“Our playstyle did change with MaKo coming in”- DRX BuZz talks on roster changes, defeating PRX, and VCT Pacific Stage 2 [Exclusive]

DRX recently went up against Paper Rex for the semi-finals of the VCT Pacific Stage 2 playoffs, on July 20, 2024. The team won in a stellar reverse sweep securing the last three maps- Bind, Icebox, and Ascent. They then went up against the Masters Shanghai winners, Gen.G for the top seed in Champions Seoul. Unfortunately, DRX lost at the finals of VCT Pacific Stage 2. However, their performance through both matches was highly commendable.

Byung-chul Yu or BuZz was one of the most hyped players during the match against Paper Rex and he certainly lived up to it. After the VCT Pacific Stage 2 matchup, I had the pleasure of speaking with DRX BuZz.

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DRX BuZz opens up about new IGL MaKo, VCT Pacific Stage 2, and hopes for Champions Seoul

Q: Hello BuZz, congratulations on winning your VCT Pacific Stage 2 match against Paper Rex today, would you like to share your initial thoughts regarding the matchup?

BuZz: Right now I’m just like ecstatic that we were able to get to the grand finals but I’m also very very happy and excited to know that we finally climbed and defeated the mountain that is Paper Rex today.

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Q: Ascent (map 2) was arguably your best map today, in fact, even after PRX took a time-out, DRX was able to dominate. Was this because you had a very good read on their strategies? Or was it something else?

BuZz: Actually, I want to give Paper Rex some credit that they made some crazy plays that we did not expect even after the timeout so, it was hard, but we actually adjusted to their mid-round things, and adjusted to their playstyle even after their timeout so I think that’s how we were able to get that win today.

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Q: It was certainly a phenomenal performance. However, in terms of maps, Abyss (map 1) wasn’t the best start for DRX. Were you at all taken off-guard by the Phoenix pick by Paper Rex?

BuZz: Well, it’s not just the Phoenix, their entire composition was not something that we expected. We also knew that they had strengths and also weaknesses, so we tried taking advantage of their weaknesses but they prepared very well so kudos to them. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the victory on Abyss but yeah, the entire composition itself was pretty shocking for us.

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Q: How was your team morale and motivation affected after losing the first two maps straight during the VCT Pacific Stage 2 match?

BuZz: Well, obviously after losing the first two, it wasn’t the greatest moment in the waiting room for us. But we’re a team that didn’t have anything to lose so we all told ourselves “Hey let’s just go out and give it our all, let’s just see what we can do and the last maps we can maybe win” and that’s exactly what happened.

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Q: That is true, especially for Bind where you started the comeback during the VCT Pacific Stage 2 matchup. You played Raze on the map and the Agent has recently been nerfed. Did you feel like the Nerf negatively affects the gameplay in any way?

BuZz: Raze is pretty overpowered in my opinion, even these nerfs aren’t enough for me to say “Oh it’s like a big change like an incredibly noticeable change.” You have to change your playstyle a little bit but for me, it wasn’t anything like critical for us.

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Q: That being said, do you feel more comfortable on Jett, Raze, or Neon?

BuZz: Actually I find all three of them very comfortable, if anything I wanna say I’m comfortable on all Agents so it doesn’t really make much of a difference for me.

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Q: DRX has a brilliant 71% winrate on Ascent. What do you think makes it one of your best maps during VCT Pacific Stage 2?

BuZz: We actually don’t think Ascent is our strongest map. But today, especially today, our calls, our reaction times, and basically overall strategy worked very well so I think that’s why people might say that we’re pretty good on Ascent right now but in reality, there are some things to fix.

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Q: After crushing the mountain that is Paper Rex, you now have to fight Gen.G. How are you hoping to do against them for the VCT Pacific Stage 2 finals as well as during Champions Seoul?

BuZz: Very similar to today, we’re gonna give it our all, see what happens. There isn’t a lot of time to prep against them right now but again, there’s not anything else we can do, we’re just going to give it all and see what happens.

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Q: Before MaKo, stax used to be the IGL for DRX. What difference do you feel in their leading styles?

BuZz: I think it’s actually kinda hard to comment on the IGLs, stax, and MaKo are both excellent IGLs and the playstyle of their calling is very different. So, yes in a sense our playstyle did change with MaKo coming in but it’s basically impossible to say who’s better than the other. I think what helped us today was more or less our adjustments and more our communication within the team these things all contributed to our experiences getting through the stages and that’s how I think we advanced today.

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Q: And for my final question, DRX almost made it to Masters Madrid and Shanghai, now you’re going to Champions, how are you feeling about advancing to the grandest Valorant stage of all? And what are your expectations after finishing in 2nd place at VCT Pacific Stage 2?

BuZz: I think Masters Shanghai and Masters Madrid are tournaments that I did not find incredibly important, if anything, I found them quite important for us because we just rebuilt and our young players need the international stage experience but in terms of the actual relevancy of the tournament, I think Champions is obviously the greater one and where we should focus our energy to. With our best of five experiences today and tomorrow I think that’s going to contribute to a lot for our performance in Champions so I’m looking forward to that right now.