Gaming
Gaming
Eternal Envy on the new Team Secret
The Shanghai Major champion discusses the run in to Manila and his formidable new roster.
Not a chance – Team Secret stormed their way through Shanghai, convincingly defeating Team Liquid three games to one in the final match and firmly establishing themselves as the top side in the world. Eternal Envy told Red Bull eSports in an interview this week that a large part of their success in Shanghai came down to their approach to the early game: “Having Theeban [1437] as the coach helped – he came from Digital Chaos and their previous side was only good in the early game so he taught us how to approach it. I can’t go into detail but through adjusting that everything fitted together.”
Whilst some fans were surprised that Secret would change up their squad right after winning a Major, EE explained that there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. “People might think otherwise when you win the tournaments but there are problems whether you win or not. We don’t want to be delusional and trick ourselves into believing that those problems do not exist even though they clearly existed for multiple tournaments in a row, for a few months in a row, and just because we turned it around at Shanghai doesn’t mean those problems are suddenly gone. We won the tournament not because these issues were addressed but more because we were just good enough to play around them and that’s not something that will always occur.”
They were definitely communication problems but communication problems stem from game sense issues in the first place
When teams make unexpected roster changes, problems with the team’s communication is often cited as the major reason but such issues can be a result of conflicting styles of play: “They were definitely communication problems but communication problems stem from game sense issues in the first place. If the knowledge was understood then I feel like those players would be communicating the correct ideas anyway – so yes it is a communication issue but it comes from a lack of knowledge generally and we needed more knowledge in those areas and it was hard to make up for it.”
Arteezy and Eternal Envy are good friends and have played together back in 2013 on Kaipi, but playing with Universe will be a new experience: “I talk to Arteezy a lot so I know him very well as a player and I watch him as a carry – we look at each other the most I think. Whereas Universe is kind of new so we’re still getting adjusted to each other. I’m talking to him a lot about how to play, every day after pubs I’ll message him, but it’s great because he learns very fast and you feel like he just wants to improve. There’s nothing negative about trying to help someone on your team, but often constructive criticism can be taken as personally negative, and that’s something that we have actually removed with these two players – we’re just improving and it feels very comfortable.”
Whilst there have been some suggestions that having two players used to playing one position might cause issues for the new Team Secret, Jacky told us this really isn’t the case: “I disagree heavily with that statement. Essentially a team has to work. If someone doesn’t make space for you and he requires space himself then you’ll make space for that guy and he might start owning. I think Arteezy is one of those players who will create a path for the rest of your team and so am I. We play very risky – we push out the waves and go the extra wave and this gives the team vision, forces teleports and creates space and pressure whilst we’re farming. We’ve already played some scrims together and I felt like it was much easier because we understand each other. I don’t have this issue where me and my other core both teleport to the same lane and we’re like ‘what the hell, why are you here?’”
Eternal Envy and Team Secret will next be competing at ESL One Manila, before starting their preparations for the Manila Major at the end of May. They’ll be hoping to become the first side to win back-to-back Majors, before setting their sights on the biggest prize of all: The International 2016.
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