Predator League Philippines 2024 Team Rebuilds for Off-Season PL

NAOS the time to Rebuild and Reassess

Predator League Philippines 2024 Team Rebuilds for Off-Season PL: NAOS the time to Rebuild and Reassess

It is only natural for a team to regroup and reassess everything after an unsuccessful run with their peak performance only to plateau in the end. NAOS’ Ascension-qualifying roster took it hard after their loss during the VALORANT Challengers Ascension 2023: Pacific Playoffs to Japan’s SCARZ with a scoreline of 3-1. NAOS was clearly one of the favorites to compete in the Grand Finals after topping their group but it just wasn’t the team’s day on that specific match.

The organization then decided to re-roster and reshuffle, removing 3 great players to find more suitable players for them to be back on track. The three players that were let go were Jerome “Mojer” Literal, Carl “SenyorCarL” Carandang, and their super-sub Noel “NDG” de Guia. NAOS also decided to release their analyst, Lowell “Ell” Marcelo, only leaving Derren “aimix“ dela Cruz in the coaching staff.

The addition of Jon Michael “Tesseract” Piga from South Asia’s Team Orangutan and Nathaniel “Nexi” Cabero, a former player from the defending champion RRQ in the Predator League 2022 Philippine Qualifiers, shed new light on the team’s hope to perform better than ever. Tesseract and Nexi also shared that other players from NAOS were the ones to contact them instead of the organization itself and told them to try out for their team.

“Parang hindi yung org yung kumukuha sayo kumbaga Yung player yung kumukuha sayo” added by Tesseract. ”Kunwari ako tas kakilala kita, kakausapin kita kung free ka ba magtry out. Dun siya binabase. Hindi yung org yung magchachat sayo kundi yung players yung mauuna. Yung org yung final decision.”

(“It’s not the org that initiates contact. Instead, the players look for you,” added by Tesseract. ”For example, I know you and I’ll talk to you if you’re willing to try out in my team, that’s how they do it. It’s not the organization that messages us to try out but the players. The org still has the final decision.”

Both Tesseract and Nexi came from Zambales playing in the same computer shop when they started playing during the pandemic together. They also knew about Witz back in their old FPS days so they know how strong the team can be. Banking on that, they now face new challenges that the team must surpass in order to become better.

“As for now, recently, naging shaky kami kaya for me hindi pa masyadong ganun ka as one yung galaw namin” says Nexi. “pero as soon as possible sana maagapan namin and sana maging mas ready kami sa next year’s VCT.”

(“Recently, our performance is shaky coming to the off-season, that’s why our chemistry and movements are not yet intact,” says Nexi, “but hopefully we fix it as soon as possible in time for next year’s VCT.”)

Tesseract adds that NAOS Esports feels culturally different for him since he’s used to playing with foreigners, being part of Team Orangutan. He then added that Filipino Valorant players have a different work ethic and are more industrious than other players in the world, so he has to match their tempo in order for their chemistry to work. Since both players are the new pick-ups from NAOS Esports, they will need some time to adjust to their teammates who have built a stable communication with each other.

Nexi then adds that individual skills of players between Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams are close. Teams only derive an advantage over mental fortitude and team chemistry. NAOS’ current roster was not built to support a star player but more to rely on team chemistry, which they need to develop further.

After losing to their former teammates, Mojer and SenyorCarL, in their group stage matches, NAOS Esports is faced with the challenge of proving whether their decision to rebuild their team was the right one for the upcoming season of Valorant. As the Final Leg of the Predator League Philippine Qualifiers 2024 approaches, NAOS is about to face their toughest competition yet: Oasis Gaming, the team that defeated them in a recent international tournament. In order to advance to the Asia Pacific Predator League 2024, NAOS must win at least one match out of the two opportunities they have.

“Yes, we are, like, very confident. Ngayon kailangan lang namin magpractice and magreflect sa mga mali namin then we are good to go.” Tesseract’s response when asked if they can win it all in the Predator League Philippine Qualifiers 2024.

(“Yes, we are very confident. We just need to practice and reflect on our mistakes then we are good to go,” Tesseract’s response when asked if they can win it all in the Predator League Philippine Qualifiers 2024.)

NAOS Esports will attempt to defeat their recent dominators, Oasis Gaming, in a best-of-three match to determine which team would move on to the Grand Finals of the Predator League Philippine Qualifiers 2024 and subsequently qualify for the Asia Pacific League.

Team Rebuilds, an initiative of Predator League 2023, aims to showcase the difficulties and turmoils of a team’s roster changes. The esports competitive scene is one that is always in flux, whether it be the game’s dominant meta or a team’s chemistry and composition. It takes a quick and thorough understanding of the meta, an immense strong team chemistry, and a bit of luck to capture a once in a lifetime victory over other aspiring teams. Predator League Philippines 2023 is the next event wherein these teams will need all three in order to secure the Predator Shield.