(Banner image: Ubisoft/Eric Anamalay)
From a pure “moving parts” perspective, no team in North America has changed more than DarkZero. From the loss of Matthew “Hotancold” Stevens and Alex “Skys” Magor, to moving Kyle “Mint” Lander to coach, to adding budding young talents Nick “njr” Rapier and Rob “Panbazou” Feliciano, and, finally, to signing Troy “Canadian” Jaroslawski before the third and final stage of the year, no NA team saw more players wear its jersey during 2021 than DarkZero.
Even merely swapping Brandon “BC” Carr for Canadian has come with changes. BC has his way of playing the game, which differs slightly from his vision of playing the game, even if they’re ultimately aligned, said Canadian in an interview with SiegeGG.
“I'd say mostly that it's down to the type of flex pick we run. They [DarkZero] used to run a flex in the same sense that I've run like on SSG or on EG. They used to run that with Mint on the team. But then, I think when Brandon stepped in, it was a lot more of just a static lineup, and yeah it switched a bit and then I joined in, in order to get that flex position, someone had to come off their typical role,” said Canadian in an interview with SiegeGG.
More often than not, the player coming off his typical role has been Tyler “Ecl9se” McMullin, says Canadian. Ecl9pse has never missed a Major, nor an SI for that matter. His flexibility has been key for a still-gelling DarkZero roster that feels like it’s never truly received a chance to settle this year.
“I think a lot of people don’t really know because he’s quiet, you know, they really don't get much insight into his mind and whatnot. But he's a very smart guy, very experienced player, he understands the game very well,” said Canadian regarding his teammate.
Ecl9pse at the Six Invitational 2020.
DarkZero had an underwhelming SI, after which Mint switched to a coaching role and Skys backed away from competing for a stage. Before that, the organization moved on from Hotancold in favor of budding talent njr.
With two spots to fill, BC moved into a playing role before Stage 2 and the organization flirted with Nathan “nvK” Valenti before settling on Panbazou. Before Stage 3, DZ won the Canadian sweepstakes in the transfer window, finally settling on a roster it feels like can be stable, with a solid coaching staff to boot.
After Paul “Hyper” Kontopanagiotis and BC were diagnosed with COVID-19 at the Mexico Major and were forced to quarantine for a time that would overlap with the beginning of NAL Stage 3, DarkZero were forced to start the stage a bit later than normal.
After the untimely death of Michael “KiXSTAr” Stockley, their final three games were shoved into a 48 hour period. While mourning the death of one of their own, DZ was forced into a situation where they’d play nearly a full half stage in two days -- at the end of which they could be in either relegations or the Major.
Fortunately for DZ, they had a lifeline extended their way by Mirage upsetting TSM. A 7-2 victory over beastcoast later in the day placed them square in the Major -- the organization’s third appearance at an international event this year.
DarkZero at the Six Invitational prior to the Panbazou and Canadian signings .(Photo: Ubisoft/Kirill Bashkirov)
It’s tough to predict or prognosticate what’s next for DarkZero, specifically because they’re such a new team that’s had so many changes, and their final games were played during an understandably emotionally turbulent time for most.
They’ve made it out of groups at SI and the Mexico Major, but will still need to build in order to be a sincere contender; they’ve been fundamentally different at every single one of the three international events DarkZero has qualified for. Canadian says there hasn’t been a “honeymoon phase” on any team that he’s been on, but adds that the basis for cohesion in “Siege” is “repetition”.
“We just want to show up and be better than we were in the past,” said Canadian.
DarkZero’s debut at the Sweden Major will come against Team Vitality in the joint-first match of the tournament.