[VCT BR] Gamelanders: not quite there

TLDR: Gamelanders are not true contenders, but they have some solid pieces that could be upgraded into a competetive roster.

Here is a continuation of my team analysis series. I have previously done these on Sharks, LOUD, and Vivo Keyd. For other posts including the weekly recap series check out my VCT BR Post Library.

As of writing, Gamelanders have played all their games in group A and would really like TBK to beat Liberty to guarantee themselves a playoff berth. Gamelanders came into this split with high expectations. The core of this lineup was the old Stars Horizon which had come on late into the year in 2021, but just didn't have enough circuit points to make the LCQ. The only player they lost was a crucial player in pancada who went to the LOUD superteam. They replaced him with Nyang who was a longstanding Gamelanders player for the old once dominant lineup. Seeded into the far weaker group A, Gamelanders were expected to be at least the second or third best team in this group behind LOUD. However, after a loss to LOUD in week 1 in which they showed some fight, this season has been extremely rough. They lost to the upstart TBK lineup and suffered a map loss to the new Vikings lineup that has been crushed in the other 5 maps they have played this season (without even facing LOUD). A very close series win over Liberty has kept their playoff hopes alive, but this lineup has not looked any better than the old Stars lineup. I actually think that every member of this team could be a solid role player on a contending team, but together they lack the firepower to compete with the tier 1 of Brazil.

Firepower:
dgzin is the only player that could be considered a star player on this team. He is currently sitting only 2 ACS behind heat for the top of the group stages so far. He has finished as his teams top ACS player in every match so far and has had a positive first kill to first death differential in each match. dgzin and aspas were long considered the stars of the tier 2, but unlike aspas, he has yet to get his chance with a stacked roster. Out of the four remaining players, none of fuzari, chase, Nyang, or v1nny are a true second option. Losing pancada was a big blow, and although Nyang has improved his game, he just doesn't replicate the fragging. fuzari has looked pretty solid on the sentinel role while chase has fallen into a slump. All of their players are solid, but having four players that are putting up "4th best player on a top team" numbers means that they all need to be in form in order to compete with the big teams. There is no room for error. I think either v1nny or Nyang need to be swapped for someone who can fill the second star role, but with his massive drop in form, chase could be the player swapped as well.

Defending
Gamelanders are pretty terrible at the defensive sides of games. Other than Vikings who have been stomped by everybody, Gamlanders have by far the worst defender sided round winrate. They have only won 50/110 (45.5%) of rounds on their defense despite playing Split for 3/9 maps where they have a positive win rate on their defense. (Split has a huge 59.6% defensive winrate so far in the Brazil group stages). Despite playing poorly on their attacking side of Split which constitues 1/3 of their maps, they have attacking round winrates comparable to Liberty and TBK. A lot of this stems from their reliance on dgzin to be a hard entry that opens up space for them on the executes. Their team plays well together with decent utility, but on more spread out maps, they are forced to take more isolated duels on the defense. Their teir 1 opponents can locate individual fights and skill diff Gamelanders. Gamelanders have a lot of 3+ multikills so far in the tournament (they have a positive 3+ multikill vs opponent 3+ multikill differential), but when combined with their generally low kill numbers, that is also an indication of how much they are don't trade out properly and win consistent fights.

My player grades
dgzin 8/10: He has put up great individual numbers, and has actually sustained his production against the top teams like LOUD which is an improvement from 2021. Until we see him with a top team, it is hard to tell how well he will have good coordination and teamplay, but he does a lot of individual stuff right now.
fuzari 7/10: He has been quietly good on the sentinel so far and is probably a good 3/4th option on most teams.
Nyang 5/10: His overall numbers are skewed because he beat up a bad Vikings squad, but he has improved from 2021 where he was a clear weak link on the declining Gamelanders. He doesn't replace pancada, but his experience might be useful for this team.
v1nny 4/10: He has not elevated his performance with this new roster, and although he is the IGL, I don't think Gamelanders are a particularly advanced tactical team. They are solid on attack, but I rarely see any inventive plays to take space on the defense.
chase 3/10: His numbers have fallen off hard this tournament. He was supposed to be the second star but has by far the worst numbers on his team. A more aggresive role might suit him better as he has been dissapointing on the supportive initiators.

Overall, I think Gamelanders need an upgrade in order to truly compete against the tier 1 teams in Brazil, but they have a lot of solid players that keep them relevant.

Another w from ferahgo. I think Vinny is fine, but they would still be better off with someone else. The real problem lies in chase and the inability to act as a secondary fragger/flex initiator

great analysis.

I would drop chase, tbh

nyang showed an inconsistent performance, yes, but he's very smart and hard working. I think there was something going on with his personal life or like mentally, he usually plays better than he did on GL's first matches. he did step up and I feel like this was very important for him, to rebuild his confidence.

although dgzin is great, i do find him undisciplined and anxious, he picks when he doesn't need to, specially on postplant. sometimes he flat out throw (the round or advantage) by doing that.

I like fuzari, he's very ratty, but I think that he is, in 2022, above his own 2021's performance. I expect more from him.

v1nny, although not great, is the IGL, so I wouldn't change it in the middle of this split.

chase has been a let down, i can't recall one decisive moment from him this year. I feel like he also over picks, but while dgzin hits (most of) his shots, this isn't always true with chase. I haven't been liking him on kay0. he seems weird, like he's uncomfortable.

let's see what GL has to offer. I do hope they qualify.

They're not quite there in terms of professionalism

W thread but GL is cursed to never win anything again. The SH core is good, they have some really good players, but I think they lack the "glue" to get the team together, and honestly Nyang was supposed to be that but he isn't enough.
Also, DGzin is a time bomb ticking, his BM can cost them something.

cj gap