Coach's Coverage Week 1: Melon

 

 

 

 

 COACH'S COVERAGE WEEK 1: MELON

disclaimer: the opinions expressed by the 1 interviewed are by the 1 interviewed. the coach may have completely different views dont cancel me.

 

Melon: Hi I'm Melon and I play pyro for WJQ-308 Chinese Military Shovel

COACH BUCKS: How are you today?

M: I'm doing fine! Getting hyped for all the stuff going on

C: What's going on?

M: Well we're all just getting into the playoffs grind so that definitely is something to be excited about. Aside from that I just got a new dog so that's been eventful :)

C: Ah of course. Congratulations on the new dog. How long have you been playing TF2?

M: I've been playing TF2 since 2011, comp since late 2012

C: Damn so you been around for a minute then. Has things changed now compared to 2012?

M: Oh yeah definitely. Back then the comp community was much larger, particularly when it came to highlander. There was an air of excitement about the future of the game and in league play in general, as much of the meta was still developing as new maps and strategies were being tested.. Not all good, but it was an involved process and people were fairly open-minded toward "new".. Not to mention Valve was still actively updating the game. This could be looking back with rose-tinted glasses, but I felt the playerbase was a little more diverse and supportive as a whole, which led to some sense of community as players cycled in and rose through the ranks. Community servers were still pretty active back then as well, so it was common to see crossover wherever you played. 

If you want to talk playstyle differences, I think the meta has definitely changed to a more aggressive style over the years.

C: Okay okay interesting. How has your season been?

M: It's been alright! I had pretty high hopes going into this season, but we've faced several challenges that has made it more difficult than most.

C: Ya eh. What happened?

M: We had a couple cycles of roster changes for one. We began scrimming pretty late into the pre-season with more of an Irene core of players. As things didn't work out, we picked up a new notable players like blank, Soapy and Fallen and started grinding to make up for lost time and early coordination troubles. The biggest hit we had was losing eerie following week 2 to some life things. We had subs filling for a couple weeks as we tried different arrangements, and we never quite got back on the same pace of improvement that we felt early season while we were grinding.

 

pictured: what eerie really doing monday nights now

 

 

C: Yeah eh. That's crazy. I wanna talk about your roster in a lil bit, but lets continue... k so... what does your team name mean? its a shovel

M: yeah its just a shovel

C: ...Is that it?

M: The WJQ-308 camping shovel is a foldable multi-function shovel with many extra useful functions. Suitable for camping, hiking, backpacking, fishing, gardening and other outdoor activities. Only for adults over 18 years old.

C: Is there something I'm missing here?

M: not at all, that's really it

C: Oh okay. So why did you guys pick this team name?

M: I mean I suppose its like the market gardener. We didn't really have a process to be honest. People kept bringing up random things and ultimately people really liked this one, so I guess it came down to a vote in mumble for it to stick. We had a few options but none of them made sense LOL

C: Yo... you know what, lets move on. What do you think about playoffs in terms of whats going to be easy, whats going to be challenging? etc.

M: I don't think any of it is going to be easy, honestly. Of course its good for teams to use preseason and regular season as an opportunity to fix as many issues as possible with the hopes that they'll solidify their teams skills by the time playoffs rolls around.. but in reality, you see the teams that peak once they get comfortable during the season.. and the one's who peak in playoffs as they continue to push and clean beyond their limits. Even if it feels like a race between a clearly defined top 3 in some seasons, it's better to never overestimate your team or underestimate the others, or else you might find yourself getting upset by 4th haha.

For us, the most challenging teams all season have been 3600 and HOOD. We've probably fallen distinctively to 3rd in terms of consistency and results, but there's a lot of upset potential between any of us and it'll be a fight to see if we can turn the tides and play to our players strengths. HOOD and 3600 definitely have a natural advantage with coordination as returning teams.. with HOOD in particular being particularly hard to beat with their quick adaptability. 

I think for us, we still find ourselves fighting to improve many of the struggles we've had all season. So while we might feel confident in where we stand, it won't be easy for us simply because we have to continue to grind to catch up and break some stagnant patterns.

C: Ya eh that's crazy. Who you got on your list of players that you gotta watch out for this season?

M: Well definitely Jay now that he's playing again haha. That dude's pretty scary

C: Who's Jay ?

