max: “We Are Not Confident Right Now” as 9z Search for Answers After BLAST Porto Exit

29.08.2026 - 14:36

max: “We Are Not Confident Right Now” as 9z Search for Answers After BLAST Porto Exit

9z captain Maximiliano “max” Gonzalez has offered a direct assessment of the team’s difficult start to the new CS2 season, admitting that confidence, decision-making and tactical execution have all deteriorated.

Speaking to HLTV after 9z were eliminated from BLAST Open Porto 2026 by Vitality, max described the problem as a mixture of mental and tactical issues. The defeat extended a difficult run for a team that had reached the top eight at the IEM Cologne Major and won XSE Pro League Guangzhou only weeks earlier.

Quick summary

Detail	Status
Team	9z
Player	Maximiliano “max” Gonzalez
Topic	9z’s loss of confidence and form
Event	BLAST Open Porto 2026
Opponent in elimination match	Vitality
Result	Vitality 2-0 9z
Maps	Dust2 13-2, Nuke 13-6
9z tournament finish	13th-16th
Region	South America
Date	August 29, 2026
Next confirmed event	FISSURE Playground 3
Confirmation status	Direct interview / confirmed
Primary source	HLTV

What happened to max and 9z?

The immediate trigger was 9z’s elimination from BLAST Open Porto.

Vitality defeated the South American team 2-0 in the Group B lower bracket, taking Dust2 13-2 before closing Nuke 13-6. Across the entire best-of-three, 9z managed only eight rounds.

Afterward, max did not reduce the defeat to one poor map, individual performance or tactical mistake.

Asked what went wrong, he answered simply: “Everything.”

He explained that 9z were no longer playing the style they wanted and described their start to the season as difficult. When asked whether the underlying issue was mental or tactical, max identified both areas.

His central diagnosis was clear:

“We are not confident right now and we are not making good decisions.”

max also said 9z had been forgetting tactics and failing to adapt correctly to what individual rounds required.

That distinction matters. His comments suggest 9z do not view the slump simply as an aim or firepower problem. Their difficulties appear to involve the chain connecting preparation, communication, decision-making and execution.

max: 9z are “not confident right now”

Confidence was the recurring theme in max’s explanation.

In CS2, that can manifest far beyond individual duels. Hesitation can affect rotations, trading, utility timing, mid-round calls and whether players commit to information they receive.

max specifically connected 9z’s current confidence level with poor decisions and failures to adapt during rounds. He also acknowledged that the team had not expected to perform this poorly at BLAST Open Porto following its stronger results earlier in the year.

The captain nevertheless indicated that 9z intend to use the break after Porto to assess what has gone wrong rather than treating their current level as permanent.

The contrast with 9z’s first half of 2026

The current slump stands out because 9z entered the second half of 2026 with significant momentum.

At the IEM Cologne Major, 9z finished 5th-8th. Their campaign included a 2-1 victory over Vitality before they eventually exited against FURIA.

Then came XSE Pro League Guangzhou.

9z won the tournament, beating PARIVISION 3-0 in the final after a run that also included victories over Alliance, TYLOO and MIBR.

The team therefore moved from a Major playoff appearance and tournament victory into a much more difficult stretch.

At the Esports World Cup, 9z defeated paiN 13-3 in their opener but subsequently lost 1-2 to FURIA and 1-2 to magic, leaving the event in 17th-24th place.

BLAST Open Porto then produced another early elimination.

That sequence helps explain why max’s comments are significant: 9z are trying to recover a level they have already demonstrated rather than establish an entirely new competitive ceiling.

9z recent competitive timeline

Date	Event / match	Result	Significance
June 2026	IEM Cologne Major	5th-8th	Major playoff run
July 1-12	XSE Pro League Guangzhou	1st	Tournament victory
Aug. 12	vs paiN, Esports World Cup	13-3 win	Strong EWC opener
Aug. 15	vs FURIA, Esports World Cup	1-2 loss	First EWC series defeat
Aug. 16	vs magic, Esports World Cup	1-2 loss	Eliminated from EWC
Aug. 2026	BLAST Open Porto	Early exit	Difficult form continues
Aug. 29	vs Vitality	0-2 loss	Eliminated from Porto
Sept. 8-13	FISSURE Playground 3	Upcoming	Next recovery opportunity

Key details

Question	Answer
What does max believe is wrong?	A mixture of confidence, decision-making and tactical problems
Is max blaming one player?	No such claim was made in the interview
Did max describe the problem as purely mental?	No; he explicitly described it as a mix
What happened against Vitality?	9z lost 2-0
How many rounds did 9z win?	Eight across Dust2 and Nuke
What does max believe can help?	Regaining confidence and returning toward the team’s previous level
Next event	FISSURE Playground 3
Roster change announced?	No roster change was announced in the cited interview

Tactical impact: why the decision-making issue matters

The most important part of max’s interview may not be the word “confidence,” but his description of what happens once that confidence disappears.

He said 9z are forgetting tactics and failing to adapt to what rounds demand.

Those are different problems.

Forgetting or incorrectly executing prepared tactics can undermine the structured portion of a round. Failing to adapt can damage the less-scripted phase after the original plan is disrupted by an opening duel, unexpected aggression, utility or information.

