Join Mr. Pirate as he interviews Metsanauris, a legend of the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS), who recently transitioned from a pro player to a coach. Metsa shares his journey from the early days of Rocket League, his experiences with mandatory civil service in Finland, and his new ventures in coaching. Listen as they discuss the evolution of Rocket League esports, the challenges of transitioning from a player to a coach, and the highs and lows of a professional gaming career. Discover the untold stories of the early Rocket League days and the impact of legendary players like Kuxir and Kronovi. Don’t miss this insightful conversation with one of Rocket League’s most enduring figures.
You can watch or listen to the video on YouTube or read the transcript below. Enjoy and stay tuned for Part 2!
Follow Metsanauris at:
- https://metafy.gg/@metsanauris
- https://x.com/metsanauris
- https://www.twitch.tv/metsanauris
- https://www.instagram.com/metsanauris/
The Interview Transcript
*Editor’s Note: This transcript was generated with AI assistance and then manually proofread and edited for readability. It is not a 100% accurate match to the recording.
Mr. Pirate interviews Metsanauris for Rocket League Esports.
Mr. Pirate: Hey guys, this is Mr. Pirate, here, doing an interview with Metsanauris for Rocket League Esports. Metsanauris is a long-time RLCS veteran who played for I think six years in RLCS He’s there from the early days, through the open era, and recently retired last summer and is now transitioning into coaching and other endeavors in the Rocket League scene. And I got to connect with him, luckily about a week or so ago through a coaching event he was doing and chatted with him a bit after and he agreed to do an interview with me. And we got a lot of great responses from the kind of impromptu interview we did with Coach Nick, about a month ago on Reddit. And so I decided I would go ahead and start doing some other ones. So I hope you enjoy. This is our first time doing a video interview like this, so any feedback would be appreciated with that said, let’s get started.
Was retiring from being a pro a difficult decision?
Mr. Pirate: All right. So Metsanauris you know, you retired last summer and what have you been up to since then? And you know, was retirement ah, something that was a difficult transition or were you kind of ready for it?
Metsanauris: Yeah, it was a difficult decision for me, pretty much my whole adult life ever since I got out of school. Ah, I was a Rocket League pro and that was my life and my identity. So when I kind of came into that decision, because of my final season and how things were turning out to be, I thought to myself, I don’t want to have a really long off-season for nothing to happen in the next season. It was a really difficult decision to make. And yeah, a lot of sleepless nights, and yeah, it was a tough turn in my life. But yeah, it was something that needed to be done at that point. And now I’m feeling happy again.
What is your life like after retiring?
Mr. Pirate: Well, you know, that’s good to hear that you’re doing well. So what have you exactly been up to since then, since retiring?
Metsanauris: I think like right after retiring I was trying to get into the coaching scene a lot. I had some talks with teams and even had some like, kind of opportunities to maybe work for a team or an org, but then those kind of started collapsing one by one. And a big factor for me as well was that I hadn’t done my military service. That is mandatory for every Finnish man. So I had been postponing it ever since Rocket League became a thing. And I was trying to prolong the situation as long as I can. So at that point, like later on in the year when the team stuff for coaching wasn’t really happening, I was doing individual coaching, metafy, and stuff like that, but not much of team coaching or anything. So I thought to myself, this is the perfect time to get military service. Or what I’m doing now is the, I think it’s called civil service in English where I work for a year, doing something good for the country. But I’m not in the military at the moment. I’m just doing like a job for a year with pretty much no pay. So that’s what I’m doing right now. But it’s coming in towards the end, and it’s going to end this year. So, it’s been a fun year trying to get into a different kind of point in my life and the civil service has been fun. At the same time. I’ve been working, with Data Coach and I’ve been trying to do some individual coaching and keep myself, in that scene as well while still getting myself forward and getting this done with as well.
Mr. Pirate: Gotcha.
So how long is, the service supposed to be in Finland? The mandatory service.
Metsanauris: So mandatory military service is from six months to 12 months. And it depends on kind of where you end up in the military and what kind of role you get. Basically, you can get out in six months, but then you’re not gonna really have a great role or anything. So six, to 12 months is what it is. But if you choose to do civil service instead, like I have done, that is always 12 months. So I started in January and it’s gonna end in December for me.
Mr. Pirate: Nice. Are you excited to wrap it up or has it been kind of fun in a way?
Metsanauris: It’s been fun. I, don’t have a kind of job that has a really, high demand or I don’t feel like I’m stressed when I’m out there. I’m just having a great time at work and then coming home. So like, I, do look forward to it ending because it’s kind of. You’re not getting paid much at all and it’s kind of something you have to do instead of what you want to do. So I look forward to getting it over with. But it’s, been fun this year and like, I don’t regret anything or anything like that.
Do you miss competing in RLCS?
Mr. Pirate: Gotcha. I mean, I’m sure it must have been a pretty big change to go from, you know, locked in competing for so many years in RLCS to suddenly having a much more relaxed, job for this past year. Do you ever miss, you know, competing in RLCS? Do you still have that… that itch?
Metsanauris: yeah. I don’t really get the adrenaline that I used to get. So I miss the adrenaline and I miss having something to work on every single day to improve upon something. And that’s what I desired. But I’ve gotten a lot of those feelings that I used to get from esports, from sports now. And I’ve been getting into a lot more sports now that I don’t have to be on my PC all day, every day. So it’s been fun and I’m trying to still find ways to get those same feelings. But the adrenaline and like, being nervous for tournaments and stuff, I’m not getting any of those, feelings.
Mr. Pirate: What sports are you playing?
