MartinezSa on HEROIC's championship: This kind of event is not tier-one, but it is an essential path to tier-one events.

Less than three months after assembling its new lineup, HEROIC has already won two titles. Following the win over 100 Thieves in the Stake Pulse Beat II final, MartinezSa spoke to HLTV about the significance of the victory, the comeback from the brink on Ancient, susp's breakout performance, and the team's plans going forward.

Q: That was a great final. First, how are you feeling right now? This HEROIC lineup has a lot of potential, but the early results weren't ideal and you failed to qualify for a lot of events. Now you've won a title. Can you talk about how all of this came together?

MartinezSa: This tournament was very important for us. Like you said, we played a lot of matches and lost a lot of closed qualifiers, so we didn't make it through. Those matches were important because they were S-tier events where you could earn a lot of points. But regardless, we won this tournament, and it feels really good. There's not much else to say.

Q: Let's talk about Ancient. You were up against the wall at that point, and 100 Thieves had several match points, but you still managed to hold on and force the game onto Inferno. What was going on inside the team and on TeamSpeak at the time?

MartinezSa: Honestly, I think we were up 10-6, and then it went from 10-6 to 10-12. Sometimes, when things don’t go the way we want, the team goes quiet. But then we called a timeout and managed to take it to overtime. We showed great resilience, and it’s not the first time we’ve done that. It was really good. The whole team was great.

Q: On Inferno, it was completely susp's personal show. What more can I say? I definitely didn't expect him to become the star of this team—he hadn't been since you formed this lineup—but on Inferno, he was practically unkillable until the final round of the first half.

MartinezSa: I don't know what to say. I remember one round where I was trying to hold an angle for FalleN. I died because I wanted to get one kill and then switched my view. They were shooting through the smoke or something, and then susp started wallbanging and got four kills. We were screaming in TeamSpeak. It was crazy. Then he pushed through the smoke and got an ace. He played really well on Inferno, especially on that map, but overall he has been doing a great job for the team too.

Q: Let’s go back to this title. Maybe people always focus on the biggest events and their prestige, but seeing the two teams here—how you celebrated and how 100 Thieves processed the loss—it felt like this meant a lot to both sides. In terms of your goals for the season, where does this trophy put you?

MartinezSa: To be honest, events like this are really important because, like we said, it’s not a tier-one event, but it’s a necessary step toward tier-one events. So we approached it like an S-tier event. Our goal this season is obviously to make the Major, but if we don’t qualify, that’s okay—we know we can do it next year. We also have Intel Extreme Masters Beijing 2026; we won that closed qualifier. Not everything revolves around the Major. So, I think that’s it.

Q: Tell me about this team and the mix of players you have. Brollan brings a lot of experience—he has played in plenty of big playoff matches and won some S-tier titles. He is still young, but already very experienced. Is he the one who brings calm to the team? Whose voice is the loudest in the team? How does the team function?

MartinezSa: “Brollan is very important to us right now. Like you said, he brings a lot of experience to the team. I also have to say that he’s the second voice in the team now, and he’s helping Chr1zN a lot. Of course, we’re trying to help as well, because sometimes when you have information, you have to call something. But right now, he’s the secondary caller. He’ll also call on some maps, especially on the CT side. He helps Chr1zN, and he’s also helped the team’s morale a lot.”

Q: Who gets the most space? Who gets the most flash support? Who has the most freedom to play their own game?

MartinezSa: It’s probably me and nilo... Actually, not nilo, because he’s the lurker. We know he has the star roles and that he’s a star player, but when it comes to actively making plays, it’s probably susp or me. If I want to go for a peek or something, I’ll ask for what I need; otherwise, susp asks for what he needs. Basically, I’m helping susp make his plays or giving him what he needs.

Q: I want to ask about doto, because he's new to you and also new to HEROIC as a whole. From a coach's perspective, what has he brought to the team?

MartinezSa: I think he’s done a very good job. Of course, I didn’t know him before I joined HEROIC; he was previously with Heroic Talent alongside these guys. Overall, he’s done really well with our assistant coach, putting together strong game plans and preparation. And the timeouts he calls sometimes give everyone a chance to catch their breath before he calls what he thinks is the best approach. He’s done a really good job.

Q: Looking ahead, you'll be back in a few weeks to play Stake Pulse, and you still have a few events left before the Major cutoff. What's the plan?

MartinezSa: I think we’ll probably take a week off now, or maybe a few days, and then we’ll play Stake Pulse Beat III. From Sweden, we’ll probably go straight to DraculaN, and I think that’s it. We also wanted to play Stake, but we can’t because we have to attend the Intel Extreme Masters Beijing 2026 media day. Those will probably be our last two events before the deadline.

Q: Any final thoughts?

MartinezSa: Not much. I'm really happy to be on this team; it's my first international roster. Sometimes it's hard for me because I used to compete in Spanish all the time, but overall it's been really good.