The combination can be particularly damaging because fixing only the playbook would not necessarily solve the mid-round problem.

This is analysis rather than a claim from 9z, but max’s description suggests the recovery process may require both cleaner execution of established protocols and greater confidence when players must make decisions outside them.

Why it matters

9z’s downturn is important because the team’s recent results established expectations beyond regional success.

A 5th-8th finish at the IEM Cologne Major and victory at XSE Pro League Guangzhou demonstrated that this lineup could produce meaningful international results.

The question now is whether the current stretch represents a temporary confidence cycle or a deeper performance problem.

There is also an important strength-of-opposition factor.

max acknowledged that facing elite teams repeatedly is difficult when 9z themselves are not operating at the same level. He suggested that playing tier-two or tier-three opposition could help the team rebuild confidence before returning to its best against tier-one competition.

That makes the coming schedule especially relevant.

Tournament impact

The loss to Vitality ended 9z’s BLAST Open Porto campaign in 13th-16th place.

It followed a 17th-24th finish at the Esports World Cup, meaning the team has now experienced consecutive early exits after its Major playoff run and XSE Pro League title.

There is no basis in the provided sources for assigning a precise VRS gain or loss from these results, so no numerical VRS impact should be stated here.

However, 9z are listed among the teams attending FISSURE Playground 3, where the event page shows them at No. 12 in the displayed HLTV ranking and No. 9 in the listed global VRS seeding context.

Those values should be treated as time-sensitive rather than permanent rankings.

Current 9z lineup

Player	Team status
Maximiliano “max” Gonzalez	Active
Franco “dgt” Garcia	Active
Ignacio “meyern” Meyer	Active
Luciano “luchov” Herrera	Active
Matias “HUASOPEEK” Ibañez Hernandez	Active
Bruno “BIT” Fukuda Lima	Coach

The lineup above is the roster displayed by HLTV around the BLAST Open Porto match and interview.

No roster move was announced as part of max’s comments.

What changes now for 9z?

The immediate priority is diagnosis rather than personnel change.

max said the team planned to rest, discuss what was happening and then look forward.

That creates three obvious areas to monitor.

First is tactical consistency: can 9z return to executing their planned rounds without the lapses max described?

Second is mid-round decision-making. A prepared strategy cannot cover every scenario, making the team’s ability to interpret changing rounds particularly important.

Third is confidence. max repeatedly returned to the need to rebuild it, including through competition against opposition below the very top tier.

There is currently no verified evidence in the cited material that 9z intend to make a roster change.

FISSURE Playground 3 is the next major test

max revealed in the interview that 9z were heading to China for FISSURE, describing the tournament as important for rebuilding confidence.

That destination is now independently supported by the FISSURE Playground 3 event listing.

The tournament is scheduled for September 8-13 in Suzhou, China, with 16 teams and a $1 million prize pool. 9z are among the confirmed participants.

The field includes FURIA, G2, FaZe, Legacy, Astralis, The MongolZ, PARIVISION, GamerLegion, BIG, MIBR, TYLOO and Alliance among the listed participants.

That means 9z will not receive a simple reset against exclusively lower-level opposition. They will again enter an international field containing several established teams.

What to watch next

The first signal will be how 9z respond when another match becomes difficult.

Dominant victories can help confidence, but max’s diagnosis makes contested mid-round situations particularly informative. Cleaner adaptations, fewer obvious tactical breakdowns and more decisive responses to changing information would offer stronger evidence of improvement than the final score alone.

FISSURE Playground 3 provides the next confirmed benchmark.

The event begins September 8, giving 9z a relatively short turnaround between the Porto disappointment and their next international competition.

The specific opening opponent and match time are TBD in the sources used for this article.

Related teams, players and events

9z: South American organization currently attempting to recover from consecutive early international exits.

Maximiliano “max” Gonzalez: 9z captain and the player who publicly identified confidence, decisions and tactical execution as current problems.

Vitality: Eliminated 9z from BLAST Open Porto with a 2-0 victory.

FURIA: Beat 9z at both the IEM Cologne Major and Esports World Cup during 2026.

FISSURE Playground 3: 9z’s next confirmed international event, scheduled for September 8-13 in Suzhou.

FAQ

What did max say about 9z’s current form?

max said 9z are lacking confidence and making poor decisions. He also identified tactical mistakes and difficulty adapting to rounds, describing the overall problem as a mixture of factors.

Why were 9z eliminated from BLAST Open Porto?

Vitality defeated 9z 2-0 in the Group B lower bracket, winning Dust2 13-2 and Nuke 13-6. The result eliminated 9z in 13th-16th place.

Have 9z announced a roster change?

No roster change was announced in max’s HLTV interview. The current problem was discussed in terms of confidence, decision-making, tactics and adaptation rather than an announced personnel move.

What is 9z’s next CS2 tournament?

9z are confirmed for FISSURE Playground 3, scheduled for September 8-13, 2026 in Suzhou, China.

How successful were 9z before this slump?

9z finished 5th-8th at the IEM Cologne Major 2026 and then won XSE Pro League Guangzhou. Their subsequent Esports World Cup and BLAST Open Porto campaigns ended much earlier.