Axed: "Coaching is honestly the best move I've made in my career"

During the second day of Fragadelphia 17, Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore had a chance to catch up with Evil Geniuses Black's coach, Tommy "Axed" Ryan. In his first interview with Dust2.us, Axed discussed his role as the team's coach, what its been like playing under the Evil Geniuses banner, working with Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz and William "RUSH" Wierzba, and Jadan "HexT" Postma's recent promotion, among other topics.

To start, how have you been enjoying FRAG 17 so far?

FRAG's been going great, it's definitely a little bit of an adjustment period. It's our first time meeting stanislaw and RUSH ever actually. It's their first FRAG as well so they're trying to get used to the constant screaming in the background. We're just trying to focus on ourselves and make a push to hopefully win the tournament.

You mentioned this is your first time coaching on LAN, how has the experience been and how does it compare to playing on LAN?

I love coaching period. It's been great so far, it's honestly the best move I've made in my career. It helped me rework my attitude and the way I communicate with people and become a lot more professional. My first game coaching on LAN was actually on stage, so I had to get used to only being able to communicate during certain times which is an adjustment. Online I'm able to talk whenever I want. So far it's been great though, I have no complaints.

There's been a big debate in recent years about how coaches should be allowed to talk and interact with the team on LAN. What's your take on the debate?

I think on LAN it makes sense, especially on stages to allow the players to communicate and allow the coach to do his job and manage the players' emotions, keep everyone in check, call pauses, contribute ideas, not clutter comms in the middle of the rounds because on LAN it can get really hectic. It's really important that everyone can hear each other and communicate properly. If I'm sitting there constantly talking for other people it can get really confusing, so the best thing is to try and let everyone contribute equally.

I think a really interesting dynamic on this team is the mix between the young core and the more experienced RUSH and stanislaw. What's it been like working with them so far?

Absolutely amazing. They're absolute winners, they're veterans, and they're true professionals. They're everything you can ever ask for in a teammate and we're incredibly grateful to be playing with them.

Being part of Evil Geniuses, you have access to resources you've never had before. I wanted to ask you about the Seattle bootcamp and what the day-to-day was like there?

We would try to start practice around 1 PM western time. Try to get to the office around 11 AM or noon and try to get a workout in before in because there was a gym downstairs. There were plenty of snacks around the office. Order food whatever we do to ease into our routine. Try to practice the best we can in NA because obviously everyone knows that North America's practice could improve but we make the best of the situation that we're given.

We're grateful for the opportunity that Evil Geniuses has been giving us. Without Evil Geniuses I don't know if it would be possible to be playing with stanislaw and RUSH. We're incredibly grateful and happy so far.

Within Evil Geniuses, HexT was recently moved up to the international squad. As someone who has worked with him for around a year, can I get your thoughts on the move up?

I worked with HexT for eleven months, and I think everyone in North America had an idea that he was going to be the next big thing. We always had a good feeling that he was going to make it and he was going to go far. I'm grateful to have worked with him for as long as I did. I think I helped him make a lot of progress in what could've been a lot longer period. I only got to work with him for a short amount of time but I'm really excited to see the player that he's becoming. He makes great strides all the time and I'm excited to see his career and future unfold.

Do you think he's ready for the jump up right now to tier-one competition?

I think if there's anyone in North America who was ready, it was HexT. He has no ego and he's a great teammate. He works incredibly hard.

For you personally, can I ask why you decided to join Evil Geniuses over other options you had at the time?

Before the team were Evil Geniuses, they were RBG which turned into Carpe Diem. I hand-picked them, I wanted to coach them. I thought they had a bright future. They stayed out of drama and they've always been hard workers and to remain professional which is something I thought would go a very long way in NA.

A lot of my friends from the time I came up made ESL Pro League very early on at a young age so I've been able to second hand gain a lot of experience from people who have gone very far in the scene. The first thing I ever told them was that if they worked hard and did the things I asked if them they would go professional. Eleven months later I signed with Evil Geniuses and we don't look back on anything. We continue to move forward and focus on ourselves and the players all have bright futures.

With Evil Geniuses, valens has stepped into a more prominent role recently. Have you had a chance to work with him or talk to him?

I have valens' phone number.

What's that been like? Have you had a chance to sit down and have a call about the game and glean some wisdom off of him?

valens will happily answer any questions I ever ask him.

Evil Geniuses Black made it into the main event today. What are your expectations for the rest of the event? Do you have the tools to win against the Europeans?

Absolutely, we're going to continue to focus on ourselves and play our game. Continue to make great strides and by the end of the tournament we'll be a better team no matter what.

Axed is set to lead Evil Geniuses Black in their opening match of the Fragadelphia 17 group stage. They will be taking on recently promoted ESL Challenger League squad Davenport University at 12:00PM.