AJ "2eZ" Pieri is a staple of the Mortal Kombat 11 PlayStation Competition Center community, known for his strong placements in the Open Series. A lot has changed in the months since the Sub-Zero main joined Ketchup and Mustard on Final Round — 2eZ is now the Pittsburgh Knights' first Mortal Kombat player. We caught up with the former Simplicity pro to discuss the transition, more on his style as an “aggressive zoner,” and advice for new players just setting foot into the ring.  
 

Theresa: Congrats on joining the Pittsburgh Knights! What was your road to becoming a part of the team?

2eZ: Before I joined PK, I was under the Simplicity Esports banner. They’re a solid organization with 40+ LAN centers in North America and an established income. This was an important setup for me professionally because a lot of organizations are in the negative -- they’re spending and not making the revenue back. I was with them for roughly a year. 

With that being said, I’ve always made sure to be under some type of sponsorship because I have the resume to show for myself with placements since 2015, meaning that I’m pretty solid. I know my value, and I know how to present it to teams so they see how it would be beneficial for us to work together. That’s how I eventually made my way to Pittsburgh.

We'd like to welcome our first ever @MortalKombat player to Knighthood:

? @2eZMK ?

He's heading to @WePlayUFL's $60k tournament next weekend. Stay tuned, #KnightsNation. ?

? #PKMK pic.twitter.com/MFEoarazZr

— Pittsburgh Knights (@KnightsGG) December 3, 2020

Valuing yourself as a professional is important. You mentioned having a track record since 2015 — is that when you started playing fighting games, or when you picked up Mortal Kombat specifically?

MK is the first game I took seriously, starting with Mortal Kombat X in 2015. I literally played the game for a year straight online and didn’t get into the spotlight until later. I didn’t know about tournaments or anything at that time. I was just like, “Oh wow I really like this game, it’s fun.” 

The first “esports presentation” I saw was a YouTube special for Mortal Kombat X called Fatal 8. They invited eight players from around the world to compete in this tournament before the game even came out, so it was special. I got a glimpse of the scene and said, “This is ridiculous, I’m getting this game and preordering it right now.” After I saw that special, it was a year of grinding, a year of just playing online and not knowing about the FGC scene or anything. It wasn’t until one of the CEO offline events that I really started to get into it. In 2016 I started winning a lot, hitting some juicy pot bonus online tournaments and getting first place. A couple of organizations then reached out to me, and from there I’ve been obsessed and I’ve been loving it ever since.

It sounds like the online tournament circuit was a help for you. What’s the value in playing an online tournament in particular?

Yeah, it definitely was a help for me. Online is so crucial, especially for the new players coming out. For anyone that’s interested in getting started, it’s the best place for building consistency. We didn’t always have the type of opportunity PlayStation offers with a weekly series that feeds into monthly finals. As a veteran in the scene, I love it because not only do we have one of the best netcodes in fighting games period, we have these great tournaments as well. 

Before Ultimate came out, I was in the area where I didn’t enjoy the game as much, but the weekly and monthly events with ESL and Playstation were one of the reasons I kept playing. Because of COVID, there are really no offline tournaments. This makes the Competition Center the main staple for online events when it comes to consistency and incentives, playing out every week, so it’s awesome to have at this point in time.

It’s definitely been fun to see the scene come together online like it has in the past year. Your place in it has shifted as well — since joining Pittsburgh, you moved up from Open Series to Pro Kompetition play.

It’s been a fun transition so far! I love the overall tournament integration with the PS4. It feels like the same system where you play your match, auto report, and every once in a while you get a dispute that’s really quick to resolve. I love the ESL integration into the PlayStation partnership. Looking forward to playing more Pro Kompetition level events going forward.

Speaking of pro competitions, you just got back from WePlay Dragon Temple. Tell us a little about that experience.

Oh man, it was an experience nothing like anything else before. I’ve been to a lot of offline invitational events and WePlay definitely set the standard extremely high for other organizers going forward.
 

That’s incredible, and it seemed like a great time for everyone invited to Ukraine. 

Yes, definitely. They invited people from everywhere. There were Latin players, North American players, as well as European and Russian players, so it was like an international event. A total of fourteen players were invited with everything covered, it was a truly crazy experience. I have a vlog coming out soon about it [editor's note: stay tuned to the Pittsburgh Knights YouTube channel for it].