M: Oh sorry, you haven't heard the legend of kpopbob? I heard he's been making moves in invite 6s

 

pictured: still have no idea who kpopbob is

 

C: Oh. My bad.. Lol. I'm not educated. So who you feel is mediocre or overrated for the team they’re playing for?

M: I don't really want to be mean to anyone, but ask my team because they're begging to trash on certain players haha

C: Okay okay. What's the game plan for playoffs overall?

M: Hmm.. I'd say we're looking for balance adjustments such as restructuring our comms and trying to have a clearer mental now that we're in a position to revisit and build off past mistakes. Mental reset is important, you want to be able to keep the conversation going for playoffs even if people are tired and have been through issues before. Also, as 3rd seed we need to think carefully about our pick/bans as we'll likely have to just be adaptable rather than plan our preferred course.

C: Ya eh. Smart. So I'm looking at the first week here. You're facing off against 3600. How do you guys plan on winning without Alto?

M: Well if we lose its most definitely because we lack Alto... if we win I gotta say it's all about the talent and superior coordination that got us here what can I say that's team diff baby. 

also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F9-NQBolGY

C: Have you decided on what maps all of you will be playing?

M: Yeah! We're doing lakeside, vigil, and upward. We opted to ban koth, as much as it hurt to ban ash, and 3600 banned steel (also sad)

C: Why do you not want ashville & steel banned?

M: They're probably some of the maps we enjoyed most, strengths aside

C: Ah okay. Why did you decide on the maps you picked?

M: I think we feel pretty comfortable with stopwatch so it wasn't necessarily Vigil specific, but Vigil was a map we spent a good amount of time on in early season so there was confidence that we could refresh ourselves even if its been some time since it was played.

C: Okay okay. Tell the readers about your roster.

M: Blank is a really cool dude with a lot to show. He's inexperienced on paper which he makes sound like a fallback.. but he really has the drive and gamesense to go far so I'm psyched to have him as an asset on the team. If he has a lot to prove, I think he's doing a great job, so I'm happy he has the platform to really show off.

SOOOOOAPYMEiSTER is the rare kind of 6s player who's actually really psyched to learn and enjoy HL which I always thought was really cool. His jumps are insane and he tries to stay involved as much as he can which is really cool.

Exile stinky smelly feeder. 

Zuchi is a highlander goat and a good friend of mine. Between him and exile they bring a lot of highlander expertise to the table and strong opinions to back, which can be a war of the minds for sure. He's kind of insane at heavy even though he doesn't want to do it :') But hey he said "I'll play anything"

Spamfest is also one of those highlander goats and likely one of my favorite people to play with ever. She's kind, supportive, and brings a lot of valuable insight and clarity when it's needed the most. She's kind of rocking it in the real world so I'm grateful that she wanted to help during our bind.

Marty is actually legendary at the game and has so much potential on any class, truly. He's a great teammate, vocal, willing to put time in and absolutely nuts when it comes to mechanics. He can thrive on hitscan but he's been able to quickly adapt to the medic our combo needed. Exile wanted to pick him up regardless of class just for the teammate factor.

Fallen is also one of my favorite teammates to play with. He's cracked at sniper and is so attentive to calls and where it's best for him to play at all times. He's also just a great support system to have, both for doing team related things and personal goals. We got that sniper pyro synergy when we're allowed to play together and its sick. 

Evil is kind of an enigma at times but he's a legendary spy for a reason. He always brings his best to the table and has a lot that he's ready to show off for himself, so it sucks when we're messing up and can't help him out the way he deserves. He's such a talented player so it's cool to be on the same side of it for once. :)
    

