This week we catch up with LDN Esports player, Nerf!
For those who might not know you, can you introduce just who is Nerf?
Yeah of course, my name is Josh and I'm an 18 year old Rainbow Six player originally from Hertfordshire, I'm currently studying Computer Science at Newcastle University. I've been playing competitive siege for over two years, most of which I spent as part of the T4 scene in community leagues. Around a month after I turned 18, I qualified for UKIN as the captain and IGL of Revenge, and we signed with London soon after.
For you competitive matches who are your go to operators and what drew you to them?
I've had experience on every role through my career so far, but nowadays I play a support role so I play operators like Ace, Thermite, Maestro and Mute most of the time. I was drawn to these operators because of the playstyle that comes with being a hardbreach or anchor player, I can relay information to my teammates well and shotcall plays or adaptations much easier if I spot an opening while droning or on cams. I also get to use some of the best weapons, which is always fun.
You took part in the first season of UKIN, sadly it didn’t go to plan after a strong qualifier. What have you changed going into UKIN Second Division this November?
Going into UKIN we had almost no time to prepare for the season after the qualifiers, and we simply weren’t as experienced as the other teams in the league. Our map pool was very small and well known, and we were simply not coordinated enough on many of the maps we ended up playing. Since the season, the most obvious change is of course the 3 roster changes we have made since UKIN. This was never the intention originally, but the additions of Cez, JJ and Mike have brought so much depth to our team. This will be reflected in our playstyle, as last season I would say we had 4 quiet players as well as a disconnect between our 3 passive players and 2 aggressive ones, whereas now we have Cez and Mike who are both very vocal and are great shotcallers, and JJ is a young gunner who we can rely on to win his gunfights. So basically, we are an entirely new team that will be much better than ever before.
You faced off against some of the potential UKIN Second Division teams while taking part in Epic LAN 31, how did you find the event?
Epic31 was a really fun event to compete in, and I think we silenced alot of critics with our lower bracket run. During the group stage and the first playoff match we had severe mentality issues that were holding us back, and dropping down to the lower bracket after losing what should have been an easy game was a huge wake up call. We sat down and talked about our issues, got everyone in the right mindset again, and from then onwards we put in a performance I am proud of. We comfortably beat many of the teams which will be competing in UKIN's Second Division, and although we didn’t play like ourselves in the final, we lost a fairly close game to a very strong team in Team 86 so we can hold our heads high after just a week of playing with Cez on the roster.
What teams are looking strong in UKIN’s Second Division this year?
In my eyes both us and T86 are the clear favourites to get promoted to UKIN, they are insane and have already proven to everyone that they belong in T3 if not higher. I think OnTop will do well this season too because of their pure gun skill and aggressive playstyle being a huge issue for many teams. I also expect to see a good showing from the new Vexed lineup and hopefully some of the qualifier teams too, but it’s hard to say. I definitely think there are some teams that will really struggle, but as someone who finished UKIN season 1 without a win I can say that finishing towards the bottom of the table in your first competitive season is nothing to be ashamed of, and should be treated as a learning experience.
As a team what is your goal for 2021, where would you like to be?
Our goal for the end of 2020 is obviously to get back into UKIN, and that will enable us to push for a CL spot in 2021. This team is a long term project with long term goals, and although we have such a long way to go to get to that level, I am confident that we have what it takes to have a very successful run next year.
Create your own team - you are the coach, what 5 players are you picking up? It can be any player Pro or Am across the world.
I think anyone would be crazy to not instantly choose BriD and Shaiiko at this point, they are easily the 2 best players in the game right now in my eyes. In a perfect world with no language issues, I would go with AceeZ, Beaulo and Paluh for the other 3 spots, as I think they are all top players in their regions. This roster would probably never work, but it’s really interesting to think about.
Any final comments or places for people to follow you?
Thanks so much for offering me this interview, if anyone wants to check me out you can find me on Twitter @NerfR6S where I will be ratioing Blackout almost daily, and you'll catch me and the rest of London playing in UKIN 2 starting November 3rd as well as some sick team content @LDN_Esports . One final note, if Anarchic can make CL then so can I. Stay safe everyone!
