Swisher: "We are actively looking for a new IGL"

M80 confidently won their opening match of the Americas RMR with Rory "dephh" Jackson leading the way. The coach-turned-IGL has had a month to get himself into shape as M80 needed to replace the benched Marcus "maNkz" Kjeldsen. With the team now two victories away from making it to the PGL Copenhagen Major, it's all becoming a bit more real for the squad.

Following the win against ODDIK, Michael "Swisher" Schmid spoke with Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore about the win, the preparation with dephh, what the long-term plans are for the squad, and the unique format of this RMR.

The full interview can be watched on YouTube linked here.

I wanted to ask you about that that win. I think a lot of people are underestimating M80 because you have to play with dephh instead of maNkz. You, as well as the team, looked very confident. What went right for you all in that best of one?

We went into that BO1 knowing that they play super, super aggressive. We let them do a little aggression and focus more on our reactions that game. We were winning our duels, malbsMd played really well on T-side winning a couple of crucial rounds, especially with the Desert Eagle in mid. That propelled us into a better T-half, but we did lose that 5v3 which kind of sucked. Mistakes happen when we don't have a lot of practice.

How much time have you had to work with dephh as the new fifth and what's the practice been like?

After IEM Katowice we had a week long bootcamp in Katowice after the event, so we were able to get a couple days of EU practice with Rory there and a couple of days before the event. We had probably eight or nine days of practice in Europe with Rory and coming to NA we took a week break after the event to understand what’s going on and have a plan. We had a solid week and a half to two weeks of practice here with dephh, so we’ve had decent preparation. Prior to the Atlanta event we had one day, so this has been a lot better.

Since coming back from IEM Katowice, you haven’t played a single official. Do you think that adds some rust or is this a benefit.

I think right now we're playing the best CS we've been playing, at least with dephh. This is the best CS we've played. In Atlanta we didn't feel comfortable, in Katowice we didn't really feel that comfortable, and we talked about it with Rory. After the event, he said “we need to just understand that maNkz’s system is over” and that we're going to focus on his system and just not be in between both systems.

You’ve mentioned that maNkz’s system is over, does that imply that you are planning longterm for maNkz not to return? What's the current situation?

We are actively looking for a new IGL. Coming up after this major event we're keeping our eyes on teams and opportunities that arise. That's kind of it.

After the RMR, you are headed to IEM Chengdu, could we expect a new IGL by then?

Hopefully, that's the plan. There's only a week or something after the Major so we don't really know the whole timeline of events, but hopefully.

Do you think teams should be weary of underestimating you guys for playing with a coach?

I think dephh is not a normal coach having played professionally in CS and professionally in VALORANT. The only thing is, he even told us he doesn't want to play. He's playing for us because he doesn't want to let us down as players and as his friends, but he doesn't want to play at the end of the day. He has the experience, he has the game sense, he has the mechanical skill, so it's just like having another IGL on the server now.

How has slaxz- transitioned into becoming a consistent part of the team?

slaxz- is insane. His system is really good, his approaches and ideas are very good. Right now, sometimes with the new system we're all kind of having wishy-washy days here and there just trying to get a feeling for things, but slaxz- with his European knowledge has been a big benefit for us that least to implementing fixes and making adjustments in game.

The RMR has a unique and often criticized format considering the double elimination. Do you think this format is benefitting you guys at the moment?

I wouldn't say it benefits us. I think it's probably in the middle. The format is a little bit questionable considering that we only have one game a day anyways. I don't really know why we're playing all opening BO1s and second match BO1s, but we just kind of have to work with what we're given.