Metsanauris: well, mostly I’ve been doing disc golf and then, bouldering as of late. And then on the side, I do like badminton, football or futsal or, anything that anyone asks me to do. Pretty much just trying out a lot of different ones.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, sounds like you’re staying active. That’s good to hear. I actually tried bouldering for the first time last month and it’s ah, very difficult. I had a crazy arm pump. My forearms were, I’ve never seen that much blood in them. So it was definitely interesting, yeah.
Let’s talk about the early days of Rocket League.
So let’s move on to talking kind of about like, the early days of Rocket League because, you know, a lot of people have gotten into Rocket League and Rocket League Esports, you know, more recently since it went free to play and since the Open era. But you’re one of the OGs. You’ve been around since, you know, day one, more or less. You’ve been playing more or less since launch, I believe, and you started competing very early on, even though I don’t think you made RLCS until season three. But, you know, a lot of people didn’t watch back then. I was more of a very casual fan then. So a lot of people don’t know what the early days of Rocket League and Rocket League eSports were like. So, you know, let’s talk about that.
How long did it take to climb the ranks when you started?
So my first question is, when Rocket League was new, how long did it take you to climb up the ranks? And did you find it easy at the time or was it, you know, kind of a grind?
Metsanauris: When I started, I started a little bit late compared to like a lot of people, because the game launched in the summer and I bought the game in October. And then I only played like a tiny bit during that first kind of winter. So I kind of started getting into it, maybe like six months to ten months later than most people. So at the start, I was just playing casually and not really thinking much about it. But then slowly and slowly I started, grinding more just by myself and, enjoying finding new teammates to play with and getting better. It didn’t feel easy at any point, but it did feel like I was improving past my teammates. But a lot of that felt because I also wanted to play a lot more than, my buddies or whoever I ended up playing with at that time. So I just found a new group of people to play with that were higher ranked than me and then kind of caught up to them and then went past them. And then the kind of, ah, the same cycle kept happening until I was maybe, at the highest rank. And then at that point, I started getting a lot more into 1v1s and slowly climbing the one leader board. And that’s kind of how I got into tournaments and into kind of the competitive scene as well.
Mr. Pirate: Nice. And how long do you think it took you to get to Grand Champ and kind of go into the tournament circuit? Was it, you know, six months? Was it a year? Was it more than that?
Metsanauris: I’d say something like, from, from the, when I bought the game, probably like a year, and from when I started really playing a lot, probably like six to eight months, if I would have to guess. But yeah, it was a long time ago. Yeah, it’s been a while.
How did you end up going pro?
Mr. Pirate: Okay, well, so once you kind of move beyond, you know, just being a ranked warrior and started competing in tournaments… You know, did you know, at the time the pro scene was very new. It wasn’t very established. But did you kind of set your sights on competing in RLCS and going pro early on or was it just kind of… you kind of started to realize, hey, this is actually possible. I’m like, I’m really good at this. How did that happen?
Metsanauris: First I was like a viewer and a fan of the Esport. There were like early RLCS like leagues and stuff like that, but there wasn’t RLCS I just watched a lot of those and was just. I had no intention of trying to get there or anything. And then I was watching the first season of RLCS and I thought to myself, maybe I want to do that one day and be on stage playing at RLCS. So that was my first… probably fire, that lit me, and trying to get higher and higher. I never thought I would make it. But I got that kind of fire under me that I wanted to keep improving and getting better and finding better teams. So that’s kind of what I started doing until I was pretty close to the RLCS level where I hadn’t made an RLCS but we were like a top eight team in Europe. So it felt like I would probably make it at one point.
Mr. Pirate: Do you happen to remember, what team you watched that was kind of inspiring you at the time, like in the early seasons?
Metsanauris: well, I used to watch a lot of the higher-level games. So you just watch Flipside. And obviously, when it came to the LAN, iBUYPOWER and that was kind of the two dynasties at the start of the RLCS season. So that was the two teams that you looked up to. And yeah, I remember watching those finals of the first RLCS season and enjoying watching the best players.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, it’s crazy how much influence those early teams like Flipside had on inspiring us. Even a lot of us consider you to be like a legend of the game now. But even you were inspired by the season one teams and stuff. And the next generation was inspired by watching your teams. So it’s really cool to see that.
Was your family supportive of you pursuing esports as a career?
So when you kind of started competing in the RLCS what was it like with your family and friends? Did they understand what you were trying to do? Were they supportive or were they kind of like, hey, shouldn’t you maybe just study and you know, get a normal job? Was there pushback or was it just full-on support, go compete.
Metsanauris: It was pretty great timing with how everything happened. So I was in high school and every time I came home from high school I played Rocket League. And I was doing school and Rocket League at the same time. I wasn’t getting paid. Maybe I was getting paid like pennies or something. But at the end of my high school when it turned to summer and it was decision time on what I wanted to do, I got an offer to play for Method. And that kind of was the same season we made RLCS already before that. So I knew I had what it takes to get to the top and we were already in RLCS But then I got and offered to join Method and then move to London in that summer. So that was kind of my ticket to… I didn’t really need to force my parents to let me do anything. I was 18 years old at that time and I was doing my school just fine and doing Rocket League when I had the free time. And it wasn’t bothering them at any point, but at that point I just told them, okay, this Rocket League thing, I’ve been playing a lot and I’m, getting somewhere. So I’m gonna move to London. I got this offer, so that’s what’s gonna happen this summer. It wasn’t really them giving me a choice or me giving them a choice. It was just more of a decision time. It was perfect timing after graduating that I could kind of take the next step. And obviously when I started getting a salary and when I moved to London, it made them realize as well that this is something that works as a career as well.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, that’s great to hear that. It seemed like it was the perfect timing for you when you moved to London. Was that for a team house? Is that why you moved?
Metsanauris: Yeah, Method, had a team house for Gfinity Elite Series purposes back then. And we kind of were the main team, for Method then. And we had the gaming house for that first season and I think maybe the second season as well.
