Josh WilkinsonVerified account

Some quick thoughts from First Strike qualifiers below... I'm also going to do a companion "redzone" stream tomorrow, hopping from cast to cast commenting on the most interesting stuff with @wyattriver_ Will be watching all interesting VODs in full afterwards. Long stream.

Sentinels adjusted ShahZam away from the Breach on Ascent so SicK can pick it up. Lost the map to an amateur team due to some crazy rifle rounds with Silenx POPPING and good defensive play from Sakura, but Sentinels didn't play badly. Still massive favourites.

TSM have Cutler on Sova, Subroza Omen, Drone on Breach/Phoenix, hazed as Cypher. This intruiges me; Subroza can probably IGL more effectively, and Drone back on duelist is awesome. Worried about overall strategy of TSM and firepower of cutler and hazed on important roles though.

Dignitas went OT on Ascent vs Premier, letting the opponents control tempo and losing early economic pivot rounds. Team play in postplants was off, but still have nice set plays with deep cameras from dephh and utility usage for map control is solid. They look fairly good still.

Envy running food on duelist, mummAy Oping Omen. Why has this happened? Food still makes a lot of mistakes on duelist and overlaps with kaboose. Fragging is there but I don't think this is optimal. Think they'll struggle but only against top8 opponents.

NRG using xCeeD makes an overall underwhelming roster if aiming for the top. eeiu on Sova/Breach is a good kind of odd, but strategy is extremely mediocre. It's like watching T1: very slow, uninspiring defaults, and not using utility combos to take map control. Very unconvincing.

After the first day, it's blindingly obvious that First Strike amateur teams are a FEAST for scouts in the scene. Just by watching the VODs of top teams that had close games in ro64, you can spot 5 up-and-coming talents with high potential EASILY.