We sat down with most of the Obey Alliance team to pick their brains on how they’re preparing for the Paris Major, what life is like in a team house, and what the future holds for their team.
You’ve had recent success in the US Nationals and the Paris Major online qualifiers. How will you use these successes going into the Paris Major?
Adam: We know we have a lot of potential as a team. We need to just keep practicing together and find our playstyle… find our shape. We’re relatively fresh off of roster changes, so playing as a team and grinding out games is important. These tournaments helped us a bunch. We learned every single game we played.
On the other hand, you’ve ended mid-season at the bottom of the scoreboard for North American Pro League. What are some things that you feel like you need to work on a team going into an international event like the Major?
Skys: I’d say we need to prepare better for best of ones. We prepared so well for the best of threes that we got comfortable. We played so many Bo3s in the online tournaments, and it’s so different than when you do Bo1s. With Bo1s, you don’t have as many chances to win. However, all matches in the Majors will be Bo3s, so that should play into our advantage.
You’ve recently moved into an Obey Alliance team house in Texas. Tell us a little about your day-to-day life post-move. Do any of you have any annoying habits that the team has identified?
Benji: For me, it wasn’t a big change. In regards to annoying habits, I have found that our coach and I don’t like to drive, so basically nothing gets done. Other than that, it feels like our practices are more productive because everyone is next to each other, so it’s easier to get points across and focus up.
Skys: In person, you’re forced to pay attention more. Everyone’s forced to focus on the same thing together.
Who in-game leads (IGLs) for the team, and how has that changed since you reformed the team at the beginning of the season?
Bosco: I IGL currently. At the beginning of the season I didn’t IGL, so we didn’t have a set person making calls… and let’s just say things were kind of messy during that time. During the Paris Qualifiers, however, I took over being the IGL, and once I did that, we were all more organized on offense. Before that, everyone was trying to make individual plays; but now with me shot calling, we’ve started to play more like a team.
Will you be boot-camping in the team house, or in Europe to help with the jetlag?
Bosco: We’ll be boot-camping in the team house, basically following our normal schedule. Scrimming with ping difference isn’t super productive.
Are you excited to visit Paris? Will this be a first time for anyone on the team?
Bosco: We’re all pretty excited to go to Paris. It’s crazy to think that we actually get to go to Paris to play a video game; it’ll be a great experience. It’ll be all of our first time in Paris, we’re really looking forward to it.
How would you define your team’s particular play style? How do you think that will hold up at an international LAN event like the Paris Major? Are you making any major changes?
Bosco: We have a plan at the beginning of every round. Initially, we’re pretty strat oriented. However, on some rounds, someone could see a hole, or we realize what we’re doing isn’t working very well, so we make a playstyle change. I would say that we’re pretty adaptive and a very frag heavy team. We’re skilled at just running in and killing people if the situation calls for it. You saw that during the Paris Major qualifier, where we lost someone and had to adapt and change strats to be able to pull out the win. I think that as long as we prepare enough, I think the playstyle will be just fine. We’re more than capable of killing whoever we need to kill, and to be able to work together as a team. We just need to prepare leading up to the event and we’ll be just fine. Being able to adapt mid round will go a long way at an international event like the Paris Major. Sometimes you just have to adapt and change stuff up -- I’ve experienced that more at LANs than online games, so I think we’ll do well. We’ll be changing a few roles based on individual playstyles and how we feel will work better than what we’re doing right now. We think it will throw some people off; if it works like we hope it will, we’ll show up and look like a much stronger team than what we are currently. I think it’ll surprise some people.
Which teams have you identified as ones to be on the lookout for at this event?
Bosco: Every team there is one to look out for. We’re not going to underestimate any team, they all deserve their spot. Every team that is going to that event is going for a reason so it would be a mistake to underestimate anyone.
Are there any teams who you’re hoping to play against?
Adam: I’ve never played against PENTA, it would be cool to play against them, especially if we won.
Bosco: I’m kind of indifferent, it would be interesting to play against any of the teams. But I think everyone on the team would love to play against PENTA, it would be a good test. Some of us have played against them and it would be a good opportunity to have a second chance at a win. Also, if we make it out of Group Stages with another NA team, it would be awesome to have an NA matchup down the line.
Any teams you’re looking to avoid?
Skys: We’re not really scared of any team, we have the opportunity and the ability to win against everyone in this tournament.
Thanks for your time guys! Anything else you want to say before concluding the interview?
Adam: We’re looking forward to playing! Hopefully we can prove as a team with this event that we’re capable of much more.
Bosco: One thing I want to say is that we’re still a relatively new team playing together. Skys and Adam have only been with us a few months, Benji for about a month, and we’ve already proven that we’re capable of a lot with only that time together. We’re in this for the long run, and we believe that despite our Pro League performance now, we’re here to stay.
Skys: I believe that if it was not for Bo1s things would be different on the scoreboard. Paris is a Bo3 format so I feel confident going into an event like this we have the opportunity to surprise people.
Make sure to follow Skys, Benji, Adam, Bosco, and MahMan on Twitter to keep up with Obey Alliance’s progress during the Paris Major, and be sure to follow Rainbow Six Esports on Twitter and Twitch to catch all of the action during the event, August 13th – 19th!
