Voxsic: “We all feel we're some of the best players in the world”

Tomorrow the final stage of PUBG Europe League continues and it would be decided which 4 teams would advance to the FACEIT Global Summit. At the moment Pittsburgh Knights are 17 points behind the top-4, but still have pretty good chances to advance to the major. Here's the interview with one of the teams' star players Jace "Voxsic" Patras.

To start it off, tell us about your preparation for PEL.

We came to Berlin a month early, just to have a lot of time to prep and get ready. We did a lot of VOD review, lots of practice, and really just studied the game.

Where did you and your team live before?

I am from New York, Realzx is from London, Draedon is from Sweden,and then Krama is from Tunisia.

So you didn't live in a team house before?

No, never before. Berlin is a first-time experience for a team house type of deal.

How is your training going?

It’s pretty good. Even coming into a new roster, Realz has been performing excellently. That was our main concern — getting everything rolling and it's been really good so far.

Pittsburgh Knights

What were your thoughts going into PEL? Were you worried?

We weren't worried. We all feel we're some of the best players in the world and we have been at PUBG Global Invitational stage before, except for Realz.

Realz has extremely good mentality. He knows who we are and that we can be one of the best teams in this game, so he's not worried either. We definitely fit him into our playstyle, and it's working really well so far.

How did the first few matches affect your team?

They didn't affect us too much. We just played them out the same way we studied the zones before, with the same rotations and everything. We played our game and we got a win on the first day, so that felt good.

We were just feeling the competition, seeing where people drop, seeing which rotations go where, figuring out everybody's playstyle. I think we got a really good idea of it, which we brought into the next days.

What do you think of the PEL venue?

The venue itself is really cool. There's a lot of space and big rooms for the players. The set up is very comfortable as well. It's not too different from previous PUBG tournaments but it definitely feels a lot more friendly and inviting. There's more space to move around and interact.

Let's talk about the most important thing — the tournament itself. What do you think about the new scoring system in place?

I personally like the scoring system. I think it brings a new challenge to the game, which was needed in the competitive scene. We basically had to rethink everything we've done from the start: strategies, rotations, teamfights. Everything's completely different. I think it's a really cool element to switch things up and keep teams thinking.

The points for placement are reduced. Does it force teams to go for kills instead, making for a more dynamic match?

Definitely. We've seen this a lot, from ourselves included. We've been knocking people across the map and doing crazy rotations just because the kill factor is so prevalent over placement. I think a lot of teams are seeing this and becoming a lot more aggressive and there's been a lot more intense games.

I think it's a positive change. I think change is good most of the time. On this occasion, it gets every team thinking and changes the pace of the game. I like it!

How does the system affect teams’ playstyles? I know some teams used to be all about hiding and avoiding confrontations and now they're forced to move out of their comfort zone. Do you think this benefits more aggressive teams or actually makes the game more unpredictable, because previously you knew a certain team was always crawling and now they're right behind you, killing you in the back?

Exactly, that's a very good point. You'll see a lot of teams on the bottom of the leaderboard are having a very hard time adjusting to this playstyle where you have to be aggressive and you have to do crazy pushes and go for the kills. They're used to just getting placement points and playing off the zone and that's really hard to do in these PEL games.

What can you say about the current meta? Fast, looting and rotating to the center or playing on the edge because of the kills?

I think it's a really good meta to just dive the center and go for kills. Do as many pushes as you can and look for any opportunity to get kills.

Which weapons do you consider the strongest in the meta right now?

Our team has been looking towards snipers and DMRs, at least two bolt actions is what we usually do. Snipers are super important in this meta as well, because of the crashing compounds.

Which team surprised you after the first few days?

FaZe actually surprised us a bit. They've been out of form a little and that's unlike FaZe — they've always been a top 5 team. We are used to seeing them do these crazy pushes and adapt to the game. It's interesting to see them coming from a new angle and having to go through it again and figure out the problems. That surprised us a little — surprised everyone!

You had a really nice first week in the PEL. What do you think helped you play this well and what will help you maintain this form?

Honestly, it's just having a good teammates that always support each other and are always looking to improve. That's all you need. With that, plus good mentality and putting in the hard work needed, any team can maintain it.