Mr. Pirate: Gotcha. That must have been quite an adventure to move out at 18, go to a different country, a big city, and just, be living with a bunch of gamer friends. It sounds like the dream for a lot of 18-year-olds. Honestly. Was it fun?
Metsanauris: I enjoyed it a lot. I think the other teammates didn’t spend as much time as me at the house and I don’t think they really enjoyed it as much as I did. But yeah, that was the dream for me. Living the esports life and getting to travel every weekend we had games in the Gfinity Elite Series or RLCS and I was really focused on what I’m doing and yeah, it was a total blast. I remember those times very fondly.
Mr. Pirate: Nice. Yeah.
What are the biggest differences in the RLCS now compared to when you started competing?
So, you know, speaking of kind, of the Gfinity Series and all these things that kind of really aren’t around anymore, what are kind of the biggest differences in the RLCS now compared to when you started competing? Is there anything in particular that you miss from the old days that you wish would come back?
Metsanauris: I don’t miss anything as a competitor if that makes sense. It was like so stressful waiting for a week for the RLCS game. You have one game, you might play for 20 minutes for that one series and then you’re done with your day. But as a viewer, I thought it was really exciting just watching the scenarios happen. Every game meant something and it felt kind of similar to normal sports, and how it is as a spectator where every game matters a lot. So now, as a competitor, it’s so much better how this, current RLCS is and how you can have a little dips in form and you can still manage to get to the top of the tournaments and it doesn’t matter as much. But as a viewer, I very much enjoyed the league play format, and yeah, just having stuff all around the year I think was really good compared to now where there’s a really long off-season. And yeah, I don’t really like that part.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, I think a lot of people, have had the same complaint about the long break between seasons and even the long break between Major 2 and Worlds. This year it felt like a second offseason in a way. I wasn’t, as in tune during the league play era, but I, you know, I’m an American and I watch American sports, which are kind of like that. So I definitely see the appeal. And I think there are people on both sides who want it the old way and people who want it the new way.
Did you have any major rivals? Did it ever get personal with anyone?
So, you know, back in the league play era and when you kind of were in the first few seasons of RLCS did you have any major rivals, individually or as a team when you were competing? And was it always just like, ah, this team always beats us, like it was just competitive? Or would it ever get like, you know, kind of personal? Like, is there ever any beef with any other players?
Metsanauris: In the early days, with my first kind of team that I had for a good while when we went RLCS we didn’t have any like, rivalry where we hated anyone or anything. I’m, as a human, I don’t get grudges with anyone. I haven’t made any grudges in my life. But, I think one thing that you could think about as a rivalry was after I got kicked from that first team and then I was playing against them. So I think it was personal trying to win those games. But I didn’t really hold grudges or anything like that against them. But yeah, those games against them meant more than the other games.
Mr. Pirate: Gotcha. So it was just a little motivation, a little chip on your shoulder to show them you made the wrong choice.
Metsanauris: Yeah, I think every competitor or enemy, you don’t even have to be a competitor. If you get hurt by someone, or if you feel like you’ve been done wrong in a sense, then you want to prove that you were in the right, so that’s kind of how it was. And you don’t want to see them do bad, but you want to see yourself do better than them. Right.
Mr. Pirate: Gotcha.
Are there any players from the early days that you think are underrated?
You know, speaking of like, you know, the early days, again, I was more of a casual fan. So I know a lot of the, you know, big-name players and the players who kind of stuck around for a long time. But were there any players from the early days that you think are kind of, you know, forgotten about or underrated, that people just kind of, you know, don’t give enough love to from the early seasons?
Metsanauris: Mmm. It’s funny how I feel like people don’t talk about Kuxir for example, or Kronovi, who were the ambassadors for Rocket League Esports. I feel like at the start, people just talk about open-era GOATs and RLCS GOATs or anything like that. But I think Kuxir was miles ahead of anyone, pretty much in the whole of Europe for a really long time. And he kept playing for a long time. And I admired him a lot at the start, for example, and Kronovi as well. He was a huge idol for so many people at the start. And it’s kind of hard to keep remembering those guys because that was kind of even before RLCS when these guys were so dominant and people looked up to them and tried to copy everything they do.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, for sure. You know, even as a casual fan. I know. And I remember watching Kuxir and Kronovi. I remember watching Kuxir in 1v1 and he was just like so far ahead of everyone, in terms of game IQ and the way he played was so different than everyone else. Really. And you know, the Batmobile. Really, a really interesting player.
Was there ever a player that you wished you could have teamed up with?
You know, another question about, I guess, a player from, you know, not even then, but any time, was there ever a player that you wished you could have teamed up with, but it just never happened or, you know, the opportunity never came?
Metsanauris: That could be so many people, the list would be 100 names long. But, yeah, obviously anyone that’s been one of the greats, I don’t think I played or teamed with any people that, kind of are in the conversations of greatest of all time or anything. So I think it would have been great to play with any of those guys. And I think anyone. I would have loved to play with people from NA. I feel like I have a similar mindset to practice and stuff like that with a lot of those people. But obviously different regions and it wasn’t really a thing where you transfer regions or anything. So I think 100 people that I would have loved to play with. But yeah, I stuck with a lot of teams for a while so there weren’t that many crazy roster changes for me.
Mr. Pirate: There definitely were a couple of notable roster changes for you and we’re going to get to that in a little bit.
The Ups and Downs of Being a Professional Gamer
What was your usual practice schedule when you were competing in RLCS?
Mr. Pirate: So I want to talk more about just the ups and downs of being a professional gamer and what it was like competing. So what was your usual schedule when you were competing in RLCS? And did it change throughout the years or was it more or less the same?
