“Ignore the Coaches Poll” – Interview with London Royal Ravens’ Nastie

Recently we got to speak with Byron ‘Nastie’ Plumridge from the London Royal Ravens to discuss the upcoming season, Modern Warfare 2 and much more.

First of all, what are your thoughts on Modern Warfare 2 as a whole?

Nastie: “The base game's really good. I like the gunplay. It's good. I think the maps need some work. We're still playing with eight hills on some of these maps which can't be happening. So once they tune that, I think we'll be good. And I wouldn't mind a ninja perk as well.”

How have scrims been going so far, do you think this will be a good year for the Ravens?

Nastie: “Yeah, I think so. I would ignore the coaches poll. We’ve had a pretty slow start to it because we started later than everyone else. But we'll get there. I have faith. It'll be a good year. We just need a bit more time, you know.”

You’ve got PaulEhx returning to the London Royal Ravens for the third year in a row. What’s he like as a teammate?

Nastie: “I never teamed up with Paul until last year and I had a good experience with him last year. He's pretty vibey, brings good vibes to the squad and he is a really good player. So I'm looking forward to playing with him this year for a whole season instead of just two weeks. Like I said, we should have kept him last year.”

London had a lot of disturbances last year, do you think this hindered you and stopped the team from reaching their full potential?

Nastie: “A hundred percent. There were a lot of outside factors that controlled our year. I think we got ahead really early last year and then after major one, Joey had to go home and stuff like that. We couldn't practise and then we could practise and then Joey came back and then we couldn't practise again. So we fell behind. We had to get Harry in, Harry's a really good player, but he was the wrong fit for our team. So yeah, I felt like that really did hinder us.

And then towards the end of the year, we just, we had all the pieces. We just couldn't put it together. I feel like if after major one none of that stuff happened, I think we would've had a really solid year. I felt like we would've been quite consistent the whole year throughout, to be honest.”

The London Royal Ravens have been ranked bottom of the Breaking Point Power Rankings this year. Does this give you some extra motivation to prove them wrong?

Nastie: “ I mean, it's always great to prove people wrong. Honestly, I don't really care about the coaches' poll though. Respectfully. Last year we had the same thing told to us and then it just didn't turn out to be true. So we'll just do the same thing this year. I can see why because we have started slow in scrims, but I don't feel that 12th represents us. So, yeah, I think we'll be fine.”

We haven't had a UK event in a while, is that something you’ve been pushing for at the Ravens?

Nastie: “Everyone here wants a London event. I'm pretty sure the whole league wants a London event to be honest. London's known for having a really good crowd, really good event. I would love to have a London event. Hopefully we can get one. Because it would be amazing to go back and play there again.”