valens: "I think it means the world to [Skadoodle]"
You guys just won a decisive two maps against G2 to move forward in the tournament. How did it feel getting revenge against them from when you played earlier?
It kinda hurts sometimes when you win 3-0 and stop playing for a few days. You can kind of get in your own head — "We did such a good job, let's just keep playing the same way." So that makes it easier for us to prepare, because we expect them to play similarly, even if it is a different map. We just told ourselves that we weren't playing G2, just an aggressive team that likes making solo plays. We brought out the strats and setups that were good against aggressive teams, that's what we focused on.
Do you think your gritty path through the group stage ultimately benefited you (starting off 0-2)?
Absolutely. When you reverse sweep or complete a big comeback, that's a boost of confidence for all the guys. Especially Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham, seeing him go for aggressive plays, pushing highway on Overpass or something like that, that is something he sometimes doesn't do because he gets in his own head. So it is good to see, his confidence for sure is at an all-time high, and I'd say the same for the rest of the guys.
You got this win on an auspicous day, three years to the day the iBUYPOWER bans were handed down. What do you think it means for Skadoodle specifically to break his group stage curse started with that team?
I was joking with him right after we won, I said "Ty, I know you don't get out of groups very much, but when you do...". I think it means the world to him, honestly. Jack, the owner of Cloud9, he did an AMA last week where he said that Skadoodle is the bedrock of our team. And I think that is true, he has been here a long time. It's almost like we're trying to find the pieces to help him break through. Now that we did, it's about doing it not just for him, but for the whole team.
HLTV recently released flashbang statistics, with Skadoodle garnering top marks. Is that something you knew but couldn't quantify before?
Yeah, the reason he sometimes can't do those aggressive plays that we would like to see is because he is throwing so many grenades for us. Obviously they are good ones, there are statistics to back it up now. Practice, matches, we saw it. Everyone on the team knew. We knew he helped us a lot with his nades.
Not only that, but he is really good at making sure that he can play off of aggressive plays that other people are making. He throws a flash, he repositions because he knows Jake "Stewie2K" Yip or Tim "autimatic" Ta are going to be gaining ground. He is one of the best post-plant players, he wins so many 2vX's for us, Will "RUSH" Wierzba as well. Even when we had Mike "shroud" Grzesiek, Skadoodle and him could bring back any situation.
Can you elaborate on what you specifically do for the team in your role as coach? I believe you still have your job at Google as well, right?
So actually I put Google on pause, I'm on extended leave. That started maybe in early September, so a couple weeks after we got Tarik "tarik" Celik and RUSH. I decided I wanted to see how far we could go with this team. So I'm working for Cloud9 full-time right now, and besides coaching I'm doing some data science stuff for the organization for all their games. That's my responsibility now.
When there is a tournament coming up, in the weeks leading up to it, I just review demos, review our groups — Swiss is a little harder [to prepare for]. Just make sure our game is on point. I help tarik with strats and bring new ones to the table they can help refine, because they know their own strengths better than you and I.
I make sure to correct mistakes, and hold people accountable. At the end of the day, I make sure that people are feeling good about this game coming up — it doesn't matter what happened yesterday.
Tomorrow you will play the winner of Fnatic and SK, who would you prefer to face in the semifinal?
Honestly, SK with a stand-in has a similar playstyle to Fnatic. So playstyle-wise, we don't mind. I actually think Fnatic would be a tougher opponent because they are a real team. Obviously this SK roster was a team previously, but they have been practicing with Ricardo "boltz" Prass, so they can't use their new stuff, and some of their old stuff will be rusty. So actually we would prefer to play SK.
Looking forward to the next season of Pro League, what do you think of some of the roster changes that been happening for other teams?
Honestly, I think it is going to be the most competitive season yet. Last season was so competitive we actually didn't make it to the Finals — obviously we want to change that. It will be more competitive with the top four teams this season, I think the roster changes have made the top teams more stable, but the lower tier teams are getting weaker.
What do you think about that skill gap in Pro League? Is it just the fact that the best players are concentrated on the top teams, or something deeper than that?
I think it starts at the level of in-game leaders that are focusing on building the wrong type of team. Or maybe they know that they have players with more raw skill, but less good decision making. So IGLs on those lower tier teams try to build teams purely around skill, I just think that is the wrong way to go. Especially after you've broken through MDL/Premier, I don't think you can rely on raw skill anymore. The IGL or coach/IGL combination has to have a mindset shift, get a couple aimers and some people with more experience. It is difficult to break through with a team of one IGL and four aimers, we're seeing too many of those compositions right now.
Cloud9 await the victor of the ongoing match between SK and Fnatic. Their match will again close out the day, and is currently scheduled to take place at 3:00 PM EST.
