CoD Pro Methodz Explains OpTic's Strategy and Mindset Heading Into 2018 CWL Champs
Albert Petrosyan
The $1.5 million 2018 CWL Championships are less than a day away and there is more on stake than ever before in the biggest and final tournament of the season.
Despite having a relatively underwhelming season, highlighted by their recent early exit from the Pro League Stage 2 Playoffs, OpTic Gaming go into Champs as still one of the teams to beat.
Speaking on the August 14 episode of 'Vision' OpTic pro player Anthony 'Methodz' Zinni discussed various things about the team as they prepared for Champs.
The first point he brought up was the team's new "one match at a time" mindset going into the tournament.
"Now going into Champs we have a new motte like Seth said: place top-6, anything else is a blessing. That's more so just like a joke, but we were saying a lot going into Playoffs that we really think we can win. At this point, we don't want to jinx it. We just want to go into Champs and take it match by match and bring our best in every single match. It's exciting; I think we're all over Playoffs. It happened, it's over."
One of the main reason's for OpTic's shortcomings this season has been their play in Search and Destroy.
As a result, Methodz assured the Greenwall fans that S&D was one of the points of emphasis in their practices and boot camp sessions in recent weeks.
"We've been working really hard to improve our Search and Destroy, which is like our main thing that we needed to focus on. Trust me, we're working as hard as we can to make sure it's good. We're putting in a lot of time. [...] We've put in a lot of time man, we're really trying to figure this out. Obviously our losses are just as heartbreaking for us as it is for you guys. [...] Eyes forward man, we got Champs coming up. We're boot-camping with coL [compLexity Gaming]. We're doing everything we possibly can."
Methodz is convinced that having a LAN boot camp session against coL will prove to be a lot more beneficial than just online scrimmages and practices.
Being around teammates during and after matches opens up many more opportunities for communication and teamwork, which can result in boosted morale and confidence going into such a massive event.
"Pretty much we wanted to boot camp because I feel like when we're all together, we have more fun, we go to the gym together, we eat food together, we hang out together. We're just a lot more team-like when we're together, whereas online, if we lose a few maps, it can get sour. But that's like every team man, online Call of Duty can really stress you out. So all of us here being together, we can watch VODs together, talk about stuff in person, write things down and I'll see it, whereas people at home are going to get a snack. It's just a lot more beneficial for us to be in the same area playing together."
OpTic opens up its title defense against Elevate in Group H on August 15 at 1:30 PM PT / 4:30 PM ET.
You can keep updated on all schedules, scores, group standings, brackets, and live-streams via ourdedicated 2018 CWL Champs hub here.
CWL Championships 2018, Methodz, OpTic Gaming