moose: "I don't think [FPL is] a good environment to get better"
Dust2.us' very own Joe "tolkienfanatic" Cardali had the chance to catch up with eUnited's Kaleb "moose" Jayne after the team's elimination at MSI MGA Finals to discuss IEM Chicago, their upcoming seasons of ECS and EPL, and playing in FPL.
You guys unfortunately just lost to AVANGAR, so you're out of MSI MGA and won't be playing on the main stage. What would it have meant to if you got to do that?
It would have been fun, but I don't think it would have meant that much since we're kinda the pleb tournament to ESL One. If we go on the stage at IEM Chicago, which is not probable, but possible, if we do that and make the stage it would mean a lot. This? It would've been nice and cool, but I don't think it would've been an achievement or meant a whole lot.
Looking forward to IEM Chicago, a lot of people are probably surprised you qualified for that over Cloud9. That was a really long and drawn out series, so walk me through the mindset for that match.
Honestly, I don't really remember it much, but I think the name Cloud9... everyone was surprised because we beat "Cloud9" but it's not the Cloud9 that won the Major obviously.
They're having issues with their roster, and I think it's still nice that we qualified but I also don't see that as a big achievement or anything because they just had a new roster and we've been a roster for six or so months. It's nice, but I still don't think it's that big of deal that we beat them.
Backtracking to this tournament, you had a pretty easy game against AVANGAR the first time around, and then you had a slugfest against compLexity. What do you think of them as a team, and what they did in London?
compLexity is really good. I think when they brought in stan and ShahZaM they just got a whole new gear, and they've been in it ever since. I don't think we've ever beat them, we've beat them on maps but I don't think we've ever beat them in a series and this was a best-of-one, this was our best chance and we choked, unfortunately.
Their run in London... it wasn't a fluke, I don't think. I think they deserved every win, and teams have gotta stop playing them on Inferno, pretty much.
You guys are going to commence your first EPL season soon, what kind of work and preparation have you put in to get ready for that?
We're just doing the normal stuff honestly, we're practicing a lot, long days. We're excited, I'm a little bit nervous for EPL. We've played ECS obviously, but I think this is different. First real season, and it's a tough season.
These roster changes in North America are helping us out a bit because there were a few teams that were looking really strong before the Rogue change and the Renegades change and Envy. I think we have a good chance in both leagues, and I think it'll be fun. We're just doing the normal practice stuff.
What makes you say that ECS is different than EPL? Because there's a lot of overlap between the teams.
Every player's goal is to make... they think EPL is more prestigious than ECS. Obviously ECS is still really nice, and we were happy to make it, but we were way more happy when we made EPL than when we made ECS. I think just cause it's the main pro league, it's everyone's goal to get there.
Can you talk a bit about what your org does for you? You were with Rise Nation before, and now you're with eUnited.
Yeah, eUnited is definitely a step above all the other orgs I've been under. If we break a keyboard or break a mouse, or need anything, instantly they'll order it and get it sent to us. They sent us all 240Hz monitors, all their sponsors who are getting everything. It feels like a family a lot, it's all good in eUnited right now.
You have a habit of appearing on the weekly and monthly FPL leaderboards. What do you think of FPL in general? People seem very opinionated on it.
I might be either the worst or the most unlucky FPL player in the world because a couple weeks ago I think I finished the week 1-17, 1 win 17 losses. I went from getting first picked to being known as "The Curse of FPL" getting last picked. If I get in the money it's pretty much a fluke for me.
I don't go into FPL expecting to have fun, I don't go into FPL expecting to get better, I just play to play. I don't think it's a good environment to get better. I think it's good for young streamers to grow their brand and MDL players I guess, but it's not real CS. It's pretty much like a deathmatch.
You guys aren't playing MDL this season because you're in Pro, but what do you think of the teams that are in MDL right now? If moose was a betting man, who would he think has the opportunity to make Pro League out of MDL next season?
Obviously Swole is the main thing. Just from scrimming teams, Bravado is pretty insane, TeamOne is pretty insane, Swole is obviously good. Gorilla Gang is top four. Maybe AZIO could sneak in but I haven't really seen enough of them and I haven't even played them yet.
Those are definitely the top four favorites in my opinion. MDL is pretty bad right now, there's not much competition — there wasn't much competition when I was playing either, but it's just getting worse and worse. But what they're doing with having to play every team now, that's a good change. There's no complaining about playoffs seeds and stuff like that.
Why do you say it's getting worse? If anything, the top level of NA CS is getting better by all metrics.
There's such a gap between bottom level of premier and top level of premier, just like Pro League. The gap is a little less in Pro League, or maybe not, but the gap between bottom pro and top premier is lower.
The gap in premier... the top 4 teams or the top 5 teams, it's so obvious that they're the top 5 teams. It's not like "Oh, BMC could win! eUnited could win, Eclipse could win, French Canadians!" It's not like that. So If I was a betting man, I'd probably make bank off of betting on MDL matches. But I don't, obviously.
eUnited were forced to forfeit their match against oNe for the Toyota Master Bangkok qualifier as they were unable to find adequate space to play while in New York. They're next showing will see them debut in EPL in the first match of Season 8, kicking off on October 2nd at 6:10 PM EDT. The team will also be attending IEM Chicago from November 6th-11th.
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