Tofu: "We all knew that a roster change was imminent and TI was going to be our last"

We had a different roster back then and were happily surprised that we actually made it to the finals for the second year in a row. It was still the unreal worst possible outcome because second-place finish is still worse to achieve, especially at a LAN tournament like The International. Problems started brewing even in the bootcamp leading up to TI and the team didn’t really come together.

I don’t think we were playing really well overall but we still pulled through. We all knew that a roster change was imminent and TI was going to be our last tournament together. Throughout the tournament, we were taking it one game at a time, including the grand final, even when we were trailing behind two games and talked to each other about having fun and trusting each other.

The team atmosphere wasn’t great. We were missing a lot of key things: communication, trust, motivation, and a strong work ethic. It just wasn't working out. Some people were not pulling their weight, which led to increased workload for others.

Roster shuffles are generally poorly designed in a way. The shuffle begins well in advance during The International with teams dropping out early already on the hunt for their potential recruits, while teams who are in the top, having to play the semis and finals, have no clue about what’s happening around them.

There is no public information available and everything is being orchestrated behind the back with players even backstabbing their teammates in the last second in pursuit of a better offer, often keeping them in the dark.

Watson was someone we had in mind. He’s been ranked #1 (MMR) for the past few years and is a high-skilled player, chilled and really easy to work with. We had two other options with whom we had very brief talks but there wasn’t much time. We had to make a decision fast as players wanted to know where they stood and thus we went with Watson.

We didn’t have a good season leading up to Riyadh Masters 2024. We placed badly in online tournaments, didn’t even make it out of groups at ESL One Birmingham and had a few other 5/6th finishes in other tournaments.

Shit wasn’t looking good as TI approached and throughout the whole season, there were always some problems surfacing. Ace and I put in more hours, going through the replays, trying to fix other people’s problems and doing more than needed.

Eventually, we had to take a call and move forward with the roster change.

We have definitely been in a rough spot this season but hopefully, we can end this downward spiral soon. We are still working on it, putting in a lot of time and effort to improve but it's been a way rougher start than we imagined because we thought things would turn out differently.

Our initial games with Watson were promising. The first two weeks of practice went super well, but it's unclear what exactly went wrong. Perhaps, it was the honeymoon phase. Identifying the exact cause of performance fluctuations is complex as numerous factors can influence outcomes, including individual form, team chemistry, interaction, and overall approach to the game.

Watson is an excellent teammate, offering valuable insights and strategic calls. However, his playstyle differs from the rest of the team, who have been playing together for over two years and have developed a deep understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses.

It takes time to synergize but we often get caught up in the small things and get influenced by negative outcomes, that inadvertently affect our gameplay. But we are close to hitting the switch button and flipping to the other side [winning].

We haven’t set any expectations for the team at BLAST Slam I. Everyone wants to do their best and see how far we can go. We still have a lot of improvement this season but everyone is in a good mindset now. I hope we get first but we are not there yet.