vSa: "I am still confident in my team"
The ESEA MDL Season 26 Global Challenge has not gone the way Rise Nation has hoped so far, with them losing to SoaR in the promotion match on day one. They were then eliminated from the main event in 0-2 fashion, with losses to Space Soldiers and Chiefs.
We spoke to Andy "vSa" Xu about how the team is feeling right now, and what his expectations are with crucial ESL Pro League Relegation matches on the horizon.
It was a rough couple of days for you and your team, what toll has that taken and what is the mentality like right now?
Coming into the LAN we were doing pretty well online. There was a bit of a wait for this event to happen, so that had kind of a negative effect on us, we weren't as warm as we should be.
The first day we played SoaR, the first map was close and we should have closed it out, but didn't. The second map we won Inferno. The third map we had an 11-5 lead, but managed to throw it. That was a blow for us, just really disappointing. After that the team was really down, we just tried to shake it off. Losing that automatic Pro spot was a huge hit for us, because we had never lost to SoaR. Disappointing is an understatement.
For the Global Challenge, we just had the attitude of "Let's see what we can do", because we were in the group with the Europeans and Australians. Honestly, at this point, I don't think we can get any lower, so it is time to bounce back. I am still confident in my team, that we can go through Relegation and get the Pro spot. That is what we came here for, to be honest.
What do you think of the communities reaction to your trash talking? You seemingly have become villains overnight.
*laughs* It's all entertainment to be honest. I don't really care how people view us. I'm thankful for every supporter we have, and all exposure is good exposure. Also, for people who say that shit talking is bad, all I can say is you probably never played competitive sports in your life. Because that shit happens in every sport. Esports, basketball, football, when people have a chance to shit talk, they do it. So if you don't understand that concept, I have nothing to say to you.
This is the second Global Challenge you ran into Space Soldiers, what can you say about that team?
Space Soldiers are really good individually. They play loose, and they trade really well. When they play us, it feels like they aren't playing very tactical, they just spread out numbers and play simple CS. In terms of confidence, I think theirs is through the roof, no matter what they do, they think it is going to work.
For North American teams, when you play Europeans, you have to make them respect you. That way you can put your default out there, and you can start making plays off that. But when your default isn't working against them, that's when you run into a brick wall.
What did you think of your performance at DreamHack Winter in Sweden?
At DreamHack I think we did pretty well, in terms of the competition we had. We lost to Gambit 16-10, I think they sort of underestimated us, so that is why we were able to get a lot of frags. Double-digit rounds isn't bad against a Major winner, even though they didn't have Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko, who I'm pretty sure they played better with - no offense to Bektiyar "fitch" Bahytov.
I feel like we put on a decent showing, especially against Heroic. We actually had a comeback on Inferno, I thought we were going to win that map, to be honest. So even if we lose Nuke, on the third map, you never know what is going to happen. We didn't manage to pull that off though, and Heroic are really good on Nuke.
Overall, DreamHack was a great experience, after that our confidence level shot up a lot. That's why it is more disappointing losing here, because the caliber of the teams we are playing is dropping. We were playing world class teams, and now here we are playing Premier teams and losing. It's a huge hit on our confidence. So right now we need to hit the reset button, and come out and start banging.
How do you like your chances in Relegation? Who do you think will make it out?
I still feel like we are the best team in relegation if we play up to our potential. I feel like we can go out 2-0. Honestly, I think the other spot will be between GX and Ghost — whoever plays better will take it. I'm confident we will get that spot though.
If the worst should happen and you don't make it through Relegation, what does that mean for the future of this team.
That would be very devastating for us. If we don't make Pro, that is like the grind being all gone. Two seasons all gone. I can't even begin to think about that. And after that, all the Pro teams will poach our players, I'm pretty sure. Depending on that, our time will probably separate. It's make or break.
Rise Nation's ESL Pro League Relegation journey is set to start today at 6:00 PM EST. Their first opponents will be Ghost, who are coming from the last season of Pro League.
