Rambo: Called the save at 14

Following MVP Project's first win at the SL i-League StarSeries Season 3 finals, we sat down with the team's coach and ex-1.6 pro Ronald "Rambo" Kim and heard about their matches so far.

MVP Project managed to get the win in the Asian duel, defeating TYLOO in overtime to stay alive in the tournament after losing to Virtus.pro and Ninjas in Pyjamas in their first two matches.

Rambo noted that not being able to help mid-round is hard for him

Ronald "⁠Rambo⁠" Kim talked about the team's progress in Kiev, their win against TYLOO and his views on the game.

Let's open with your match against VP on Mirage. You had a decent start but then it went out of control. What did you see in that match, how did it go from your perspective?

We felt comfortable playing VP on Mirage. We had our tactics ready and had a good idea of their play style from watching demos, however it didn’t prepare us for mid-round clutch situations they were able to win due to their experience. It felt like they were able to break down our defense and get into better positions.

Moving onto NiP, you had a decent first half on Cobblestone, you started CT side. What went differently in that match, what were your feelings going in against NiP?

Regarding the NiP game, we liked Cobble and had a game plan going into the match,  but we lost a lot of key rounds, we lost both pistols and some clutches, f0rest won a 1v3 that really hurt… We didn't win the "golden rounds", the deciding rounds that forces the other team to save twice. If we converted one of those rounds we would’ve had a really strong CT side. On the Terrorist side, it seemed we didn’t control the tempo of the match which led to attacking bombsites haphazardly.

Who does that come down to, that decision making? In the key moments, who needs to slow it down or speed it up or whatever is needed?

All in game calls are made by our captain Argency since I'm not able to talk mid-round, he’s ultimately the one who makes the final calls and dictates the team’s tempo.

So at this event, what kind of style of play are you using?

Heading into the event, Argency and I discussed our T side approach which he adamantly expressed wanting to play more free style and rely on our teamwork and communication to win the rounds. Although I agree this approach is needed to an extent, it shouldn’t be relied upon as the primary approach to win rounds. We’re still in the process of finding the right blend of styles for our team.

You had a good start against Tyloo but they started coming back in the later rounds, why do you think you lost the big lead you had?

We were playing too passive and gave them connector room, window, and B short with little resistance. Once they had the heart of the map, they were able to pin us down to the edges of the map and lurk into key positions which made rotations difficult.

One of the things your teams seemed to struggled a bit was against pistols and force buys, it seems like you lost a few key ones. What are your thoughts on approaching those rounds as a team, is that something you figured out is a problem?

If I know the other team will be saving or force buying with pistols/SMG, I like to spread the map and watch all angles for any immediate pushes. Once the map is stabilized, I think the best options are to send one player to scout the other side of the map, while the other 4 hit the other site, or a full out execution strategy with nades to flush out the defense. 

The call verse Tyloo was to hold the map for pushes, and then take control of the center of the map with 3 members. Tyloo hit some nice shots and picked us apart one by one.

In the end you were 14-12 down and you went for the eco, I think that surprised a few people, including TyLoo. You had a lot of composure to go for the overtime there, what was your thinking then?

We used a tactical pause which I used to make the call to save and use the next round as a full buy. I thought our chances would be higher winning 3 rounds starting with a full buy compared to trying to win a round with an average bank of $2400.

Do you think that you coming into Asia as an "outside coach" can influence the team to move to a more tactical approach?

My ultimate goal is to help the team any way I can. Whether that’s personal player development, helping with tactics, scouting opponents, creating practice plans, etc.. I believe the playstyle suited best for our team is more of a tactical approach which is easier to rely upon in pressure situations. I’m still in the process of working with Argency’s preference of the freestyle approach to blend in more of a methodical/tactical style.

You now have a win, but you are ultimately talking about getting experience here. What has your time in Ukraine been like, how long have you been here, how long will you stay?

We approached the tournament with the mindset with of course trying to win the event, but also using every match and practice scrim to learn from to add to our experience versus top tier teams. After the event, we’ll be bootcamping for a week in Kiev at the CyberSports Arena.

Did you get to practice any of the top European teams, like the top20 or something like that? Are there any difficulties for you to book practice?

We’ve played a handful of practice matches versus the teams at the event, which has been helpful to gauge our where we’re at. For our bootcamp, we’ll be using a Facebook group with the best European teams to schedule our practices.

Professeur writes for HLTV.org and can be found on Twitter.

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