Going into Challenger Playoffs I asked Cookiez and Crow for their thoughts about the teams.Going into Challenger Playoffs I asked Cookiez and Crow for their thoughts about the teams.
1Shot
1Shot is a team that doesn’t have high expectations from anyone. As Crow explains “In the past 1Shot have always been a good regular team but fizzled out in playoffs. This stage they weren’t even good during the stage so I don’t like their chances.”
Cookiez also had a lot of questions regarding the teams dramatic fall of from Stage 2 to Stage 3 despite keeping the same roster and bringing on Necrox as coach. “Necrox to coach has not had the effect wanted. The team has almost become too stale compared to past iterations who were much more dynamic.”
The analyst also had doubts about 1Shot’s entry duo of Razorr and nvK. Whether the fall off in Attacks came from Finka’s nerfs or larger team issues, he isn’t sure. “nvk moves like he has anchors in his boots and is almost never risk taking or going for big plays. And razor is playing ‘correctly’ in terms of being an elite entry, plenty of risk taking but simply not capitalizing the same way he did in the past or even in Stage 2.”
However, the team isn’t entirely out of contention as Crow points out, “The one saving grace for 1Shot is that during the normal stage they were the only team to take RTV to overtime”
RealityTV
Cookiez had a lot of good things to say about RealityTV, from the quality of their play to the story lines. Regarding the newer pickups, he called Gaveni’s emergence unprecedented, Gity a “salary cap miracle” that should have been illegal to get, and highlighted Packer’s transition from LeFraudulent sub to one of the most solid players in the league. Cookiez also notes that this is a result of solid leadership by Mr.B: “B brings out the best in this team, this team is NOT 8-0 with just any old schmoe in the lineup over British.”
Cookiez had plenty of praise regarding the quality of the team’s play as well,
“RTV doesn’t make you throw your hands up in confusion or frustration at inaction as a viewer. Everything they do, especially in the witching, ‘shaky’ moments of the round, makes…sense, positioning, coverage, has been impeccable. and you have to respect it that they have the talent and guns to back up any questionable play such as, “packer out 90 window as Smoke? Totally Acceptable.
They’re dynamic when need be, they’re incredibly poised when need be, and since adding gaveni and later gity they are objectively the best team in CL, undefeated against all playoff teams after moving on from the TragikL era”
While much briefer, Crow also holds the team in high regard, “RealityTV had an undefeated stage and looked like one of the most dominant teams we’ve ever seen in CL. I don’t think much more needs to be said there.”
Luminosity Gaming
Regarding LG, Crow notes that they’ve been dominant aside to their loss against Reality TV, outside of that their performance has been incredible. As a result, the caster expects the team to blow through their semifinal opponents. “Even though AA are pretty strategically sound, I think LG will be able to simply overpower them no matter what they pull out.”
Cookiez sees a lot of good in the team, but has some concerns regarding the map pool. He thinks highly of the team’s micro play style, saying “They play like American Brazilians, the LATAM coaching is the difference” However, one concern he does have for the team is their map pool going into a Best of 3 format. Nothing has been shown on Skyscraper or Themepark, which indicates it’s either “…a trap for opponents or a disaster waiting to happen, classic”
Arial Arise
Cookiez has a lot of concerns about AA going into playoffs. First and foremost is their record against other playoff teams. The team has only won against 1Shot twice through the year. The team also has a lot of question marks after Mohessee moved to Mirage. “…Freak is at career lows in just about every category, negative for the first time since his rookie season. This team having success will rely on Qrtz resurging his career and providing “assistance” to Freak.” Otherwise “there is no clear front runner for the team, either in playstyle or fragging.” Beyond the entry duo, Cookiez also has concerns regarding Tonez “He is entirely too inconsistent compared to his counterparts at times.”
Crow has similar concerns regarding Arial Arise’s performance going into playoffs. He notes they didn’t have the strongest of stages compared to last year, and their only successful playoff run was when they lost to Parabellum in the last stage of 2021.
However it isn’t all doom and gloom for Arial Arise, their playstyle is solid, albeit not as airtight as LG or RTV, but the explosive play can get work done in it’s own right. On top of that the map pool is strong, especially their proficiency at Theme Park and Skyscraper. Cookiez thinks this is a big edge the team has “…they might be able to force dramatic map 3s against anybody, ESPECIALLY a heavily favoured LG, who is 0-3 on those 2 maps.”