Metsanauris: It did change throughout the years. It’s hard for me to remember the early early days, but all I remember from the early early days was I played all day until the RLCS game happened. Then if I lost, I kept playing. I kept grinding until I went to bed. If I won I would have probably taken a break but I still would have played at the end of the evening and that kind of cycle happened pretty much at all times. I don’t. There weren’t any workshop maps or anything like that so it was just ranked or free play or something like that. But I very much enjoyed the grind. And later on, as the years kind of moved on, I structured my practice a lot differently and like a better in. In that sense where I was focused on certain areas for improvement every time I practiced and I would section my practice into different sections and kind of warm-up intentionally and do a lot more purposeful practice and would have just grind mindlessly before and after games. If I lost the RLCS series, I would probably log off for the day.
Mr. Pirate: I mean, yeah, I’m sure you were pretty disappointed if it was your only series of the week and you lost.
How much time did your team spend split between scrims and individual practice?
Speaking of your training, you mentioned that there were no workshop maps, and even early on there was no custom training. But you know, you and your team, you know, how much time did you guys kind of split between scrims, ranked, mechanical training, replay analysis or you know, coaching and meetings, or other stuff like team bonding if you had to put a split on it. What did you guys spend the most time with?
Metsanauris: I think that’s a lot different throughout different parts of my career. As well. Earlier on it was a lot less of everything. But as the years went further.
Metsanauris: I think you would have some kind of replay watching every week, but probably not more than that. Like once or twice a week. And then it was the team practice every day, preferably three scrims per day. But people are lazy and, they don’t like to practice. So it would end up being less than that really often. And then individual practice, I had, for the end of my career, I did a lot of streaming. So I would have an individual practice that I streamed for three hours in the day, for example, and then I would take a break. And then before evening scrims, I would do purposeful practice and then warm up, for a while before the scrims, and then the scrims happened in the evening for however many hours happen in the day. Every other stuff that happens around it, it goes around the practice. It doesn’t take away from practice. So if there were meetings or any media stuff or anything like that, it just goes around the schedule. And I wouldn’t take it away from my practice. But, I wouldn’t say my teams or teammates throughout the years kind of grinded, as much as I did. So it’s a lot different for other people. But that’s how I did it towards the end of my career as well.
Did it bother you if your teammates didn’t put in the same effort as you?
Mr. Pirate: Did that ever bother you that, hey, like, I’m putting in so much effort and hours here and my teammates aren’t matching my level of dedication? Or was it just something you accepted that, hey, like, you know, everyone has their own way of doing things, or this is working out okay? How did you feel about it?
Metsanauris: It definitely bothered me early. Teams that I had, it bothered me a lot. And then, at some point, it bothered me so much that it kind of broke apart a team. But then I think later on I didn’t really care as much. I just did my part and became like this soldier that if I let my feelings change how I play or how the team happens or anything like that, then, that’s wrong. I do the best of my ability and work to do my best, but I can’t control what other people do.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, very, wise words. Sounds like a stoic philosophy. I’ve definitely heard from other pros. Some of them have complained about teams, not necessarily being on the same page regarding how much effort and dedication to put in. But, yeah, I’m sure it’s a problem when it’s a lot of teenagers and young adults, you know, suddenly asked to be professionals.
Actually, speaking of teenagers and young adults, many, you know, young kids playing this game dream of going pro. Just like you watched, you know, the early days of Flipside, and you, know, iBUYPOWER. And all these teams. Many, teams right now are watching Monkey Moon and Vitality and, G2, and they’re imagining themselves going pro.
What’s something bad about being a pro player that people don’t realize?
But it’s probably not as glamorous as it seems when we watch just these highlights, these LAN tournaments. What’s something bad or negative about being a pro player that people don’t realize?
Metsanauris: I don’t think there’s a lot of bad sides to it. But there is obviously some. I think a lot of other people found those other sides a lot more bad than I did. But for me, the worst sides were kind of being out of my whole life, schedule where I couldn’t make it to any happening in the evening, especially because I live in Eastern Europe. So, my time zone is really late compared to, for example, UK time. So if we had scrims, it was always pretty late for me, which meant I couldn’t do anything that evening. Then tournaments happened on the weekends, so I would miss out on, every birthday party or any celebration of anything or anything you could imagine that happens on the weekend. I would probably miss out on it quite a few times throughout my career. And, for me, the time zone also made it so that nothing happened in the morning. I would like to work in the morning, do scrims in the day, and, be actually working during normal working hours. But a lot of it was just late evenings. And then even if I wanted to play after scrims, which I did end up doing a lot, it would be really late for me, and I would go to bed later than my girlfriend and wake up later because if I woke up early to play, no one’s online. You can’t find ranked matches. The whole ecosystem works on late hours where if you’re talking to buddies or something on Discord or Teamspeak, they’re up late and they wake up late. So that means if you want to be social or do anything with anyone, you kind of have to get into their schedule more than yourself.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah.
Metsanauris: So that was kind of what I felt like was, the worst parts where I wasn’t really in this life, in this real life that I’m living in Finland, I was more in the Rocket League life.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, we all know about gamer hours. You know, people like to play late. It’s just how it is. But yeah, I can see how the scheduling of it would make it hard to have a social life, especially with your timezone issues. But you know, there were also a lot of great, social things that came from being in RLCS including what I think is the best part of RLCS which is LANs.
What is your favorite LAN memory?
So I want to ask you, what’s your favorite memory from a LAN tournament?
Metsanauris: my favorite LAN memory is definitely, winning Eleague. It was a major LAN at that time. It was the second biggest tournament that you could win. So it felt like I had finally done it. I had lost a lot of finals by that time. I hadn’t won anything significant at all. So it felt like loss after loss after loss and finally, I won. And it was a big tournament, like a really massive tournament at that time. So, it was like a weight off my shoulders. A greatest feeling a competitor can get is to win something, what everyone strives to win. So, yeah, I will remember that moment for all of my life, for sure.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah. That’s definitely awesome. Did you have a feeling going into that tournament that like, you know, this one feels different, like we’re gonna win this, or was it the same as always and it just happened this time?
