The Pittsburgh Knights have broken into the top four of Six Masters after taking down Elevate in Week 5, putting the top-seeded team in a perilous position heading into the last two weeks.
The Knights came in as the underdogs — with five of the six of Snowball’s Six Masters expert panel tipping an Elevate sweep. However, according to Mark “Dino” Abboud, they weren’t fazed — and even considered themselves the favourites.
“Heading into the game against Elevate, we were extremely confident that we could take the 2-0 sweep as we knew how Elevate like to play and what maps they would most likely take us on,” he told Snowball Esports.
With Joshua “Jsh” Coombes making his debut for the Knights after turning 18, they had to contend with a roster shuffle against a solid Elevate who was hot on Wildcard’s heels. However, they stood up to prove everyone wrong.
Coming out on Border, the boys in yellow looked possessed. They broke out to a quick 4-2 lead on attack, with Juicy and Jsh riding the top of the scoreboard. While they lost it and the map ran into overtime, they still managed to close it out cleanly in the red with an 8-6 win.
“We know that some teams struggle with our aggression and we used that to our advantage.”
Mark “Dino” Abboud
The Knights weren’t satisfied though. They put the knife to Elevate’s throat, and on Kafe, they dove for the jugular.
“After finishing the previous map on Border and discussing what we can do on Kafe to secure the second map, we needed to be more aggressive,” Dino said.
“My mentality going into Kafe was to give Elevate less respect because I knew that if we start putting some rounds on the board after their Map 1 disappointment they would just crash and fall.”
From the first round, the Knights meant business. Dino picked up an ace and it only set the pace for the map. They looked like they were on another level. They ran out to a 4-2 lead, before closing out their attacks flawlessly to secure the 7-2 win and some round differential padding.
What a round for @DinoR6S finding the ACE! 🔥🔥 #SixMasters
— Rainbow 6 ANZ (@Rainbow6ANZ) May 26, 2020
📺 https://t.co/3S42zV8TZQ pic.twitter.com/5DTFDRmnJy
Dino finished off the map with 15 kills himself, with all members of Knights managing to end the night on a positive note with positive KDs. However, in his debut performance, Jsh exceeded expectations, and from here, the Knights are hoping to take their game to yet another level.
“Overall, the team is super happy with jsh and how he has truly transformed our team,” Dino said. “We feel that with time jsh will be the perfect fifth because he is super consistent and overall a very good and positive player.
“With the departure of Stigs overall the team’s dynamic had to change a little. Since bringing in Jsh we have been able to find out and experiment with our roles to see what works with the current core.”
With Okami and Wildcard still to play, the road to the top four is still pretty rough. However, if taking down the top seed is anything to go by, the current ladder leaders should definitely give them a run for their money.
“We feel that as a team if we keep working as hard as we have been and working aside our coach, we should be able to get the win against Okami and Wildcard,” Dino stated.
In the week’s other action, Novaix made a stellar debut for Kanga, but it wasn’t enough to drag them to their first map win over SiNister. The cellar dwellers of Six Masters blew a 6-3 lead on Kafe to lose 8-7, before getting demolished on their own map pick of Theme Park 7-2.
The Six Masters will return on June 2 for Week 6, with LFO taking on SiNister from 7pm AEST. You can watch the games on the official Rainbow 6 Twitch channel.
Be sure to follow Snowball Esports on Twitter for all your Six Masters content throughout the season, including tips, analysis, and interviews.
