As a known team throughout any first person shooter competition, BIG has returned to the top leagues of VCT action in the Stage 2 EMEA Challengers after battling their way out of the VCT EMEA Promotion tournament. Upon entering this next stage of the tournament, BIG were immediately put to the test against Team Liquid in their opening series.
Earlier in the Stage 1 EMEA Challengers, BIG fell out of the Group Stage after five hurtful consecutive defeats. Since then, BIG has made several changes to their roster mainly adding veteran talent to it, and returned to the tournament in hopes of competing against the EMEA region’s best contenders.
Unfortunately, the opening week series against Team Liquid ended in a fast 0-2 defeat for BIG as Team Liquid claimed the initial two maps with a score of thirteen to five (Icebox) and thirteen to seven (Split). Currently, BIG sits in fifth place in Group B with zero wins to show for.
Teammate Jiri “KUNDIKUNDI” Honkala, expressed himself about the team’s promotion to the VCT 2022 Stage 2 EMEA Challengers, and reflected back on their performance in the tournament’s previous stage VCT Stage 1.
He clarified the following in regards to the roster changes:
“The guys have been adapting to our things very well. They fit the team really well. When we changed our leader, it also changed a lot of our culture. Musashi brings a lot of energy and a lot of ideas. He always has an idea; that’s a very good trait he has. He’s also a second voice for the team. LuckeRRR, as a leader, brings a new vision to how we want to play. He’s calming the guys down and keeping the fundamentals up. That’s a big trait.”
Also talked about how the loss affected the team:
“Well, 2-0 means we lost. Being the first official with the team, I think it went rough. There are a lot of mistakes we can learn from. I’m sad about the loss, but we weren’t ready to face the kind of tier Team Liquid played today. They punished us for so many mistakes that we made. Lot to learn, but not too sad.”
Finally he mentioned how hard it was to lose Gob B as a player:
“Personally, I think it was a big loss for everyone in the team. He was the leader of our team. He had the vision, the work ethic, he had everything; everyone just loved him. But, of course, you cannot replace him completely. Now, with the new guys and a new leader, there is a lot of new stuff. Change is sometimes good, but the past is the past. We can’t get Gob B back for us, so we handled that well, but we’re still missing him. However, there are now new things on the team, so we are focusing on those.”
It seems BIG is still adapting to their new pieces, currently their next immediate objective is to get a win under their belts. Hopefully they will be able to adjust as the tournament continues
