Lucas “NotE” Meissner doesn’t like to assume victory.
Even if his Dallas Fuel’s opponent is hanging around the bottom of the Overwatch League standings, he wants to take every match seriously.
That being said, the Fuel’s 3-0 throttling of the Vancouver Titans on Saturday was expected, Meissner told The Dallas Morning News in a phone interview.
It was supposed to be one-sided even though the Fuel were swept themselves by the Los Angeles Gladiators on Friday. Meissner didn’t see much improvement between the two performances.
Getting better, whether it be as a team or for the six Fuel starters as individuals, is crucial given the team’s climate.
Envy Gaming owner and Chief Gaming Officer Mike Rufail already gestured to “sweeping” changes in the off season that could see a big mix-up with the Fuel roster and staff.
Lots of fuel added to the fire today (pun intended). We will make some major changes and get the @DallasFuel back into the fray. Thankful for all of you have the patience. Working hard. Expect a lot of news for the team and sweeping changes.
— Mike Rufail (@hastr0) August 3, 2020
The Fuel are playing for their OWL careers, marking victories and progression as crucial measuring sticks.
“I’m glad we were able to play well enough to win today, but I think we still made a lot of mistakes in the match. They made a ton more on a larger scale than we did,” Meissner said. “Right now, with the way we played today, if we played against Gladiators again we would still probably have lost.”
Interim head coach Kim “Yong” Yong-Jin concurred. The win over Vancouver was his second in the new role, but he hasn’t been thrilled with any of the Fuel’s performances in the two weeks since losing two coaches and a talented damage player.
“From my own perspective I didn’t think we were that clean. We aren’t in the best spot right now and it’s safe to say we were performing pretty badly,” Kim said via interpreter. “We can’t be complacent against any team, but because we were the better team today that’s why it seemed like we had a clean win.”
WE BEAT THE 2019 GRAND FINALISTS LETS GOOOOOOOOOO- wait a minute...
— Crimzo (@Crimzo) August 15, 2020
Dallas’ ceiling wasn’t as high as it planned it to be at the start of 2020. Of course a pandemic and online play rattled the team and league, but if the Fuel can’t defeat the Paris Eternal on Aug. 23, they will have gone the entire regular season without a win against a top team.
Ultimately it was results that lead the Fuel’s current environment -- the team is searching for a soul in creating a healthy and successful team atmosphere. Dallas players don’t have anything promised for 2020.
That was something Kim discussed with the Fuel after the loss to the Gladiators. He wanted them to be aware of the situation. Kim also understood that his efforts could play a big role in determining their futures.
“Given that nobody knows who is going to go or stay on our team, I told them that they have to work hard in order to increase their own value. That’s the very obvious thing to do as of now and as of all times,” Kim said via interpreter. “Since we don’t know what is going to happen in the future, and because I was offered to take this position so spontaneously and might not be the perfect head coach they want, I just wanted them to know that I would do my best to teach them to my best knowledge.”
Meissner said these last two regular season matches and playoff slate are a prove-it spot for him and the Fuel. To belong in OWL, plays have to prove their ability to adapt and improve.
The Fuel’s tank player spent the better part of two years only playing DVa. NotE took on the role of Sigma this season and has expanded his hero pool slightly in that time.
That kind of move is important, but mindset is just as essential.
“Everyone is still trying really hard because they still want to be in the league next season and want to win as many matches as they can,” Meissner said. “Going into the playoffs and looking to win the final is a super daunting task and it’s impossible to expect to win if you just want to.”
Kim said all six of the Fuel starters have been “obedient” to his coaching style. They don’t challenge him, but rather do their best to absorb.
Support player William “Crimzo” Hernandez believes in Kim. He told The News that the Fuel would’ve been a top-10 team had he been in charge the whole season.
Fuel fans won’t get to see that. They may never get to see this rendition of the Fuel in that kind of spot either.
But they will see the Fuel playing for the future of their careers.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/5DNV3YBZFFBRNFJ7WLJWG2JD5U.jpg)
Find more Fuel stories from The Dallas Morning News here.
"fuel" - Google News
August 16, 2020 at 07:44AM
https://ift.tt/3h1MpED
Dallas Fuel players doing ‘obvious thing’ playing for their Overwatch careers in 3-0 win over Vancouver - The Dallas Morning News
"fuel" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2WjmVcZ
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Dallas Fuel players doing ‘obvious thing’ playing for their Overwatch careers in 3-0 win over Vancouver - The Dallas Morning News"
Post a Comment