It’s not long now until week two of the UKLC is underway. Teams are heavily preparing for their match-ups and every one of them will be looking to take a place at the top of the mountain.
Diabolus Esports is no exception. Especially after talking to their head coach iHansen.
“We are expecting a Top 3 finish and to challenge the academy teams for one of the two finals spots.” Says the Norwegian.
However, he knows that the spring split is just one part of a longer project for Diabolus as he adds: “Our aim for the spring split will be to develop as much as possible and be strong for summer.”
Diabolus had a mixed tournament last week by beating Barrage but ultimately losing out to exceL UK, who went on to be crowned the first tower champion. Despite this, Diabolus impressed a lot of people with their aggressive style of play, which will only improve as the weeks go on. Nevertheless, iHansen believes that their loss against exceL will only motivate his side coming into the second week.
He says: “I would say the first week went okay for us. The exceL game was definitely winnable and after reviewing the games we are excited to work on our flaws and come back stronger for week two,”
“We have multiple things we will need to work on if we want to reach our expectations, but continuing to improve on our teamwork and communication will be a primary focus for the coming weeks.”
This is iHansen’s third split as a coach in the UK, having been tasked with a new format every time. However, this structure has seen him change his preparation more than ever before due to the tournaments unpredictability.
With regards to the tower system, he says: “This format forces teams to have a somewhat different approach to the matches compared to previous splits. Last year you could prepare for one or two teams a week and set up a plan to defeat those teams, but with the KOTH (King Of The Hill) format, you need to do a bit more generic preparation as you will face multiple teams if you are winning.”
Even so, the coach knows that no matter how different the system is, one fundamental objective will always be used, as he adds: “Regardless of the format, teams need to keep the main focus on themselves and their own improvement, so in that case, the experience stays the same.”
iHansen has openly talked about his uncertainty with the randomised best of one system. However, he has not ruled out the possibility that it could strengthen the league as a whole. By the end of week two, we should have a larger sample size for all the organisations to reflect on. As teams prepare for the tower each week, some will embrace the new system while others will not. Only time will tell which side can reign supreme in the new environment.
Don’t forget to tune into the UKLC this Wednesday as Diabolus face Bulldog esports at 6pm on twitch.
By Tom Daniels
Gromp News 