ENVY Demon1: "This is my home. I'm here as a permanent player, not as substitute."

After Envy’s Kickoff elimination against Evil Geniuses, Demon1, Eggster, and Poppin break down the rushed prep, stage experience, and what changes they’re planning for Stage 1.

Demon1 joins ENVY in VCT Americas to replace inspire. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

ENVY P0PPIN: “We just play the same way that we have played before. We are a team that is pretty easy to integrate into because we don't do many complicated things”

ENVY’s Americas Kickoff run came to an end with a 0-2 loss to Evil Geniuses in the Lower bracket, and the team sat down right after for a short media press conference. With Max "Demon1" Mazanov, Evan "Eggsterr" Grady, and Matteo "P0PPIN" Weber, the trio addressed the emergency integration, the lack of practice time, their first stage experience, and what fans can expect heading into Stage 1.

Questions for Max "Demon1" Mazanov

Going back from this point last year up until now, you are now at your fourth team. How has this entire integration been like so far, with I believe a few days or maybe one day to spare?

Demon1: "Obviously for Cloud9, we had about five days of practice, so we had more scrims, but for this match, we had four hours of practice, and we made the best of it. We won over a couple of maps; that was our first time playing Pearl together, so that was basically our first scrim on Pearl. Honestly, pretty good.

The boys kept their heads in the game, and I kept on saying we can win this still. We brought it back; could've won that. But first, Corrode, honestly, I think we played decently for how we played in the scrim yesterday. dgzin (Douglas Silva) and supamen (Phat Le) had insane games, props to them, they played really well, and then it was just them that beat us as a team. But with four hours of practice, what can you do, you know.

Today we watched you in another role with Controllers especially. So how do you feel about this role, especially in this match?

Demon1: I feel comfortable, I feel good, and I've played Smokes before. You can put me on any character; I'll do my best."

Questions for Evan "Eggsterr" Grady

What has the event been like for you guys to welcome Demon1 into the team? And how have you been trying to integrate him?

Eggster: "It was like a weird situation. It’s very not normal, but we were hanging out yesterday, scrimming and playing some ping pong. Max is not that good at ping pong, unfortunately. The vibes are definitely good, but obviously the low practice and losing is not great.

Wrapping up your first tournament in VCT, how are you guys feeling with being on the stage, and what are your plans for how you guys are going to go into Stage 1?

Eggster: Feeling pretty good. It's a lot of experience. It's a lot thrown at us at once. I still feel like not a hundred percent on stage. I don't know what I need to change to get that to a hundred percent level, but it's definitely gotten a lot better for me."

P0PPIN: "Yeah, I agree with Eggster. It's a lot of new experiences, and eventually we're going to get to that point where we've been here so many times that we're just every single time able to dominate. So hopefully that comes pretty soon. Honestly, for me, I don't feel like that's different, whether it's on stage, whether it's in the other arena, the Howling Abyss, I'm just fully locked in on my screen. So it's less of an environment that changes for me."

POPPIN and demon1 just before the game against EG. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

Questions for Matteo "P0PPIN" Weber

How are you handling the team adjustment, working with new personalities and role changes?

Poppin: "We just play the same way that we have played before. We are a team that is pretty easy to integrate into because we don't do many complicated things. It's very simple, very straightforward, and I think anyone could basically just join our team and kind of fit the playstyle that we have.

Since the start of VCT season, what aspects of the game has the team improved the most, and what gives you confidence for the next split?

Poppin: We are going to make a lot of changes, and I'm already extremely confident in these changes that are going to occur because we're going to make a couple of changes that will just make everybody feel more comfortable. Everyone plays better on our team. And I think that is what is going to truly make us a great team in the next split.

How long are we going to be able to see Demon1 on Envy, if you are able to talk about it?

POPPIN: Forever. We’ve been about to win for years straight. Four in a row Champions."

Demon1: "This is my home. I'm here as a permanent player, not a substitute."