After three regional events, the Fall Split of the 2022-23 RLCS season has come to a close. Here with us today is Dignitas pro player, Andrew “Andy” Nolan, to discuss how things went down this split and how things are looking for the future.

Hey, Andy! You guys played your first split as a team this Fall. How would you say the vibe was overall and what did you think of your first bit of competition?

Andy: Our first split was good overall. Not where we necessarily want to be, but it’s a good foundation to build off of. The vibe is pretty good because we’re really looking towards the future. Really, we’re just ready to win.

So, you guys were obviously a new roster and didn’t have much time to play together. How did you feel things progressed as you learned to play together?

Andy: Things have been progressing pretty well. We didn’t have a lot of time to practice before the first split because everything was pretty rushed in the transfer window. Now that we’ve had time to play together, things have gone a lot more smoothly and we feel like we’re consistently improving day-to-day.

Let’s talk a little bit about results. We already covered the first event with your teammate, Dreaz, but you guys did play in the other two as well. To make it to the second event, you guys went through closed qualifiers. You made it through with a 3-1 record – grabbing wins against XSET, Ghost Gaming, and Team AXLE, with your one loss coming against 26 RISING. Talk a bit about those games.

Andy: So, in the closed qualifiers, we don’t want to be a team struggling too much in those. We had a small hiccup against 26 RISING, we got a bit complacent, and they took advantage – all power to them. But, we bounced back really well after that series and were able to put it away and qualify.

You guys started off that main event with a very tight series against Version1, as it went into Game 5 overtime. Unfortunately, you didn’t get the win, but do you think it shows you can hang with some of the best teams in North America?

Andy: So, for that series, we did a lot of prep work coming in. We knew how they were going to play and we knew how we wanted to try and counter that. I think our gameplan worked really well, we just made a few big errors that ultimately led to our defeat. In general though, I think we did a good job playing against them.

After that, your next two series went quite well. You got a sweep over 26 RISING, as well as another win over Team AXLE. Talk a little bit about those match ups.

Andy: In the 26 RISING series, we really just wanted to prove to people that we’re the better team after the loss in closed qualifiers. We came out, played as best as we could and we were super confident heading into the match, which served us well. For the AXLE series, we came in with the momentum from the 26 RISING series. We started off strong and we never really faltered.

You guys did end up falling to NRG Esports and Optic Gaming, sending you out of the regional. How did you feel about the event overall?

Andy: Overall, it was a pretty solid team performance from us. I thought we played well in every series, although we made too many mistakes that cost us some games and I don’t think that will be happening in the future. It went pretty well overall though and it was something good to build off of.

Because of your performance in the first two events, you guys made it to the final event of the split, the Fall Invitational. Similarly to the previous event, you took a very good team in G2 all the way to Game 5, but came up a little bit short. How close do you guys feel you are to getting over the hump against some of those Major teams?

Andy: It feels like we’re right on the cusp of being able to beat some of these teams. We’ve been taking them to really close Game 5s. Unfortunately we couldn’t do it in the G2 series, but for this next split, we’re really focused on improving and making sure that we come out on top in those close matches.

From there, you would end up 1-3 overall in the event. Unfortunately, this does mean you missed out on the Fall Major. However, I’m sure you’ll still be following along. Do you have any predictions for the Major?

Andy: So, I think Gen.G is the best team in the world. I don’t know how bold it is because they have the results, but man, playing against them is just so oppressing! I also think FaZe Clan are in the same boat, they can be the best team in the world too. However, you also can’t count out a lot of those European teams. Team Liquid and Karmine Corp are really hot right now.

I’m picking Karmine Corp to win personally, but I’m hoping for Gen.G or Oxygen to pull it off.

Andy: That’s fair enough. All of these teams can pop off, it’s going to be a really good Major.

So, what would you say is the biggest thing that you guys are taking from these events that you can use heading into the Winter Split?

Andy: We have a lot we need to improve on. But the biggest thing is developing more of a unique playstyle. We felt like we weren’t really able to do that in the first split because we didn’t have enough time to gel and mesh with each other. Now that we have more time to prepare as a team heading into the next split, it’ll give us a good amount of wiggle room in terms of developing our playstyle and doing our prep work for other teams. We want to make sure our playstyle has an advantage.

Finally, do you have any shoutouts you’d like to give? And where can people keep up with you?

Andy: Shoutout to the fans! You guys make Rocket League what it is. You can keep up with me on Twitter and Twitch. I don’t stream very much, but maybe in the future!