Sam “Genetics” Harris has been recently announced as the new support player for eUnited (and you can find our article on it here). While he’s a good support player that’s proved his worth in EU’s Smite Challenger Circuit, there’s a good chance many of those who don’t watch SMITE competitive outside of SPL aren’t familiar with Genetics. We had the opportunity to ask him a few questions about SMITE’s support meta, his dynamic with the new team, and a whole lot more.

Interviewer: How much of a history do you have with your new team? Is it weird to get away from teammates you’ve been with for the better part of a year and get thrown into an entirely new roster?

Genetics: I've never played with any of these guys, and it's different teaming with players from NA because meta/playstyle differences. Streakup is someone I've teamed with for a year and a half, so it's going to be different during laning phase for sure.

I: You’re a player that has a history of picking aggressive supports, and playing supports that wouldn’t typically be classified as “aggressive” in a way that is still very high pressure. How do you feel going into the SPL’s high aggro support meta, and do you feel like your playstyle still stands out?

G: I can play pretty much everything, I’m not too worried about my godpool or the meta. I’m fine SMOrcing and I’m fine peeling. It all depends on the game

I: Is there a sleeper pick in support that you think is underrated? Why so?

G: Terra. OP god. Healing, damage, and walls with an AoE ult that’s a 5k health swing late game. She’s just weak til level 3.

I: Who is your least favorite god to play against and why?

G: Hate any Fatalis (left clicking with no movespeed penalty) god, they just press W and I die early game.

I: Snoopy’s had a history of picking off-meta in duo lane due to his history as a mid laner; have you two tried out any unconventional duo lanes? Or are you two still in that adjustment period where getting synergy down is more important than injecting new picks into the mix?

G: Snoopy/ Hurriwind will have off meta picks that work well together, just have to make sure they are tested before they get played on game day.

I: Has the ping disadvantage changed your god pool at all, or are you comfortable with the change? For instance, I know that Fafnir is a pick you like pulling out in competitive play, and landing those hammers can be difficult at higher ping.

G: Not been a problem in scrims massively. Doesn’t allow me to play off meta gods like Isis and Anhur, which I’d like to whip out, but otherwise not complaining too much.

I: Have you been working with flex picks that your team might want to take (like Sobek, for instance), and has your god pool been changed up a bit by adapting to your new teammates?

G: Only scrimmed for three days, but flex picks are very strong in competitive SMITE because it makes it harder to ban gods against the team. You’d rather ban the broken god that only plays one role, or the god that the team can flex between three roles? It makes picks and bans easier because of that.

I: As far as shotcalling goes, have you found yourself taking charge of comms and making calls for your team? How do you feel that you fit into your team’s dynamic in comms?

G: Yeah, I’ve taken charge of shotcalls early/mid game, and I think that’s all we need aside from meshing to make us one of those top teams that we already are mechanically.

Genetics seems confident in his SPL debut with a fresh roster, and for good reason. The eUnited roster contains storied members, people who have been in Smite’s competitive scene since competitive began. In the first set with the team, Genetics had a great showing. He seemed to have great coordination with his teammates, and they had a close set despite losing 1-2 to Sanguine. The first game of the set (which was a win for eUnited), it was an extremely long 53 minute game that Genetics set the pace for. Genetics played Horus in a way that took advantage of how quickly his ult can transport his team from one place to another. In fact, they took the enemy Titan and won off the back of 5-man dropping into Titan pit with Horus ult.

Genetics impact was immediately felt in this set, despite the fact that he had a whopping 200 ping for the duration of the set. He played at 120-ish ping in scrims, but due to having to connect to HiRez’s private server in Atlanta, his ping was much higher than expected. You can see him talk about this in an interview with Hayzer here:

The remarkable synergy Genetics showed with his team shows that the roster change, at least so far, was a positive change. Even though he hasn’t spent too much time with his teammates, they were able to play well enough to take a game off of a top SPL team. If this is the starting point, then eUnited is the new team to watch in the Pro League. Their next set is against Spacestation Gaming on Sunday, April 26th. For coverage of that set and everything else SPL, stick with STIX.