Tainted Minds’ seventh roster change of 2017 saw veteran in-game leader ap0c out the door and replaced by former Chiefs star Josh “INS” Potter. The hero of Chiefs’ underdog run at IEM Sydney will play his first event with Tainted at the CGPL Championship, where the team will look to follow up on their strong performances at CGPL Spring and ZEN League Season 2.
I spoke to INS briefly before the event about his time with Corvidae, the rise of the Chiefs powerhouse and his decision to join Tainted Minds.
Your career in the upper echelon of the Australian scene started on Corvidae. How did that team come together and what can you tell me about your breakout into CGPL/Div 1?
aliStair approached me and asked me if I wanted to join his team which, at the time, was himself, erkaSt, Steej and goa, I played with them for a bit and was pretty keen so I joined them and played under QMX for a bit and later joined Corvidae. goa later left because he thought erkaSt was cheating and we took that opportunity to pick up Gratisfaction. The first season we played of Div 1, we made the LAN. It was my first LAN and our first as a team. We had quite a successful LAN, considering, making it out of groups.
Four of the five players in that Corvidae roster are now star players on three of the best teams in the region. What aspect of that team do you think facilitated this?
You can’t really say. I knew at the time we all had potential to be star players. I think at the time we didn’t really have a set IGL. We kind of swapped between myself, erkaSt and Steej. I know I learnt a lot individually playing with erkaSt and he definitely made me a lot better.
ASDF, later Chiefs, was formed through Lightstep’s scouting of young, inexperienced talent. What was he like as an in-game leader?
It was a different style to the IGLing I had been used to. It was a lot more of a faster approach to strategies, more grouping up and trading and using our individual firepower.
When tucks took over leading duties and pecks was brought in, Chiefs became far and away the best team in the region. Is that a reflection on tucks’ calling or was it more to do with the team’s fragging output?
I think it was a bit of both. Tyler [tucks] took over in-game leading and there was almost a new environment. We all started to put in a lot more effort and help give Tyler ideas. Also, having another strong reliable fragger helped a lot.
Josh ‘INS’ Potter’s first LAN with Tainted Minds – Source: Tainted Minds Twitter
Obviously, this lineup’s highlight performance was IEM Sydney, where you personally had outstanding performances in wins against Renegades and North. What allowed you to play this well with such pressure?
I’m not really sure. When you’re in that situation and in the moment like we were, you don’t really think about it at all; you just focus. At the end of the game, I realised how many people were standing to the side watching us play.
Why do you think Chiefs struggled domestically so much after that event and after placing first in the WCA Asia-Pacific Finals?
I think we were just playing so much and had been through a fair bit of travelling through that time. We were all slumping individually and we all just needed a break. We tried switching roles to freshen things up but it didn’t really change anything. I think all the other teams were improving a lot and catching up to us.
What was your reasoning behind leaving Chiefs to join Tainted? Did these disappointing results of late factor into that?
My decision to leave had nothing to do with the team or our results. In fact, I think before I left we were just getting our mojo back and playing well as a team.
You’re replacing ap0c, who was the team’s in-game leader. What can you tell me about the roles and structure of Tainted after joining?
We haven’t really had much time to go into too much depth with all of that. All I can really say is that yam will be taking over the IGLing.
Looking back on your career up to this new chapter, how do you think you’ve grown as a player since the days before, and during, Corvidae?
I’d like to think that I’ve grown into a more well-rounded player since my days in Corvidae. In Corvidae, I was pretty one-dimensional individually.