“We played really off in this tournament” — Innocent on Venom’s Disappointing Birch Cup Run

“We played really off in this tournament” — Innocent on Venom’s Disappointing Birch Cup Run

Paweł “innocent” Mocek, captain of Polish CS2 team Venom, did not mince words after their early exit from Birch Cup 2025, describing the team’s performance as “really off.” 

Venom’s campaign ended in 9th–12th place following losses to Partizan and Monte, with a walkover victory over Gentle Mates (who withdrew) in between. 

Innocent acknowledged the severity of their shortcomings:

“I think everyone was playing just average. Just lower than average. Which is bad.”
“We played really off in this tournament, especially the first game … it was just a disaster by us.”
“Even when we had good rounds... we didn’t do well enough on an individual level.”
“[We] know the peak is pretty high and that we can play much, much better than what we showed here.”

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Match Recaps & Team Performance

Venom vs Partizan

In their first elimination match, Venom fell to Partizan with a 4–13 scoreline—unable to break double digits on any map. 

Innocent admitted that their bootcamp prep had looked solid, making the collapse in the tournament more confusing and disappointing:

“I never would have expected us to play this badly in this tournament.”
“There is no reason to sugarcoat it. We played poorly individually.”

Venom vs Monte

After their loss to Partizan, Venom dropped another match—this time to Monte—which sealed their elimination from Birch Cup. 

Innocent highlighted several factors they believe contributed:

• Struggles converting rounds they should have won

• Losing pistol or early buy rounds that snowballed against them

• Particular map breakdowns (for example, on Nuke, Venom was down 5–0 on CT side; on Dust2, they failed to convert despite favorable practice trends)

“We had a bootcamp where we fixed the maps that were a problem for us … we hit a crazy slump.”
“[On Monte] we lost the pistol and had six rounds anyway.”
“[We] had a pretty good T side in practice … but somehow we just couldn’t convert.”

He admitted that they were surprised by how poorly things fell apart despite good preparation.

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Context: Roster Changes & Tournament Implications

Roster Shift: Kisserek Out, hfah In

Earlier in 2025, Venom made a lineup change: kisserek was replaced by Oskar “hfah” Wroński. Innocent said that transfer had a major effect on team dynamics:

“We believe he has what it takes to replace kisserek in those roles … but hfah needs to learn this stuff. … On some maps, he's fantastic, but on others he's lacking still.”
“[Kisserek] had a lot of freedom and contributed to atmosphere and coms. We need to give hfah time.”

Venom had expected this change to integrate smoothly following successful qualification to the Thunderpick World Championship, but the Birch Cup results fell far short of those hopes.

Stakes & VRS Implications

Because Birch Cup carries Visa Roster System (VRS) weight, poor performance can seriously hinder roster flexibility going forward. Innocent acknowledged that after their elimination, their VRS rank fell to 48th. They now see Thunderpick as a crucial chance to rebound, make gains, and preserve their path toward a Major bid:

“After losing the Birch Cup it's impossible to make the Major. So we will basically go to Fragadelphia to get some wins … Thunderpick will be a big, big chance for us to gain a lot of points.”
“We will just keep working … this was just a stress test … we played weak.”

Monte, whom they lost to, also had previous online wins against them, which added context to expectations and pressure. 

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Analysis & Takeaways

Complete Team Underperformance

Innocent’s self-criticism highlights that this was not about one player failing — the whole team underdelivered. No individual stood out, which suggests systemic issues rather than isolated mistakes:

“We never had a player popping off on any map.”
“Everyone played just average … lower than average.”

Bootcamp vs Tournament Reality

It is telling that the team believed their bootcamp prep was going well — perhaps too well to foresee a collapse like this. That gap between practice strength and tournament execution is a recurring challenge in esports. 

High Expectations, Steep Fall

Given previous successes and a roster built for high impact, expectations were elevated. The swift and decisive failure underscores the volatility of LAN events and how even slight mental lapses or tactical misreads can cascade into full collapse.

Path Forward & Redemption

Venom has a brief window to regroup. Their priorities are clear:

1. Rebuild confidence and fine-tune cohesion

2. Perform at Fragadelphia to shore up rankings

3. Put forth a strong showing at Thunderpick to recover VRS status and Major prospects

4. Continue developing hfah to fill and evolve the role left by kisserek

If Venom returns to form, they might salvage their year—but they must be wary: their recent slump won’t be easily forgotten in the competitive CS2 community.