We’re heading into our first round of playoffs, and in between practices I managed to snag cranberry, the leader of ESEA Open division’s top-spot holder Immortal 6, for a Q & A session. He was in the middle of spending time with his girlfriend, but kindly took a few minutes out for me. He assured me they were just goofing off in an RPG anyway, but I think he was a bit eager to get back to it by the end. He did give me some great insights while we talked about their ambitions, attitudes, and this season’s ups and downs.
Read on for more Words from the Top!
Immortal 6
SolidMetalSnake – Medic
Cranberry – Demoman
R1CKY – Soldier
Huey – Soldier
Spadez - Scout/Soldier
emperor – Scout
beat - Scout
Could you start by telling me a little about your team?
Sure; our core players have been around for a little over 2 seasons now, myself, Huey and Beat. We picked up R1CKY about half way through the season as his team kinda fell apart. We did fairly well for our first season of ESEA together, we had a bumpy start but slowly got on our feet and finished strong at 10-6 // 12-8 including playoffs. We added on Spadez this season and got Snake back on as a starter, since last season his work schedule kinda conflicted we put him on back up. We came out strong this season with a fairly easy schedule but through the season we have played the top teams in the Open division and have shown we have what it takes to compete at the top of Open. I believe if we keep playing and practicing the way we have been, we will do fairly decent in IM. We tend to scrim IM teams now to keep us up to par and we have been pretty successful thus far.
Two seasons sounds like a really short time. What factors do you think contributed to your rise to the #1 spot in your division so quickly?
We take our practices pretty serious but as you saw, we do like to have fun. I think one of the reasons we do so well is we all get along. Sure, we have some bad moments and like most teams we yell at each other *cough* snake *cough* but at the end of the day we enjoy playing together. We all have our strengths and our weaknesses but we do what we can as a team to work together and help each other to be successful as a whole.
Could you define some of those strengths and weaknesses, and how you guys deal with and rise above your issues as a team?
Well as EVERYBODY in this community knows, I do have a huge issue with over extending. I know it just as well as everybody else does and that's probably our biggest weakness. I think in scrims I just like to go big and laugh but when match time comes around I do keep myself under control. I get yelled at a lot, especially by Spadez but it does really help me play more passively so I don't really mind. Our biggest strengths have to be our ability to off class when needed. We have 2 great snipers, Spadez and Beat and if one of them is off we can always rely on the other. Considering a lot of teams don't run pyro so most people don't know how to react to it, it's always good to have Huey pyro. It's fairly efficient. Spadez, the #1 heavy...lol. We just really know how to adjust to anything that comes our way. I have to say that is by far our biggest strength.
So a supportive team that communicates and an adaptable mind-set both seem to have helped you guys…you also mentioned how well you get along. Did you guys notice that chemistry first off--both with your core group and with the newer players--or did you decide on teammates based on other factors while the chemistry developed over the last couple of seasons?
The chemistry was instantly there, I was picked up back when we were called "The Pharmacy" and basically came in and took over. I was just kinda used to running things; finding scrims, setting up practices, scheduling matches etc. There were a few players who left because they didn't approve of it. I don't blame them, I would be kinda upset myself but I just wanted to get the team on the right track. Huey and Beat stuck around and we got along perfectly. I brought in Snake because he actually played medic for me on our previous team, a well known name among the community: BöNK. So the chemistry was already there between us. Like Snake, I also played with R1CKY on BöNK for CEVO and UGC --- so again, the chemistry was already there. We brought on Spadez, at first we were a little skeptical because of his reputation among the community but I honestly had nothing against him nor did anybody else on the team. During tryouts, he was kinda quiet and slowly started warming up to us and became more comfortable, I have no reason to dislike the kid. He has a great sense of humor like the rest of us and people are constantly asking "why did you pick up Spadez?!" Well, he is a great team player and if we don't have a problem with him, I really could care less what anybody else thinks. Our chemistry has always been good so that was never the problem. Fixing our flaws and correcting our mistakes has been our biggest concern since day 1 and we've come a long way since.
And if a team is new to competitive TF2, would you suggest that--if they had to choose--they look for players who have the skill-set they want, or should they look for people they get along with and then build skills together?
