madcow: "On BNB I was getting three or four hours of sleep a night"

If you've been part of the NA scene for any amount of time, you should know that Nathan "madcow" Retterath was a big part of Bad News Bears, a roster that flipped the script on what an NA underdog squad could be. With the curtain closing on BNB, madcow become an integral part of the EG organization as a manager. With EG breaking expectations and qualifying for the Major with wins over FURIA and 9z, Dust2's Dafydd Gwynn caught up with madcow. They discussed his new role within EG, whether he could return to coaching, and a deeper explanation of the EG "Blueprint" project from a man inside in the organization.

Can you talk about how different your role is with EG, compared to when you were coaching on Bad News Bears?

So back on BNB I realistically did essentially the same thing I'm doing now on top of coaching. So when valens first initially approached me about this job, in my mind I was like "oh I'm actually going to be doing less." But there are so many moving parts within EG, so much to keep track of if anything I'm doing way more work than before. But I mean dude I'm in esports, I'm around CS around some of my favorite players, I am living the dream.

What drew you away from coaching, what convinced you to stop coaching?

It wasn't anything that drew me away from coaching, it was more the opportunity to be around players and give input while I'm there. If anything, I'm not directly coaching I don't have nearly the impact I did on BNB but I throw in my two cents here and there. Whenever I see something that is super similar to the way I used to do something or approach something, or if there's a certain situation where we can't find a middle ground on how to approach it I'll give my two cents on how I would think about it or how I would have my players approach it. So it's not like where I'm dedicated coaching right now, but it's like "hey I'm there, I know CS," so I might as well throw my thoughts out there sometimes and see if they stick.

My colleague, Liam Slevin, was just talking to CeRq and he was saying you had some words of wisdom before the Mirage game, could you tell us what that was?

It wasn't anything ridiculous, it was mostly just standard prep that I would do for anybody. Like how do they start the rounds in terms of positioning numbers-wise. Is it a 2-1-2 start or are they super heavy mid on their T and CT sides? So it was just basically getting a feel for what the start of the rounds would look like and then getting a philosophy on how they approach the game and map additionally onto that. So it was giving my two cents on that, like "hey this is how they start the round," and a couple of other things to be aware of.

Do you see yourself returning to coaching, would you want to do that in your career?

Realistically, it's something that has even been talked about within EG. Like if I have the time to do it, even right now if I have the time it makes sense to give my input. Maybe transitioning into a coaching role whilst still doing managerial duties, who knows? If you told me three months ago I would be working for EG I wouldn't of believed you, things can change so quickly within this space so who knows?

How is it being around three big-name coaches, do you sponge off them at all, is it a surreal experience for you?

It's a bit of both, it's a surreal experience but it's also a reassuring experience when I see the way they think about situations and the game, and it's really in line with the way I've done things. So it's reassuring in that aspect that I was on the right track with everything I was doing, well not everything, but most of what I was doing. In how I talked to the players and approached the game, it's really cool to see how pretty much everyone involved is inline in their way of thinking. Honestly, this isn't fully related to the question but it kind of is, Vorborg has surprised me so much with the way he coaches and how approaches things. Not to say I had low expectations of him but he is very intentional with everything he does, he poses a lot of very good questions to the players and makes them come up with answers for them, he doesn't just give them the answers.

Just to mention BNB for a second, you were an orgless coach for a very long time and now you are in a large org. What's the biggest difference for you?

I guess it's something I touched on earlier, there are so many moving parts that I never anticipated there being. There are so many people involved in EG that it's both kind of intimidating but also like reassuring that I have a giant support staff with everyone I work with. There are so many people doing so many things, it's a crazy thing. Going from BNB where we were super honed in on everything we were doing, to EG where everything is super broad and we are trying to do everything the best way. It's a lot of fun, not going to lie, stressful but a lot of fun.

I want to ask about the EG Blueprint project, a lot of fans don't understand what it is and there are a lot of question marks over it. How different do you think the NA scene is going to be after EG has finished executing the blueprint project?

Realistically the blueprint project is just... EG has an infrastructure that they can provide to build up players and improve players, and improve them as people as well. It's realistically, just broadening and expanding the scope of what they do and how many people it affects. It's a life-changing thing that happens to players when they go from an unsigned team to a signed team. Like Evil Geniuses where you have all the amenities and all of the things available to you to really just focus on CS. We didn't have that on BNB, I was working insane hours and coaching getting like three or four hours of sleep a night during my work weeks. With what EG is doing everyone gets to focus on CS and become the best player they can be.

You mentioned players becoming a better person outside of the game, how important is that for a CS player?

It's massively important, you can be the most talented player in the world but if you drag your teammates down with the way you act you are not going to have a successful team. If you make your teammates worse what's the point? The whole point is not only becoming a better CS player but a better person so you can lift the people around you and they can also inherently lift you up as well. Do your job and trust that your teammates are going to do their job and everything gets done.

You are now in the same organization as Jonji, you were on BNB together, have you been able to chat with him much, and how is working with him again?

I actually saw him the other day, the EG White and EG Black rosters were actually here bootcamping. So they all trickled in on different days and I welcomed them to Stockholm. It's nice how everything came full circle, he grew up a ton on BNB things didn't end the greatest but there was so much stress involved that you can't blame it. It was super nice to see him again and be part of the same project. It's cool to be part of the same project.

Is there anything else you want to talk about before we finish off?

Honestly, I just want to make it known how unbelievably proud I am of every single player for EG. Especially the team that has just played, they have been putting in so much work, and they have been dedicated. Vorborg has been on their case about getting work done but also giving them the necessary break time that they need. They have been grinding super hard but also understanding when they need to take a break. That's something I think a lot of teams need to actually understand, burn out is a thing. I think that's why we came into the RMR as well as we did, yes we were practicing a ton but we understood when we needed to take break days, or half days, or even just review days in practice. Providing an environment where your players can be honest with, "hey I'm not 100% today let's dial it back and then go hard tomorrow." Creating that super positive, cooperative environment is why we have done so well here.

One more thing, Pluto and Momo have just made the ECL playoffs, how proud do you feel as a big part of their journey as players, when you see players you coached succeeding does that fill you with pride?

For sure. With both Pluto and Momo I was hard on them because I knew how much talent they had so I expected so much of them. We were in a weird situation where not everything was going our way, and we had a cool opportunity but it didn't go the way we wanted. It doesn't take anything away from their potential as players. Pluto is an insane talent, but he's a super fast communicator we had this thing called "torpedo comms", with him it was a constant thing. I got on his case about it and he went away and made all the changes we asked for him. Their success now doesn't even reflect on me as a coach but on them and how hardworking and receptive they are to feedback from everybody.