Ethan ‘Ethan’ Arnold is widely regarded as one of the greatest IGLs of all time, but Valorant’s 2026 meta shifts have proven to be a challenge for the entire scene.
Insider Gaming spoke to Ethan at the Esports World Cup after their quarter-final victory against home favourites Gentle Mates. NRG’s IGL tells us about the contest, adjusting to the new meta, and looks forward to their semi-final contest against BBL.
Insider Gaming interview with NRG’s Ethan at the Esports World Cup 2026
You came back from a map behind. It feels like it’s something you do a lot. How do you stay composed in those situations?
Yeah, sad to lose our map pick on Haven, but we were confident in some stuff we improved on on Sunset, and we knew we had Lotus for the last map, super confident on that one as well, so just had to make it through Sunset.
You had a crazy French crowd against you. How did it feel in the game?
Yeah, it doesn’t really matter if the crowd is with us or against us; we use the energy to push through the game, whether it’s good or bad, so it was super cool.
It’s always cool playing in front of a big crowd, and yeah, we were just having fun.
I feel like you take away other teams’ strengths, almost like you suck this all out of the other team. How do you think you achieved that in the game?
We have really good game plans going into the game, so we’re also very confident in just what we do, and maybe that’s kind of why teams look worse versus us.
We’re just really confident in what we do, and we fight as a team. We have good teamplay, and we’re also good at making miracles happen, I would say.
I think that’s also part of our game plan; we have some tricks up our sleeves that help us with some rounds.
You have a lot of those little plays which catch people off guard. How do you decide within the server when to pull those things out?
We’ve just been a team, us four as a core for so long, that we’ve just built up so many different protocols and mini-plays, we know how to play off each other, and then bringing Geo [keiko] in, he brings his own stuff as well from other teams.
We have a very deep strat book when it comes to everything. It’s not even just like big strats, it can be little mini-plays or heroics from, let’s say, Adam [mada] today, stuff he likes to do, and we’re just all very synced.
What’s the communication for those little plays? Are you calling it like a quarterback, or is it more in-depth?
It depends on the map, some maps the players know what I like to call more than others.
I think on Lotus we’re just a hive mind, everyone knows how I call on Lotus, even since champs of last year, obviously there’s been tweaks and improvements, but everyone’s on the same page for that map, and the more we play.
Haven, for example, everyone knows what I like, and what’s good, so it’s just about reps, that’s it.
There’s been a third big shift in the meta this year alone, so how do you prepare for a new meta?
It’s tough when you’re not ahead of it, I think in London we were a little behind, and we didn’t have a lot of time between London and now to change meta.
Having to learn how to play Neon is a hard thing to do in a short span of time, but we had a good bootcamp, I think I’m also just decent on Neon. It wasn’t a whole, like, going from 0 to 100 on that agent.
I had some prior knowledge, and I have really good Neon players on my team that can help me as well. Adam gives me all the pointers, Geo has little plays he likes to do as well, so I get a lot of help.
You’re playing against BBL next. They are very aggressive, and traditionally, NRG has preferred more map control and considered play. How challenging is it to stay on top when that meta is going to be more aggressive?
Yeah, I think a lot of teams are copying BBL with how they play, maybe not like comps and stuff like that, but playstyle on a lot of maps, a lot of finding gaps or creating gaps, and that’s something we’ve been trying to kind of nail on our defence, is how to minimize that and play against that, it’s going to be a hard game for sure.
We scrimmed a lot versus them here and in Madrid, so we’re used to it, but it doesn’t matter if you’re not sharp on the day, so it should be fun.
In terms of the meta, what’s your read on the changes through this year?
Yeah, I think it’s similar to how Champs was in 25. Obviously, Neon is way more prevalent now than it was back then, you just have to abuse Neon, or you lose basically.
But the cooldowns are cool, I think you can get very creative with the initiator cooldowns now that they’re back down to 50, and I think it’s in a good spot right now, now that we’re abusing Neon.
In terms of your own point of view, your own personal preferences, what would be the ideal meta for you?
Preferred, I wasn’t on Neon as an IGL, but you gotta do what you gotta do, and take some for the team.
I like Neon, so it’s not the end of the world.
Can NRG bag another title? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out our EWC interview with Team Heretics’ benjyfishy, and for even more Insider Gaming delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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