I've learned from my past experience that just getting a group of high skilled players usually results in teams breaking up and/or not getting through a season. Sure you could stack a bunch of skilled players on one team in hopes of dominating the season but what's the point if you are constantly at each other’s throats arguing? It just doesn't make sense. I suggest finding a group of players you enjoy playing with and develop as a team; I think a lot of players would agree with that.
You've mentioned that you're looking to move into ESEA's Intermediate division, and I've heard you guys are courting sponsors. I assume you plan to bring that attitude with you. Are there any other preparations or steps you're taking to achieve those goals and succeed at the higher level?
Well we're just taking it one step at a time, focusing on gettin' there first! But we do believe we will be there next season so we will just be doing what we're doing now. Practicing and correcting our mistakes. I think the effort that our team has put in will pay off in the long run.
What exactly does your practice schedule look like every week?
We do Sunday - Thursday 6:00 PST (9:00 PM EST) and we usually get (3 to 4) scrims in ending around 8:30 / 9:00 PM (11:30-12:00 PM EST). We try to accommodate our players’ work and school schedules, especially the little baby Hooey. <3
You said most of those scrims have been against high-mid or Intermediate-level players. Are you trying to keep the teams you play above your level or do you find that mixing in teams you match evenly with helps you sharpen your claws after you've picked something new up?
I find playing better teams helps you even when you're getting rolled. You adapt to their style and see how they play; during that time you learn to adjust. If you're just playing teams that you are consistently beating 5-0 or 5-1, it's really not helping. Being on the other side though, if you're playing a good team who is 5-0ing you...you learn what they're doing and try to mimic it or create your own style that fits your team. Sure, we play teams on our level...shoutout to Skaboss' team. We probably play them 2-3 times a week and considering they're a top open team as well, it's good to play against them. So it's good to mix it up but I would rather be getting rolled then doing the roll, if that makes any sense.
Are you guys doing any individual practice outside of scrimmages?
Spadez pugs (plays pick-up games) a lot, Huey and Beat as well...but other than that most of us MGE (My Gaming Edge mod*) in our spare time.
You guys came out of the regular season with a 14-2 win-loss record, and only Animals with Guns and Witness 40lb managed to snag wins against you. That's pretty impressive, and since Animals fell off the radar early on there's only one team contending that has beaten you this season. Is there anything at all you guys are worried about going into the playoffs this week?
Yeah, still a little bitter about that loss against AwG --- was just a little mistake, got confused on the rules with engineers but it's all good. Witness 40lb was a good game, we just got out played, so I gotta hand it to em. Nothing to be worried about really, we've literally got a rematch of our last match of the season; Black people on cp_granary. We do believe granary is our worst map so considering we pulled out a win and we've been practicing nothing but granary since then I think we should be fine.
I really appreciate you talking with me. We're all looking forward to seeing you guys in the playoffs. Before we wrap this up, did you have anything else you wanted to say?
Nope and it's really no problem: few quick shoutouts from a few of us. -Vhalin, Redrum and Sizz, Landser, Blueberry and Mike as well as the rest of SYOPS --- GL in playoffs guys! Eulogy, my NSFL group: www.notsafeforlan.com; see you guys at Intel LANfest.
xF|R1CKY -β-: LAZKY BRIAN LANDSER HAKU
xF|R1CKY -β-: AUBURN JASON
xF|R1CKY -β-: ****ONMYCHEST (expletive deleted)
xF|R1CKY -β-: TECHDUDE
xF|R1CKY -β-: MY PARENTS
Huey: shoutout to me for carrying this team
Huey: and smnc for making me better at tf2
Beat: i like trixie and rainbow dash
Spadez: ikayy, haha, zaxx, bloodsire, and everyone else on my friends list
I'd like to thank cranberry again for the time he spent with me, and we wish the best of luck to Immortal 6 and everyone else in the playoffs! Be sure to check back Friday; I'm hoping to interview Quantic Legacy's Tyrone this week!
* My Gaming Edge is a practice mod wherein players play one-on-one on a single point of a map, e.g. "Granary last" or "Badlands mid." Each match is played to 20 points. Players begin each round over-buffed with health draining until it reaches 100%. There are no health or ammunition packs available. Servers running the mod can be found easily by placing "mge" (without quotes) in the Map portion of TF2's server search filters.
Other Interviews in this series:
Words from the Top: Quantic Legacy
Words from the Top: LASER BEAMS
