Mada: “Skuba is kind of like the missing piece” – VCT Americas Stage 2 Interview

After NRG’s clean 2-0 win against Leviatán in the VCT Americas Stage 2 Playoffs, the team looks more comfortable than ever. For Adam “mada” Pampuch, the road here has been one of changes, rivalries, and finding the right pieces to make everything click.

Hotspawn sat down with mada after the match to talk about his inspirations, his duelist roots, and why the atmosphere and trust inside NRG feel exactly like the vision he had when he joined.

Hotspawn: Thank you for joining us today mada, congratulations again on your win against Leviatán. It was a very banger game, if I may say so myself.

So, firstly, how are you feeling after that game?

mada: “Feeling good. I think after our loss against G2, we just continue to improve. We work hard and the results show. I think so.”

Hotspawn: You and bonkar were there during Kickoff.

Would you say this is closer to the original vision you had when you joined the team?

mada: “Absolutely, absolutely. It’s more like this is exactly how I envisioned it. We had a plan back then to make it exactly how it is now, but unfortunately, it just didn’t work out.”

Hotspawn: What do you think are the biggest changes you’ve made in terms of team structure since Stage 2 started?

mada: “I mean, the obvious answer would just be that we picked up skuba for FNS. I would say skuba is kind of like the missing piece that we needed to gel the whole team together and bring it all together. So I’ll give him a lot of credit there.”

Hotspawn: Did you guys ever play against each other in Tier 2?

mada: “Yeah, many, many times. We were rivals last year, me and brawk versus skuba and bonkar, actually. Yeah, Oxygen versus MxS. There’s a massive rivalry there for pretty much the whole year.

“And, I mean, we knew it back then, too, that they had franchise players on Oxygen. We had franchise players on Moist. And now we’re kind of this beautiful, I guess, ensemble of both teams. It’s actually kind of cool if you think about it.”

Hotspawn: You guys looked perfectly in sync today.

With so many new players joining, how did you build that synergy?

mada: “Well, it came pretty naturally. Me and skuba have been friends for a very long time, completely disregarding Valorant. We’ve been just friends for countless years at this point.

“Me and brawk were obviously teammates for close to two years and skuba and bonkar also teammates for quite a while. And then you have Ethan and Sam (s0m), who also are just teammates. So we have three kind of like pieces that we just stuck together. And it was very easy to just gel because everyone’s pretty familiar with each other.”

Hotspawn: About you personally — did you always want to be a pro player?

mada: “I think what did it for me was when I saw in Counter-Strike when Cloud9 won the major in Counter-Strike, that’s when tarik won the major. And I think I was 14. At that point I was like, ‘Wow, anyone can do it’. Like that’s not a diss to tarik or anything. But if you were in the Counter-Strike scene, you understand that it was  a really big deal at the time. And it kind of motivated me to keep playing.”

Hotspawn: Was that your first FPS as well?

mada: “Yeah, it was.”

Hotspawn: Did you ever try to go pro in CS, or was Valorant your first?

mada: “I was semi-pro, but I was too young to actually be a pro player. And then when Valorant came out, I just swapped to Valorant.”

Hotspawn: Did you start off as a duelist right away?

mada: “No, I swapped as a Sova player first and then when I joined Andbox, [which] was my first real team. The coach, shout out to g0g1, he’s a very low key guy, but if you know, you know. And he was like: ‘No, you’re just gonna play duelists’. And he kind of moulded me as a player and showed me the way. And I think that was kind of the real start of like my duelist career.”

Hotspawn: So what’s your favorite duelist to play?

mada: “Jett.”

Hotspawn: I saw those Op shots today.

mada: “Some of them are pretty fun.”

Hotspawn: How does it feel to play under Ethan? Does he have a very chilled-out IGL style?

mada: “Yeah, it’s very chill. He puts a lot of trust into us. I think it’s a very healthy system. He’s not controlling at all. He knows that we’re all very capable players of making a round winning call, the first plan that we say in the round is kind of the one we stick with. Whether it’s Sam, brawk, skuba, me, or him, it doesn’t really matter. We have full faith in each other and we just play like one team.”

Hotspawn: Your next game could decide your fate for Champions.

Who would you rather face, 100 Thieves or C9?

mada: “I don’t really have a preference.”

Hotspawn: And if you make it to Champs, what’s the biggest thing you’d have to solve before heading into it?

mada: “Honestly, I really don’t know. I feel like bonkar will probably give you a better question if you ask him the same thing.”

Hotspawn: Who’s the chillest player on the team?

mada: “All, all five of us. Honestly, there’s not one person that’s more chill than the others. I would say Sam is probably the least chill. He has the most energy. But I would say skuba probably most chill.”

Hotspawn: Who’s most likely to rage?

mada: “Ethan. Easily.”

Hotspawn: Who’s most likely to overheat?

mada: “Probably me.”

Hotspawn: Who can handle the spiciest food?

mada: “I want to say me, but probably me or Sam.”

Hotspawn: If you could face any team in the world, who would you want to beat?

mada: “Gen.G.”

Hotspawn: And lastly — favorite chocolate?

mada: “I like dark chocolate.”