Strings: "[Drip or Drown] are going to disrespect us"
Losing the first map of the second semifinal, Etherian's own Blake "Strings" Stringer was put on the brink of elimination. A comeback led to an eventual 2-1, making Strings and Etherian the opponent for Drip or Drown's in the Best of 5 Grand Finals.
Shortly after the game Dust2.us was able to catch up with the Strings and see how things are going with the new squad and what they hope to do in the finals.
With your semifinal win over Cyclone you're in the finals, so how are you feeling about Mad City overall?
Feeling pretty good. The admins, like everyone has been doing their best to keep everything on time, everything has just been as good as it can be.
Over in Canada EGLX is having their own CS:GO LAN event. Do you feel like the timing of the two events has lessened the competition a little bit?
I feel like it has lessened the competition a little bit, because our team actually wanted to go to that event as well, but then we found out they were both on the same weekend, and there were multiple teams that chose to go there instead of this LAN.
In the online world, Etherian is 9-4 in the MDL, how are you guys feeling as a unit right now, especially with making finals here and the addition of ben1337?
It's been going well. Progress. Adding any new player is hard, but adding an IGL is even harder. You need to learn their playstyle, they need to learn your playstyle, but we're actually meshing really well. With more practice, we'll be even better.
You play around guys who get a lot of hype like motm and oSee, do you feel you're underrated or underappreciated in the scene?
I think it happens, but I do my role. I do what I'm asked to do, do it well, and it doesn't matter what other people think.
Now for the finals, you're facing Drip or Drown, how are you guys going to prepare for a game like this?
We're gonna go into this game thinking they're going to disrespect us. They're gonna peek everything and we just gotta play together and trade. They're a pug, they don't really have an IGL, so they're just gonna try to win every aim duel.
If they're going to try to win every aim duel, who are you most worried about?
Probably their AWPer, Ace. I feel like if he gets hot that can really cause us some trouble because this LAN we've had some trouble with AWPers in general.
On Twitter, before the event began, you were joking about LAN dodgers, did you feel like any of your guys might have pulled something like that, seeing as it was a trend for this event?
There's no way my team would ever do something like that. Our guys wanna go all the way, make it to Pro, make it to the Major, have it all.
Unfortunately for Strings, second place is what Drip or Drown delievered to him and the squad. After being down 2-0, Drip or Drown were able to complete the reverse sweep against Strings and Etherian, and take the top spot at the event.
Etherian currently sit at 9-4 in MDL, and are in a prime position to secure a playoff spot if they take care of business. Their next two matches will come against eRa, who they defeated in Chicago, and Swole Patrol, who are currently in China for WESG.
