Walco: "We're still trying to figure things out"

Shortly after EG.CD's close quarterfinal loss to Brazilian heavyweights oNe, Colby "Walco" Walsh sat down with Dust2.us' Samuel "Draik04" Popkes to chat about number of topics. The two discussed EG.CD's approach to this event, what it has been like to play with William "RUSH" Wierzba and Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz, and how things have changed for Walco as an individual since the two recent additions.

Could you explain to me what the goals were for EG.CD this event?

I think our goals were honestly to just get experience and see how well we can actually play. We're fairly limited on practice right now, so we kinda just wanted to get the LAN environment going, really just to test where we are with our limited practice. The goal is always to win, but ultimately we just want to see how good we are with the amount of time that we have.

When talking about Evil Geniuses and Fragadelphia it's hard to ignore the conversation regarding conflict of interest. What are your thoughts on the matter?

I would say I'm pretty neutral on it, I don't have too many thoughts. I understand a lot of what people say, arguments for and against. We're all just trying to represent and play Counter-Strike to the best of our ability.

In the group stage, you beat Davenport University in your opening match but had a far tougher time in the decider match against them. What was up with that?

I think a lot of it was we were pretty tired. We had a long day. I think due to the long day we were having a few comm issues. People weren't necessarily communicating as best as we could, as we had before. I think the day just really got to us and we just didn't play to the best of our ability.

You guys just recently brought on RUSH and stanislaw, huge additions. What it's like working with these veteran players? What do they bring to the team?

Working with stanislaw and RUSH is definitely really fun. You learn a lot, and you get a lot of different mindsets and views on the game. They're teaching me, we're teaching them, it's a mutual learning experience. They also bring stability with experience. They're not necessarily 18 or 19 years old where they're emotional and still figuring everything out. They've already passed that point, so they're teaching a lot to us, not just in the game but outside the game as well, how to act as adults and be friends and good teammates.

Compared to the EG.CD of three months ago, would you say things are run completely differently now or are there still traces of the EG.CD before these major additions?

I think it's similar. I think the old EG.CD was just a little less experienced and we relied more on me and my voice a lot. With this new team, RUSH has always been a vocal player, he's done every role in the game and he's always been known to be a good teammate. We're still trying to figure things out, but the style is basically the same, however, we're a little more strict when it comes to rotations and how to play. We're really just trying to learn it out and be the best that we can be.

How has your individual gameplay changed now that you're not weighed down by having to lead?

I think it's definitely very nice with my new role. Not talking as much is helpful, in the sense that I can focus on myself a little bit more, and I don't have to worry about what's happening across the map at all times. That being said though, I am in a new role and I'm learning as we go. There's gonna be rounds where it's messy for me and I'm not 100% sure what I want to do. But at the same time, limited practice, we are just trying to get better while trying to figure things out, but it's definitely new and exciting for me.

I spoke to Jonji earlier in the event and he mentioned talks of an EU bootcamp later in the fall. Aside from ECL, do you guys have any other plans like that later in the year?

I would say so. I know EG wants to get all of our teams experience, and they want to get us bootcamps. Definitely on the horizon to get us more time together and more experience with each other.

You guys recently played in the first open qualifier for ESL Challenger Rotterdam but fell early on to Vendetta. Was it the inexperience of the team that you mentioned earlier, and if so, how will you improve that ahead of the second open qualifier?

In the Rotterdam qualifier, there were multiple factors. We came to Philly a little bit early, so we were still getting a little used to the setups and stuff, so that was one thing. Another thing too, first official ever with this team, and like I said limited practice. It was kind of just a bad mixture and an off day. We already talked about it, we've already learned from it, we know what to do differently. Once we all get back home, we're all comfortable, we all get a little bit more time to let things gel a little bit with all this experience we've had at this event, I think we'll definitely make it through the next Rotterdam qualifier.

Following EG.CD's 7-8th place finish at Fragadelphia 17, the squad participated in the second ESL Challenger Rotterdam qualifier, where the squad fell to Iron Blood in the semifinals, 12-16. EG.CD will now be focused on their ECL campaign, with the team yet to play a match in the top domestic league so far in the season.