“I think that we were slacking a little bit in the first couple weeks,” FNS on getting NRG back on track in VCT Americas

NRG has been on a roll at the right time as VCT Americas is reaching its regular season conclusion. With the playoffs on the horizon, Pujan "FNS" Mehta and his crew have gone from absolute meltdown to a winning streak that sees them sitting pretty in the standings.

After their third consecutive series win, a victory over FURIA in Week 6, esports.gg spoke with the acclaimed NRG IGL. He provided us with details on the team's effort during the match and how they were able to right the ship.

"The match started on Bind and it was as attacker-sided as we all know and love it to be. It's still pretty new in this VCT season after it returned with a few changes. So, can you give any insight into the team's offensive game plan? What were you looking to exploit against FURIA's defense?"

FNS: "Just really whatever their open holes were. We tried Long B and that was a little difficult. They were playing for that a lot. When we tried to hit B a couple times, because they had so many players consistently fighting Long B and getting rid of our util, we just realized that A was free. Because they would give up showers eventually.

"And they would always give up Short A, they would literally never play for it. Unless they had an Op there. We realized very quickly into the game that Short A was a massive hole in their game. We were able to take the A site pretty easily and get the bomb down since we had Sage Wall and Harbor Cove. So, we just consistently abused that until we won."

"When it comes to your performance on Bind, you ended it with 12 kills and 20 deaths. It's not the kills and deaths I want to necessarily focus on. I've just always been curious. When you do go down in a round as the IGL, what happens to the calling? Do you continue making the calls from a spectator standpoint or do you let the other guys do their thing?"

FNS: "That's funny, because I did mention that when I died one round. My team took the whole B site. I just started mid-rounding and at the end of the round I was like, 'Whoa, I feel like ANGE1. Every time I'm dead I can just call.'

"It's a lot easier to call when you're dead, for sure, because I see everyone's screen. I know exactly what's happening. I know the other team's retake and what it's going to look like. So I'm just comming for everybody the best that I can."

"Well, Bind and Haven were super close. At times, it really felt like it was NRG versus just dgzin. What kind of impact did you feel from him and were any adjustments made to play around him?"

FNS: "I mean, he is just hyper-aggressive and he has a really, really quick shot. So, obviously we knew that going in, but it's hard to stop. No matter what you do sometimes, even if you do the correct setup, it's really, really difficult to stop a player like that when he is going. We did the best that we could to try to make it difficult for him, and for the rest of the team.

"We just tried to stay away from him as much as possible on Haven, since he was having such a good game. I think Haven could have gone our way very easily had we just run the setups correctly or been in slightly different positions, because almost always we knew where they were going and we had a plan for it. We just didn't execute correctly on that map."

"The margin was much larger when Pearl ended. We saw that small composition change with Jett on board. Do you feel like that tweak was a big factor in the outcome? Or what else simply went right on that third map?"

FNS: "They had a tell that we were able to abuse on our attack side, where we were able to accumulate a lot of rounds. It could have been more rounds, honestly. I think if Victor won that 1v1 versus mwzera, it could have been 9:3 or 10:2. We were very, very comfortable. Especially when we won the pistol round.

"I think we kind of knew that we were in a good spot, because I think we started 4:0. That was really good. In general we just had a good overall game plan going on the attack side. Then going to defense, again, we just had a good read. We lost the pistol, but won the first gun round. We were able to make it so they didn't get too much momentum going."

"Now I'd like to follow up with you on a few things I asked some of your teammates. To get your perspective after the fact. In Week 1, I asked Chet what improvement from that loss he'd like to see. His answer was better adaptability in the mid-round. How do you feel that has been for NRG in the recent victories?"

FNS: "It's been a lot better, because I think we're more aggressive when it comes to gaining information, and letting me make the most efficient and high percentage call. I think that was something that was lacking early on. We needed to kind of get our feet wet a little bit and I think people were a little too scared to die early on.

"Now, that's not the case. We have more set game plans and people are able to play their game. That just leads to more confidence, which leads to more map-wide information for us. And that's good for me, because then I'm able to make a call that actually makes sense."

"Then I spoke with s0m, who called himself a 'pillar for NRG,' meaning that no matter what the roles may be, he remains on a Controller and does that job to the best of his abilities. He also gave a lot of credit to the entire team for setting him up to be successful. Can you comment on that and how vital he has been to the team's resurgence in VCT Americas?"

FNS: "He's been massive in terms of our overall vibes, as you guys can clearly see through videos of us. But in general, I just think he has a good mind for the game and he plays for the team. Honestly, more than I would like him to. He's a very selfless player and sometimes it gets him killed. Sometimes, he tries to do too much to help us.

"What I've been trying to work on with him is basically just him playing his own game a lot and not worrying so much about us. Even if it's having to throw smokes and stuff, just play your game, because his shot is really strong. His game IQ is very high, so he has a lot of good intuition plays. He just chooses not to make them, because he doesn't want throw away his life. So, I think that he was a perfect addition for us, because he has a lot of room to grow."

"And lastly, ardiis is never afraid to speak his mind. When it comes to roles, he said he'll do whatever you and Chet think is best. He simply said things weren't looking good after the Cloud9 loss. And the main issue was that you just weren't winning. Obviously, that last part has changed. So, with three wins in a row now, tell me what went into getting back on track. What things did NRG focus on the most to stay alive in the standings?"

FNS: "The first thing was definitely just us going back to our roles that made the most sense comfort-wise. Comfortability was definitely a factor that was hindering us a little bit. So, we just went back to ardiis as the main Duelist, et cetera. Unless he's playing Sage on Bind or something.

"We just went back to what worked for us in the past. If we do want to experiment in the future, we will, and we have already. It's one of those things where we have it in our back pocket if we need to use it, but it just wasn't the right time. We didn't have enough time dry running and playing with those newer comps to be able to adapt.

"So, yeah, I think the massive thing for us was definitely comfortability. Making sure people went on the right Agents or the Agents they're comfortable on. And then the second thing was just us putting more time into efficient practice and making sure that we have a really, really set game plan going into every game. At least between me and Chet, because I think that we were slacking a little bit in the first couple weeks. I just told him exactly what I need from him and it's been working out."

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