reck on his removal from M80: "I didn't reach my potential"

Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore had the oppportunity to catch up with Ethan "reck" Serrano of SportsBetExpert after his team's elimination at DreamHack Atlanta Knockout at the hands of Imperial.

reck commented on his team's form since its creation, their VRS climb, and what they need to do to reach the next level as a team.

The full interview can be found below in video format, along with a transcription underneath. All questions and answers have been slightly edited for length and clarity.

Tough way to end the event against one of the top teams here. Overall, you guys played pretty well in your first LAN event, how are you feeling after that loss against Imperial?

Definitely proud that we played Imperial that close. Honestly, in that M80 match, we had a lot of nerves. I'm excited for what we can show in the future. We proved that we can play decent CS, we can be in the mix and prove ourselves.

The best showing for you was on Dust2, map one against Imperial, ultimately losing it 13-11. The big takeaway from that map is that you had a lot of momentum, bringing the map to overtime, but then you dropped it. Ultimately, a good showing.

Going to Mirage, it was less competitive. Why do you think that happened?

It comes down to the work we put in, Dust2 has been our focus. We obviously practice Mirage, but I think it's more of a scrimmy map, so you have to play faster and sometimes we were out of place.

This marks the conclusion of your first two months with SBE. How do you think your time has been so far?

It's been amazing. The owner came to me and gave the opportunity to me and we've just been trying to make the best of it. We put some cool players together. It's been a really good experience.

Your joining SBE came after you were cut from M80. What can you tell us about what happened there?

The best way I've summed it up is that in M80, I didn't reach my potential. I learned a lot on the team, the guys helped me alot, they're all my boys, still. It was a good experience but I want to prove I can do more.

There's an experience gap between you and some of your teammates, do you think there's a lot of work to be done to bring those guys up to your level?

I think it's about the reps, the more we play and the more we learn, that will bring progression. At the rate we're going, we're looking good. We're talking a lot and fixing mistakes. We're focusing on the right things so we're going in the right direction.

With your team being so new, you had zero VRS points for a while. Was it frustrating for you to start from zero on a team?

I don't think so, just because of how our team is. It's a PUG team, so we knew we were going to have to start from the bottom and build up. The more we play, the better we get.

You are gaining a good amount of VRS points in the Dust2.us Eagle Masters Series, how do you feel your team has done in that event so far?

I don't think we have a lot of consistency right now, so we're taking it match to match. The performances have been good, we're winning the games that we need to win.

Looking towards your playoff match against Take Flyte tonight, how are you feeling about that match?

I believe it was pretty easy last time, we're going to talk and review. We're feeling confident.

Should you win against Take Flyte, you'll take on Voca. That's a strong team, how are you feeling about that potential matchup?

They're really good individuals, so we're going to have to come out shooting.

In round one of this event, you played against Marsborne, that was a one-sided smackdown against you guys. What would be the plan to come back stronger v. them?

We're going to review these matches and try to focus on what's causing issues in our rounds. So far we've been doing that so we just have to keep doing that.

You're one of the few teams in NA without a coach, is that something you're looking for?

Potentially in the future.

You said earlier that you've been struggling with getting invites due to not having VRS points, if you win against Take Flyte you'll gain 130 points.

You also gained some points here, do you think the team is going to hit their stride once you start gettting invites to events like ESL Challenger League?

Definitely, that's just a higher league, so we'll get more reps. The way it's looking now, I think we can beat any team if we play really well. CS2 is all about teamwork.