"I'm happy with the team, the new guys and everything else so far." Zellsis on Cloud9 after Yay and Vanity

VCT 2023 - Americas League commenced on April 1 at the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles witnessing a spectacular opening weekend with key matchups being played out. Considering the skill and talent of all teams involved, the intensity of these matchups did not depreciate coming to the second weekend of the tournament with the faceoff between Cloud9 and LOUD leaving the audience at the edge of their seats. THESPIKE.GG was granted the opportunity to sit down with Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro for his thoughts on the game and individual performance involved following the loss.

Zellsis expresses disappointment after loss

THESPIKE.GG: The loss was pretty unfortunate. What were the emotions running like immediately after the result became apparent?

Zellsis: I was quite disappointed. It should have been a 2-0. We won the first map since they were snowballing a few rounds, but at the end it was pretty clean. Second map, it felt like they didn't really have a game plan. They changed their comp from the one they were playing before, and then they just kind of like ran at us on defense and then we choked a 3v1 on attack, which kind of snowballed the game as well. I feel like if we would’ve won that round, the game could have been different, but that's pretty frustrating because it just didn't seem like they were the better team until we got the Pearl.

THESPIKE.GG: You mention Pearl, a map that you narrowly beat EG on last week and lost to LOUD on this week. Do you think there are gaps in the team’s gameplay that need to be improved on?

Zellsis: You always have to work on stuff that you need to fix, but I mean, obviously Loud have some of the best players in the world, like Less and Aspas are unreal. The two rookies they picked up are also unreal. They have a great IGL behind them, great mind behind them, great coach. So I mean, it's very easy for them to pick up pieces to abuse or have what they come in with and just kind of sit us down. Like once they got the pearl, they were hitting every shot. Less kind of went God mode too.

THESPIKE.GG: After Yay and Vanity's departure, people were kind of underestimating this team and how well it would perform. How do you think its performance has stacked up against the rest of the competition in the last two weeks?

Zellsis: I mean, we lost today, but LOUD has some of the best players in the world and we've had little practice, obviously, in the coming weeks, we can't give that excuse. So we're going to have to come on and be better. But I think with the practice we've had and the showings we've given, you know, we beat EG, I feel like we should have beaten Loud 2-0. We never went to third map and we're never going to be used how we did. I think besides that I'm really happy with our gameplay. I'm happy with the team, as well as the new guys. I'm happy with everything that has been going on here so far.

THESPIKE.GG: This game was also one of the first times you played Killjoy with Cloud9. How was the experience like and what do you think makes her useful in the meta?

Zellsis: I used to play Killjoy matches before when was on V1. I just stopped doing it because I had to fill other roles, but I'm like one of the very few flex players that can play like everything right now. Obviously, those two matches, the two last maps against Loud didn't look that hot, but I love Killjoy regardless. I think she's like a really good agent and think her utility is super important. So, it feels nice to have an impact. Once you kind of place your stuff down, you can fight off of it or hide off of it. It's kind of fun

THESPIKE.GG: On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your individual performance?

Zellsis: I'd probably give myself like a five on individual performance. I think Split, I played well. Ascent, they were kind of abusing me. Like wherever I was, they just ran five at me.

THESPIKE.GG: What do you think the reason was behind such a low score?

Zellsis: I have a very big voice on the team. These guys look to me as a leader. But it was kind of hard to call things because they were switching things up. So, I think leading the team better, giving more of my input, and overall having a better individual performance would help going to next week.