ROUNDS RL coaching staff: “We have very high hopes for Open 6”
We got the chance to speak to ROUNDS’ Rocket League coaching staff after Open 5’s incredible Top 4 finish.
Renshiro, Marssyy and Onizumaa managed to break the bank in SSA Open 5 by reaching an incredible organization-first Top 4 finish. Our editor-in-chief Lari “Finkka” Hämäläinen managed to catch all three members of the Rocket League staff for a quick interview this past week. ROUNDS’ games in the RLCS continue this Sunday, live on twitch.tv/roundsgg.
Coach Grosloup, how was Open 5?
“Open 5 was good, I mean, it’s pretty promising for what’s gonna happen after. We have very high hopes for Open 6. We can do really good stuff, especially with lots of roster changes that are happening right now. We just got out of a coaching session plus scrim. Good work on Renshiro, he’s getting better. Like basically, this scrim, we 6-0’d LFO and Renshiro scored at least 3 goals per game probably.”
We’ve got great coaching staff, that’s all I can say.
“[laughs] Yeah, yeah, we’ve got lots of potential, and yeah, we’re having fun. Even with coaching and stuff we’re having lots of fun.”
Assistant coach Spookii, could you explain a bit more in-depth what your role in the team is?
“Basically I help with whatever is needed on the day to day, I’ll sit in on sessions and add my opinions or make sure vibes are good and productive in scrims. The mental coach part means also that I help them in the esports psychology realm as well and make sure they are always ready to play. I also help them on game days [to] keep them locked in or help them when they are down to perform at their peak.”
We all know what changed with Ren for Open 4 and 5, but what positive changes have you seen in Marssyy and Onizumaa to warrant our recent success?
“I think a really positive change has been the environment mentally and in general, they have gotten a lot more comfortable with each other especially after we came up with the “have fun” meta. I think I told them to just have fun [ahead of] one of the games and treat it like a scrim and it just stuck. I think especially Marssyy has taken a big role in these vibes to make sure everyone is having fun and we are vibing as well and he also tells them to calm down and chill out. I love to see the role he has taken on. I think those two have also stepped up and played a lot more which has helped immensely and even Oni as you could see for Top 4 stepped up a lot with a lot of plays and such too. Overall chemistry is very good now and very happy with how these two have slotted in with the experienced Ren.”
I noticed that last weekend you couldn’t find a scrim partner so the coaching staff stepped in to fill that gap. I’ve got to ask; how was it like playing with 200+ ping to warm up the guys?
“It was so fun being able to play against them! The ball was teleporting on my screen and we got destroyed most games but it was super fun to be able to play them and help them warm up and we even took a game! Overall I think this warmup is actually pretty productive as it makes them adjust to how we are playing and look at us a lot and our decisions which could be super beneficial to who they are playing as well. Not bad for us stuff and pretty fun for all.”
Manager Bucheron, how have you found your time with ROUNDS so far, with the players and the other staff? Do you see a possible future here?
“Honestly, this is the first time I have stayed this long with a team that has a real long term goal. Again, I have rarely seen such a serious team with such strong cohesion between the players and the staff. Finally, at the end of this RLCS season, I’m definitely planning to take a break before coming back next year for the start of the [next] RLCS.”
Do you think there is a benefit to having a majority French-speaking roster (including youself and Grosloup)?
“I think that having four out of six French speakers on the team (apart from Renshiro and Spookii) helps with roster creation, understanding and cohesion but is not essential to the team’s results.”
To close off, I’d be curious to know; what’s the general feeling and vibe in the team going into Open 6?
“The overall atmosphere has never been better. I mean, since our Top 7-8 finish and then our Top 3-4, the players have gained confidence and know they are capable of achieving similar results. We are now focused on the last qualifier of the season and our goal is to repeat our Top 3-4 finish from the previous open.”
Lari – finkka
ROUNDS