djay: "Fragadelphia is one of the only places left in NA to farm VRS"

Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore of Dust2.us had the opportunity to speak with MIGHT's Jonathan "djay" Dallal after their win against FOR FUN. djay offered comments on MIGHT's recent struggles, new player Cristian "no1nx" Labrada, and their strategy for earning VRS points.

Find the interview in its entirety below, in video format, with some sections in text format provided underneath.

The win against FOR FUN was the first strong win for MIGHT in a while. MIGHT has been struggling recently in online qualifiers, such as for the Dust2.us Eagle Masters Series. Part of that comes down to having recently done some roster changes. I wanted to ask you about your new addition, no1nx, he's a relatively unknown figure, where did he come from?

I think he DMed us, or someone was friends with him. We asked him to do a tryout, and he accepted. He showed really good composure, and he has a really good attitude. He has that growth mentality, he's willing to take criticism, even if it means he has to get berated by me a little bit.

We definitely needed to make some roster moves because we were struggling for a hot minute. It was just a matter of time.

Is he a permanent addition to the team? I know you haven't announced it, yet, but as an orgless team, you don't really need that level of formality.

He's basically on the team. We haven't really announced him, but he's absolutely our fifth. We aren't running any other tryouts at the moment, we don't have any other prospects. If you're not at the top of NA, players who are relevant or have experience don't really want to step down into a team that's in a rebuild phase.

MIGHT has fallen down the VRS ranking recently due to a number of key losses in the Eagle Masters Series. Is it a goal for you guys to justify attending this event by gaining VRS points?

Yeah, 100%, Fragadelphia is one of the only places left in NA to farm VRS. To qualify for any events and get those invites, that's our goal. Come here, get as much VRS as we can and see what we can do with it.

How do you feel about ESEA Advanced going from a ranked event to an unranked event? Is it still worth your time to play in that league?

Any match experience is beneficial for any team. There's a little bit less of an incentive but what else are teams going to play? If the only way to get into EPL is via the new ECL Cups, Advanced is still a relative tool for teams to get their reps in. There's a lot of learning to be done in that division, regardless of it being less valuable.

As an orgless team, the opportunities you have to attend LAN's depend on what you can afford. What a lot of teams are looking forward to is that BYOC event in Atlanta in a few months, that will offer a direct spot into EPL. First, what do you think about BYOC offering a spot in Pro League?

My initial take is, I don't trust a lot of these online gamers, so I don't like the fact that it's a BYOC. It's a headache, getting your computer to LAN, I don't imagine a lot of player are going to be flying their computers and monitors. You'll get a lot of people driving. I'm not a fan.

If ESL is going to be hosting an event like that for Pro League qualification, they probably should be providing some sort of resources for the teams to compete. Otherwise, it's not pay-to-win, but you have to have the means to justify attending. You're going to see the top NA teams there: NRG, M80, Complexity, whoever needs the Pro League qualification. You're not going to see nearly as many teams as you do at a FRAG like this.

Do you think it should just be like a FRAG, would that make it so you guys would want to attend?

Yeah, absolutely, if Fragadelphia was connecting with ESL and providing resources for the players, we know they have the ability to run events. They do it two or three times a year. That would be a nice adjustment but it's unrealistic for ESL to take that route.

After their opening victory, MIGHT fell to BLUEJAYS and were eliminated by Kooking in stage one of Fragadelphia 19.