motm on NRG: "In skill and teamwork we do not believe they are better than us at all"

At Fragadelphia 19, Marsborne reached the quarterfinals despite an early group stage loss to NRG.

Both teams would finish the event in the same place, but entry rifler Ian "motm" Hardy believes that his team should have closed out against NRG and that they lost to themselves.

Following the loss and prior to Marsborne's rebound win against LAG, motm spoke to Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore about overly energetic comms costing them, bringing on Wesley "viz" Harris, and the high expectations he has for the team and himself.

Find the interview in its entirety below in video format or in text just underneath. All questions and answers have been slightly edited for length and clarity.

What do you think went wrong during the loss to NRG?

In the game versus NRG today we did really good at establishing leads early. We came out pretty hot on both Inferno and Dust2, and I feel as if we lost to ourselves. We got super excited, we were really energetic on the comms, but in a bad way. Like it was too much energy, and it was really hard for us to formulate plans even if they were clearly in front of us.

A lot of the rounds we were choking when we had a massive advantage; we were bleeding kills, losing duels. And the hecticness of the comms didn’t allow us to get on the same page, and when you’re playing versus a team like NRG, as much as I like to joke how bad they are on stage, they are not bad. They can shoot and they’ll catch you off, especially a player like br0 who’s just going to run it up mid when he has the read.

Why do you think comms were messy today? What went wrong on the mental side?

I think we saw a glimmer of how we play online on both maps. I think it’s just a lack of experience as a lineup. We got viz very recently and we have very little practice: a week of practice. So a lot of our maps are not fleshed out. And when the going gets tough in the maps, we have nothing to fall back on in terms of a set strategy or protocols on default. We’re really poor at [adapting] right now and it’s a time thing.

We got very excited to beat them because within our team we always talk about wanting to beat them. They are a level above us in terms of the ranking, but in skill and teamwork we do not believe they are better than us at all, and we should have won the game today.

Can you tell me more about the viz addition?

Yeah we were playing with minus before and it was really rough to work with him as a teammate. He’s a great guy but the experience he has is not on the level of ours and the way he takes in the knowledge is not something we needed. We needed someone who was going to be able to play for the team more and facilitate rounds and support people, and that allows me to go back into the entry role that I’ve been playing for 9-10 years.

So it was just getting the roles right and having the personality [viz] brings. A lot of positive energy, a great guy to be around, he does a lot for us that is not even in the server. He’s just a great teammate to have.

In the past he’s had his struggles with motivation, with health issues, with staying on teams long-term. Is that a concern for you guys at all?

I didn’t know him too well before the team, and I didn’t know of his trouble with staying motivated and playing long-term. It’s kind of the opposite for me; I’ve played for a very long time and took very few breaks. It’s hard for me to understand, but to my knowledge he’s played a lot without a contract and he’s played on some turbulent lineups where people don’t understand how to play high level CS, or they just haven’t learned and they’ve stagnated.

Our team, our coach, myself, and Wolffe, we’ve all played in high level tier two to tier one, and we know how to improve as a team and not just come in and repeat the same things or rip strats and not understand why we’re doing them. We’re playing with design and trying to play a more high level game to break out of the North American box.

You mention yourself playing for 10 years, no breaks. How do you feel about your status and your career right?

I took a break when CS2 came out. I got a couple months in, it was very needed. I come back, I play as a support player, and it’s not quite what I’m used to, and in hindsight I believe it was a mistake. Being able to play as the entry now with Wes, I see the game very clearly. A lot of these teams we’re playing make me realize they’re not better than me at all, it’s a matter of time for me to get there and put in the work.