Washington Justice Corey on reversing the team’s fortunes with 2-2-2

After an intense match, the Washington Justice reverse swept the Florida Mayhem in a five-map series. 

Despite having a 2-0 record in Stage 4, the D.C. team is already out of the running for the playoffs. But that hasn’t stopped Corey “Corey” Nigra from enjoying his time on the Blizzard Arena stage. 

WIN.gg sat down with Corey to find out more about his team’s 2-2-2 strategies and how they plan to spend the rest of Stage 4. 

How are you feeling about your win over Florida Mayhem? 

Corey: Pretty good. It started off a little slow. We were trying to figure out how they were playing. And we came back pretty strong, I’d say. 

What do you think was holding you guys back in the first two matches? 

I would say we’re still playing a newer composition. I’ve strayed away from Widowmaker a little bit more. 

Why is that?

We’re focusing more on the shield war, the frontline war. You can damage their shields more with Hanzo than you can with Widow. It’s a different playstyle we’re going for, winning that frontline war. 

What turned thia game around? 

It’s more about us getting warmed up. We didn’t go immediately into the match. There was a Tracer 3v3 as well. We needed to get warmed up and settled onto the stage. 

What do you like about playing on the Blizzard Arena stage? 

I like how it’s cold, to be honest. It’s actually always cold. It’s really consistent. The feeling of when it gets really hype on the stage. You can feel yourself warming up. It’s the best feeling to have while you’re up on stage. 

Is there any moment you were most proud of in the match? 

Probably farming my dragon on Volskaya really fast. I had it for two fights in a row. 

You also used a lot of Reaper. Why do you think he’s a good DPS hero for the 2-2-2 lock? 

Basically he bullies tanks. You also have the option to pressure snipers and force them out, make them relocate. Then you can go fight tanks as they’re moving. His ult can be really strong, although it’s easily negated by Sombra’s hack and D.Va’s matrix. But if used correctly, you can win a fight off of it. 

What DPS hero are you hoping to be able to utilize more this stage? 

Tracer would be a good one for sure. But currently, it’s more of a counter-dive type of meta. I don’t think she’ll be seen too often. But that’s something I’d definitely want to play for sure. She’s a fun hero in general. 

You had to use Zarya a lot in previous stages. How did you like that? 

I personally didn’t like playing her too much. It was my first time playing her. Getting into it was so hard. It’s not a DPS mindset character. It’s slower, you think about the game a bit more.

On a DPS hero, you know what’s right and wrong in the moment. It’s instinctual. But Zarya, you have to see the game from a bird’s eye point of view. I like to be more instinctual. 

One of the analysts said that this match against the Mayhem would determine which team would finish last this season. What are your thoughts on that view of your team? 

It’s a fair view. We are technically fighting at the bottom of the pack, although I don’t think we are at the bottom. But with 2-2-2, our strengths are coming out. We’re 2-0 in this stage. But looking at the scoreboard, we’re both eliminated from playoffs. 

Now that you’re not making it to the playoffs, what is your team’s goal for the stage? 

To work on myself, and to work on myself as a teammate. Fixing what I struggle with.

There’s also that joy of messing up another team who’s trying to make it into playoffs. You can just rampage them in a match and kind of kill their hopes. 

Which team are you looking forward to facing next? 

Vancouver Titans, our next match. It’s very fun playing against a beast. Espeically now that we can show what we are capable of. 

What do you think will help you guys against these teams? 

Recently we’ve been meshing together really well. Everyone focuses on the small details of the game. We’re relaying info to one another. Based on that, we’ll make plays. It’s been very clutch many times in this 2-2-2 meta.