Gamer – Evolve Pro Player Zaq "Maddcow" Hildreth
This month the ESL Arena played host to the Evolve PAX East PRO-AM tournament. The day-long single elimination tournament culminated in a best-of-five final match between two accomplished squads: Team Venom Hound and Pushing Daisies. After losing the first two rounds, Pushing Daisies made an impressive comeback to win the tournament, with Zaq "Maddcow" Hildreth single-handedly clinching two of the team's three back-to-back victories as an indomitable Kraken. We talked to Zaq about the tournament, what it takes to be a pro Evolve player, how novice monster players can up their game.
Name: Zaq Hildreth
Occupation: Google Fiber employee
Twitter: @MaddCowQQ
Location: Provo, UT
You chose to play as
the Kraken for all three rounds in the final match. What made you
choose him?
I chose Kraken for my first match in the tournament because
I didn't know how good the competition was and Kraken is my strongest monster I
feel. I wanted to assert strong monster dominance from the start to mess with
my opponent's heads. I then chose Wraith and Goliath for my next games due
to keeping the teams off guard on what I will pick in the finals and to show
that I am good with all three monsters and not just one. This was
intentional to keep them on their toes as they didn't know which one I would
pick. After that, I just stuck with my tried-and-true Kraken.
What is your favorite
monster in the game?
I love the Wraith due to how fluid she is. Kraken's
flying can get clunky at times and Goliath can have issues with leaping into
things and having climbing issues. Wraith goes where you want her to when
you want her to.
You suffered a narrow
defeat against Team Venom Hound in the first round of the finals. What do
you attribute that loss to?
They did a great job on keeping pressure on me in that first
tunnel engagement. Once I couldn't keep them back any further, I tried to
dart outside and got snagged by three harpoon traps. I kept trying to attack
them but they didn't get cut and I took tremendous damage from an orbital
strike and the full team firing on me. After that I got the Assault down
and felt I could have ended the game, but the Assault went down in an awkward
position. It was a clutch [healing] grenade from their medic Caira that got
Daisy back up that then got the Assault up. After that it was GG.
Did you see something
in that first round that affected your approach in your subsequent rounds
as the monster?
Not really. As a Kraken player I observe the
battlefield and look for openings to crack through a Hank/Caira setup. Eventually
I was able to single out players and that was the beginning of cracking their
defense.
I noticed you avoided
selecting the Kraken's aftershock ability. Can you outline your approach to choosing
and upgrading the monster's skills?
I dislike using aftershock at the moment because it doesn't
help clear out Markov's mines or Maggie's harpoon turrets. This can get
you into some hot water against a lot of the current team setups at the
tournament, as they ran both Maggie and Markov. As for my build, I always
think about what skills are best for farming food and preventing damage should
I get domed at Stage one. Kraken's Vortex and Banshee mines fulfill this
purpose very well. Both are good at farming food and slowing down/pushing the
Hunters around should I engage in a Stage one dome. After that, I max out
Lightning Strike at stage two to be my primary source of damage.
Round three was the
first make-or-break moment in the final. What did your team say to you
before the match began?
My team had confidence in me to the extreme. They all
told me that "You got this." I was really proud of my team's support at
that moment.
What were you feeling
during that final round, and when did you know your victory was in the
bag?
As soon as we lost the second round I was thinking "Wow, we
just lost the tournament," and I felt defeated. I got good compliments from my
team and chose my monster. Once I was in the final round I had a great start
and evolved quickly without having to engage the Hunters. When I armored up and
started to look for a good engage, I caught the Support by himself and very quickly
turned him into toast. Once I got that first strike and started to fly
away to get the next engage up, I had this perfect Zen-like moment and I knew
somewhere deep inside that we just won the tournament.
Coming Up Next: Tips for starting Evolve players...
How many hours would
you say you've put into Evolve so far? What's your typical practice
schedule for a week?
Between all the alphas, beta, press release, and retail release,
I would say over 400 hours. My practice was pretty hectic, but it usually
started when I got off work around 7:30PM and we practiced until we had to call
it. Usually we got a good 3-4 hours in, but some days didn't work for everyone
so we tried to cram what we could when we could.
Do you have any tips
you could share for someone who is starting out as the monster?
The biggest thing I could say is learn how your Monster
feels and get a good feel for the maps. Learn where good feeding areas
are, learn where the good places to engage Hunters are, and where it is really
bad to get domed and stay away. At first, concentrate on getting to stage two
as best you can. If you get domed at stage on, do your best to
survive. Once you hit stage two, try engaging the hunters on your terms.
Engage them in hostile wildlife areas or areas with a lot of walls that you can
use to break line of site. Deep water is also hard for the Hunters to work
with.
What do you consider
to be the most important aspect to succeeding as the monster?
Knowledge and staying cool. A lot of information needs
to be processed and decisions need to be made all the time. Experience and
knowledge will help you through these moments. Try to avoid
panicking. It's easy to panic when you are alone and can see your
doom. Learn to play your opponents more than anything else. This game
is 60-80% mental and 20-40% skill-based.
What's the biggest
mistake you see monster players make?
Not putting enough distance between yourself and the hunters
if you are trying to eat on the run. Map knowledge is another. Go in
straight lines; if you circle or double back a lot, the Hunters will catch up a
lot easier. Avoid dead-end sections of the maps.
What do you think
Evolve's long-term viability is in the eSports scene?
I think it is a fantastic eSport. It's great at
competitive level play and a joy to watch because there is a lot of mental
acuity involved, on both sides. It's similar to poker; there is a lot to
be said of trying to read your opponent and then exploiting their weaknesses.
What do you want to
see most from future content?
Variety in monsters, hunters, and maps. Variety is the
spice of life.
Do you play any other
games at a professional level?
I used to. The most recent being Fantasy Flight's
Netrunner LCG. I won every tournament and regional that I went to for
about a year and a half. Then Evolve hooked me.
What are your plans
for the future?
I'm slowly building up a Twitch and YouTube channels. My
ultimate goal would be to help coach/train/mentor aspiring gamers and helping
them with their strategic thinking in games across all genres.
Do you have any
closing advice for aspiring pro players?
Don't be discouraged by losing. It is the best way to
learn sometimes. Most of all have fun with your team and yourself; if you
aren't having fun it becomes a chore.