno) | {cflag:DK} nicoodoz – 1.27 Rating / 45-35 K-D / 81.5 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DK} Fredrik 'roeJ' Jørgensen| 1.28 Rating / 73-60 K-D / 91.3 ADR

Last year Astralis announced their new Academy initiative, where they look to find the future stars of Astralis.

Today the team has made changes to its roster with the departure of Rasmus 'Zyphon' Nordfoss.

- We've been working for well over three months and taken necessary steps to maintain the development of our Talent-model and the culture. Rasmus is a good player who can achieve great things but we have come to terms with the fact that this is not the right time considering the expectations we have to each other. All the best to Rasmus who's been a vital part of the beginning of our Talent initiative, 

Dennis 'VNG' Vang, Head of Talent, Counter-Strike states.

Rasmus 'Zyphon' Nordfoss has been the highest-rated player during the 23 maps played, but due to differences in the goals for the future, the 17-year-old rifler is now no longer with the Danish Organization.

- First of all I would like to thank Astralis for an exciting time on the Talent-roster. Unfortunately it's cut short because we couldn't agree on the goals at the moment. I'd like to thank Dennis for the support all the way through and I wish the team all the best in the future.

Astralis Talent is now looking for a replacement.

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	12	38
Maps count	25	76

Zyphon

Player stats

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