Spookz: Some of the funniest things about Snipes is [his] game knowledge. This is mindblowing, but he didn’t know what Riven passive did. […]
It is crazy. Like, he is pure talent. The joke in the team is “How insane would Sniper be if he understood the game? Sniper definitely has that killer instinct, which a lot of players don’t have, it’s going to make him a superstar. People don’t see the angles that he sees, especially 1v1. Once he consistently understands his job, he’ll be a superstar, without a doubt in my mind.
Highlight: 100T’s Team Nicknames for each other!
Sniper: Snipes
River: Riv
Quid: Quidditch
Tomo: None yet (but soon?)
Eyla: Billygoat or just GOAT
Q: First question: Wtf. Were you expecting this?
Spookz: Tbh, it hasn’t really sunk in yet, but after we lost to TL — we got completely stomped and we played really badly — we learned a lot, as a coach I’ve never had a series that was as impactful to a team as that series. Everyone started understanding what their job in the game was supposed to be, and from that point onwards, scrims started going a lot more smoothly.
Obviously, the DIG series was a little shaky, but […] I could tell we had a chance against every team from that point. I thought we had a chance against C9, and that was kind of the click moment, the light bulb moment we really needed.
Like I said, [the loss to TL] was the turning point.
Q: What is it like to coach such a this team?
Spookz: As a coach, you’re only ever as valuable as what your players enable you to be, and our players are very open minded. They absorb, they sponge information.
Coaching this team, you get to see your work actually happening. Especially Sniper, he’s just an absolute sponge. He wants to learn, he’s always keeping the team environment up when spirits are down, and just watching him develop […]
He went through the ups and downs, [in Spring] he had some insane games [with] raw talent, then it was a reality check for him when people started playing more stable. He’s like, “oh shit, I actually have to figure out the game; what am I actually supposed to be doing other than just styling on someone and then carrying team fights?”
Seeing our guys, we’re able always to come together in a review, get on the same page and do it in the next game. That is pretty unique to a team. And it’s so refreshing as a coach, honestly speaking. You don’t get much of an opportunity to do that with other rosters.
Q: What went wrong for C9?
Spookz: From my POV, their preparation was not good. Our Game 2 draft was complete Disneyland, so that one was on us, but the other games I think their draft prep was not great.
And I think their gameplay was really stale, really predictable.If you hear the comms from our side, we know everything that’s going to happen in the game. We know what they’re going to do. We know what we’re going to do. And, generally speaking, our goal is accomplished on the round. Whereas when you face teams like FLY and TL, they’re constantly making creative plays, they’re adding variables to the game that you’re not expecting.
And then you crumble if you’re not super organized.
Q: How do you make sure to use the creativity that C9 lost today?
Spookz: I think we were kind of too far that way at some point within the split, I think recently we found a better middle ground, like “understand what your job is, and make a creative play from that point.” I think it’s not good as a coach to get 5 players together and be like “this is what you have to do on every round, no matter what,” because that creates a predictable play path.
It’s your job as a coach to find the correct balance. So I feel like C9 is … it’s too hard, unless you’re a fly on the wall, to really put blame on anyone. Everyone has input on the direction of the team, it never generally comes down to one person. […]
It just seems like it didn’t work out for them.
Q: How are you feeling about FLY?
Spookz: I think FLY improved a lot recently, we scrimmed them quite a bit in the past couple of weeks. Not sure why or what happened, what clicked, but FLY were very strong all of a sudden. But the thing about FLY is they’re predictably unpredictable. You kind of know how each one of their players plays, but […] you know they’re gonna make creative plays.
I think Busio is probably one of the most important elements of FlyQuest. If you can track what he’s doing in the game, you can understand what they’re trying to do, but he’s really smart. He’s a really smart player.