AmaNEk: "shox gives me the freedom to have a voice on both sides"

In another interview from IEM Chicago, François "AmaNEk" Delaunay talked about G2's elimination at the hands of MIBR, the dynamic between himself and Richard "shox" Papillon, and more.

Despite having defeated MIBR in the opening round of the tournament, G2 were eliminated from IEM Chicago in the deciding match of their group at the hands of the Brazilians, following up a great result at ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals with disappointment.

We asked AmaNEk about what changed between days one and two at IEM Chicago and whether he considers the loss a big setback from G2's showing in Montpellier, before going on to discuss the dynamic between him and shox, and the team's plans for the Major.

Coming from a great result at Pro League, what do you make of your showing in Chicago and the way you were eliminated at the hands of MIBR? What's the general feeling on the team after the result here?

The first day was fine, but on the second day, we were in a bit of a weird mood. We weren't completely comfortable, the mood wasn't the usual. We kind of saw ourselves already in the playoffs, perhaps, subconsciously, as we had already beaten MIBR before. We didn't prepare for the match against them the way we usually do, and it's kind of hard to prepare when you're going up against a team playing with their coach. We didn't follow the same routine, so we were a bit off during the match. We weren't quite at our level individually, either. They played really well and we just weren't up to the challenge. They were the better team, and as far as the result itself, we just didn't deserve the win.

You have a lot of input in the game and you work in tandem with shox, can you elaborate on what the dynamic between the two of you is?

I talk a lot with maLeK before the matches, we make the gameplans and the strategies and decide how we're going to face each match. As far as how I work with shox, we basically split the maps. He does Nuke and Inferno and I do the rest. He gives me the freedom to have a voice on both the T and CT sides, but he also brings his style, making some mid-round calls and so on. When I make a call, he'll validate it, and at the beginning of each round we'll agree on what the plan is and then we go and execute, it's pretty simple.

Do you see this loss as a big setback going into the Major, after the level you were at during the ESL Pro League Finals?

No, I don't think so. We just had a bad match and I don't think it's going to slow us down. We know what we're worth and we know that we can become the best team in the world if we just keep working and making progress every day.

What are the plans for the Major, in terms of preparation?

We have a two-week break and after that we're going to Berlin to bootcamp at the G2 headquarters for about ten days. We'll have a couple of days at home after that and we'll fly right back to Berlin to play the Major.

Do you have any specific goals in mind?

The first goal is to confirm the progress we have been making and even to become better than we have been up until now. We would like to keep the momentum from this first half of the year to try and become stronger during the second half. As far as a result in the tournament goes, we would be disappointed if we do not make it to the playoffs, get the Legends spot, and have good showings in the matches we play.

This will be your first Major with G2, do you have any individual goals?

I want this to be my best tournament. I want the Major to be the event in which I have my best performance to date.