With experience as a player in organizations like paiN, Keyd Stars, and INTZ and a two-year job as a caster for Ubisoft, Vitor ‘IntacT’ Janz accepted the challenge to be the new Team oNe’s coach.
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THE INVITATION AND TEAM ONE’S SITUATION
‘The Team oNe’s invitation came from Kakavel (CEO), who contacted me via Whatsapp. We (Team oNe and I) already talked before about that possibility in the Mexico Major with Buzz (COO), he came to the studio at the time I was a caster, and we had a chat about competition. He also asked about my interest in returning to compete and I said: it depends on the proposal, but I want to return’.
‘The possibility appeared after the players and coaches left the team and after that, they immediately approached me and said that Lagonis would contact me for us to have a chat. Lagonis came to talk to me and I analyzed the whole situation because I had a secured job in Ubisoft as a caster. In one way I didn’t want to cause problems with my replacement but I already commented before that I was interested in returning to the competition. All the things lined up, I really liked the project and the player involved and I accepted it.’
Lagonis was crucial in the IntacT signing (Photo: Ubisoft/Kirill Vision)WRITING A NEW STORY
After being Six Major Mexico’s Major and building a strong roster in 2021, Team oNe farewelled six of seven elements that composed the last team. Karl ‘Alem4o’ Zarth joined G2 to put the European organization on the road of the title again. While the trio Juliano ‘Levy’ Andrade, Eduardo ‘KDS’ Fontes, Caio ‘Neskin’ Szazi joined 00Nation alongside the coach Arthur ‘TchubZ’ Figueira and the analyst Rafael ‘RafadeLL’ Oliveira.
‘A bit before I get called to join, Kakavel and Buzz came to me asking for an opinion on new upcoming players. I already gave the name of Maia, Dotz and also dash. They saw that our ideas were lined up, so that was a key point for them to invite me to join them. I talked to Lagonis about the roster and all the players that I recommended; Lagonis said: I’m already in contact with them. It’s very probable that all get closed. That also encouraged me a lot.
‘We stayed a bit apprehensive till the end of the transfer window because all the process could fall through for the reason of the transfer of the players to 00Nation. It was a last-minute deal. But from the moment that 00Nation gave his ‘ok’ and Team oNe said that they received the transfer, we started the work from the first day.’
Team oNe’s new roster for 2022 (Photo: Team oNe)BECOMING COACH AFTER PLAYER AND CASTER EXPERIENCES
‘It was an old possibility. I always liked to teach about any area, and I thought it was a bit weird the possibility coming so late. Maybe because of my work in Ubisoft, teams might think that I was no longer interested in competing, but I got very happy when Team oNe invited me. Although it is my first time coaching, I think I fit well in the role. What I do today makes me very happy, and I think everyone is happy with the results.
‘As a player, there are some tricks and some feelings that I can share with the players that only those who have competed can. Indeed, it’s interesting because in the competition it’s not only tactics, there are some mental triggers and some feelings that when you feel it you need to understand and replicate later when it’s good and when it’s bad to drop it. The whole process took me a while to understand as a player but because I felt that previously, I can speed up some things for the players. Maybe that’s why, even if our team has only 40 days since the creation, we could rush the process.’
‘As a caster, it was very good for me to keep the rhythm to watch VODs because it was obligatory to watch it, and that helped me to not get outdated regarding the meta and tactics. I retired as a player in late 2019, so it was two years without competing. Two years is enough to get outdated in the tactics if you don’t follow the scene. As a caster, I knew the tactics of all the Brazilian teams and also the international teams from the tournaments that we covered. Lagonis was worried about me possibly getting outdated, and he asked me about that, and I said no because I watch a lot of games, my creativity is still flowing, and I had ideas while I was casting.
IntacT’s previous experience helped him to coach (Photo: Ubisoft)A KNOWN PATH
After Guilherme ‘Guille’ Scalfi, who’s the current manager and coach for MIBR, IntacT is the second to leave the job in Ubisoft from the official broadcast to join the competitive scene. Asked if that could happen more times, IntacT is clear: ‘Without a doubt.’
‘I think Luiz ‘Ique’ Monclar is a person that when he wants he has a place in every team, because, even though he isn’t in the competitive scene, he’s the best analyst that I saw working ever. He’s very smart, he knows a lot about the game. Otávio ‘Retalha’ Ceschi is in the scene since the beginning so he could do that road too. I believe Rafaela ‘Miranda’ Miranda because she was previously a player, it’s only a matter of her desire. I think she will enjoy her new work as an analyst for Ubisoft but at the moment that she wants to become a coach she can do it. I already chatted some times with her previously and she knows a lot about the game and she’s doing a great job as an analyst alongside Ique. ‘
CHEMISTRY WITH THE CAPTAIN ‘ LAGONIS
‘Until now very good, I would say perfect. One key factor for this team is that everyone collaborates on the analyses and tactics so it’s not an overloaded process for me. Dotz is a very creative guy as also dash, maia and rhZ. They’re always bringing new ideas. We do it all together, in that way our process speeds up and our map pool too. If we keep this strategy in which everyone brings new ideas it’s perfect, let’s see if in an international context we keep that because the games are faster. For the time being, it’s two games per week and we have a lot of time to prepare for the upcoming games. When it would be the international events that are a game after game all the days, we’ll see how it goes.’
