While I write this from a beach in southern England, enjoying the positively tropical 20˚C weather, I am forced to spare a thought for players trapped in the depths of the Australian winter at temperatures sometimes half that. With darkening nights and frost setting in, each team seems to have discarded the rose-tinted sunglasses of camaraderie and hardened their minds into an ice-cold resolve to be the best. For the moment there are only two teams with confirmed changes to their roster; but as the top teams shuffle and players trickle down, more instability is to be expected before the Australian scene looks calm again.
The Australian team Chiefs used to dominate the Oceanic landscape as the clear number one team, having only ever lost two matches at this time one month ago. But towards the end of June, Chiefs were overtaken by Untitled Spreadsheet and continue to languish in their shadow as the number two team in the region. Closely behind them are a range of teams who have never had a taste of the spotlight, with Tainted Minds among the pack. Tainted has hovered around the 4th place spot for a month, unable to gain upwards momentum due to the temporary loss of their IGL and tank Chappos and a squad that lacks some of the star talent of their opponents.
The fall of Chiefs from their throne almost perfectly coincided with their most recent roster change, which saw regular support ory step down due to health reasons to be replaced by Zellogs. To put the responsibility there would be short-sighted though, as this merely gave a helpful nudge to the meteoric rise of Untitled Spreadsheet. USS had a steady rise upwards after picking up yuki, solidifying their roster, and implementing a thorough practice regime. It resulted in them delivering Chiefs’ second ever upset at the end of June, then stringing that into five consecutive wins in head-to-heads and a longer string of first place podium finishes. Rather than contesting Chiefs, they simply took their place as the dominant force in Oceania.
Enough was apparently enough for Chiefs. In the last few days, the roles for Chiefs have undergone some drastic changes, with the team executing their own miniature shuffle to improve their game. The team moved their flex, Dorky, to dps; moved former tank termo to the vacant flex role; and finally shifted aporia from the support position to take on the responsibilities of tank. The only core player still occupying their previous role is dps player HeyKatie, after they were forced to get rid of dps snowblind in the shuffle.
Chiefs underwent this change as they believe the new roles are an improved fit for their team and will work better overall. It could well be true that the talents of aporia and termo were being wasted in their previous positions, but such a large change to a team almost at the top of the pile is risky, especially when it results in giving the boot to a star dps player of snowblind’s calibre.
After discussing with the parties involved, it appears that there was a perceived lack of motivation from snowblind, as well as his hero pool being narrower than his teammates. This seems to have made him more expendable than either Dorky or HeyKatie, leading to his expulsion from the team. He did not last as a free agent for more than a moment though, and was immediately snapped up by Tainted Minds.
Tainted Minds are not truly top contenders in Oceania yet, but have potential and were getting consistent semi-final results before temporarily losing their IGL, tank, and captain Chappos. Max “Chappos” Chapman is also the brother of one Karl “snowblind” Chapman, which explains the speed at which he was brought into the Tainted roster. In order to make space for snowblind, the team shuffled around a few of their own roles, moving dps channy to support and benching their previous support Godsworld.
A talent like snowblind cannot reasonably be ignored by a team in Tainted Minds’ position. He is one of the best dps players in Oceania, with serious carry potential, and could be what Tainted needs to push them into contention for tournament victories in Australia.
Godsworld explains why he was shuffled out of the starting line-up:
When we heard news of snowblind getting dropped it was essentially a matter of figuring out what was best for the team and if we wanted to make room for him. The general consensus was that the team wanted him in and that meant someone had to step down.
snowblind is a dps player through and through, which originally put it up for channy or dfield, but dropping dfield was not an option because of just how good he is as a player. Originally it was channy, but after a bit of a talk they thought about potential role changes. channy was really against leaving and I was against splitting the team up, so yeah, it just fell down to me.
I felt that me leaving was the best option because channy and dfield are incredibly close friends and channy is more than capable of playing any role that he wants. So it wasn't any bad blood or hard feelings between anybody in the team, it was just what the team thought was best.
Tainted Minds released this statement on the acquisition of snowblind:
Firstly, it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to Godsworld. Dylan was an asset to the team, both as a friend and a player, and it’s with sadness that we say goodbye. He’s a highly skilled competitor and any team would be lucky to have someone with his analytical mind and support hero pool. The team, the organization and especially myself wish him all the best for his career - he's got some fantastic ideas regarding content and I'm personally looking forward to seeing them come to fruition.
Second, we welcome Snowblind. Karl is regarded as being one of the best, if not the best, players in Australia. He has (along with incredible aim) international FPS experience, a detailed knowledge of the game and a hunger to be the best. We’re excited to develop further as a team and likewise, help continue to grow as a player.
Third, and finally, we welcome Chappos back from his European adventure. Max’s ability to motivate and direct a team is invaluable and his Roadhog/D.va play has to be one of the most feared things in the Oceanic competitive scene. We’re confident his dirty hooks, innovative strategies and solid leadership will allow us to take big steps forward as a team.
I’m thrilled to lead a group of players so skilled and motivated and it’s with confidence that I can say we’ll regain our top spot in the scene in no time.
With Chappos back leading the team and snowblind now providing firepower, Tainted Minds could begin to leapfrog teams in their ascension up the ranks.
There appear to be more roster shuffles in the works for the Australian scene, as hints of Untitled Spreadsheet making changes surfaced over the past day. With experienced and talented players now in the mix as free agents, we could also see lower teams tempted to make reactive shuffles and create space for them. Equally, with Chiefs and potentially further teams having gaps in their line-up, it remains to be seen where the replacements will come from.
Currently with a full and upgraded squad, Tainted Minds appear to have benefitted so far. Keep an eye on this roster:
- Karl “snowblind” Chapman (dps)
- Daniel “Dfield” Banfield (dps)
- Deoin “Noied” Solomon (flex)
- Max “Chappos” Chapman (tank)
- Rhys “elmo” Beatson (support)
- Dylan “channy” Chan (support)
- James “Planet” Wood (coach/manager)
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