PwnAlone on EU teams at FRAG 17: "We didn't think they were that good"

Dust2us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore was able to catch Josh "PwnAlone" Pigue right after EG.PA's grand final win in Fragadelphia 17. The two discussed the AWPer's performance during the final match, the relationship between the roster members, PwnAlone's first trophy, and future competitions.

I am here with the one and only PwnAlone coming off of their amazing win over Big Academy to take Fragadelphia 17. How does it feel to take home the trophy?

Feels good finally beat a European team, we had to do it in NA. Feels good that we showed up. We only lost two maps and they're both one of our weaker maps, so we got to work a little on Vertigo but other than that we were pretty dominant throughout the whole tournament.

Jonji is sort of the focal point, he is the loudest member in the team, he's the most aggressive player, he does a lot of the entry work and a lot of flashy plays, but you came out of the finals as the highest rated player on Evil Geniuses. How does that feel to have been such an integral part of this win?

That feels good. I wouldn't be able to do without my teammates. My teammates play vital roles to help how I perform. So it feels good that I was able to do that and put some numbers down for my team and they were backing me up the whole time. It felt really good.

Over the course of Fragadelphia 17, it didn't really seem like any team could stop you. Did you guys expect to go so far against, you know, the top, the high-quality European opposition we saw at Fragadelphia 17?

Oh yeah. We watched a couple of games before and we didn't see anything out of the ordinary from them. We didn't think they were honestly that good. And we have proved it by beating the second-best team here. So no, we weren’t really worried about anything, honestly.

You've been in the game longer than a lot of your teammates. You're sort of the elder statesman of NA CS:GO. I was looking into your history, and it's the first time you've won a big trophy ever in your career. Can you sort of sum up what the journey has been like from starting in 2017 with the likes of Rustun in Vireo.pro, all that to today where you're with Evil Geniuses?

Yeah, it's been a grind and it's been well worth it in my opinion. Finally got to go to Europe this year and go to Australia as well. It feels good when we win a trophy and finally win a LAN. Yeah, it's been a grind these last couple of years.

At the start of the year, we have the massive Evil Geniuses project, reuniting major winners and players who have taken home the biggest trophies in CS:GO, but you guys, the scrappy local former Party Astronauts are the ones that claimed Evil Geniuses first CS:GO trophy of the year. Is it a momentous occasion for you?

Yeah, of course. We take whatever win we want. I mean, every win is a good win, and to actually win a tournament and have it be a tournament in NA that's prominent, feels great.

I want to touch on that aspect of sort of the elder figure in the team. Do the guys turn a lot to you for leadership? Because of how long you have had a relationship together and the fact that you're the most mature member of the team?

I mean, yeah, sometimes. Everybody on the team is pretty mature and everybody is really smart. We don't depend on one or two people, I would say. It's a whole team issue and we just go at it as a team. It's not any individual person being in charge or leading, things like that, so not really, no.

What's next for PwnAlone? What's next for your Evil Geniuses group? Where are we gonna see you guys next playing?

Any qualifiers coming up you can see us there for sure. I mean, it depends on if we're able to play those qualifiers, but we're gonna try our best to go back to Europe and maybe Australia again. Who knows?