NertZ: ‘You need to be delusional to win sometimes

Today, HLTV published an interview with Guy “NertZ” Iluz, Liquid’s aggressive rifler, who shared how a certain ‘delusional’ mindset helps him to push forward even when things go wrong.

Liquid had hoped to make a strong turnaround in the second half of the year after bringing in new coach Viktor “flashie” Tamás and allowing time for Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek’s calling style to take hold. But results still aren’t there yet — the team failed to qualify for both ESL Pro League and BLAST Open (though they later received an invite to the latter), which prompted Twistzz to bitterly post on X that “we are not a team”.

NertZ reflected on his past roles as a standout lurker for ENCE and HEROIC, noting that his transition to more frontline map control duties in Liquid has been challenging. His rating in 2025 stands at only 1.06, and it fell to 0.99 over the past three months — a significant drop from the form that earned him 14th place in last year’s top‑20 rankings. 

He admitted: “It’s the first time in my career that I have had these numbers. But in Liquid, I’m not going to blame anyone. The first thing is about me.”

Still, the team found a silver lining by qualifying for the top eight at BLAST Bounty after defeating FURIA. NertZ highlighted his self‑talk: even “if we played against Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi in football, I would say… we could beat them no matter what.” That unwavering, almost delusional self‑belief, he says, is sometimes exactly the mindset needed to win.

When asked if the team understands what needs to change, he replied that they do—but implementing changes takes time. With flashie’s arrival, the team gained more structure and clarity: “Now we have someone saying, ‘This is how it’s going to be, whether you like it or not.’”