nexa confident OG can \u201cmake damage\u201d in lead up to Rio Major despite slump Joao Ferreira for ESLOG have had a rocky few months. Between missing the Antwerp Major and roster changes, there\u2019s been some glimpses of brilliance \u2014 and some howlers. Despite the ups and downs, captain Nemanja \u2018nexa\u2019 Isakovic is confident they can make the Rio Major, and even cause some damage. DreamHack Melbourne was a tournament to forget for OG. Coming in as hot favorites, the European squad couldn\u2019t get anything going down under as they fell victim to Entropiq before being upset by Chinese minnows Wings Up Gaming in the Group A Decider. They failed to make the playoffs, leaving the stage \u2014 and the country \u2014 dejected. Not one to make excuses, nexa said the team took on full responsibility instead of pointing to the factors of jet lag or stage nerves. However, he did say one thing, and that was the team\u2019s jam-packed schedule, even over the player break, left them exhausted. \u201cWe ran out of energy,\u201d he simply put to Dexerto. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just the travel. We had a bootcamp right as the season started then we played the RMR qualifier then we played BLAST. We were on the road for 32 days straight up to here, so it took a toll on us. \u201cIt\u2019s not to make excuses \u2014 we played terribly this whole tournament. You may think there\u2019s some worrisome signs off the back of this tournament but we know why we played badly, what the issues were, and how to fix them for next time.\u201d It\u2019s that positive outlook, finding something out of nothing, OG is leveraging as they push towards the Major. The squad has had mixed results out of the player break. They clawed their way into the second European RMR for the Rio Major through the first Open Qualifier, and then found an uptick of form at BLAST Premier Fall Groups. Having those results bookended by a blow-up at Roobet Cup before the roster changes, and DreamHack Melbourne after, isn\u2019t the greatest look. It also comes after missing the Antwerp Major by one game with a loss to Eternal Fire. The team is adjusting to a new dynamic with 60% of the roster changed in just weeks, and there\u2019s something exciting about the new blood. \u201cWith the change of Degster for mantuu, the team dynamic is way different,\u201d nexa explained. \u201cThe one thing we gain with Degster is he has a lot more energy when playing. He\u2019s animated, hyping up everything. There are some things we lost though and we\u2019re trying to make up for it and implement new systems. \u201cF1KU and Neofrag are also very green so there\u2019s been a lot of team bonding and getting to know each other, getting to know their playstyles and what they like to do and using them in the best way I see fit. \u201cI can also see areas where I can improve myself and help them improve and draw out more of their own potential because there are some maps where everyone is comfortable but there are others where everyone is sketchy. There\u2019s work to do, but the good thing is the vibes are good. Everyone is eager to play and learn and that\u2019s a really positive thing.\u201d It\u2019s all part of the OG project nexa was put at the helm of at the start of 2022. The former G2 Esports IGL gave the existing roster six months to make it work with the old foundation. It was evident it wasn\u2019t going to, and he shifted the team into a different direction to find a more synergistic fit \u2014 even if the players didn\u2019t hold the same name value. \u201cWe had some more stable, experienced players and a foundation was set. I was coming into that and trying to do what I could with the team I had and seeing if that roster could work. What I told OG when I joined was I can work with this team for six months and reevaluate and see if we can keep going or not. \u201cThe change came from me wanting to play with younger, hungrier players that will speak to me more, that want to play the game more \u2014 they\u2019re passionate about it and want to prove themselves. \u201cNow with my role as the most experienced guy on the team, everyone is looking at me and is comfortable with coming to me and speaking to me about what they want. I feel comfortable in that role, comfortable knowing I\u2019m an open person and they can always come to me and ask whatever is troubling them, even outside of the game like a big brother figure.\u201d It\u2019s the sea change nexa needed at this point of his career too. Being a young IGL on a veteran roster clashed with the hierarchy. Now he\u2019s the veteran IGL on a young roster, and there\u2019s a better flow in the server. The 25-year-old needed to gain some control and steer a team in a direction, and now he\u2019s finally realizing that dream with this second reckoning of OG. \u201cIt\u2019s helped me gain confidence in myself, my calling, and as a player as well. They come to me for advice and I know whatever I tell them they take it as the truth and try to do it that way. \u201cPreviously in G2 or in the previous iteration of OG, I was the young guy \u2014 especially in G2. As the IGL it\u2019s not always easy to gain respect with older players than yourself, so right now I have this power and confidence that whatever I say, these guys have my back no matter what and they\u2019ll follow through.\u201d The question for OG from here though is do they have enough time before Rio to shore up everything? With the Major approaching in a couple of months and the RMRs kicking off, OG has a sprint ahead of them to reach the biggest stage in CS:GO. Given they were out of energy at DreamHack Melbourne, there\u2019s not much time to recoup. They have shown glimpses of brilliance too. OG\u2019s runs at BLAST are a testament to that \u2014 both before and after the roster swaps. According to nexa, the team plays better on the bigger stages, \u201cwith a lot more energy and confidence\u201d, compared to the lower-stakes events. \u201cWe showed it at BLAST how animated everyone was \u2014 we were fist-bumping and screaming even though it was a studio event, giving it everything we got. In contrast to [DreamHack Melbourne], we\u2019re playing on stage in front of a crowd and we\u2019re just dead inside.\u201d It\u2019s just about finding the click to really kick things off: \u201cI know we can challenge any team in the world right now. We have the firepower, we are tactically sound. We know how to beat every team and it\u2019s just about this one thing that clicks for us. \u201cOnce it clicks and everyone is on fire with a lot of energy and we just start speaking to each other \u2014 it\u2019s not dead in the comms \u2014 we actually play some really good CS. If that clicks and we play at the same level we did at BLAST, I could see us making some real damage at the Major.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
nexa confident OG can \u201cmake damage\u201d in lead up to Rio Major despite slump Joao Ferreira for ESLOG have had a rocky few months. Between missing the Antwerp Major and roster changes, there\u2019s been some glimpses of brilliance \u2014 and some howlers. Despite the ups and downs, captain Nemanja \u2018nexa\u2019 Isakovic is confident they can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38719\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}