"Spain is more focused on Valorant" - MUTiRiS on Iberian Counter-Strike, SAW's fantastic year and ESL Pro League S19 [Exclusive]

SAW has been a revelation in Counter-Strike 2 since the start of the 2024 season. The Portuguese roster made history by being the first team from the country to reach a Major event. The monumental achievement also marked 31-year-old IGL Christopher "MUTiRiS" Fernandes's first ever Major after more than 13 years of professional play.

Ahead of ESL Pro League Season 19, Sportskeeda Esports had the opportunity to talk with MUTiRiS about SAW's meteoric rise in a few months, their expectations at ESL Pro League Season 19, and more.

Q) How has the preparation been for the ESL Pro League considering SAW was a last-minute replacement for Cloud9?

MUTiRiS: Our preparation has been good, but we received this invitation about one and a half weeks ago. We are trying to prepare as much as possible to be in the best shape for the ESL Pro League. I am not going to say it has been the best preparation, but we are well prepared to expect a lot of good things here.

Q) Talk me through the incredible year SAW has had so far relative to expectations. Did you envision you and the team reaching these heights and qualifying for multiple tier-one events?

MUTiRiS: It has been amazing. We had been fighting for so long to be in a Major and put our names in the game and we were finally able to do it. We had a lot of chances to qualify for other Majors but it was our fault for not being able to make it, but we finally did it.

Right now, I can't ask more out of my team. We have played in the PGL Major RMR, the Major itself, and now the ESL Pro League as well. I won't say we don't deserve to be here, but we needed to replace a team. We are also going to be a part of the BLAST Premier Spring Finals, which is amazing as we are not used to being in these