NRG Chet talks about the loss to Leviatan “We kind of got exploited”
At the VCT Americas 2024 Superweek Day 2, NRG took on Leviatan. In a best-of-three series, Leviatan completely dominated the NA Superteam conceeding only eight rounds on the two maps.
Following the game, Strafe sat down with the Head Coach Chet "Chet" Singh to talk about the unexpected outcome and the way the game went.
[Interviewer]: How are you?
[Chet]: Yeah, I'm good.
[Interviewer]: Sorry about the loss. This was an unexpected outcome for us, I do think it was for you as well. What do you think went wrong?
[Chet]: Honestly, without being able to watch the game back, I'm not really sure. It just kind of felt like they knew everything. So, I mean, I don't know, I need to watch the game.
[Interviewer]: It felt like they knew everything, Especially when NRG decided to push their own smoke, Leviatan perfectly read and punished it. What was your reaction like?
[Chet]: Well, it sucks because I called the round before that we won. And then we did [the smoke mid push], I did that call as well. Like, it is a pretty good strats that we run in practice.
So that was the first time it just got full, like, they're just, I don't know if they expected it or whatever or if they just were having the plan at the start kind of hard to tell, but I mean, we didn't get too fazed by, it was still like midway in the half, so I don't know. That sucks when you get cleaned like that.
[Interviewer]: This is just your first loss, you hadn’t even lost a map yet, but in all three games, you had trouble closing out pistols, do you think that played a part today?
[Chet]: I mean, yeah, losing pistols suck. I mean, in practice, we're pretty dominant in pistols and I think the first Sunset pistol, probably, we should have converted. I mean, we're at 5v3 and we just didn't close.
I mean, it's not like our pistols themselves are bad. We just aren't closing. Like I think even happened in our last game versus FURIA. We just didn't close some pistols. I mean, we just have to get better at closing?
[Interviewer]: What are your thoughts about your next opponent MIBR?
[Chet]: I mean, we played them in the past before, last season, and they beat us. I mean, it's a different lineup, I think now, but I mean, I know they have structure and they have good coaches.
So, I mean, we just have to be better than where we were today. I think we had a really bad day today and we kind of got exploited.
So maybe it kind of helped us today to lose, to prepare for the next game. So maybe this loss is kind of like a blessing in disguise.
[Interviewer]: What would the discussion be like today? Would it be more about your performance or would it revolve more around MIBR?
[Chet]: I think we're just, we're just going to focus on what went wrong on our end because I think we weren't playing the best style versus that composition. So I think we just need to figure out how we want to play versus that kind of team.
I mean, MIBR is going to be a completely different team, probably different maps. So we're just gonna, we're just gonna, we're gonna look at them a little bit, but I don't think it's going to be our main focus. Just need to be better ourselves, I think first.
In their game against MIBR, NRG dominated thier opponents in a one-sided affair.
[Interviewer]: Leviatan has been on a roll in the last couple of weeks? What do you think they have been doing differently to take down strong opponents such as yourselves and Sentinels with relative ease?
[Chet]: The only thing I noticed is on their defense, they kind of just did like a pack mentality. Like they had like two or three guys just clearing one spot together, even if it wasn't always the correct decision, at least they did it.
So, I mean, I think it probably boosts their confidence when they peak. Maybe that's what makes them really good on defense.
[Interviewer]: Do you like this map pool? Do you like the current map pool?
[Chet]: The current map pool is definitely probably the worst for the pro circuit so far. I think the Icebox and some other maps even breeze to some extent, don't have a lot of tactical depth and I think like Pearl and Haven even fracture to some degree, had more tactical depth.
Kind of feel like some of these maps are just like you just like to go all in or something and then that just is what it is. So, I mean, I think just some adjustments could probably be made.
Which will be the two maps you’d remove if given a choice. What would be the replacements?
I will probably remove Icebox and Breeze probably, put in like Fracture or Pearl seems better.
[Interviewer]: What do you think about Clove, Would she find their place in the current meta?
[Chet]: I think the agent's all right. It just kind of requires a lot of testing and we can't really expect people, especially during the superweek to want to make that risk unless they have anything to lose.
And a lot of the other agents are just more familiar. You have a lot more reps right now. So there's no reason right now to play the character until there's more free time, which may be week four, week five or playoffs, you see it.
But, it just all comes down to who has a good plan around them, because the smokes are kind of short. So you have to play around that like duration.
[Interviewer]: What kind of VALORANT do you think is better? A structured one similar to DRX or GenG or Sentinels or a more laid back, relaxed, loose one like Paper Rex?
[Chet]: I don't think there's one good approach, but I think you just cater to the players you have. So I mean, some players, they're just better with more structure. So maybe that's why those teams are more structured.
Then there’s teams like Paper Rex, maybe they prefer looser style. So I mean, they have some structure that is not super random, like if you watch them play, it's not like everyone's all over the place, like there's definitely ideas they have that are good, but they play loose like, you know, they're not going to be super annoyed if you like die in a certain spot. So it allows them to be loose.
Yeah, you just play to your player's strengths. Some people are really good at Neon, some people are good at Raze, some people are good at Jett. Sometimes some people have to learn other agents like Omens and Astra and stuff.
This is what it is, you have to just cater to what you have in our case structure is good for us because we have players who like to play in that system and for and same thing they have players who come from like another competitive scene background so that caters to them like in a good way as well.
[Interviewer]: Which game do you prefer coaching in VALORANT or Counter-Strike?
[Chet]: I think Valorant makes the job way too hard where there's no demos available, there's no replays on the horizon. The game inherently has a lot more of variability in it more than Counter-Strike.
So you can't really control the rounds as much as you want to as you get and see us. So, I mean, yeah, definitely for me it is CS.
[Interviewer]: Would you say VALORANT is a tougher game then?
[Chet]: I mean, it's just harder in its different ways like CS is hard in a different way where there's so much structure and everyone kind of knows more mind games, Valorant, you just have to kind of stick with a plan that you like and have protocols to execute it. Well, otherwise you can get rolled.
[Interviewer]: Is there, is there a VALORANT agent? An agent you would play for the rest of for the rest of your life?
[Chet]: Probably Neon. I think that character is sick. Beats a lot of timing. Has a lot of self-sufficient utils, easy for fakes. So, I mean, yeah, Neon is definitely like, I think the agent I use forever.
[Interviewer]: Will we see NRG get a composition with Neon?
[Chet]: Definitely not out of the question. We definitely practice with it so we'll use it when we need to.
[Interviewer]: What do you prefer? Vandal or Phantom?
[Chet]: I like vandal kind of like because AK, you always want to have an A K same mindset. You always want one shot.
[Interviewer]: Favorite skin.
[Chet]: Probably the Prelude to Chaos Vandal. I think that one's pretty good.
[Interviewer]: Favorite Map?
[Chet]: Pearl is my favorite one for sure. I think it just makes a lot of sense and it just has the best tactics I think.
[Interviewer]: Favorite streamer to watch?
[Chet]: I don't really watch many streamers that are my friends. I mean, my friends are like, so and like s0m, Tarik and like FNS. So one of those three.
[Interviewer]: Favorite team to watch
[Chet]: I like watching DRX. I feel like they have good ideas. I like their players to talk to a few of them. The ones that are remaining from the previous lineup seem like good guys. So, yeah, I like watching them.
[Interviewer]: Thank you so much. Good Luck for your next game.
Chet and NRG will next face Evil Geniuses. You can follow the game on YouTube or Twitch. You can also follow the game on Strafe.
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Featured Image Credits: Photo by Colin Young-Wolff