Total Shorty Kills
Wardell knew it was over before the second map even began
Brandon "Mothman" Moore
12/05/2020
Team SoloMid is coming off of a monster victory over Renegades during the North American First Strike event. The first map went 13:1 and following that, Bind ended 13:5. Run It Back was given the chance to speak to several different players in order to conduct interviews. Representing TSM is none other than the Operator master, Matthew “Wardell” Yu. He touches on the transition to Valorant, winning so dominantly, and what he thinks of the Team Envy match up.
Wardell knew it was over before the second map even began
Run It Back: What made the switch to Valorant so appealing for you?
Wardell: Well, coronavirus was blooming at the time. No orgs were trying to invest in a CS:GO team. Then Valorant just came out. It’s a Riot game. Everyone loves Riot. My teammates knew at the time that Valorant was going to be huge. That made it an easy switch.
Run It Back: At this point, do you feel like the switch has paid off? Have Wardell and TSM lived up to the expectations in Valorant?
Wardell: For me, I definitely feel like it has paid off. Like, times ten, you know? I don’t think I would have ever made this much of a blow up of my brand.
Run It Back: Touching on the series, what were your thoughts going into Bind after ending Ascent so dominantly?
Wardell: Thoughts on Bind? We already knew it was going to be over. You could just tell by the way they played. They were already defeated. We went in there and just played.
Run It Back: Bind did end up lasting a little longer than Ascent. Do you see this as “a win is a win” or are there any negative feelings towards not finishing Bind as strongly as the first map?
Wardell: It’s just “a win is a win.” It doesn’t really matter how hard we beat them.
Run It Back: To end the series, you and hazed finished things with the 2v5 clutch. What are comms like in that situation? Does the rest of your team sit back and let you guys do your thing? Or do they still give their input?
Wardell: I said to James (hazed), “I got this.” Then, yeah, that’s pretty much it. I killed one B and then they knew it was going to be A and rotated back to A. Everyone else tries to give some helpful information that the other person on the site might not say.
Run It Back: Lastly, is there anything you want to say to TSM fans? Or anything you might want to say regarding the upcoming Team Envy match?
Wardell: It’s definitely going to be a fun game. I’m excited for people to be entertained by it. I love entertaining people. Thanks to everyone for supporting me. I appreciate it.
Wardell, everyone. A man of few words, but loads of confidence. Thanks go out to him for allowing this interview time.
*Answers may have been altered slightly for the sake of clarity*
Stay tuned to Run It Back for additional player interviews and some great First Strike coverage!
