RUSH: "We are hitting our stride"

After Cloud9 defeated Natus Vincere 2-0, we caught up with new addition Will "RUSH" Wierzba to discuss the team, the event, and the scene in general.

You guys just took down CIS powerhouse Natus Vincere in pretty convincing fashion to advance to the arena tomorrow, how does that feel?

Feels good, this is probably one of the most important events to make playoffs at, because it is one of the biggest events that takes place in North America. It feels like the last big event was New York last year, playing in front of that crowd is probably one of the best feelings I have had. So I'm really happy we made it.

Last year you were here as a member of OpTic, where you had a surprise victory over G2...

Yeah, we came here as underdogs, it was our first event with tarik, I think. We beat G2 and Astralis, and then had a 16-14 loss against Virtus.pro which kept us from the semis. We just missed it by an inch, which makes it even better that we succeeded this time.

You and Tarik "tarik" Celik are the new additions to Cloud9, online results haven't been great, you unfortunately ran into North in Montreal. How is the feeling in the team right now?

I would say we are getting better and better — I don't count the online matches or qualifiers, I take them as practice, really, because we are a brand-new team with limited practice. But now it is getting to a point where we are hitting our stride, we're getting new maps down. It is great that events like this have practice rooms that are 24/7, because that helps new teams a ton. Before in the "old era" of CS we never had practice rooms, so we would come to an event and sit in the hotel room for half the time.

How would you compare Soham "valens" Chowdhury to previous coaches you have had?

Unfortunately I didn't play under Chet "ImAPet" Singh for very long, only one event where he was at home. I would say that he is more of a statistical guy, valens is the same but he is more in the background and not controlling everything, a lot of the CT setups and T-side exectues. valens is more in the background giving us hints, and a good mental coach as well.

How rough was the waning/dying period of OpTic for you, after the lineup had achieved such success at ELEAGUE and other events?

We were in roster purgatory for a long time, we had no true fifth for seven to eight months. We decided were were down to keep Jason "jasonR" Ruchelski for an extended period of time, but he decided to leave, so that was his choice. We kinda got fucked over there. James "hazed" Cobb was our coach, then had to step in as a player. He did great for us, but we still didn't feel like he was a permanent fifth. So we pursued more options, and then the player break hit. It was probably one of the worst moments in my career, even going back to my worse teams. At least on those we had a set roster. But going for that long a time playing top tier events without a set fifth really feels like playing 4v5.

Do you feel like having two top NA teams now instead of three will ultimately benefit the region?

Yeah, I think it is great. For me, even though the whole OpTic situation sucked for me at the end, it got me to this point. So everything happens for a reason. The only thing I'm sad about is that Keith "NAF" Markovic got excluded from the whole shuffle, people really underrate him. I was surprised that Liquid didn't pick him up, he is one of the best players in North America, in my opinion.

This is your first time playing in a proper team with Jake "Stewie2K" Yip, what are your thoughts on him so far?

If I could describe him in one word it would be "passionate" — which can be a good thing and a bad thing. Its good because he is really into the game, he plays Rank S like all night, even here. When you're that passionate and lose close rounds or games, it gets to you, so that is something he has to work on. I'm definitely glad he is on my team though, because he is one of the best North American players — if not the best player.

So you would rate him over Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken?

Oh yeah, 100% — no offense to Twistzz. I think Stewie is well-rounded, he can AWP, he can IGL, he can lurk, he can try, he can do it all. Twistzz is a top three or top five rifler in North America, but Stewie for me is the best player overall.

What do you think of the trend of North American teams bringing over European players to compete here?

I think it is needed for the North American scene to grow, because they bring good work ethic and communication. It was only a matter of time before it happened, if you look at the LCS they have been importing Koreans and Europeans for awhile. In my opinion, as long as the team stays a majority North American, it is fine. When it gets to a point where we are talking about fully European teams, I don't think they should be able to consistently play in North American leagues.

So would you say you agree with the sentiments expressed by Splyce's David "DAVEY" Stafford, specifically in relation to the new OpTic roster?

DAVEY has a more extreme opinion, I think. I don't mind OpTic playing qualifiers, or in Pro League, because they are great to practice against. But I think if it becomes a trend where more teams come over and take more spots, what is the point of having NA Pro League? Brazil has no Pro League, Australia has no Pro League, but the Europe has a Pro League.

Who do you think the next North American team to emerge as a legitimate contender will be?

I would say Renegades, they got kind of owned at ELEAGUE due to having no practice with NAF, but I think he will help them a lot. He'll bring a lot of skill to their team and I think he can help them break out.

What do you think North America could adapt from Europe in order to become more competitive on the international stage?

The way that people practice in scrims and in Rank S [is different], here people just screw around the whole time and don't take it seriously. I don't expect you to treat it like a match, but at least play serious and try to win. If you go to Europe, there are teams that have perfect executes that you've never heard of. Those are the guys that NA should take note of.

RUSH and Cloud9 will face FaZe tomorrow in the semifinals of ESL One New York 2017.