Even though we didnt qualify let's be real GE could've easily been 3-3 (more than ample opportunities to close out against talon) or even possibly 4-2 as we could've won against zeta too (considering the laz 4k turned out to be the swing round which crushed the attacking half completely and we easily would be 8-2 up with eco round and GE having 3 to 6 big ults on the following buy round). We have been completely shat on only two games vs PRX and DRX.
Good Things:
1.We are good on comms and team chem. Sometimes we do go overboard, but overall good.
- Benkai switch to secondary caller looking good.
- LF and Russ have looked the most stable over the course.
- Pistol rounds and Anti-eco have looked really good. (We lost one on Icebox, but won the next round against RRQ)
- Icebox looks pretty solid.
- Polvi finding form on rifle.
Bad Things:
- Weak in fundamentals. We don't check corners :( Lost two big rounds against talon and zeta due to that.
- Weak Map pool. opponent pick and third map seems to be a big problem. Also lost 2-0 both times when opponent banned icebox.
- Polvi OP crunching has not looked as good as it should. Lost of misses even when there was good opportunities given and other times had to take too much risk to find impact. Scaling when polvi has op has looked shaky on attack side, with inefficient trading.
- It definitely looked like nerves played a big part in lot of the results.
Genuine Advice:
Expand Map Pool. Everyone knows by now that Icebox is perma-pick, and u look strong on it. Teams surely will start to ban it on Split 2. So, need to have a new perma pick and a better secondary pick.
We have horrendous buy round conversion considering we have highest pistol and anti-eco win rate.
Control pacing of the round better. We played to their style in both DRX and PRX games. (especially PRX)
Even though some might feel this team is a downgrade from last year, trust me, it isn't. Team chem will nearly always impact more than cracked individuals. Last year the language barrier and some other reasons impacted team chem. This year we definitely have 2 very good callers in benkai and russ, and team looks very well gelled. Hopefully, only better things to look for in split 2.