Metsanauris: definitely didn’t feel like I was going to win this because it was. I didn’t really believe in myself to be able to win this stuff after so many losses. And, it’s been so many hours that I put into practice and then something happens where I let myself down and don’t get to the top. So it didn’t feel like I’m going to win or anything, but it did feel a lot more relaxed because it was after RLCS and we had a deep run there and it felt like the team was syncing up really good. We lost every single scrim in that Eleague tournament, but the scrims didn’t matter. It felt like we were confident in ourselves and the scrims were just kind of warm-up and stuff like that. So, when we went into the series, we were confident in each other and we felt calm and relaxed and yeah, there were some turning points and stuff in the tournament that could have ended up going the other way. But that time it felt like things were going our way. And sometimes that’s what you need to get the momentum going. And once we had the momentum going, then no one really could stop us.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah. That’s really interesting to hear that, you personally felt maybe a bit low on confidence, but then the team overall felt relaxed and quite confident. Maybe that’s a sense of what’s maybe more important is the collective feeling.
How did you climb back to the top after falling off?
Speaking of kind of your major elite win and also some of the losses you had, you had a really successful career. A lot of people maybe don’t talk about you as one of the GOATs or one of the legends, but looking at your history, you had a really, really successful career, but you also had periods where, you know, you weren’t very successful. For a while, you were kind of competitive at the top, and then you kind of had a dip for a while where you weren’t getting the same results. And then, you know, kind of out of nowhere, you kind of, you know, ascended back to the top with, that Endpoint team, which, I was a huge fan of and I think a lot of people, kind of fell in love with a couple of seasons ago. How did that happen? Like, what do you think enabled, you to persevere and climb your way back to the top when most players really don’t, when they just kind of fall off?
Metsanauris: I think it’s really hard to find these good opportunities and good team synergies when you’ve been at the top and then you kind of fall down. People don’t have a lot of faith in you, usually if they see your form dip or something like that. So a lot of the time when people get older, they don’t really get picked for their teams or anything. So for me, it felt like a great synergy. First of all, we had, like, some good runs, in our first iteration of Endpoint where it was me, Wave, and Virtuoso. And then it didn’t feel like everything kind of clicked in the end. So, after that season, when we did the roster move, it felt like, some things just started clicking instantly. And it didn’t feel like I was a whole different player all of a sudden, but it felt like the team clicked really well. We had a great structure behind us at the Endpoint Then, everything kind of felt easier again. The team worked, and the game felt like it’s supposed to feel like you’re not struggling to do anything. You’re not always one step behind, but you’re kind of one step, ahead. And then the game starts feeling a lot easier.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, that Makes sense. And it tracks with having watched that Endpoint Team play. It just seemed like you guys knew where each other were going to be at all times, and you just kind of had a really solid structure.
What was competing during the pandemic like?
You know, speaking of that Virtuoso team, I remember watching that team, and it was very exciting to watch. I remember watching, there was one series where Virtuoso just had an insane amount of demos. But it was also, I guess, a very inconsistent play style. And I think… was that during the Pandemic era? Yes. What was that like, competing during the Pandemic? Was it, you know, was it fun in a way, like you got to play a lot of games, or was it just like you’re very isolated and, lonely?
Metsanauris: Yeah, very isolated and lonely. For me, that was the part of my career that I disliked the most. What, I love most is traveling and seeing people and being social and, being around people and working hard with people around me and seeing, kind of what happens, when you go to tournaments. You get to watch and, yeah, when you’re just in your room and you’re just playing the same game over and over again without, seeing the world a little bit. It was sad times for me, but, kind of finding a team that I’ve started believing in really well. And it felt like the team and the synergy and we were having fun as friends and teammates. That definitely helped, my time. But, yeah, I would have loved to be able to have a full career with no Pandemic in between.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, I bet.
Favorite place you got to travel to through Rocket League?
Yeah, so it says, sounds like you love to travel. And through Rocket League, you got to travel around the world and, you know, go to many different countries and cities. What was your favorite place that you got to travel to?
Metsanauris: I very much enjoyed Las Vegas, even though I wasn’t really old enough to do anything, but, it’s like a crazy city. Ah. So maybe that or then London, because I got to live there for a while and experience the culture, and I enjoy British humor and everything a lot because of that. So one of those, I’d imagine.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, that’s definitely interesting. I would say the weather-wise, it’s quite different between Vegas and London, but I guess, from Finland to Vegas is probably nice and warm, and you probably like that as well.
Does boot camping make a difference?
You mentioned London and the team house and also the Endpoint team where you had this, you know, chemistry, basically. And I remember watching that Endpoint Team. It was the start of the Open era. And one of the unique things about you guys that not every team was doing was that you guys were playing together in person for these regionals. Do you think that was, like, a big factor in your success?
Metsanauris: Yes, I think 100%. I think all of our best results were when we were at boot camp. And I think for any team that I’ve been a part of, I’ve played better, and we have played better when we’re playing together. And there’s something for myself at least, where if I feel the presence of my teammates and I can feel their emotions, that makes me feel a lot more confident. When I’m not seeing them, I’m thinking, okay, what are they thinking right now? Are they even focused? Do they think I’m bad? There’s a million thought processes that happen in my head, and, ah, that kind of changed how I feel as well. So, when you’re in boot camp, you know exactly what your teammates are doing, and, you feel a lot more confident.