Were any players at the event that you hadn’t had a chance to meet before?

Before COVID, I would see the same people every month traveling out to majors. For instance, TekkenMaster, and A Foxy Grampa were also at WePlay and I had met them before. I did get to meet Azodimazze for the first time [read our interview here], and he was cool. A lot of online players don’t like to show themselves to the world, maybe because they’re shy, but AVirk was one of those who finally did at the event. He was a really good Scorpion player. Also, I met MK_Azerbaijan from the CIA region, as well as Dubasik, who is pretty popular on the Russian side. He was really good and actually beat me in pool play.

You mentioned previous majors and events you’ve attended. Tell me more about those experiences and which stand out the most for you.
 
When it comes to offline experiences, I have the trinity. Combo Breaker in Chicago, CEO in Florida (my two main ones), and the third one being EVO, though it’s likely canceled until further notice with or without COVID until management speaks out. If I could recommend any events to a new player, it would be Combo Breaker and CEO for the overall experience, but EVO is the event you have to go to at least once in your life. It’s in Las Vegas, it’s pretty crazy, so it’s at least a one-time thing for a casual player.

So going more into the fundamentals, how would you describe your playstyle in Mortal Kombat 11 compared to your opponents?

In MK11, I mostly enjoy rushdown, in your face characters. I like characters that when I set up situations, I keep my turn. I really don’t like giving up my turn, haha. I like it when my character can take the opponent’s turn and they have to respect that, and can’t do anything about it. 

Right now, Sub-Zero is my main and what I’m known for. I’ve also been using a lot of Cetrion, and recently have been experimenting with Sheeva. I think she’s going to be one of the characters I’m maining. I also have Shang Tsung and Scorpion in rotation as well. I can use more characters, but I don’t want to spread myself too thin in tournaments. I like to keep a decent pool that will give me a chance with whomever I face. I think that’s a solid 4-5 characters I can use at any given time.

With your strong champ rotation and rushdown style, would you say the current meta is favoring you? What do you expect from MK11 in 2021?

You know what’s crazy is that Cetrion is known as one of the strongest “zoners'' but her aggression is insane. That’s what I love about her. That’s why players are using her a lot,  because she’s so rushdown. The main thing some Cetrion players complain about is that she has no damage. But that’s the thing, she doesn’t need damage. She’s always taking her turn back. She’s always resetting to neutral what is advantageous to her, making her easily one of the best characters right now. She’s rushdown, but also a zoner. Same thing for Sheeva. Sheeva has one of the scariest up close games, but because of MK11 Ultimate, she has one of the best zoning tools now [editor’s note: check out Ketchup and Mustard’s in-depth on Sheeva’s Dragon stance here]. 

It sounds like you prefer that balance to your gameplay so you can respond quickly to whatever comes your way.

Right. I prefer rushdown, but I’ve been using a lot of zoning. It’s weird, it’s like aggressive zoning. Not the kind of zoning where you lay back. That’s how a lot of zoners typically play, always moving back, you know “pew pew pew, backdash, pew pew pew.” No, my zoning is just straight up aggressive.

“2eZ, aggressive zoner.” You heard it here first!

That sounds good to me, haha.

Mortal Kombat itself is really seeing some movement with Ultimate and Kustom Variations in tournaments. How are you feeling about these changes so far?

I’ve been loving it. I feel like it’s given so much life to MK11. Before it, MK11 seemed a little dull because everyone was using the same thing. Now with Ultimate, you see so many people creating new dynamics and variations that they wouldn’t have thought of before. Sheeva is a perfect example -- she wasn’t on anyone’s radar until WePlay where Foxy Grampa introduced her, and with my own recent introduction of Sheeva as well. You’ll be seeing her more in online Playstation Competition Center events. It’ll also be about who’s keeping up with the meta. Meta is always developing, you have these moves that haven’t been used until now, so it’s just experimentation and putting it into the lab. 

So you’d call this the labbing phase of the current meta?

Exactly. I feel like the game has a breath of new life now. It’s exciting to see, I love it.

It’s been interesting on the viewing end, too. With that being said, who are some of the opponents you’re most excited about playing against because they help you put on a great show, or bring out the best in you?

