ImAPet: "We need to structure our entire schedule around [Cologne and Katowice]"
Following their win over Ninjas in Pyjamas to advance to the ECS Season 8 Finals semis yesterday, Collin "CarbonDogma" Davis spoke to Chet "ImAPet" Singh to discuss Evil Geniuses' run so far, the impact of the recent economy changes, and how they were handling their busy schedule.
Back on Train, you guys had a really rough T-side and it was kind of similar to a lot of the maps in this event, there seemed to be some struggling. Has there been something in particular that has made T-sides hard this event?
For Train at least, I thought the score was misleading, because on our T-side we got pretty good post plant spots but we just died after. So that kind of screwed us up and I mean they're still trying to figure things out, we're kind of rusty and out of sync a little bit but I think it is coming together.
On Nuke afterwards, were you expecting that to be as close as it was?
I think last time we played them it was 16-14 on Nuke so we were expecting a hard game, they're not bad on Nuke, their roster has played it a lot. They have a lot of experience and I think f0rest really makes the difference for them on Nuke especially just because his rotations and his individual skill is really high on that map. So, I thought it was going to be a hard game, I didn't think 16-14 but we thought something really really tight.
Yeah especially with that MP9 play at 14-14 [from Ethan]...
Yeah that was pretty insane.
Based on the match as a whole how does it feel to be back in the top four of an event after your last two outtings?
I think that after not coming out of groups the past two events, our goal is to finally come back in and make it out of groups instead of exiting so it feels good and we're going to be in front of an NA crowd. I think we're going to play Astralis so it's going to be déjà vu a little bit with ESL One New York so I mean we're not in the greatest of shape right now, but hopefully we can still beat Astralis.
So from the Liquid game yesterday, they kind of dominated you guys on Inferno, do you think there was something in particular that stopped the team from getting going on that map?
I just think on Inferno we were not on the same page at all, we were just doing different things and getting picked off and that was something we talked about that can't really happen. Like we have to remember fundamentals and keep composed, keep structured, and not get too carried away when we get a kill just like slow down and visualize the round. That's kind of the main points we wanted to discuss to help us going into the next game.
Yesterday in particular, but also in general CeRq has been playing really well since stanislaw joined, has something changed in his positions or how he is used in the team that helped him get so much better, or is he just having better form?
I'm not really sure, we're not using him in a different way, but we're trying to make sure he was enough space so there's a good balance between us calling what he needs to do and him doing what he needs to do. Also I think the new patch kind of makes things easier for AWPers. There's less Kriegs (SG 553) so it's less annoying for AWPers to peek on CT-side and like there's so many more options now that there's no Krieg. So I think the Krieg especially like... I think CeRq is playing the best on our team right now and I think a lot of it has to do with him playing well individually but also there being less Kriegs to punish him. So now it's just like AK's and it's a lot harder for AK's to just one bullet because it takes skill to use an AK.
I noticed that you guys were mixing up your buy rounds a lot more, I saw more FAMAS's and M4's and stuff. So is that something you are now trying to focus on with the economy changes, using the other rifles more often?
I think we're still trying to figure it out, we just came back from an event and we literally didn't play on the patch yet. We played like three or four scrims maybe on the new patch on the new map and stuff, but yeah we're still trying to figure it out. I don't know what's the best yet and it might take another event or two before people realize and the FAMAS and Galil have a better effect on the meta. It's gonna take some a little bit more time.
Prior to this series Brehze was having a bit of a rough time at the event and the last few events as well. Was there something that changed that allowed him to have a resurgence in form against NiP?
Funny enough, he changed his mouse right before the match so I don't know if that has anything to do with it but maybe it just gave him a placebo effect just like to perform better. We didn't really change anything and I think people might be figuring out how we play and we may be getting stale and that's something we have to fix next year. But, he didn't really change anything besides his mouse like that's it.
Looking forward you guys have ESL Pro League Finals in like three days or something, so considering that short timespan and since you've been traveling the past few months, what are your expectations going into that event?
Well for me personally, I want to make sure we get out of groups at these next two events that we have and like no stress like we know we haven't practiced that much because of our schedule. We're always jet-lagged constantly and we're always waking up at 4AM texting each other so it's like everything is pretty rough right now and there's nothing leaving signs that we should be winning events but we're just going to step-by-step. Just get out of groups and then we'll see what happens.
tarik spoke to Professeur about this yesterday, obviously you guys have a really busy schedule, next year are you going to be focusing on skipping more key events to lighten the load?
Next year we'll probably try to skip smaller events and just try to make sure we properly outline. So like we'll sit down after Odense or EPICENTER and try to discuss when we should bootcamp and what events are best to bootcamp for. Like Cologne and Katowice are going to be $1,000,000 tournaments so those are the tournaments we want to be the most prepared for. So we need to structure our entire schedule around those two events and not try to get burnt out like we are now.
To finish off, let's look at your semifinal match tomorrow. You already mentioned that you guys have a history with Astralis from ESL One New York, but is there any specific preparation that goes into facing them knowing they just came off a win in Beijing?
We're just going to treat them like the same team and see what they do and try to make steps around it, yeah. They're in really good form right now and they're no doubt the best team in the world so it's going to be pretty hard. I think our form isn't the greatest, but we're getting back there slowly. So it's going to be a pretty tough game but hopefully we can beat them again.
Evil Geniuses will be facing off against Astralis later today at 1 PM EST.