Mr. Pirate: I feel like, yeah, that makes total sense. And I think we’ve seen since that season, since the Open era started, more and more teams seem to be playing, you know, boot camping or playing together for the regionals at least. And, I really noticed in that first season, that there was a consistent trend of the teams that were doing well were the ones that had their webcams on, and you can see they were in the same facility versus some teams that were just playing online. So it makes total sense to me,
What is your favorite goal from your career?
Just to wrap up this section, talking about your career, what was your most memorable goal or favorite goal that you scored, during your career?
Metsanauris: a goal that I’ve scored. Well, I’ll remember.
Mr. Pirate: Or assisted. Because you got a lot of assists.
Metsanauris: I did get a lot of assists. But you don’t remember the assists. You only remember the goals. So, I think there’s two that come to my mind. One was in the Eleague final. First game, it’s nil, nil against Cloud 9. And, everyone’s kind of on their toes, and I think the first game is really influential in what happens. So I end up, I think it was overtime or close to the end of the game, where it’s 00. I end up kind of dribbling to the side and getting a shot off, and it was kind of just myself doing the goal. And it felt like, okay, this might be a turning point for me. So that was a goal that I remember. And then I, I didn’t end up scoring a lot in that, series after that because my teammate started popping off. But it felt like that was a really important goal and probably one of the most important goals of my life. And the second one that I can think of is, in RLCS season, okay, something where we, it was We Dem Girls and we had this run-in in at Worlds where we didn’t have a sponsor or anything. And, I had this massive fake that I got against Chiefs, where I faked two of them out and then smashed it in the corner. And I just remember like screaming at the top of my lungs because it felt so hype to kind of do that kind of fake goal. That was a huge moment. Yeah.
Mr. Pirate: Ah, it’s pretty crazy. Yeah, yeah, that sounds like a pretty exciting goal to score for sure.
Does ego affect how players play?
You know, it’s kind of, interesting that you mentioned that, you don’t remember the assists and you remember the goals. Do you think that influences how people play? Do people play maybe a bit more selfish and look for, you know, solo plays and just shooting rather than when maybe sometimes the right play is to pass or play a team play?
Metsanauris: Yeah, 100%. The people that make it to the top are the people that, are, ah, confident in themselves. So everyone wants to be the main guy a little bit. I kind of, I’m not kind of like that person, but I still have those same qualities. So I want to be the difference maker and stuff like that. Right. But a lot of people to be the main character and they want to score the goals and they want all the attention. So, yeah, that’s definitely something because if people are confident in themselves, that also elevates their level. So they kind of go hand in hand. But there should be some kind of balance where you put the team first and then yourself. But it’s hard to stay confident in yourself if you’re putting the team first instead of yourself. It’s. Yeah, it’s weird. No.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, it definitely is weird. I mean, I played, you know, sports, when I was younger as well, so I understand, like, you kind of have to have an ego to be successful. You have to be confident, but you can’t let it get in the way of the team.
Sweet Cases, The Rise of Endpoint, and Rostermania
Who was the weirdest teammate you ever had?
Mr. Pirate: And, let’s kind of, you know, talk about some of the teams you played on and the, kind of roster moves that happened. You played with a lot of great players over your career. Mognus a lot. Remkoe, Seikoo you know, of all these players, who was the weirdest? Was there anyone really strange or funny? Or were they all just kind of, you know, normal, quiet people?
Metsanauris: It was a lot of funny people. If that comes as weird, like, funny weird where, like, al0t, Mognus, Relating Wave. Seikoo are really funny. And they make funny jokes that kind of end up being weird. So, we had, like, great laughs with a lot of those teams. Yeah, I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus for being super weird. That’s not really what I do. But, yeah, a lot of funny, weird people.
Mr. Pirate: Okay, funny weird. Do you remember anything strange any of these players ever said that you were like, “What is this person thinking”?
Metsanauris: Okay, let me try to think. I think the funniest stuff was just when Seikoo tried to speak normal. But then his French was really bad at the start of us teaming. And he would say stuff that doesn’t make any sense in English, but he would make it seem like he really tried. And, he used his perfect English. But, yeah, it was really funny. I remember at least one time where he typed something like, we were talking about luggage or something about travel. And then he kept typing sweet case instead of suitcase. So it was a sweet case. And it was so funny because he kept repeating it and it kept happening a lot of the time. So it was kind of like that with a lot of different phrases, and words, but it was really funny. I love, I love that man.
Were you surprised by how good your Endpoint team was in RLCS 2021-22?
Mr. Pirate: Yeah. You know, I loved watching Seikoo as well. I didn’t know, that he was such a funny guy. But I loved watching him break out on that endpoint team. And, we already talked a little bit about that endpoint team, but, you know, that team kind of came out of nowhere. It felt like, as a fan, you know, preseason, no one was really rating you guys as, like, a contender. You were just kind of an in-the-mix, middle-of-the-pack team. And then you won the first regional, I believe, and then you end up winning two out of three for, the first split, which was, you know, kind of a huge shock. And then, you know, you went on to have a pretty good season, you know, even after Seikoo Left.
But did that team, like, did you guys feel that you were being underrated by everyone and that you were expecting to be at that level or where is it just a surprise to you as well? Like, he went into the first regional with no expectations and then, oh, we won.
Metsanauris: We didn’t expect to be the number-one team in Europe, that’s for sure. We were like 13th seed going into that tournament or something like that. We had one, off-season tournament before that with the roster and we lost pretty early on. So we didn’t have much, experience with each other, even going into it. But I think we knew at some point with that roster we were going to be good, probably like a top-five team. I thought in my head at some point we’re going to be a top five, but probably not. At the start, Seikoo was really inexperienced and I thought it was going to take some time to get stuff rolling. But once that first tournament started, we had some bumps in the road at the start, but we slowly started gaining momentum and it felt like we were exceeding everyone’s expectations. So we didn’t have any pressure on us. So we just kept getting better and better and the expectations, weren’t really there. So we just rode the momentum and all of a sudden we realized we’re in the finals. And yeah, it kind of felt like the game became really easy all of a sudden. Yeah, we had great synergy in that team and the roles really fit well.
