[Exclusive] "I don't really have competition." NRG Demon1 is competing with himself in VCT Americas 2024

VCT Americas Kickoff is just around the corner, and Riot Games organized a pre-season media day, inviting some of the most noteworthy names in the industry. Strafe Esports received the opportunity to conduct an exclusive interview with new NRG members Ethan "Ethan" Arnold and Max "Demon1" Mazanov.

Fragments of a Championship

After pulling off a phenomenal underdog run in the previous year's VALORANT Champions and clinching the trophy, the members of EG were essentially stuck in "contract hell." Almost all of the other players have jumped ship to other squads. And Ethan and Demon1 did the same, making their way to NRG.

"I don't really have competition. It's just myself in the competition, trying to outdo myself from last year."
-Demon1

[Interviewer] Happy New Year, 2024! What are your expectations from you and your team heading into this new season?

[Ethan] Yeah, definitely high expectations. I think it's warranted. We have a lot of winners on our team. I think everyone at their peak is very good. The main thing right now is getting everyone to be at their peak.

[Demon1] Expectations for myself, just definitely want to be the best again. Show the world that I'm still capable of doing what I did last year and do it again. And as a team, definitely winning a couple of titles or whatever they call them, like tournaments and stuff.

[Interviewer] Riot has announced a change in format for this new season. What are your thoughts on this new format and also the scheduling around this new format?

[Ethan] A lot less games. I don't like it personally. I'd rather play a lot more games. I think it's better for viewership.

For us as a team, it just means that we have to come out of the gate swinging right away. You don't really get too many chances to warm up. The qualifiers are double elims. I guess you get one game to warm up if you lose. But you definitely don't get too many chances.

[Demon1] I really have not looked at it. I'm just like, the only thing I know is that I play in February, such things. Everything else, I'm just like, I just play the game. I haven't really looked at the format.

The Dynamic Duo

Even though the duo is joining NRG together, they could not be more different in ideologies and philosophy. With Ethan joining as an IGL, and Demon1 experiencing Ethan's calling for the first time, we asked both players their thoughts on joining this new team.

[Interviewer to Ethan] You've just moved into an IGL role coming into NRG. How do you feel being an IGL? How do you think you've adapted from your old playstyle to being an IGL now?

[Ethan] It's pretty similar to what I did before. I was always right under the IGL helping them call. It's kind of a step up from what I've always done.

It's difficult getting used to it. Luckily, I have a good team around me to help me out. It's definitely good if you have a lot of good players around you.

As an IGL, it makes the job easier for sure.

[Interviewer to Ethan] Last season, you were playing under Boostio. He was the IGL at EG. This time, it's your turn to be the IGL. It's your turn to lead the team. How do you think your philosophy is different from his? How does your playstyle differ or even evolve from his?

[Ethan] I'm not sure. I wasn't in his head, really. As a player with him, he was very loose.

It also helped that we were all on the same page on EG. Basically, all the time. There were some moments in some games where before he even made a call, everyone knew what to do. We've just seen it so many times. There were certain ult plays and as soon as we saw it on the board, we knew what the call was going to be. That helps a lot.

It also takes a lot of time, too. It didn't start off like that. I think it's going to take a little bit of time to work out all the kinks.

Like I said before, it also helps a lot when the team is really good and everyone is good individually. It's not like you're starting completely fresh.

[Interviewer to Demon1] Moving from EG to NRG, even though you have former teammate Ethan with you, how do you think the new team environment has affected your playstyle, your mentality and the new team dynamic? How does it feel?

[Demon1] It feels good. We're all really good together. I'm not really affected by anything. I get along with everyone. We work super well together. We're working as a team. We're improving every day. We're practicing. So, I feel really good with the team.

[Interviewer to Demon 1] You say everything is fine for you in the new team. So, will this cause a change in your playstyle? Or will your playstyle remain generally the same as what you did last year?

[Demon1] I feel like I'm playing about the same in terms of how I play. I'm not really being too aggressive in terms of being a teammate. But I'll say about the same.

"It's my job, my role."

[Interviewer to Demon1] With the new team, new environment, and new coach, what do you think your chances are that you'll still be able to keep your hands on that championship trophy?

[Demon1] Really good, I feel like. We're definitely one of the better teams up there. So, we’ve just got to go through the year and get there and win it all.

[Interviewer to Demon1] After EG won the Championship last year, many considered you to be the best player of 2023. But now, as it stands, other players like TenZ or Aspas are showing off some good form. Do you think you'll still be able to hold on to the title against them?

[Demon1] I would say, I don't really have competition. It's just myself in the competition, trying to outdo myself from last year, I would say.

We also managed to get Ethan's thoughts on the other teams in their group for Kickoff. Namely, Furia, MIBR and Cloud9.

[Interviewer to Ethan] You're going to face FURIA in your first match in the coming tournament. What are your expectations and predictions for that particular matchup against FURIA?

