“The players were very nervous (against G2)”: EnvyTaylor speaks about SANDBOX Gaming’s poor start to the Berlin Major

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After years of seeing the Koreans qualifying for international events, there were high hopes from DWG KIA and SANDBOX Gaming’s return to the international stage.

SANDBOX, for their part, have been working intensively to make their new signings gel and have focused on improving their in-game communication. After missing out on the Charlotte Major amidst acrimonious circumstances, the Berlin Major was a chance for redemption.

But Day 1 of the Berlin Major had been disastrous for them. Kim “EnvyTaylor” Seong-soo explained that he felt some “headache” and “chills” due to the high-temperatures that have hit the venue.

In a very demanding group with the likes of FaZe Clan, G2 Esports, and Soniqs, each point is worth its weight in gold. However, despite the importance of those points for SANDBOX, the Koreans are still empty-handed.

Two regulation losses against G2 Esports and FaZe Clan have put their continued presence at the Major after Wednesday in doubt. SANDBOX started their campaign with a 3-7 loss to the Europeans, before conceding a 5-7 defeat to the Brazilians.

“The players were very nervous and couldn’t play what they were doing before,” said EnvyTaylor.

According to the SANDBOX captain, nerves were what dictated the pace of their game against G2 Esports. Starting from the defensive half, the Europeans absolutely smashed SANDBOX, exploiting the combined power of a Wamai ban with fragmentation grenades.

After a perfect attacking half for G2 Esports, SANDBOX had no room for error to even just force overtime. They began to mount what seemed like a comeback, winning their first three attacks. However, Karl “Alem4o” Zarth had other plans in mind.

Alem4o’s Warden made the difference in the final round, as SANDBOX brought the Osa, Ying, Glaz combination to attack on Kitchen.

“It was (our) original attacking method,” explained EnvyTaylor. But apparent inflexibility and lack of anticipation meant that Warden’s special ability, which allows him to see through smokes, spoiled the Koreans’ chances of going to overtime.

SANDBOX Gaming then moved on to face FaZe Clan, playing the Brazilian titans immediately after their loss to G2 Esports.

“I came up with a method of attacking while keeping the basic strat as much as possible,” explained EnvyTaylor about the team’s attacks on Theme Park.

On paper, Theme Park is more of a defensive map, and after a spirited SANDBOX performance, it was José “bullet1” Victor’s 1v2 clutch on round eight that eventually made the difference. 

In the final stages of the game, the Koreans tried to stun the Brazilians by bringing Sens to the lineup, but it didn’t have the desired effect. Nothing could stop their opponents, who finally won before relegation. 

“I used the Sens because they banned the Ying,” shared EnvyTaylor.

Tomorrow, SANDBOX Gaming will be facing Soniqs and FaZe Clan once again in an attempt to rejoin the battle for the top two places in the group.