How does pressure affect your performance?
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, it sounds very similar to what you said about the Eleague win, that you felt relaxed and you didn’t have all this pressure and expectations. Do you think that’s kind of the key to success and high performance?
Metsanauris: I don’t think so. People perform well under pressure. And that’s happened to me a lot of times as well, where if I don’t feel like there’s any pressure, I don’t really perform up to my standards and a lot of people have that. But it does help if the environment feels relaxed and you… you don’t feel tense. That’s just sports psychology, where, you want your body to feel relaxed, that you, your body does all the movements it wants. Right. But, it has to be a perfect balance between those two. And yeah, I think even with that, roster we started having some pressure on ourselves, but we still kept performing later on as well. So, yeah, it’s, it’s a difficult thing to say, but it’s, it’s some kind of balance between the, between the two.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, it makes sense. Sounds like you need the right level of pressure. No pressure doesn’t work. And too much pressure and you’ll play bad as well.
Was it a surprise when Seikoo left the team? A disappointment?
You know, finishing up with that season, kind of, you know, you had a crazy start to the season, and then, a pretty good second split as well. And then, Seikoo you know, decided to leave to join BDS, which, you know, worked out great for him. They won the World Championship and it was a super team. But obviously, it left you guys kind of, you know, in a worse spot and you were scrambling to find a replacement. Were you, expecting him to leave? Had he already kind of said stuff to you guys, or was it a surprise? You know, personally, as a fan watching that team, I thought you guys still had a good shot to compete at Worlds and make a run. And it was a bit disappointing to see him, you know, join and make the super team. And there was one less, you know, in my mind, there was one less contender out there.
Metsanauris: It wasn’t a surprise. There were some talks of him wanting to go to a French team even before that second split. So it was after the second split that he left. There were already some talks, after the first split, but, yeah, my heart definitely sunk a little bit when he wanted to leave. But obviously, I didn’t want to restrict, him or anything. he is a perfect professional and just, a great teammate to be around. And he made my career, back to the highs as well. So I owed definitely him that as well, where he can do what he wants. Right. But it wasn’t a surprise by any means. I would have loved to see where we would have ended up with the roster because at last, it felt like we hadn’t broken through yet. And it could have been any of those tournaments that we break through and get to the high places. I would have loved to see how it turned out. But, yeah, the French love to be with the French. So, that’s just how it is. And I know from experience that that’s probably how it’s always going to be.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, it makes sense for sure. I can imagine it was, definitely disappointing to you as a competitor, thinking like, oh, you know, we still have a good chance here with this team and now we won’t get to see it.
Did you ever have to kick anyone?
You know, that was a major roster move in your career, but you also had a few other ones. And I want to ask you, Was there ever a time where you had to kick a player and, you know, how did it happen? Like, how did you feel about it? Was it frustrating? Was it, hard to give that news, or was it like, I’m happy to kick this player, we need him out?
Metsanauris: there was one time in my professional career, only one time that I’ve ever been the one to initiate, a roster move. Other times it’s mostly been me trying to break anyone else trying to do a roster move. But there’s one time that I initiated the roster move and it was because of… it felt like I was giving my all and the rest of the team wasn’t really giving their all. And that’s kind of. I initiated the conversation of something needs to change. I don’t know what it is. Either someone leaves or, I leave or something where it was kind of a turning point where I felt like I’m giving my everything and nothing’s changing. And, yeah, I need something to happen here. So that was the only time gonna happen, and that was with TSM, and I felt really bad about everything that happened. And I’m not. I want to give up on projects or anything, but, yeah, it felt like we needed some kind of change because of how the team was working and we weren’t moving forward or anything. It was just stuck still and nothing was going anywhere. So that was the only time. And yeah, I definitely had sleepless, sleepless nights and, everything kind of felt. Felt like my heart was broken a little bit.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, no, I can imagine you’re still really young and making these, what are essentially cutthroat decisions in a competition.
Did you ever argue with teammates on how to play?
You know, that TSM team you said didn’t work out because the team wasn’t on the same page regarding, you, know, dedication and how much effort they were putting in. But, did you have arguments or disagreements with other teams and teammates on how to play specifically? Like, I, think we should rotate this way, or I think, you know, I want you to challenge here. And, is this a good thing? Is this a bad thing if teams disagree on how to play or, How do you feel about that?
Metsanauris: There were some teams that didn’t work where you would have a lot of arguments like that. And that’s usually. If you have a lot of arguments like that, then it’s probably not going to end up working because people are stubborn. I’m a very adaptable guy, in my opinion. And I tried to make people around me comfortable, but if I got into a lot of arguments about stuff, that probably meant that things aren’t really moving anywhere. We’re not doing compromises. And if you don’t see eye to eye on certain stuff then usually it’s just bad for the team. And I don’t think I had a lot of good time. There was actually with TSM, that was the only team where there were a lot of arguments. Not really between myself, but between other people. But then they will always end up with a smile and people would kind of make the compromises in the Endpoint. So that’s. You need to be able to do compromises if you’re on the team. But if you have a lot of arguments that aren’t going anywhere, that’s bad. But if you’re able to come into solutions, then that team can work for sure.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, that makes sense.
Was it a shock when you got dropped from Complexity?
Were there similar disagreements with Complexity? Because, in what many call maybe the worst roster move in RLCS history, you were controversially dropped from that Complexity lineup. And people want to know why did that happen and was it a, ah, shock to you? Were you blindsided or was it just kind of… you were expecting it and it was just a matter of time?
