DarkZero struggles on first day: "I think our main issues against Team oNe were down to late-round play on attack"

^{(Banner image: Ubisoft/Kirill Bashkirov)}

Before the Sweden Major, DarkZero's Troy "Canadian" Jaroslawski said the team wanted to "show up and be better than we were in the past." 

Unfortunately, DarkZero may not be achieving this goal. After one day at the Sweden Major, DarkZero better find a way to be better than it was in the past two matches — because more games like the ones today will spell an early exit from Gävle.

DarkZero speaks on underwhelming Sweden Major run so far

In a Ubisoft-organized press conference that commenced after DarkZero fell 7-1 to Team Vitality and then 7-3 to Team oNe, Canadian and Paul "Hyper" Kontopanagiotis dished out answers about the team's struggles so far.

"I think our main issues against Team oNe were down to late-round play on attack," said Canadian.

He added that he thought their defenses were solid, considering how defense on Bank traditionally goes in the NAL. Bank had a 37 percent defensive winrate in NA during Stage 3, but it was only played twice. The map skews towards attackers by a varying mid-30s percent defensive winrate to as high as 49 percent defensive winrate in APAC North and during APAC Playoffs. Bank has a 73 percent defensive winrate in APAC South, but it was only played once. 

DarkZero had a chance to pull the score against Team oNe to a reasonable 4-3 during its first attacking round of the half. The squad was up in man count 4-2. Unfortunately for the North American squad, Caio "Neskin" Szazi and Lorenzo "Lagonis" Volpi pulled off a clutch that put Team oNe in a commanding 5-2 lead.

The play created the widest gulf between the two teams thus far, a three round lead for oNe. Team oNe would not relinquish it, pulling away for a 7-3 victory. 

DarkZero's play against Team oNe  — who are the reigning Major champions — was significantly better than its play against Team Vitality. Hyper said that the entry play was lacking against the all-French squad, and it "couldn't get past the first minute of the round without being down a man."

Hyper added that after the team's first game against Vitality he thinks they've figured out what needs to change on that specific map and that he's confident about future matches. 

DarkZero's struggles are synonymous with the region's struggles, at least through the first day of the tournament. Oxygen's are understandable since the team is currently forced to play with their coach and two members connecting in from their hotel rooms after Davide "FoxA" Bucci tested positive for COVID-19 before the event. 

Though the day wasn't the best, DarkZero said it isn't letting it affect the players. When asked about the bright spots from today, Hyper mentioned that he thought the team kept their composure well. 

"I think we did a fairly good job of continuing on with the next round, focusing on a 'one round at a time' type of mentality," he said. 

Time will tell whether DarkZero can manifest the changes they need to survive their group. SANDBOX appears to have woken up after a sleepy start against Team oNe, and Vitality is proving to be no slouch. 

DZ will look to have a better performance against SANDBOX tomorrow at 10:30 UTC.