M: also, we have shovel themed descriptions for each of us lmao
 火箭跳跃 SOOOOOAPYMEiSETER 铲杀 Chinese Military Shovel WJQ-308 高地士兵邀请 Tier 6 Jump 有没有人真的决定使用 Even Go 想要做的更像?高地勇 BLANK 「                   」 他是真正的男人嗎?絕對是偵察兵 Cheat or Real? 可能只是一個神童還不能肯定地說  M E A T S H O T 漢蘭達歷史上球探的最高 dpm 現在遊戲中最年長的火神 Melon 實際上結婚了哈哈怎麼回事 Invite Pyro Round Table 她只是一個瓜還是一個瓜主,可能和墮落的領主有關係 FLARESHOT 請脫下你的不尋常 整個團隊最大的遺憾 EXILE 英雄聯盟遊戲玩法 Main Caller 從來沒有見過這個傢伙不會變大 ›› Fast Forward 這支球隊的父親 ASIA 最熱的人活著 e e r i e 能裝最多的酒 Heavy Weapons Sandwich Tech 速度最快的人 Tomislav Damage Incident  幫助令人毛骨悚然的快殺了我 你以前見過大腳趾嗎? Mar Ty 總是一個熱火主 GLORY Arstotzka 請讓這些窮人通過,金表 Level 3 Sentry Disaster 牧馬人玩得一塵不染 該死的 Zuchima 看看這個名字可能是本地人 M U L T I purpose 高地人的大腦 East JAbib.knd 也許也許不是 Übercharge gone 節奏遊戲還被禁止嗎 巧克力牛奶 Fallen LORD GOURD GOOBLE 許多別名的人 450 DAMAGE 狙擊步槍魏德勒 s p i d e r 幫助他 他不喜歡他們 SSBM Peach 馬里蘭州代表 間諜 evil 邪惡的圖片 backstab registration 看那笑容 man#crush#monday 間諜間諜間諜 Kit Redus 未找到社會保障號碼 carry.threat 看看數字

M: zuchima wrote these :)

C: Damn. That's crazy. So when do you guys plan on bringing Alto in? I am definitely not discrediting Marty's gameplay, but i know he would be more than happy to step down from the role of Medic so Alto can carry.

 

pictured: the results of an Alto Carry.

 

M: That's classified information.. But just in case, I've talked to Marty and he responded that he understands completely and will absolutely take one for the team if this scenario were to occur. Rest assured if and when, our ubers will be fatter than ever and our chances will be multiplied tenfold. You'll see it on the big screen, dw

C: All right, I want to talk about a scenario here. Lets just say that everyone in your team has to partner up in 2s to play some marbles. Who's going to partner up with who? And who's going to get fat kidded?

M: oooh tough questions.. Soapy and Exile, Me and Marty, Spamfest and fallen, Evil and Zuchima. 

Blank gets to live for his bright future, not because his unpopularity :')

C: Okay. So now that we picked our gganbus. Who's going to win & who's going to lose in this game of marbles and why?

M: Evil and Zuchima might go down as a battle for the ages because both of them would be trying SO HARD to win, but zuchi would probably win this one based on multi-game skill alone. Something tells me evil might try to be a little more generous and benevolent so thats an L. 

Marty would probably either give up or make some high baller risky gambles so something tells me i'd win just by playing it easy LOL. 

Soapy and exile?? Man I don't even know, this one would be super hard to guess.. This one would also get pretty serious and unless exile gives in to the pressure it could really go either way (unless they're doing a jump contest ofc)

Spamfest and Fallen would be heartbreaking, lets be real. Both of them would try to give it all so that the other can win, but I wouldn't be surprised if Spamfest checks the rules and sees if they'll accept handing in each others marbles so that they can both win.

C: Say word. Moving on, how do you feel about this current season of Invite overall?

 

pictured: exile & soapymeister in the lab

 

M: It's pretty good, I think there's a pretty healthy mid invite and a competitive top invite which definitely makes it look like a better season than last. Though I think nothing compares to the top 5 we had in s8, that was probably the best season we've had in RGL.

C: Why was s8 the best season?

M: The top 5 teams were all pretty stacked and contested each other throughout the entirety of the season, which was exciting to see for sure. Hood was top dog but was not untouchable, and 2-5 really could have been placed in any order and I don't think many people would have questioned it. We've had a lot of seasons where its like a top 2 or 3 + a bunch of teams that don't really come close, so making regular season matter and have the 4th place slot have some merit behind it is good to see.

C: Okay okay. What do you like to do outside of TF2? Any hobbies? Interests?

M: Outside of gaming I work as a software engineer and spend a good amount of time just doing fun stuff with my husband and friends. I also play trumpet in a symphony, watch a lot of collegiate sports, and enjoy crafts and traveling :)

C: That's neat. Now I got some pictures I want to show you and I want to know your thoughts.

M: ok shoot






 

 

M: best tag in hl lets be real

M: the worst among us player possibly ever

M: is that the pusha of legend

C: Yes.

M: Incredible

C: Before we conclude this interview, is there anything you'd like to say?

M: shoutout to the real ones. idk LOL


 


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