After two solid wins against Vivo Keyd and KRU Esports, Team Envy is moving on to the playoffs of VCT Masters 3 Berlin. This is a far different team from the roster signed by Envy in summer 2020, with original IGL Pujan “FNS” Mehta leading an entirely new roster of players amassed over the course of a year.
Marved and Envy are all smiles after their hot start in at VCT Masters Berlin. (Image via Riot Games.)
One of those new faces comes from FaZe, in controller Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen, on loan with Envy since late June. After Envy’s playoffs-clinching win against KRU, Marved sat down with Hotspawn to discuss the process of changing rosters, as well as his first impressions of international offline VALORANT play.
Scott Robertson, Hotspawn Esports: Something I saw during the Icebox map was someone shoot down the Raze satchel mid-air; I didn’t know you could do that. What’s another neat little trick or tactic that you think most VALORANT players don’t know about?
Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen, Team Envy: I think there’s a lot of projectiles that you can block especially, like the other day we were using the Killjoy ultimate, and other team was using their shock darts to try to break it. We decided to use our bodies to block them, and it just ruined their whole plan.
Hotspawn: Nicely done. So how did the process of getting loaned to Envy begin? Did they reach out to FaZe, did you initiate?
Marved: Yeah, [Envy] reached out to [FaZe] and let me know. The offer they made was much better for myself, so I just asked [FaZe] if I can go, and they decided to do the loan process.
Hotspawn: What was the first difference you noticed right away between playing with FaZe and Envy?
Marved: So on FaZe, I was IGL for a bit and we really didn’t have an IGL after. So the biggest thing for me was that FaZe played a lot faster than Envy does. So [on Envy] I was playing a lot slower and going for less duels, and I actually had an IGL that I could listen to, so I could really play my own game. Two awesome teams though, I love FaZe.
Envy are in good spirits after reaching playoffs with relative ease. (Image via Riot Games.)
Hotspawn: When I talked to FNS back at Challenger Playoffs, he said your voice was massive to the team after your slow start versus FaZe. Are you happy to be able to help lead the team without having to focus on the strategic portion?
Marved: Yeah, you got it spot on bro. I just wanna have my voice heard. Since I was an IGL before, I have a voice and I kinda know how to win games and what we need to do. In that match [versus FaZe] particularly, I was telling my team not to worry about what they’re doing cause we were just so worried about what aggressive thing they were going to do. So I said how about he just make our plans and let them react to us? It worked out and we won that series.
Hotspawn: It was certainly a big win needed to get her to Berlin. Now that you’re here, what’s been your first impression of international VALORANT play?
Marved: They’re better than I thought. I thought they were going to be easier. But some games are actually pretty hard to win. Even though I feel like we made a lot of mistakes, I felt like they were capitalizing on them. They’re more ahead than I thought, and I think they’re going to get a lot better.
Marved casually relaxing during his VALORANT LAN debut. (Image via Riot Games.)
Hotspawn: Keeping an eye on any other teams or regions?
Marved: I think the Brazilians are pretty good; I think Vivo Keyd will make it out of our group second. I think NA and Europe are definitely the best right now, but there are some sleeper teams that could win matches, so you never know.
Hotspawn: If an NA team here in Berlin wins the whole thing, and all three of you go straight to Champions, who’s the fourth team from NA you’d like to see emerge from the Last Chance Qualifier?
Marved: I want to see my FaZe boys, 100%. I want them to win LCQ. Other than them, maybe TSM? I like TSM and FaZe. Oh, and Rise Nation! I love them too. There’s just so many teams I love and players that I love. I just want whoever the best is to come with us and perform.
