lanhero: "Orgs are not really looking to invest into an MDL team"
Our very own Collin "CarbonDogma" Davis caught up with F1-racecar-PEEK's Alex "lanhero" Suarez at ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals in Dallas, where the player was attending as a spectator, to get his thoughts on F1-racecar-PEEK's recent roster change, their performance in MDL, and their progress on finding an organization.
I wanted to start off with your match, what was it like playing on a stage?
It was really cool, first time experience in front of a crowd, really awesome. Just a little bit unlucky that we didn't get to win, but we really had a lot of fun playing it so it was really cool. Hopefully we get to experience that again.
Last season in MDL you guys were close to getting to playoffs, do you think you guys could have made it in the end there?
Yeah for sure. We had issues with our fifth, and the time that we were practicing, but we really thought that we were gonna make playoffs for sure.
Most of our games at the end were really close, we lost in overtime, then we lost 14-16's, and it was just unfortunate. Everybody was bummed out about it, but we made some changes and this season we're ready to go with kaboose as our fifth man.
You did play decent with smL, so how did it feel when he had to end up leaving?
It was different playing with smL, he played his own style so to say. After playing with smL and then trying out kaboose and the way he plays and how he makes callouts and talks in game, it just clicked for us and we really feel like we're on an upgrade right now.
So do you think kaboose is a really good pickup?
Yeah, for sure. We had a few people in mind for pickups, but as soon as we played the first time with kaboose he really stood out. Not only on his skill, cause he's super good, he already played pro before so we already knew he was good.
The way he plays in game... he's not a selfish player, he's a team player and puts himself second after the team. We needed more of that, as opposed to people that care about stats or how well they do in league.
Your coach Shakezullah also recently left to go back to playing. How much did he bring to the team?
He brought a lot to the team actually. Not necessarily in games, but he helped us a lot strategy-wise, and when we had server time. He helped us with new nades and new strategies. He's super dedicated to CS, and he's the IGL for his new team I think. He really works hard with his nades.
Do you guys have an ideas for new coaches, or is that sort of low on the priority list?
We had a few people contact us, wanting to coach us, but our team doesn't feel like we need a coach. It's definitely beneficial for us, but there's a lot of coaches that are super in their own ways.
We tried, not this season but the previous season with a coach, and it was not what we were expecting. So it really has to be something special. We're not actively looking for it, but if it comes up and it feels just right, we'll do it for sure.
What are you goals for this MDL season? I assume making the playoffs?
Definitely. The last two seasons we were close to making it, this last one even more so because everybody was on the same kind of score, so we're definitely looking to break that curse and make it to playoffs. I feel like once we get to playoffs and get into a best-of-three type of scenario, I feel like we could do damage.
There were some rumors of you guys being signed by BlackOut or something, is there any updates on your search for an org?
We're still waiting on orgs. It's crazy, the world of the orgs nowadays, especially in MDL for NA... it's not like we're asking for a lot, but I guess the revenue for MDL from an org standpoint is not as good, so orgs are not really looking to invest into an MDL team.
If orgs really invested in an MDL team, which is just one step from making it pro, and allowed players to focus on the game, I feel like there would be more MDL teams beating and showing up to pro level more often. In regards to BlackOut we haven't heard anything from them, as far as we know they're still in talks and haven't signed any other teams.
We're still waiting, but we're also talking to different orgs as well and trying to get something going on. So hopefully something will get announced.
F1-racecar-PEEK took their first MDL Season 28 win over The Pioneers on Nuke yesterday, sneaking through a 16-13 victory after being up 14-7 early on in the match. Their next matchup will see the team take on the ex-eRa roster on Thursday at 9 PM EDT.
