We took time to sit down with Canadian, Necrox and Geo from the #1 seeded team in North America, Evil Geniuses. We asked them questions about preparation and mindset leading up to the Pro League Season 8 Finals.
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Question: Your team has recently made some significant roster changes, including a new player (Geo) and a new coach (Gotcha). Can you tell us how each of these additions has affected the team?**
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Necrox:** We needed a coach with really good work ethic, this was something that was very important when I was brought back to be a player. Gotcha showed us his portfolio and it displayed a lot of extensive work for previous teams that he has coached in the past. I think as of right now, in terms of strats, we’re at the best point we’ve ever been, in regards to how much we can really do. In the past, we had one strat for each map on each side. Now with Gotcha, we’ve really expanded on our pool of strats and what we’re able to do on each map. **
Canadian:** As far as picking up Geo went, we felt that we were missing something specific, especially in regards to our attacks; micromanagement and execution being places were we could improve. A core piece of that attack is a player who excels on an execute heavy operator like Glaz or Ying. Also a hybrid on defense and a good anchor. This is something we felt that needed to be added to the table, as we wanted to make a drastic change to take things to the next level and we felt like Geo really fit that spot. **
Geo:** This is always where I saw myself when I came over to PC from Xbox, so when I got the opportunity I immediately took it.
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Question: How are you preparing for the finals in Rio? Are you boot camping? What does the boot camp process look like for you?**
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Yung:** Yes, we are boot camping in Toronto; due to Geo’s visa delays. At boot camp, we usually scrim every day, sometimes twice a day when possible. Gotcha prepares strats, gets scouting reports on teams that we could potentially match up with in the bracket, etc, and then we keep those matchups and maps in mind when we scrim and prepare for the finals.
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Are you focusing most of your time on the match against Fnatic, or are you also planning for the semifinals?**
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Yung:** Most of our preparation is for Fnatic, with some consideration for G2 and other teams, but we have to focus on Fnatic first of course.
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How do you plan against G2, a team that often brings something different to the table at every event they attend?**
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Canadian:** Most of that is just adapting mid-game, keeping in mind their general style. At the end of the day there is still a G2 style that is noticeable in all of the rounds they play. Regardless of if it’s a new strat or not, they do have their signature style. So it’s not so much heavily coutnerstratting what they have shown, but general preparation of how we think they play and how we plan to play against it.
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You ended the season first seed, but it wasn’t the case for a large part of the season. What do you think was one of struggles for you this season in getting to that place, and what were some of the changes that you made to help push you to the top of the NA chart?**
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Necrox:** For one, and I think this is the biggest thing: we didn’t play the season like it was a best of one. It took of time transitioning from a best of three to a best of one format. We played all the maps, we solidified all of our strats, instead of perfecting the 1-2 maps that we would be playing every week. Therefore, the teams playing against us would counterstrat against us, but we weren’t counterstratting against them. **
Canadian:** Our preparation wasn’t focused enough for what a Bo1 requires. It requires a very focused, one match at a time approach, and in the second season we really worked on focusing on these single strats and specific maps against teams, so that really helped us. **
Necrox:** That, and picking up Geo and Gotcha helped a lot too!
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You went to Sao Paulo last year, are you excited to be returning to Brazil? Anything you missed last year that you want to do this year (besides bring home the trophy)?**
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Canadian:** The Brazilian crowds were crazy with only 1,000 people…. It’s crazy to think about how crazy the crowd will be with an entire Olympic stadium full of people. We’re excited to play in a huge venue this time. It was great last year and this year is going to be even bigger, so we’re excited.
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Which teams have you identified as teams to look out for at this event? Is your big focus G2?**
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Canadian:** G2 and FaZe. FaZe has looked really good this season. We’ve never struggled with a team other than G2 so obviously they’re our main focus when looking at our bracket outside of Fnatic. FaZe has been playing well this Season and they’ll be playing at home too so that is an advantage.
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If you win your quarter and semi final match, who would you like to meet in the grand finals, and why?**
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Necrox:** Rogue, there’s a natural rivalry there. We’ve both consistently been the top two teams in NA, and it would be interesting to have an all-NA Finals. **
Geo:** Mockit, I think they’ve really stepped up their game a lot with their new pickups and are looking great right now. **
Nvk:** FaZe, we’ve always played them in semifinals, so it would be good to finally meet them in a final match on their home turf!
Thanks to Evil Geniuses for taking the time to sit down with us and answer our questions. Make sure to follow Canadian, Necrox, Geo, nvK, and Yung on social media, and for the latest updates on everything R6 esports, follow us on Twitter.