The first is Illuminati. His Kung Lao is so clean. With Ultimate it’s like he’s leveled up dramatically and he’s way more dangerous than before, so I always look forward to playing him. Also, I just love Biohazard. Biohazard has always played hype, underused characters that aren’t exactly the traditional picks in every game, from Mortal Kombat X, Injustice 2, to MK11. For instance, he uses Kano now, who is extremely strong and scary to fight. So Illuminati and Biohazard -- I think those are the two players who are the most fun to play against because of their character variety.

They are both amazing to watch in-game. Going forward, are you hoping to see some new blood come into the scene?

I’m always excited to see what other players rise up from playing online. There’s a lot of so-called “nobodies” that come up from here. One example would be iScorpion who is definitely a household name in the PS4 tournament scene. I’d never heard of him before, and he’s definitely getting better week after week. Players like that I love seeing. I’m also excited about the players who never had a chance to play online as much. Now with the NRS Pro Kompetition gearing up, we’ll most likely be seeing a resurgence of active strong players.

Coming out of nowhere is a popular motif in the FGC. Does that remind you of your own origin story?

Kind of. I was born in Caracas, Venezuela. I lived there until I moved to Florida when I was 7 or 8, eventually moving around more in my adult life. I grew up in a household of older brothers who were all into video games. The Smash Bros series was big in our house, so fighting games were introduced to me early. Naturally, with a bunch of nerd brothers growing up, I took on that line and started from there.

So when you were ready to take your fighting game skills out into the world, did you do it by playing local events or online?

I played a lot online in 2015 when Mortal Kombat X, and pretty soon after started randomly browsing for tournaments in my area. I found one event that had a crazy prize pot for a local event, which is where I met my current training partners who introduced me to the FGC and the bigger tournament scene. Because of that small local event that I randomly found on the internet, I was introduced to the more offline tournaments. That’s how I started traveling. My first tournament outside of Florida was in Texas, where I got washed. But the next year, I came back and made Top 8 and gained a sponsor after that. It’s really all about your drive and how bad you want it.

What’s some advice you’d give to someone who is just starting out like you did back in 2015, hoping to gain the status you have now as a professional?

I would tell them that with MK11, like anything in life, make sure you enjoy it. Make sure you don’t find it like a chore or a burden. If you have a genuine love for the game and you are genuinely passionate about it, just make sure you’re just consistent after that. There were a lot of times back in the day when I wasn’t playing well, or losing motivation, but you just gotta keep at it until you get the results that you want. 

Sounds like the key to success is a mix of drive, motivation, and a love for the game itself. It’s a real career-oriented mindset.

Honestly, people always tell me that I’m the hardest working player in the game, and I’m grateful for that compliment, but I’ve been like this since a young age. As a person, I’m always doing an average of five things for work, so I wouldn’t call this my only job but it’s definitely in my schedule. I take this seriously, and it’s definitely more than a hobby for me.

It has to be important to you in order to rise up that ladder. How has your experience as a member of the Knights been so far?

Man, it’s been awesome. For instance, the media team is godlike. With WePlay, they were capturing a lot of clips, memeing, doing little things that I appreciate as a player. It’s all about the atmosphere. Right now it’s the best org I’ve been in, free. 

Do you know any other Mortal Kombat players fighting from the roof?@2eZMK just different ? pic.twitter.com/sbk51yrEZD

— Pittsburgh Knights (@KnightsGG) December 12, 2020

Wishing you a long and healthy relationship with the team! Any last words?

Also I want to give a big shoutout to my individual sponsors TheTarPitClub and GAEMS for investing into the FGC and support my brand. They've been extremely helpful so far, and I can't wait to do great things with them in 2021! (When shopping at GAEMS, make sure to use code “2eZships” at check out for a promotional discount!)

Otherwise, I’m really excited to move into 2021 with the Knights. And to new players, just keep consistent and I’ll see you in the new year.

You can follow 2eZ on Twitter @2eZMK and on Twitch at twitch.tv/2eZMK. Make sure to track his progress in the new year on the Mortal Kombat Competition Center hub, and give yourself a chance to rise up in the ranks by signing up for an Open Series event today.