"I would give it an eight. I was aware of what was happening around the map at all times and that’s my role in the team" FNS on performance against Sentinels

The matchup between NRG and Sentinels produced an entertaining outcome wherein NRG prevailed taking their first win of Americas league following an unfortunate defeat last week against Leviatan esports. THESPIKE.GG was granted the opportunity to conduct an interview with Pujan "FNS" Mehta and break down his thoughts on the game, coming off a loss and more.

FNS rates his performance against Sentinels an 8/10

THESPIKE.GG: Congratulations on the win. What were the emotions running like immediately after the result became apparent?

FNS: We were glad honestly. Our start to Americas league did not go as we had hoped but with the competition looking so close, each win matters and we are delighted that we ended up with one today.

THESPIKE.GG: NRG started off well on Lotus on Offense, but allowed Sentinel to return the favor by not closing out well on Defense? What do you think were the flaws in NRG’s defense?

FNS: Mostly that we were not countering properly. Also losing the pistol round did not help. It never does especially on Defense and Sentinels used that momentum against us to push us into a narrow corner, one we fortunately backed out of somehow.

THESPIKE.GG: The second map for this matchup was Icebox, which as you might be aware is leaving the map pool soon? What do you make of NRG’s performance on that map in today’s matchup?

FNS: Icebox is a map we are decent on as a team and can take a lot of team and our performance today on it was I would say quite remarkable.

THESPIKE.GG: Do you have any thoughts on it leaving the map pool?

FNS: Not many thoughts on it at the moment. I am not entirely disappointed because Bind is returning and that is a map we are very strong on. If you remember from last year, the OpTic squad was

THESPIKE.GG: If you were to rate your individual performance on a scale of 1-10, what would you give it and why?

FNS: I would honestly give it an eight. I was aware of what was happening around the map at almost all times and that’s my role in the team and as for using utilities, setting up people and killing people I think I did just fine.

THESPIKE.GG: We noticed that you decided to run Skye instead of Breach on Lotus like you did against Leviatan

FNS: It was a decision we made because kiNgg from Leviatan played on Viper and we noticed that it did well so we changed our base comp to include Viper and I had to change roles to accommodate that. I ended up choosing Skye because I still want to be the lead initiator for the team, and she was the best Agent to fit into the new lineup which we had tested in scrims and noticed fruitful results with.

THESPIKE.GG: The VCT structure this year is in a definite contrast to last year where your path to Masters only involved facing teams from NA. How has the inclusion of teams from LATAM and Brazil changed this?

FNS: Having South American teams definitely makes the competition more intense and entertaining since most of the teams from that region that got selected for Americas league are quite competitive and amazing. I think this format is going to be extremely challenging and the route to Masters is definitely much more nuanced compared to last year.

THESPIKE.GG: If you have been following the Americas scene, what team are you looking forward to facing the most?

FNS: If I were to pinpoint one team, it would be LOUD for obvious reasons. We can’t wait to play them, but in terms of NA I would say 100 Thieves because they have been looking good in recent times and we haven’t played them much so it would be an interesting matchup.

Make sure to check out our VCT 2023 Hub for all the information about the VALORANT events this year.