[Ethan] It's hard to say versus teams you've never seen play.

It'd be much easier if it was the end of last year. Let's say we were playing a team that has played three events. It'd be much easier to gauge how you think it would go.

These games, you have no info on the other team at all. You only have to worry about your own team, which is a good thing. As long as you make sure your team is the best you can be, then I'm sure we'll turn out fine.

[Interviewer to Ethan] What are your thoughts on the other teams in the group, namely Cloud9 and MIBR?

[Ethan] Cloud9 played a little bit in the Ludwig Tournament. They didn't show too much promise, but like all these other teams, we're all just practicing every day. You can only get better.

We'll see how it goes.

I don't worry about the other teams too much.

Going in-depth on the State of the Game

An IGL's insights into these changes really offer a different perspective on things. Especially with quite a few changes being introduced just before the start of the season. With Ethan having to adapt his calling style around his team, and Demon1 now playing under his former teammate, we asked both players to share their thoughts about the state of the game.

[Interviewer] The current map pool as it stands, Haven and Perl, have been moved out. What are your thoughts on the current pool that is in the game right now? Has it affected your map picks in any way? Has it affected strategies in any way?

[Ethan] Breeze hasn't been played for a pretty long time. Breeze coming back took a little bit of a learning curve. But Icebox, I don't think the changes they made to Icebox really did anything. It's kind of the same map as always.

Personally, I was disappointed with the map pool. I think the other one with Perl and Haven showed a lot more strategic potential.

For me, personally, we're a lot more fun to watch. Seeing our team adapt to Perl and Haven being a 3-bomb play map, even though it never changed. I still think it's really fun to watch and play.

I get what they're trying to do, new maps and stuff like that. That's my opinion on it.

[Demon1] It doesn't really affect my playstyle and the map picks. So, obviously it's a new team, you know. Maps are gonna be different than what I played from last year compared to this year.

So, just like, different team, different map.

[Interviewer to Demon1] Some of the maps have also seen changes like Lotus and Icebox. What are your thoughts on these changes?

[Demon1] Lotus feels pretty good. I like the A changes and stuff. C as well is not bad.

And Icebox, I don't know why they brought the map back unchanged. Even though they changed it, the only thing people wanted changed was the A bombsite and they didn't do anything. So, you can just still go A 12 rounds in a row as an attacker and win every single round, which is brain dead.

[Interviewer] Certain agents have received nerfs such as Killjoy and Skye while Cypher got a buff. Do you think these changes in agents will influence a change in the meta if it even exists?

[Ethan] The Killjoy one, I haven't seen a scenario where it actually changed how the agent is played. I think they just have to be a little more specific with it maybe. But I think all the turrets they were using before still work. Nothing huge with that.

For Skye, you kind of just have to be more aware, or I guess more conscious of how you use their flashes. Just because you get only two, they don't recharge. But no, I think the agent plays exactly the same as it did before. I don't think there's anything too crazy that was changed. But we'll see.  Some people might see more of an issue with it than I do. Maybe they need three Skye flashes for their team to work, I'm not sure. We'll see how it goes.

[Demon1] I'm sure it will affect other players and other teams. But I feel like our team, we are versatile. So, we can play other characters and stuff. So, I would say it doesn't really affect us too much.

[Interviewer to Demon1] Do you think there is going to be any change in the meta at all from last year? Or do you think it's going to remain the same?

[Demon1] I think it's going to remain basically the same. Even though there's like changes, there's not really any major changes to change everything. Because like, obviously, you still play the same game.

They added the one gun, changed the map. And like, there are some agents, but they're still like the same exact agents.

"I feel like the meta is going to be basically the same."

Finally before parting ways, we asked Ethan if he faced any pressure to hold on to the Champions trophy that he won with his previous team.

[Interviewer] Coming off of a Championship win with the old EG squad, do you and Demon1 still feel the pressure to continue that kind of form this year as well?

[Ethan] Yeah, I think we all have expectations. The whole entire team basically blew up. We're all sprinkled around the scene right now for NA.

So, it's kind of hard having expectations to win when it's only one or two players in a whole team. If it was all five of us together, then yeah, the expectation would still be to win the next Champions. It's different now with me and Demon1 being two people that transferred instead of just one.

Maybe you get a little more expectations, I guess. I don't really know how to explain it. I think with this team as a whole, regardless of me and Demon1, definitely our goal is to win for sure.

[Interviewer] Alright, that's all from me. Thank you for your time and I hope you have a good day.

Follow the VCT 2024 action on Strafe.

For more information on the VCT Americas Kickoff, check out Strafe Esports' piece on the Format, Schedule, Teams and more. If one of the other Kickoffs catches your fancy, we also have previews for EMEA, Pacific, and China.

As an additional bonus, you can catch the VOD for the interview on our new YouTube channel. Also, check out our tier list for the 33 partnered teams (VCT China notwithstanding) heading into 2024's season.

Featured Image Source: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

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