jdm64: "We might as well go bootcamp in Europe"

We caught up with Josh "jdm64" Marzano after he put in a great performance to help Liquid defeat Astralis 2-1, which means the North American team will be playing in front of the home crowd tomorrow.

You just had a tough match against Astralis but were able to come out on top to proceed to the Barclays tomorrow, how are you feeling?

It feels amazing. Those are the matches that are so much fun to play in. Back in Mykonos, on our run to the finals playing SK, we were playing flawless CS, and our communication was so on point. When that happens, it is so fun to experience. I'm just super proud of my team. We started off on Inferno which was a hard-fought battle, but we kept our composure. I love the fact that Jared — our sports psychologist — is with us. He has helped so much, especially in our bootcamp, dealing with staying composed and not [mentally] shutting down. Mentality and attitudes on this team have gone up and down, but with him around, it has helped enormously. Our team is totally different with him implemented into the system — we are playing confidently, and playing for each other.

Speaking of Mykonos, you played a close series against mousesports in the Grand Final, but victory narrowly escaped you. What happened there?

On Cobblestone, we just weren't ready. We were being rushed, and then the first round my microphone wasn't working. We should have paused the game right there, but we didn't, so I couldn't communicate with the team what I was doing or what I wanted to do. I think that made everyone a little frantic, so we didn't play well, and everyone was not really warmed up.

We got to Inferno, regrouped, and we played a lot better and communicated a lot better. Towards the ends of the series, on Nuke, if you watch the match, so many rounds were close. Everything came down to 1vX situations, and it feels like we didn't win any of those. I'm pretty sure we didn't win either pistol on Nuke, so that really hurt us. I don't think we are necessarily a momentum-based team anymore, because of Jared helping us, but the pistols definitely help get the economy going.

Talk to me more about your sports psychologist — when did he come into the picture, and what does he do for you guys?

He has been around on Team Liquid for a bit, but our sessions with him were about once a month as a team. When we got back from our player break, we went to the Netherlands and bootcamped for a week, he was there with us in-person that whole week, working with us individually. Every day when we scrimmed he was there, and we were able to talk about our mistakes and fixing things without anyone taking offense. We were really acting like a team. He is definitely our seventh man.

Everyone in this organization, from the the players, to Wilton "zews" Prado our coach, to Steve "jokasteve" Perino, to Jared, we are all a team and everyone contributes. I can't even tell you how much Jared has helped this team and is going to in the future. For me it is more of a consistency thing, if we continue to consistently work with him as a team, I think [our level] will just elevate like crazy.

Liquid recently unveiled the plans for a large practice facility, how exciting is that for you?

I'm really excited, Liquid is such a great organization and does so much for us. There are so many things that they do that show that they just want us to improve and win.

Nick "nitr0" Cannella has been in-game leading for you guys since returning from the player break. How did that change come about, and what is different between his leadership and that of Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz?

To be honest with you, I got back from the player break and they (nitr0 and stanislaw) wanted to switch it – so I was surprised by it. I was fine with it though, because stanislaw is a really good lurker, and with nitr0 calling, he does a good job of giving us reads as well. Stanislaw is so good at reading [the round] when he is on a certain side lurking, and feeding us information. He can get into certain spots without the other team knowing, and getting into advantageous situations. nitr0 has a really good feel for the flow [of the game] too, so the two of them working together is just amazing. We also give input on what we think we should do. 

With OpTic moving towards a European roster, there are now just two top North American teams. Do you think that is a good thing for the region?

Not really. I think if they go to Europe, they are another good team and mix of players that we don't have in North America. It is hard already to find practice here, to find people who really care and play seriously. So with them gone, it is just one less team for us to practice against.

Our main opponent that we play all the time [in practice] is SK. Sometimes it gets to be too much, because we see them at events, and we know them so well – it gets old and becomes a mindgame. The more teams we have with that higher skill ceiling, that is a good a good thing for the scene. Now it is almost like we might as well go bootcamp in Europe, because there are more better teams over there who are willing to play seriously.

jdm64 and Liquid will have to overcome the mindgames of the Liquid-SK matchup tomorrow if they want to advance to the Grand Final of ESL One New York 2017.