ENVY came close to pulling off a stunning upset... before letting Cloud9 escape at the end of a totally nail-biting series. Following the match, Evan
"Eggsterr" Grady gave an interview to
Sheep Esports and spoke about the game. Beyond the score, the Duelist also discussed his difficult adjustment to Tier 1 in
VCT Americas, the pressure that makes him fight against himself, and the integration of Angelo
"Keznit" Mori and
Daniel "Rossy" Abedrabbo into a team that remains true to its aggressive identity.
How are you feeling after tonight's match against Cloud9, and were you expecting it to be that close on every map today?
Eggster: "No Honestly, I was very confident coming into this game. Usually, we struggle on map one, but after our last match, I finally felt like I understood it. I thought we were going to come in and win. We played really well early on, and then I don’t know what happened. Being up 11–5 and letting it slip was disappointing. The series was around an hour and a half, which is crazy.
Coming into Breeze, how do you manage to keep the energy in the team to be able to make that insane comeback at 1-1?
Eggster: We knew we fumbled map one. We told each other: "we’re going to win", we just have to play our game simply. There were a lot of tech issues again, which threw off the energy. It was low effort in the sense that we kept it simple. I didn’t play my best, but the game plan was straightforward: on defense, we sat back, and on attack, we spammed a lot of rushes.
What was the real turning point, in your opinion? Was it the moment that cost you the map in overtime when it felt like you were trading rounds back and forth?
Eggster: I don’t remember exactly. I know there were two overtime rounds where I had an sniper in 2v1, and I died. I’m not sure if that was near the end or in the middle, but those AWP rounds were rough. The sniper felt good early, but after not using it for most of the attack half and then going through a bunch of overtime rounds, it was hard to pick it back up and be sharp again.
Now you’ve played your first official matches and won matches in VCT America. What would you say today about the biggest difference from Tier 2 to Tier 1?
Eggster: It’s still hard to say because I’m changing a lot of things, and I’m not feeling like myself yet. Right now, it feels chaotic. I feel like I’m getting owned, but it’s more like I’m owning myself. I’m letting free kills slip through my hands. I don’t know if it’s pressure, nerves, or something else, but I’m having a hard time in Tier 1.
We also talked about how you wanted to play against your ranked duo partners. What’s it like to see them across from you on stage?
Eggster: It’s a bit sad because OXY (Francis Hoang) wasn’t there today for obvious reasons. But seeing guys like Xeppaa (Erick Bach), Zellsis (Jordan Montemurro), and even Demon1 (Max Mazanov) on stage is crazy. Outside the game, it’s a fun atmosphere. In the server, I’m too locked in to think about who’s in what role.
Keznit and Eggsterr, the Duelist duo. Credit: Christian Betancourt/Riot Games
Envy has this reputation of being a super aggressive, suffocating team. Today, what part of that style got punished the most?
Eggster: We take a lot of mid-round risks. On Pearl, they punished our over-aggressive rotations really hard, with all the fake taps and doubling back. Any time we tried to take mid-round aggression, there was someone deep holding the space, so it was hard to get good reads. They played very well against us, but I still think we should have won the game.
When the opponent starts reading you, what’s the first instinct that helps you get back into the game?
Eggster: I keep telling myself to slow down and breathe and that I can kill them when they peek. But it hasn’t been coming through in these games yet.
After the first matches, what’s the most visible difference between Ascension Envy and today’s Envy on the server?
Eggster: I think we’re still pretty similar. Keznit (Angelo Mori) is popping off the way canezerra (Alex Banyasz) used to. The biggest difference is more mid-rounding and more talking from Rossy (Daniel Abedrabbo). Ion (Ayan Rastogi) was basically quiet, so that’s a noticeable change.
You recently recruited Keznit and Rossy. How did their integration go, especially with you and Keznit as the double duelist combo?
Eggster: In matches, it’s been rough because I feel like I’m letting Keznit down. In scrims, we play really well together, and the results are good, but in officials, I’m having really bad games, and it’s hard to keep up. Sometimes I even flash him, and it feels awful when I’m already underperforming, and he’s doing everything. Once I get my nerves under control, I think we’ll be a really good team.
You’ve been used to balancing streaming and competing. How do you manage fatigue and stay sharp without falling into slumps?
Eggster: It’s hard, but my schedule is manageable. I don’t push myself too hard in ranked lately. I save my maximum effort for scrims, because I can’t give max effort 12 hours a day. Outside the game, I spend time unplugged—no phone, no distractions, just sitting, stretching, and unwinding. That helps a lot."
