After an action-packed ALGS Spit 2 Playoffs Group Stage, it was DINOS who surprisingly came out ahead with an impressive 181-points tally.
The orgless team have once again made the rest of the Apex Legends community take notice, besting 39 other teams.
Yet, there is still a long way to go with DINOS now set to compete in the Bracket Stage to try and reach the Split 2 Finals.
Insider Gaming caught up with DINOS’ Joshua ‘JFuture’ Lubitz before the start of the Winner’s Bracket.
So, how are you feeling today? Obviously you had a great time in the Groups, but there’s still plenty of the tournament to go.
Kind of like that Master Oogway quote: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.”
There’s no yesterday, play the game today. We don’t want to be one of those Group Stage teams.
Of course. Do you feel like you have a chip on your shoulder to prove that and DINOS can keep going?
Yeah, it’d be way better to just do mid the whole tournament than to do really good and then really bad.
Or not make the Finals, that’d be really bad.
So is that the feeling and the mood today? No complacency?
Yeah, we have to be top 10 here, we’ve got to go to the Finals. That was our goal coming in anyways.
I know you want to look forward, but you have to talk us through the Groups, what went well for you guys and how did you find so much success?
We did really good the first game, we won the first game of Groups, and then we had two zero-pointers.
And something DINOS always do, is we always do really good or really bad. And we started really good, then really bad, so it was looking like a really bad day.
And then our coach Keon was like, Jay, you weren’t talking as much during those Rampart games.
And like, I still don’t even know if that was true or not, but then he just told me, all you have to do is keep talking.
And then from there, the rest of the tournament felt so easy. Just never stop talking, and pretend that you want to be there even when you don’t.
Then you just want to be there, it just works.
Did it come naturally to you, constantly communicating? Or is it quite difficult taking everything else in, because Apex is obviously really fast-paced, right?
Well, I talk all the time when there’s stuff happening. But something I’ve been doing for this whole tournament is, I don’t stop talking even when I’m looting.
And the whole game, not even at the start, there can’t be any empty air. We have to be locked in the whole time.
And I’m telling my teammates, and I’m thinking in my head, why am I telling them that I’m picking up a Grey Standard Stock that has no benefit at all?
Me telling them does nothing. But I’m still doing it because it actually does help us, because it just keeps us focused in playing the game and not getting complacent or anything.
But talk me through some of the games in Groups, you guys had consistently high finishes, right? So how were you consistently getting into the top four, and then winning games?
I haven’t got a clue. No idea. Just, like, never stopped talking, and then everyone was playing the game, and it just wasn’t hard.
Like, there were very hard games. Like, on Friday, there was one game where Chaos picked the wrong character because his controller disconnected, and his mouse wasn’t working at the same time.
And so he’s on Seer, and I’m on Wattson instead. So now it was a default Wattson running around, and we had an insanely difficult rotation, but we figured it out. He did a great job getting us there.
It took us, like, two minutes to, like, get us from the little building next to the geyser to the left of stacks, all the way to the truck in between the launch site and Sorting Factory.
And then we played there for, like, the rest of the game, and then eventually we moved out and fought everybody.
But it’s just, like, once we get to a spot, it’s, like, the game becomes very easy, because we’re all talking, and we’re all focused on controlling space and holding the teams that need to be held, and extending out.
Like, there’s one instance where I’m the only one with TP. So on Wattson, I run all the way up to launch site and take a 1v1 against Phony, and we get him killed, and then all the threats are gone.
And, like, a lot of teams would be scared to do that kind of thing. But I know that, like, even if I lose, my teammates are ready to recall me, and they can shoot for me, too.
So we just have, like, that trust, I guess, and that, like, helps us get through the difficult games and get to those end zones more often.
Just how good is the synergy you’ve now built together? You know exactly what each person is doing?
Yeah, I know when DJ’s gonna die before he dies. Like, every time.
When he starts, like, rapid-fire talking, like xQc, you just know he’s about to explode. I don’t even know what he’s saying. I never know what he’s saying. He talks so fast.
It’s not even important what he’s saying, but he’s probably just saying like, his damage numbers are cracked or “I’m swinging, I’m swinging, I’m swinging, I’m swinging, I’m swinging.” And then just, boop, and he’s dead. I know what’s going to happen.
But yeah, some of the time I can pre-call him back before he dies, which is a good benefit of our synergy and experience together.
What is the difference between university level and the very top of the game?
Well, university level is worse than Challenger Circuit. The Challenger Circuit teams are like, they don’t get any credit for how good they are and how much they play.
A lot of them play more than the pro teams and they scrim every single day. Like all, so like five to seven days a week, whenever there are scrims that are going, and they’ll even play like lower-level scrims.
Like these pro league teams, they will never go into CC scrims, but the CC players will go into like bot-level scrims at the bottom of the barrel just to get more practice because they have so much passion.
And some of them just don’t have the mindset to get better, which is why they’re still there. But some of them do. And that’s why you have teams like my team and FWG that are at this LAN right now.
You just talked about mindset, what is your own mindset to practice and how have you got to this level?
By watching Sentinel VODs and stealing their strategies. That’s the secret key.
Perfection. Now walk us back, how did you three as DINOS come together?
Me and Chaos actually were the first comp teammates we ever had.
Like probably like two, maybe two and a half years ago when I first figured out what CC was because I didn’t know what it was before. And we both had swapped off console.
And obviously DJKilla was the number one console pred. Like, I don’t even know, maybe more than once, but definitely at least once. And Chaos and DJ played together on console and ranked.
And I played with Chaos on console and ranked. And then I played with Chaos later in comp for a little bit when we sucked and were at the bottom of CC.
And then like fast-forward a year or two later, after me and Chaos had split because he got a job.
And then we’ve come back together and DJ is with Chaos. So then, boom, we’re just all together. And we’ve been playing together like ever since that.
We’ve never swapped or split or done anything like that. It’s been like a year and a half now.
I think people are like tempted to join what they think would just instantly make them better. But a lot of the time it won’t, I guess.
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We’ll end things with one last question so you can go get ready, what can we expect from DINOS today and how are you approaching each game?
Well, first map is Stormpoint and we’re L-rod. So we’re just going to play edge and hopefully we’ll find the isolated side or less congested side and we’ll get the Rampart seer set up down and we’ll just rip all the Newcastle teams to shreds.
Or we’ll get two zero-point games there like we did on the first day. Who knows? Hopefully it’ll go good.
And then Angels Atrium should be a consistent point factory for the second half. And hopefully Atrium will single-handedly get us the top 10 and we’ll make the finals.
How far do you think DINOS can go? Share your predictions with us on the Insider Gaming Discord.
Meanwhile, see what For Fun Esport’s Taylor had to say after his team’s strong start to ALGS Split 2 Playoffs. And for even more Insider Gaming delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
An esports journalist for nine years with a focus on LoL Jack has written for national newspapers, interviewed major names, and driven people mad with puns. He's most proud of…
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