motm on Arctic: "We figured out their playstyle in a matter of an hour"

After securing the team's first win at the RMR against Arctic, Dust2.us' Liam Slevin caught up with ATK rifler Ian "motm" Hardy to discuss the experience of his first RMR, how the team are dealing with the pressure of a big event, and what it's like seeing his former teammates of Complexity doing so well.

You missed out slightly on the Antwerp RMR, you guys were close to making it but you didn't quite get there, this is your first real RMR on LAN, how has your experience been so far?

It's been great. This is my first RMR at LAN in person. We have been bootcamping for a week, it has gone good. There have been ups and downs but we have learned a lot, we are playing a lot differently just from that one week of practice in Europe in comparison to how we played in NA. The experience has been great, the hotel has been nice (laughs), the PCs are nice, everything's good man... it's high quality.

In the opening game, you guys lost to Complexity, we know they are former teammates of yours. What's it like seeing them perform this way and what's it like going up against them?

I'm always rooting for them. Ever since the moment I wasn't with them, I was rooting for them because they were a family of mine. I still talk to them whenever I get the chance, we still have our group chat from our team and type in it to this day two/three years later. We lost to them today, I really wanted to defeat them probably because I was a previous teammate of theirs. It's not a bad emotion, it's a good emotion, they are a good team and they are a better team than us. They have been playing well and I'm happy for them, very happy for them.

The second game was against Arctic, are they a team you were familiar with before this tournament?

I had no idea who they were, I don't mean that in a bad way, just they play in Brazil — they haven't played any big tournaments. They probably haven't heard of us that much.

It's a pretty short turnaround, what was the preparation like when you found out Arctic would be your opponents?

So we lost to Complexity, and we were a little upset. Not in a tilted way, but like, we are way better than the performance we put on against Complexity. We went back to the hotel and were drawing up who we could play against, we kind of knew we would be playing Arctic before it was confirmed. We were watching the Liquid vs. oNe game and before the match was over we were already all watching Arctic's demos and talking about what they were going to do, we wanted to be ready for everything they did. We figured out their playstyle in a matter of an hour, we had six people in the same room watching POVs of their players. We were super ready for them in a short amount of time. I think the Complexity loss lit a fire under us and we played a much better game here.

At Fragadelphia in an interview we had with you, you said you think you could make the major if the pressure doesn't get to you. From the opening games, have you noticed the pressure in the team?

The Complexity game yes, a lot of us are former teammates, Fadey and I, the South Africans look up to them. Our coach sprayxd, former analyst of our team in 2019. The pressure was on and we made a lot of mistakes in our game, we weren't playing like the normal ATK and if that continues we won't make the major. That's the reality of the situation. I think the loss, we handled it well, we went back to the hotel and talked it out and we move forward, we don't live in the past and get better as time goes.

Now you got that first win, do you think that gives the team more confidence at qualifying?

Yeah. A problem we have is dealing with the pressure, and to get a win under our belt at a tournament like this feels amazing. We all got up and were yelling and hugging each other, that's the electricity that is good, but we need to get used to it because it's a double-edged sword. I think it's going to help us tremendously moving forward.

You were the only player on your team that went positive against Complexity, and you had a pretty good showing against Arctic. What can you say about your own personal form in recent times?

I think I'm just getting more used to my team. I have played here for a year but I have been uncomfortable for a long time. Most recently, I have been making a real effort to get more comfortable with my team. They have helped me a lot, and fit in the system more. I'm not playing the entry role as much, more of like a hybrid entry/support role and it's taken a long time to understand. So thank you to my team for being patient with me.

At the end of day one, we have 3 NA teams 2-0 and 2 are 1-1. No NA teams went 0-2, with so many South American teams here what does it say about the scene that none of the NA teams went 0-2 today?

I think it's growth. For a long time, we were down pretty bad (laughs) we were not playing good as a whole scene. I think Liquid and Complexity playing at a higher level is really motivating a lot of people. The Nouns squad and us have been grinding for a while now, and when the higher teams in the region are pushing the boundary, we are following right behind. I'm happy, I'm happy.

ATK are set to go up against MIBR on Thursday at 07:30AM as they look to progress to the 2-1 pool of the RMR.