Madss on TSM changes: “Our general manager felt it was time”

On day one of Fragadelphia x Tap 2, Dust2.us’ Jeffrey “Mnmzzz” Moore met with TSM Impact’s Marissa “madss” Dasta following the team’s 2-0 win over Sedated.

madss competes with a mixed roster called TSM 2.0, which was put together for this event following sudden changes to the TSM Impact roster last month. At Fragadelphia x Tap 2, madss talked about what happened at the TSM Impact Camp and how the plan is progressing.

Overall, a pretty easy opening game for you as you face a mixed team with the M80 manager. What do you think about this series overall?

We’re fine, we’re warming up a little. Everyone’s kind of okay, we’re all just having fun.

You are not on the regular TSM roster, but you, Lynn “Lx” Clarke, Mythic’s Austin “Austin” Meadows, Andrew “Pretzel” Davison, and TylerT69 are. How did this setup come about?

We bought a place, but then other teammates couldn’t come, there were squad changes. So I asked Austin if he wanted to play; I know he’s a good player and a great IGL, and I thought I could leave IGLing in the dust for a while. Tyler, obviously he’s a good player. I wasn’t familiar with Brezel, but he’s another recommendation for Austin.

So the plan was to be there with the entire team. Obviously the team went through some roster changes, but were there plans to include Diane “di^” Tran and April “Bungee” Haight?

We had planned to come here before everything happened, but it all happened very suddenly. I didn’t want to waste the space and really wanted to play since it’s a good experience, so I thought making a good mix would be enough.

It was shocking to see Lucy “empathy” Verkaik and Phoebe “phoebe” Winter leave so suddenly. After some time, can you tell us what happened?

It’s all kind of a mess. They say one thing, but in reality something else happened. Professionally it just wasn’t right, something happened, the chemistry really wasn’t right, they didn’t agree with the way we played. Our general manager felt it was time to make a change and so we finally did and that’s why we’re doing tryouts.

With di^ and Bungee, the team had a mixed result at ESL Impact. What do you think about this outcome given the circumstances?

Obviously we’re not where we want to be yet, but we kind of knew to use substitutes who haven’t played yet Counterattack They’ve been playing for some time VALORANT meant our results wouldn’t be great. Right now we’re more focused on our future and building a really good foundation.

And what is your full-time status in the team?

At the moment, trial training sessions are possible for everyone. In principle, all places are available.

Was it difficult to find replacements for Empathy and Phoebe?

Empathy is a great player, obviously her mechanical skills are amazing, but we lacked a lot of mental depth when it came to understanding when to make a play or when to do things. It just didn’t work out. Mechanical skills are great, but right now we’re focusing on trying people who not only have mechanical skills, but are also very capable of listening and understanding the game around them at the same time.

With the changes in 2025, there is a possibility that TSM Impact will be invited to more mixed tournaments. What do you think of this opportunity and this challenge?

It’s a big challenge. Any time you are able to play better talent and become more official is good practice. It will be great, especially for the new squad coming in.

You will be playing for Team USA at the IESF World Esports Championship later this year. What are the expectations for Saudi Arabia?

Last year we secured third place and I’m pretty sure we can do it again. Of course there is a lot of good European talent and a lot of real impact squads are playing. But I think we can at least reach the top 5.

Their next game is against the Phoenix Core at Penance. What expectations do you have for this game?

They are good players, so we expect them to be versatile and fundamentally solid. We will try to surprise them with our mechanics and a chubby style. Should be fun.

TSM will be hoping to put in a good performance here in Philadelphia when they compete in the group stage today.