Metsanauris: I was definitely expecting it. To the outside, it seemed like a shock because of our results and how we really were best buddies for that whole two years. Pretty much, well, not the last part but pretty much the rest of it. We hung out every day on Teamspeak. We just had a great laugh every single day. We were really just tight-knit with each other. But slowly it felt like I was getting pushed out. We used to play ranked together all the time as three and just have fun and enjoy playing Rocket League. But slowly I was getting pushed out of that. They were playing with their new teammate a lot in ranked. They were doing a lot of stuff where it… I’m somewhat… I always know kind of what people are thinking with their actions. I don’t really need them to tell me. Ah, but there were a lot of signs that things are moving into a negative direction and that affected me as well. I lost a lot of confidence in that season. We went to boot camp and it felt like there was no energy into improving the team. They just wanted to get it over with. And at RLCS instead of typing in the group chat, they would type to each other or stuff like that. So it was tough for myself and my confidence was pretty much at an all-time low and it made sense to kick me at that point because, because of my confidence. And I wasn’t really doing as great as I could do. But yeah, I knew something was going to happen. And it happened pretty quickly after the fact because I knew that something was going to happen. So I just, when I got home I just messaged them and said things aren’t right, that what’s happening here?
Mr. Pirate: Oh, so you kind of kicked yourself. You kind of initiated it.
Metsanauris: Well, I didn’t kick myself, but I asked “What’s happening?”
Mr. Pirate: Okay, so you started the conversation. I mean. Yeah, no, it definitely sounds like there was some you know, I wouldn’t say falling out but some you know, personal issues.
Why do RLCS teams fall apart?
Do you think a lot of RLCS teams fall apart because of the relationships between the players or is it just because of “We’re not getting the results that we were expecting”?
Metsanauris: Yeah, a lot of people don’t blame themselves for losses. So the easy way out is to blame your teammates. So if you are best buddies with someone. And this kind of happens in real life as well where you just talk trash behind someone’s back and then your mind kind of goes into that mindset where okay, I’m seeing other things now that he’s doing wrong as well. Where you kind of shift the blame towards someone else so you don’t blame yourself. So that happens to a lot of teams. And that definitely happened in some of my teams as well. And in that Complexity situation, it felt like as well where things get out of proportion really quickly when you’re talking to someone about someone else. So that’s kind of. I drive towards having all team conversations together instead of one by one and it kind of drives the team environment forward as well.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, I mean I think especially with, you know, Rocket League being a three-man roster, it kind of lends itself to two players maybe getting along a bit better, and then the third kind of is a, you know, can feel left out.
Do you think players are too trigger-happy with roster moves?
Do you think that players are a bit too trigger-happy with roster moves these days and that they should stick it out a bit longer and improve because you were on rosters that stuck around for quite a while and did see some improvements or do you think that there is merit to making roster moves quickly and just trying different rosters out?
Metsanauris: I think it’s hard to, especially with these long offseasons now, to keep a team together and not feel like you’re going forward. I think that’s a big reason why the World Champions aren’t sticking together, this offseason. If you have these tournaments and you keep going to them and you feel like you’re going towards somewhere, then you don’t feel like you need to make roster moves. But if you have a really long off-season where it’s hard to motivate yourself to become better if you’re already at the high level, so I think that forces a lot of roster moves, but also that already happened before. People are really trigger-happy just because it’s kind of a competition on who stays on the team. So if you’re the first one to try to initiate kicking someone, you have a bigger chance of staying in the team than the one that’s last. It’s a very toxic environment, in my opinion, where the team and the players have all the power instead of the management and someone else who, or maybe a coach who sees the big picture instead of the players that kind of have this inner fight on who gets to stay on the team and stuff like that. and they get to talk to each other and try to manipulate each other. Yeah. Something about esports that I don’t really like, or just Rocket League maybe, that I don’t really like.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, for sure. It’s definitely one of the biggest differences, I think, between traditional sports and esports. Maybe not all esports, but definitely Rocket League.
Should players be in control of roster moves? Or should a coach or the org have that power?
And I asked Coach Nick about this as well, and he had a similar opinion that, you know, the players have all the power. And, it’s hard for him as a coach sometimes, to get players to really, you know, you know, buy-in and respect him maybe because they know that, you know, if push comes to shove, they could get rid of the coach before he could get rid of them in most situations. Do you think that that’s something that maybe could change in the future or should change? Should players be in control of the roster and roster moves, or should it be someone above them, like a coach or the org, and take it out of their hands?
Metsanauris: that’s a great question that goes into a lot of depth because I think it shouldn’t be the players, but it will always end up being the players because that’s who the orgs want. They want to have the best player. Right? And if you have the best player, he is going to have the power to choose who he wants to team with. That’s just the matter of how it is. You’re not going to choose to have someone say you’re an org and, you have a coach, but you have some incredible talent in your team. You’re not going to listen to the coach and just keep him and you let your good players go. No, you’re gonna have your best player stay in the team. You do yourself the best possible chance to keep him on the team, and you’re trying to keep him happy to make sure he doesn’t leave the org. You stay as successful as you can. So my answer is, yes, the power shouldn’t be on the players, but yes, the power probably will be on the players for a long time.
Mr. Pirate: Yeah, it definitely makes sense from an org perspective. It just kind of leads to a lot of, you know, drama and potentially toxic environments when these things happen. But, it’s just how esports is right now.
Yeah, I think that wraps up most of the questions I had about roster mania. I want to move into some other topics about kind of what you’ve been, you know, moving to in your career after being a pro player started, talking about your journey as a coach and, also kind of the future of Rocket League esports.
Stay tuned for Part 2 dropping soon!
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