―― gaming coach .
- Create a team that can fight the world
- What is gaming coach in the first place?
- From the viewpoint of coaches, the current strength of ZETA
- Masters Reykjavík Zeta welcomes Stage2
Until a few years ago, the existence of the current professional gaming team was hard to say.
In Japan, there is a person who can be said to be a coach’s pioneer , which has been remarkable, from a player to a coach, and has led the team to the top three game titles in the world title belonging to Tier1 over time. XQQ who is the head coach at Zeta Division .
He has a lot of track record as a player of Battlefield4 and Overwatch in the past, and has been a skilled player who has participated in many domestic competitions and has participated in the OVERwatch World Cup 2016 as a representative of Japan. did.
Then turned to a coach in April 2018. He has been active as a coach of the Cyclops Athlete Gaming (CAG) section of the Overwatch category, and then leads the team’s Rainbow Six category to domestic championship.
And in November 2020, he moved to Absolute Jupiter (now Zeta Divisioner) and has been supporting the team as a head coach in the Valorant category. Many readers will know that in April 2022, in the international tournament 2022 Valorant Champions Tour Stage 1-Masters Reykjavík, the world’s best 3 achievements in the history of the domestic competition scene. 。
XQQ has a mysterious impression somewhere from the dignified looks and the calmness that doesn’t seem to be 25 years old. I will send you an interview with the person why you turned from a player to a coach, the trigger, and what the coach was doing usually.
Create a team that can fight the world
――Whose immediately, please tell me the opportunity to change from a player to a coach. Did you feel that you need a coach while playing yourself?
XQQ: When I was playing as a player, there was no team that could fight the world in the domestic overwatch competition scene. As a factor, I felt that the content of the reflection meeting, the training menu of the team, and the purpose of creating a purpose were not enough.
Then, when considering the difference from the world, the team with the coach first said, There is no. Although there were managers who do similar tasks, there were no teams who were doing coaches like overseas teams. I thought I had no choice but to do it.
-Will the concentration change even if the coach joins alone in the discussion between players, including reflection meetings?
XQQ: It changes a lot. However, recently, the number of players who can communicate has increased, and the know-how to assemble the concept of teams has accumulated, so I think it is essential.
Many of the players at the time I was active are strong and I am not very conscious of team play. In such a state, it was hard to match each other’s opinions. Therefore, I felt that I needed a bird’s-eye view, saying, This one is more suitable for everyone and shouldn’t you hear the opposition? 。
-How did you learn the know-how as the role of coach was not known at the time? After all it was a hand search, right?
XQQ: I didn’t even have a roll model, so I was almost exploring. The know-how was absorbed from physical sports instructions and coaching books.
Originally, I played Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (hereafter, CS: Go), and let’s say that it is a longing for fighting strategically. It was a bit of a story, but I longed for the development of a very good player in anime and manga, taking the initiative of the game.
――It feels like tuning the know-how in such existing physical sports for e-sports.
XQQ: In terms of to put together players in professional scenes , I think that you can learn from physical sports a lot.
What is gaming coach in the first place?
―― Please tell us about the coach role that is completely different from the players.
XQQ: It depends on the game title, but basically assembling the practice menu and setting a practice game. Since we also manage negotiations between teams and players, half is a business like a manager.
――I also have many clerical work
XQQ: That’s right. There are so many (laughs).
-Zeta Division also has two coaches and analyst GYA9. How is coaches and analysts different roles?
XQQ: The coach business with analysts was the first experience of R6S, but it didn’t work very well. I was fumbling for about a year and a half, but in the latest Valorant, GYA9 is in charge of the trend analysis of the game, so I judge whether it is good to play it to the players, and it is as short as possible. We only convey the roles, such as coaches.
――What did it go well with R6S?
XQQ: How should I and analyst get information? And what information was useful was too groping. I wasn’t very familiar with R6S. That’s why information gathering and transmitting was left to analysts and players, and it didn’t work well. At that time, coaching focused on the direction of bringing out the performance of the players.
