G2 Esports have just qualified for the
VALORANT Masters Santiago after a clear 3-0 victory over
MIBR in the Middle Final of the VCT Americas Kickoff. The Samurai appeared at the post-match press conference feeling that they had taken a major step forward, but without letting themselves get carried away.
With a mix of lucidity and ambition, Head Coach Josh
“JoshRT” Lee talked about the teams that impressed him most during Kickoff and the potential threats in Chile, citing
BBL Esports in particular for their mid-round playmaking ability, as well as Nongshim Redforce, whom he described as “insane” with an explosive approach around Neon/Yoru and more topics.
Questions for Josh "JoshRT" Lee
Which team has caught your attention throughout Kickoff and can pose the biggest threat in Santiago.
Josh "JoshRT" Lee: It's been hard to catch all the games, but I like BBL. They're very much like a playmaker’s type of team. The calling, the mid-round calling, seems really solid. And Nongshim is insane. I think they're Neon/Yoru with Dambi (Lee Hyuk-kyu) running around. That's going to be a challenging match for sure. It just seems like everybody's insane. So I'm excited to match up one by one against them.
How do you reflect on being able to remain that consistent amongst changing metas? And then what's the mindset going into Santiago?
JoshRT: Just keep doing us. Ignore the noise and focus on us. It’s a boring answer, but it’s the only real answer. There’s too much competition to focus on anyone else. I remember looking up how long it took some teams nine internationals to win one, so I know we have what it takes; it’s just a matter of when.
This season, G2 introduced Robert Yip as performance coach. How does he help be able to mediate that?
JoshRT: Robert Yip’s been instrumental helping conversations move along throughout practice when things are hard, especially after a match loss. He takes care of all of us to make sure we are really good performers: diet, exercise, and structuring our day for continuous improvement. Sometimes, when I’ve been coaching the same group for a while, it’s nice to have someone come in and bring back structure I overlooked. He gives individual focus to a lot of the guys. Sometimes the human element is lost, and Robert brings that back and brings the most out of all of us
G2 Esports celebrating their seed 2 Americas at KickOff. Credit: Stefan Wisnoski/Riot Games
Do you feel like refining that structure and then adding in more of a balance with just your everyday life with VALORANT allowed you to think more creatively?
JoshRT: Going into the offseason, I reflected on what we needed from last year and started trusting my own reads of the game more instead of outsourcing it. Now it’s like, I know how I should view the game, so why not print that vision? It’s not just me cooking; everyone adds input in practice. We’re very experimental. Once we figured out what works for us in this meta, we dove into that. And it helps to have the other parts of performance taken care of.
Question for Andrej "babybay" Francisty
How do you keep a good morale and vibes through the tough moments in these games, like when the team is struggling and down by a lot of rounds?
Andrej "babybay" Francisty: “I just understand that if the vibes are down, it ruins your chances of making a comeback or sticking through a whole series. So it’s really important to move on next.
Was that something that was developed because of your time back when you were a pro Overwatch player? Or is that something that you have just always had, even way before then, just through life experiences?
babybay: It’s something I’ve always had because I grew up playing hockey. Shout out to my dad. He put me in sports at an early age, and I knew how important brotherhood and camaraderie is. It’s never over. You could be down by four goals in one period and bring it back. That’s where it started, and then my experience in esports crafted it and honed it. I’ve been on so many teams that it’s at a good spot right now.”
Question for Alexander "jawgemo" Mor
Can you just talk about your progression to this point and then how you reflect on your entire progression across these five weeks?
Alexander "jawgemo" Mor: “It was a little rough starting Kickoff. I was a little sick the first couple of weeks, and in my head about stuff I was doing. I had to watch back my gameplay and old stuff to remember what works in my playstyle. Once we implemented new comps and I got more comfortable, we had new things other teams didn’t have yet, and kind of abused it.
I’m good at abusing what’s not known. When you saw our Split comp, I already knew what to do; no one had seen it before. That was my start of “yo, I’m back. The coaching staff let me be freer and add what I think is correct. Still a work in progress, I haven’t reached full potential yet, but it’s a good stepping stone.”
