Dignitas PUBG's Road to PGC, or How to Conquer Your Dreams! Part 1
Dignitas' PUBG coach Znooper shares his journey in esports and competitive PUBG.
Hi,
Znooper here! I wanted to share my journey as a professional PUBG coach, from the moment I decided to take risks until I made it to PGC.
At the end of this post, you might think I have been lucky to get opportunities so quickly. However, I started volunteering years ago, and I have faced many failures before getting here. Hopefully, this will be an inspiration for whoever wants to do esports for a living and stay motivated despite its ups and downs.
A quick look back would look like this:
• Discovering League of Legends 10 years ago along with Starcraft II. Get absolutely amazed by a totally new environment where I could use my abilities for the best,
• Volunteer League of Legends coach,
• Helped in the organization of Lyon Esport, a French LAN,
• Discovered competitive PUBG months after its launch,
• Volunteer coach for 3DMax, then ADEPTS,
• Volunteer assistant coach for RYE Gaming,
• Refused for two positions I’ve dreamt of: EMEA Esports Associate Manager for PUBG Europe, Marketing and Social Media manager for twire.gg,
Except for the last part, I haven’t been successful in esports.
The first reason is the amount of time I’ve put into it. I had other priorities back then: studies, job, relationships, and every day has a limited number of hours. Even if I hoped I could achieve something big back then, other people did more and certainly better to achieve their dreams.
The second one is the lack of dedication. I enjoyed the part of esports where you compete and try to prove your worth over another team. However, I had very little interest in the "hidden" part of any competitive environment: the amount of hard work and the long hours of training and sacrifices to get on top. Some people I had the opportunity to meet in my early years understood it early, and it taught me a lesson when I looked back at it.
In October 2020, I took the decision to shut my business down with the firm intention to put more hours into esports, and hopefully get the opportunity I would have killed for. I took a job (full-time then reduced to part-time) to pay for my needs, and I’ve started working hard.
This was more or less the time I’d been refused for both positions I’ve applied for. And I must admit it was a rough hit. I’m really confident in my abilities to accomplish a lot of different tasks, and I’ve never seen my current situation as a limit of what I could do. I had the conviction to be the right fit for both positions and being denied twice was demoralizing.
PUBG is a niche game, with very few opportunities, and even if I’d like to say otherwise, experience has taught me relations are more important than actual skills. Those were the two major obstacles I’ve struggled to deal with, and reasons I’ve been tempted to give up. I’d been seeking advice, talking with a lot of different people who all had different opinions, and it was really hard to figure out the “right” decision.
In December or January, I had the opportunity to play a scrim session with HoneyBadger thanks to Corsac, and I must admit it has been a turning point. I’ll go back to this point later, but finding a player who can carry on your ideas, your concepts, your understanding in game is actually a blessing for any coach. Esports is an environment where a lot of credit (and value) are given to players, and coaching staff is often overlooked. It leads to situations where any team usually picks its players before deciding on a coach, and it sometimes makes it really hard to push your ideas and settle a dynamic you’re really comfortable with.
That’s more or less what I experienced when I’d been tested as HEROIC’s coach. I don’t think any of us (me or the players) are fundamentally bad at what we do. We just had a totally different approach of how we would like to work, and it didn’t click. As you may understand, they decided to continue without me and Badger, and it was certainly the best for everybody.
Early March, Badger offered me the opportunity to follow him in his North American journey with Gascans. The team ended up 2nd in PCS 3, and it was the best opportunity I had and, to be honest, it was a no-brainer.
The sleep schedule shift was really hard at first. There is nothing less natural than working during the night. It’s hard to be relevant when you’re struggling to find a routine you’re fine with, and I was really frustrated with how useless I could be some nights. I didn’t really know the players, and it’s really hard to gain respect/credibility when you’re not at the top of your art. Fortunately, the team was really kind and welcoming, and even if it didn’t last as long as I would have liked to, it was a good first month and a half for me to get familiar with the scene, its teams and its players.
Despite an excellent second week in ESL Masters, we ended up at a disappointing 9th place, way below our expectations.
2021 is really short considering its competitive schedule, and with only four major deadlines to qualify for PGC, wasting a shot was a step back. No matter how good and confident you are, the only reality that matters is the leaderboard at the end of a tournament, and the second half wasn’t enough.
Zenith, who found a substitute in a really short period of time after PGI.S, ended up a few placements above us and A Creche. While ESL was a main step for us, it was only a transition for most of the PGI.S teams, and with more time to discuss and decide, Poonage and Shinboi offered to have Badger and Sparkingg to join the team. Thanks to Badger, I’d been offered the head coach position.
Who could refuse the opportunity to coach two PGI.S runner-up along with one of the best player of the tournament?
I must admit I was frustrated to give up what we’ve started with Gascans and to do it all over again. It’s not the easiest thing to establish a healthy atmosphere: a place where there is place for friendship, but also for strong work ethic and discipline.
More or less one month after I started with the team, everything was not perfect, but we’d reached a point where we can start working efficiently and start working to close the gap with well-established teams (TSM FTX, Soniqs and OATH).
Following the renewal of PUBG Americas, Dignitas reached out to us, and came up with a proposition we couldn’t refuse. There is still a long way to go before we can make it for their trust, but you can easily understand how important this milestone is to me.
The next articles will be the opportunity to tell you a bit more about our routine, our approach, and our plans to get to PGC. However, it was really important to me to set the scene, so you can have a better understanding of who I am, my background, and how hungry I am.
To end up this long-enough first part, I’d like to highlight the downside to suddenly be more visible: people suddenly become kinder and more welcoming. I’m not a different person to who I was before getting signed with Dignitas. Yes, I was looking for opportunities to prove my worth and my skills, but I wasn’t any different. I’ve always been a kind and supportive person, and I’ll always be, no matter if we’re competing for the same thing or not. To whoever looking for help, advice, or if you just want to talk: feel free to reach out to me. The door is open, and I’ll stay available.
I hope you’re doing well. See you soon with more articles about the team development and how to get from a brand-new team to a PGC contender.
Maxime “Znooper” GONY