On the other hand, in Valorant, my own game understanding (compared to R6S), so I can also propose tactics. In addition, since this work is a relatively royal road 5V5, I am also in use as a CS: Go player.
――I return to the previous question, but what criteria do you judge the good information to play the players?
XQQ: This is not limited to games, but even if you give a lot of information to players in the game, you will only have a negative effect on performance.
After seeing how much the players have capacity to receive information, we are well balanced so that everyone can have a common recognition.
-Zeta Division has changed a lot of roasters (players). Did the information transmission change?
XQQ: I think it has changed. In the process from the previous rotor change, there was a lot to learn. Based on that reflection, it is of course important to take measures against opponents, but first we thought that we needed to create a posture where we could accept information firmly.
In other words, in this rotor change, we first value the basic part and the foundation, and then spend time to create a teamwork that allows players to accept information and fight. If it was made from last year, I think it would have been more performance.
I myself felt great responsibility for breaking Absolute to create a new team. So, when you welcome a new player, I thought about it. What kind of new players to put in Laz and Crow on the basis… I never missed a mistake.
From the viewpoint of coaches, the current strength of ZETA
――What do you feel that Zeta Division has reached these five players?
XQQ: Motivation for the world ? They are the players who have been working hard to go up in the competition scene.
For example, DEP is a player who has been fighting all the time, feeling the wall of the world since the Overwatch era. I think that it is great that everyone is aiming for the same direction on Laz / Crow.
-In the previous VCT Masters, Laz said in an interview after the Optic Gaming War, I felt a new world wall. Did you feel the same on the coach’s perspective?
XQQ: That’s right. I don’t know if this is the intention of OPTIC or whether it is an accidental result, but everything is better than us, including the play style, the measures for the team, and the macro as well as the strategy. did.
We have been taking measures in real time, further up, which we have prepared. It is common for such a revenge match to be returned, but it is impressive that it was immediately supported after one map during the round or in BO5.
――Be Laz, the Skrim in Raykavik started from an early time such as AM 11 o’clock, so it was said that it was healthy. Did you feel that?
XQQ: In general thinking, the start is not so healthy from 11 o’clock…
Practice in Japan often start around 13:00 and end around 22:00, so it is easy to go outside when society is moving. So it’s good to start as soon as possible and end early. However, this time, there was a side that was the same due to the time difference between Iceland and other countries.
Masters Reykjavík Zeta welcomes Stage2
――What kind of practice did you practice from Masters Reykjavík to Stage2?
XQQ: I’m grateful, but there are many interviews and interviews, and there are many half-day practice, so I’m not able to practice enough. Stage2 Main Event will continue to practice separately for Playoffs while making the performance in Raykavik once.
I’m in a hurry because the patches are just hit and the characters are increasing, and it’s another game (laughs)
-Speaking of patches… How about the new agent’s Faded?
XQQ: I think it’s a strong character. Because it is a character between Sky and Soova, I wonder if I can get a range of ways to fight. There are many parts that have not yet been understood, including other teams, so it seems that you can kill variously at first glance (laughs).
-The chamber and jet have changed a lot.
XQQ: In the EMEA game, the jet disappeared from the ice box, so there is almost no previous configuration. Even so, in the previous patch, we are shouting a lot because we are from the patch at the main event.
-Thank you (laughs) Finally, please let us know your enthusiasm for Stage2.
XQQ: I was able to get a very good result in Raykavik, but I think it’s a start from here again. Family as Stage1, I want to win the main event and playoffs one step at a time, and finally aim for the victory.
Zeta Division, who has won the main event firmly and decided to participate in Playoffs, as the word win step by step.
While fascinating new strategies, such as the positive hiring of Fade, he showed his intensity, challenge, and change, such as playing a super play with a jet that should have been weakened by DEP.
The strength as an individual player and the brain of the coach analyst that supports it are united, aiming for further heights.
PLAYOFFS, which will also participate in ZETA Division, will be held online from June 10 to 12 online and 25th to 26th at Saitama Super Arena.
The game will be distributed on YouTube and Twitch.
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