EMOTIONAL AND THE ADAPTATION FOR THE NEW PLAYERS
Gabriel ‘Maia’ Maia, Leonardo ‘dash’ Lopes, and João ‘Dotz’ Miranda are debuting in Série A, and IntacT talked to us about their adaptation to the level of the competition.
‘Even though they don’t have any experience in Serie A, we got players that played Relegation. One thing that I work with them is my vision that there’s no more emotional game than a Relegation because it’s a one year work in one series for you to get promoted or relegated. rhZ played with Santos, dash, and dotz with SuperNova, and Maia previously played in a Series B final. Basically, I demystified the concept of Series A for them ‘ ‘you already played the most emotional game, in my opinion, more than an international tournament final.’ Because in the international final, even if you lose, you already achieved a lot, but in the Relegation, it’s a whole year of work that goes through.’
Team oNe’s new signing, Maia, is already shining (Photo: Team oNe)‘I also told them to do the same that we do in the practice in the official matches. We’re not the ‘practice kings’, that shine in practice and choke in the official matches. In the first game, they felt a bit the ‘weight’ of the debut but in my vision, we learned a lot with that match. We were winning, then they come back in the result and then we went to overtime and we won ‘ all that in only one game. In the next games, I feel that it was more organic. I also say a lot to them that the more you win it gets easier to win because your brain gets used to it. With that, you also get the idea that it’s possible to win. When you’re losing consecutive games your brain is expecting a possible lose.’
THREE NEW MAPS
‘I believe that helped us a lot because in the time I was a player, I played Border and Skyscraper; I didn’t play the Theme Park, but individually Maia, dash, and Dotz like the map a lot, so they brought that tactical part to us. I always liked that map rotation to not be always the same and for us to have some surprises in some maps. A few we didn’t show yet; there’s the map we’re banning for the opponents think that we don’t have surprises in them.
‘I’m sure that the recent map vetos surprised the rest of the teams because we were banning Kafe and in recent times we didn’t do that. If we qualify for the Elite Six, I’m very excited to show the new maps to everyone but if someone wants to play it in the next games, we will.’
GOALS AND VISAS
‘I use one that my father taught me while I was a child at school. (On a scale of 0 to 10 for you to have a good grade), He usually said, if you aim for a 6, anything could happen, and you can take a 5 or 4 accidentally. So always aim for 10, because if you take it all good, but if not you can take a 7 or 8, which is good also. In that way, our goal and our focus it’s to be champions no matter the tournament.’
‘Team oNe’s staff is helping us with the visas but it’s a hard process. It has been hard to get an interview for the visa. Also, Covid delayed all the things but we’re trying as hard as we can to get it. We’re also seeing if Ubisoft can help us but there are still two visas missing ‘ Maia and Dotz ones. I don’t have it too but if something happens to me, the important thing is for them to go because I can do my job remotely. If all gets done and I go too, perfect, we’ll do history! ‘
Even with a new roster, Team oNe wants to keep the same goals (Photo: Ubisoft)NEW SEASON, NEW PROTAGONISTS, SAME STORY?
One of the surprises in the Brasileirão is w7m, a team that is leading the competition and beat teams like Team Liquid and MIBR already.
About them, IntacT says: ‘since they got kheyze, they attracted my attention. They were at risk to play the Relegation, and when they added kheyze, they saved themselves in a very good way. He brought a very good impact to the team. When they signed with the two new players, I thought to myself; they will cause problems. When we practiced against w7m, we saw that all their dynamics and methodology changed, so it’s a completely new team. It seems that the new players brought a new identity to the team. I think the teams didn’t know what to expect from them in a situation similar to ours. Although I don’t believe it’s lucky, I think it’s a result of competence and good work. I think they’ll keep their level and the top 4 in Brasileirão, maybe not in top1 because we will play against them and we want to beat them (laughs).
w7m keeps the impressive record in BR6 (Photo: Ubisoft/w7m)‘NIP, it’s very weird that they are in this situation. It’s a historic team; they’ve great players, Mity as coach and Bob as manager. They’re an inspiration for the new players that are coming. Maybe they need a tactic reformulation. From my understanding, I can see repetitive behaviors inside the game, and they’re becoming very predictable, and I don’t know why. In terms of quality, they’re still great players. We will face them soon, and we show the same respect as they placed in top4 or Six Invitational champions.
Regarding Team Liquid, they keep their consistency; I don’t remember they missing the top4 of Brasileirão since they entered the competitive scene and always show that they’re doing great work. Regarding FaZe, I believe two factors are affecting them ‘ the great quality of the new teams and the fact they always try to bring something new; sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. They’re still trying to figure out how to play this new meta. I still believe that FaZe Clan can reach top4 in BR6.
