Rickeh: "My buyout was too high for any teams to be interested in me"
After their Group B win over complexity, Michael "DuckMoriarty" Moriarty spoke to Ricardo "Rickeh" Mulholland about how things are going so far in London, his period of inactivity after CLG ceased operating their CS squad, and more.
You're through to the playoffs of the Minor, how's the spirit in camp currently?
It's looking great at the moment. I think everybody's really happy at how we've played as a team. We kept it very composed, they were up 7-3 on their T-side and we just kept it calm and ended up grinding it back and were really happy at the moment.
On Inferno, coL started off really strong and then you essentially flipped it on it's head and came out on top in the first half. What did you and your team change or was it just focusing on your game play to win?
I think we adapted a little bit more on the A bomb-site. They didnt seem to have so much success coming onto B, so we ended up not being so defensive on the A site and being more confident in their picks as they were coming up really late so we took a few off-angles and caught them off-guard in a few rounds.
For the two or three rounds they outplayed us on A, we then managed to figure it out and pull it back to seven rounds at the end of the half.
You reached the upper bracket of Group B by beating Dignitas in a close affair. Was that expected or just a matter of playing on Dust2?
I think it was a little bit weird with them, because the way they play Dust2 was a complete scrim. They caught us off-guard quite a few times, but every time they did so we adapted and came back into it straight away. I think the way we're adapting in this tournament as of late has been really good.
You're through to face eUnited in the playoffs, how do you think you and your team will line up against them?
We have a little bit of a joke in our team, as every time we face eUnited we beat them. It seems like they have a bit of a mental block when they come up against us, so going into it we're extremely confident and should be able to 2-0 them. We've managed to beat them the past three or four times we've faced so I think this time they should be a little more prepared, but we should still be able to pull through.
Moving onto yourself for a moment, this is still a new team for you having been with then for around a month or so. How has it been joining this new team having spent a fair amount of time on the bench and a brief spell with ex-Splyce?
For me personally I'm just excited to get back into the scene and just grind some top-level Counter-Strike. I was in Toronto for about four months before I was released from my contract with CLG, my buyout was too high for any teams to be interested in me.
So once I got released things started straight away and I joined Rogue. It's been a little bit of a wait, personally I'm just excited to get back on the grind.
So do you think you've been negatively impacted by your time out of the scene or have you been able to keep up your practice and just slot straight back in?
I think with my experience I was able to slot straight back in and get used to the things that the guys needed me to do straight away. That being said, in CLG and Rogue I did pick up the hybrid role and I'm learning to play so many different positions in Rogue as well, but that only makes me better and only makes me more confident. I'm very happy to just fill in some roles and these guys are happy for me to pick up the AWP as I used to be a main AWP'er as well. In general my confidence can only get better.
Finally, the Americas Minor is being held in London, where the Major shall also be held. Do you think this is a good idea and are you enjoying the facilities on offer?
In my opinion, yes the facilities are great. The way they have organised everything with the practice rooms in the hotel, I'm really happy about the way they have done it.
Personally, I'd have preferred not to travel to the UK or a European country for an American Minor but all being said, everyone's on an even playing field in that respect. All the PCs are the same for example, and the previous Minor in Toronto they were pretty average to say the least. I think it has it's ups and downs, obviously with travelling, but we got here four or five days early, so I think we're not really jet-lagged. So on balance, it's probably better to be here rather than in NA. I'd only really prefer to be in NA because of the travelling, but apart from that everything is awesome.
Rogue are currently sitting pretty after a win over eUnited kept them in the upper bracket of the Americas Minor. They await the winner of the ongoing match between NRG and compLexity, who they will play tomorrow when they try to claim the first ticket back to London for the Major Qualifier.
