Passion UA defeated The MongolZ 2–1 in their opening match at BLAST Rivals 2025 Season 2 and secured a place in the playoffs. After the series, kyotostxr spoke with Håkon hallzerk Fjærli about their first victory over the Mongolian team, Passion UA’s six-week preparation period, the VRS points they had lost, their readiness for the Major, and the AWPers who inspired him.

Congratulations on the win! You have beaten The MongolZ for the first time. What made it possible? Do you think they became weaker after losing Senzu?

I think they probably became a little weaker. Senzu is one of the best players in the world, so losing a player of that caliber is always going to be rough for a team.
At the same time, we have improved quite a bit over the last few weeks. We had six weeks of pure practice without any official games, and getting those hours in helped us a lot.
I think the result came from a small combination of both things: The MongolZ became slightly weaker, while we became significantly stronger.

— hallzerk

Did you spend those six weeks at a bootcamp, or was the practice online?

All six weeks were online, so everyone got to stay home for a while.
The two Americans had to attend a short bootcamp in Serbia while the rest of us stayed at home. I think having that much time at home was good for everyone.
The other Passion UA players and I who previously played for Complexity have travelled a great deal over the past few years. Being able to remain at home for that long was good for all of our mental health.

— hallzerk

You lost a large number of VRS points, making it more difficult to qualify for the biggest events. What is the plan for recovering them?