daps: "Coaching helped open my eyes"
After coming into the news recently due to his return to the NRG active lineup, we spoke to Damian "daps" Steele about the roster of NRG, what he expects for the future, and what he thinks of some of the other top North American teams.
I’d like to start with you stepping back from the roster. What led to you taking up the coach role, and what led you to pick RIKO to fill your spot on the roster?
There were many reasons as to why I wanted to move away from playing at least for a short period and those reasons were that I felt my mindset was not in the right place to continue leading the team and I also began to have wrist/hand problems over the last 3 months. Coaching was also something I had considered for a while so I feel the change of pace helped clear my head.
Your two LAN results with RIKO in the roster likely weren't what you had hoped for. What are your thoughts on the problems you encountered in Denver and Toronto?
Our biggest problems in my opinion were that we picked up a person with too little experience and lacked a true support player for the team. Our communication and coordination as a team at these events was probably the lowest it had been all year even with our old lineup and it really hurt us at these events. The other thing is that since I am not able to talk as a coach on LAN it was a big change compared to online.
It's now been announced that you have reverted to the old roster. What was the thought process behind joining back into the active roster? Will RIKO stay with the team in some capacity or will he go out into the NA wilderness?
One of the main reasons for reverting back to the old roster was FugLy not really wanting to call anymore. While I didn’t mind coaching, I felt coaching helped open my eyes and gave me the break from playing that I needed. RIKO will no longer be with the team in any capacity.
Now that you will be in-game leading again, how would you compare your leading style to FugLy’s who you played under for a while before becoming the coach?
I would say our styles are not drastically different but I would say the biggest difference is that I give individuals more freedom to do things they want on defaults as long as they communicate it rather than going straight into an execute off of a default or at the start of the round.
AnJ expressed concerns with his role and confidence in his TwitLonger. How are you planning to change his role (if at all) as a result of his performances?
Well when we first picked up AnJ we literally just put him into LILMAN’s roles which were really bad for him so we then went to giving AnJ pretty much every spot he wanted which did help him start to perform better. As our team has evolved some spots have had to change to try and help everyone in the team become more comfortable. We have just recently changed a lot of spots around again so we will see how it goes.
CeRq has been the clear star of the squad since you picked him up. Are you happy with how his signing has turned out?
Picking up players you don’t know at all personally is always risky but I was pleasantly surprised that he speaks perfect English and also is a good teammate. He just needs to not miss the stairs smoke on mirage and he’s the perfect player ;).
This would make three big European imports to your teams, including mixwell. What has led you to search outside of North America for new talent, and what qualities do you look for when picking a player?
From my experience playing with NA players and even myself included at times in my career is that people from outside of the NA region have a way better mindset when it comes to being dedicated and putting in the time to become the best. Tons of players in NA have insane aim but less than 5% will probably be able to translate that into being a good player against good teams.
The main qualities I look for when I talk to players is confidence which was the main thing that sold me on mixwell over a year ago and also talking to them about how they approach the game.
You’ll be at iBUYPOWER Masters this weekend, where you’ll face off against Cloud9, Renegades, and Luminosity in Group A. What is your personal goal for the event?
These are all teams we have beaten at some point during this year but our biggest problem has been translating that into LAN play and being consistent. The goal is to get out of groups for us.
It seems NRG are generally the best of the subtop NA teams. Do you agree with this sentiment? Where do you think NRG sits in the NA Rankings now?
I would put us just under Misfits and CLG at the moment because both of their teams have been able to keep their lineup consistent and show better results on LAN then us — but I don’t feel we are that far behind. The biggest problem with our team is we have went to every LAN this year knowing we are going to replace a player or we go to the LAN with a trial/stand-in. We just have to find some consistency.
You've been making a podcast with fellow Canadians DAVEY, SEMPHIS, and FNS. Has it turned out how you wanted, and do you like the slot you fill in the podcast scene?
We didn’t really have any goals for how it would turn out and we didn’t even know if anyone would like it, but the podcast was made for fun and I think we are happy with how it turned out since we had no expectations.
Cloud9 and Liquid will be at IEM Oakland (and iBP of course) in about a week. How do you think they will do at the event in California? Do you have any general thoughts about those two teams and their spot in the global scene?
I feel Liquid and Cloud9 are both top 10 teams in the world and can beat any team in the top 10 if they’re prepared and playing well during that period of time. I do feel however that Cloud9 will become better than Liquid if they keep their lineup the same in the next couple of months.
Finally, I'd like to ask who you think will qualify for the Major via the Main Qualifier in January. Do you think both Cloud9 and Liquid will make it, or possibly Misfits can squeeze in?
You can never say for sure who will qualify and who won’t since both Liquid and Cloud9 have failed to qualify before in the last 2 years but I would say Cloud9 and Liquid are some of the favourites to make the Major. I do think Misfits can qualify as well, it just depends on how they’re playing during that event.
