"It's just a matter of putting out the ordinary performance in practices at an international stage." - SugarZ3ro in a Post-Match Interview

After a disappointing loss against G2 Esports in Upper Bracket round 1 of VCT 2022 - Stage 1 - Masters Reykjavík, ZETA DIVISION was awarded a second chance at redemption by being relegated to the Lower Bracket to face the EMEA giant Team Liquid. The map went its full length with ZETA being declared victorious on the decider after a mind-blowing run in the second half of the map.

An important contributor to ZETA’s success was Shota "SugarZ3ro" Watanabe, who finished with a 1.20 Rating, 242 ACS and 1.44 KD. THESPIKE.GG was provided the opportunity to talk to the player following the conclusion of the matchup.

THESPIKE.GG: Congratulations on the victory! How do you feel?

SugarZ3ro: Before coming into the matchup, our team was confident that Team Liquid was an opponent that we could win against so the outcome wasn’t a surprise for us but we are definitely happy to beat them.

THESPIKE.GG You have consistently been one of the top performers for Zeta. How does it feel like having a huge impact for the team in such a major event?

SugarZ3ro: Ever since the matchup against Fnatic, my performance in the matchups started to trend upwards because we, as a team, had grown more comfortable playing on LAN and also acknowledged that ZETA belonged on the global stage.

THESPIKE.GG: You are also one of the only players to use Astra in this event. Despite the nerf to Astra in one of the recent patch updates, what motivates you to continue using the agent?

SugarZ3ro: There are some strategies that we can only run with Astra present in the comp. Our team polished up those strategies to a great extent and can rely on me to deliver because I am extremely confident about my own performance while playing Astra.

THESPIKE.GG: Could you tell us more about what went wrong on Haven, and how do you plan to fix that going into the next matchups of the event?

SugarZ3ro: On Haven, the strategies we had prepared against Team Liquid were not successful. At the moment, I am not sure about where we specifically went wrong. It was a poor showing from us and when we go back to practice, we’ll review the VOD and try to fix it before going into our next matchup.

THESPIKE.GG: You took an Ace in the last round. How did it feel like putting an exclamation point in a high-stakes matchup like this one?

SugarZ3ro: It's just a matter of putting out the ordinary performance that I do in practices at an international stage. So, there isn’t anything special about it nor do I feel so. I just did what I had to in that situation and it all worked out.

THESPIKE.GG: You successfully sent Team Liquid and Fnatic, both EMEA teams, back home. Do you have any message for the EU fans?

SugarZ3ro: I have a lot of respect for the EU teams, and we were always talking about why this game wouldn't be easy for us. They have really strong Attack and Defense sides and we tried to make sure that we put out our best on every round that we played against them because they are a team that can easily take advantage of their opponent’s mistakes and turn the matchup around in an instant. With all due respect, I just want to say GG (Good Game).

*Translation of the interview was performed by Riot Games appointed interpreter and was edited for clarity and structure. *