stamina: "I think a lot about this boot camp is about us finding our identity"

Earlier this year, Nouns won enough ESEA Cash Cups to qualify for the Cash Cup Circuit Playoffs, which they ended up taking home first prize. On top of their Cash Cup winnings, they got a cool $25,000, an invite to the IEM Sydney NA Qualifier, and a boot camp at IEM Cologne with none other than former Liquid coach Eric "adreN" Hoag. Here, the NA team was able to practice and scrim against a variety of competitors all there for IEM Cologne, which Nouns unfortunately did not qualify for. During their bootcamp, Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore interviewed Nouns' newly minted in-game leader Bobby "stamina" Eitrem who returns to the team after a few months with Strife.

How has your bootcamp been going on?

Outside of the jet lag and feeling tired, it's been a cool experience. Getting to have a practice room next to all the teams, getting the same treatment, and hanging out with some of the players on the terrace, it's been a really nice vibe. Practice has been going really well, so it's pretty fun.

There's an idea that once you go to Europe and experience that, the practice in NA feels awful in comparison. Have you been feeling that?

It's not that it's so much better, it's that we could get this level of practice from maybe one scrim a week in NA, if we got Liquid, or FURIA, or any of the other top teams. Consistently having four to five in a single day is not possible. Today we played five scrims, all of them against very strong teams. We were able to dig deep and figure out if we're getting punished, where we need to improve, and that's a lot of what you're missing from scrimming in North America. You don't get punished as much because teams don't have the same individual prowess or the experience to know how to counter you.

Does it help to put your team's growth in perspective at all? You're one of the best teams in NA, is it daunting seeing how you are against EU opposition or does it help you see the growth you've made so far?

I think it's a little bit of both. I actually had the opportunity to go to Europe with strife two years ago. We bootcamped in Poland and played an ESL Pro League Conference in Sweden. We took dead-last at that tournament, we lost to TYLOO 0-2 and we lost to cowana 0-2, and when we played scrims then it was hit-or-miss, we were okay. Playing at this bootcamp, it helps me realize how far I've come at least and my understanding of the game, and myself as an individual. Everyone else has been carrying their weight in scrims so far. It's good to know that sure, we can struggle against regional teams because we play each other all the time, and when we play top teams, we're not that far behind in terms of being competitive. I'm not saying we can win a Major or a top event, but it definitely feels like we're a lot more competitive than the community might think.

As part of you winning the Cash Cup Circuit, you've had a chance to work with adreN, what's it like working with him so far?

He's been really great to work with. He's just an extra set of eyes helping with the big-picture stuff. Working with Liquid, he's helped so many issues they've had in and out of game, he's able to shine a light on that with us. Just being able to have that extra perspective is really nice. I can't go into detail too much on exactly what he's doing for us, but mainly he's been the big-picture guy for us. SEMPHIS is still doing the main coach duties, but adreN is recapping things and helping us realize the big things overall.

You've only joined the team recently and weren't with them when they bested ATK to earn a spot at this bootcamp. About a week after that they brought you in for cynic. Was there any reluctance on your part to rejoin the team after your short lives experience with them earlier?

No reluctance. I didn't have any issues with anyone at the team. At the time they thought it was best to replace me, I had some issues that I needed to work on, and at the same time, they felt it was the best decision to get MarKE. I think he's a fantastic player and playing with him, I feel this team has a different level that we didn't have when we played before, not that cynic isn't a great player as well, but the roles are much different. MarKE is a lot more of a passive support player versus cynic being the entry, star role kind of player. Having someone like MarKE isn't anything I've had in my career outside of Infinite, which is someone that's really confident and really experienced in that support position.

How have you changed since your initial stint on Nouns?

It's no secret that I've had issues with tilting my whole career. That's been a big talking point for me. I think personally, it's the only thing that holds me back. With that being said, it wasn't the primary reason I was removed from Nouns. I'm sure it was part of the issue, but the bigger issue was just not seeing eye to eye, specifically with cynic. He had previously been the in-game leader and then brought me in to be the in-game leader. I was thinking when I was brought in I would just do my thing. I'm a very vocal, very structured, theoretical in-game leader, and I don't think we saw eye to eye. So when there was an opportunity to bring MarKE back, cynic felt like at the time it was an upgrade, as did the team, and that was the decision they made.

Three players remain from your initial time on Nouns with Carson, Bwills, and cJ. How have they grown in the past six months or so?

I think they've definitely all gotten better individually. I think they're all a lot sharper than when I've played with them previously. cJ, when I joined Nouns, was actually still pretty new to being back full-time. They'd only picked him up like two months prior. He's been in incredible form, and moving towards more star roles for us. I think a lot about this bootcamp is about us finding our identity. I think those three players were often playing in a system where they were told what to do instead of understanding what their position and what their job is. That's the kind of dynamic I like to bring in as an in-game leader, a system where we all understand how we're all going to benefit each other, because at the end of the day, we have to be a team to win. I think they've been great to work with, especially cJ, he deserves a shoutout he's been playing really well.

Along with your return to Nouns, there's been a significant shuffle in North America with teams like Bad News Bears and Forsaken rising. Overall, looking at the NA scene before or after the player break, do you think we've grown or regressed in quality?

I think every time there's a change in North America, there's one more player who just drops their ego and wants to play with somebody else. If you look at these teams and how they're composed, you would ask yourself why they weren't composed like this two years ago. I think there are a lot of players in North America who have great attributes, but we're kinda spread thin across multiple teams. Maybe one team has a really good in-game leader, one team has a really great AWPer, one team has a star rifler, and I think in North America we could have three really strong tier-two teams if these teams were all combined together, and I think that's kind of what we're seeing. Malbs and Swisher joining up, that just makes so much sense. I think it's a good thing.

Nouns are currently ranked the third-best team in North America with Liquid exiting. Do you think that's deserved and do you think that' there's room for you guys to go up the rankings?

With EG and Complexity, they're both kind of different. Complexity has a lot of experience and they've been doing this for a while, whereas ESG was just EG Black. We played against them. On Strife, we struggled against them, but on Nouns, they were never really a struggle for us. They'd go back and forth you know. At the end of the day, we haven't played EG since they added autimatic, they're having a long bootcamp in Europe which is gonna help them a ton. Is it fair to say we're the third best team and those two teams are better than us? For sure. It's gonna take time with my new system and for us to gel, but the goal is to bridge the gap and try to attend more European events. At the moment, they're not really our threat cause they're partner teams, so they just get to go to every event. We need to beat whatever teams from Brazil decide to land in North America or anybody else in NA such as M80, so we're not really focused on them.

What's next for Nouns after their bootcamp?

After the bootcamp we fly over to Serbie where we'll be from the first to the tenth. We're gonna be playing the CCT Global Finals. Unfortunately not everything is released about that event but it should be in the coming days, just need some more information on who we're playing and whatnot. Looking at some of the names, it's looking like a really competitive event even though Cologne is going on, so it'll be a good opportunity for us to show what we've been up to.

You can watch the interview below on your YouTube channel, and stay tuned for more updates, news, and interviews from IEM Cologne!