Now we run into our first true conflict on the strats side for the new NoA. Destructo played effectively the lower ramp of the inside bombsite on de_train. Again he used the impressive quick support skills to get into the upper bombsite and help out overrun teammates. His favorite support location often had him returning to the CT spawn to watch from the CT short ramp. From there he would proceed to alley or support bombtrain.

In this match against u5 where he went 22-5 on the CT side he had two impressive rounds. During a hard ladder and middle rush by u5, destructo quickly rotated getting to the CT spawn ramp before u5 had really penetrated the site. Seeing that the ladder teammate had died on the initial rush he moved onto the bombtrain where he AWPed one u5 player following that by out AWPing fRoD by the electrical box. This was only a warm up round to another hard rush by u5; this time alley and middle. The opening of the round saw all three Rival members guarding upper site died before anyone could rotate, but fragging only two u5 members in return. Again destructo rotated fast enough to reach the middle, five train. From the five train he fragged one u5 player in the middle of the train yard before moving around the corner to take on two more outside of alley and win the round.


With the praises of destructo aside, the issue of where he will play for NoA still remains. bsl played straight up on the alley, taking on rushes and normally using height to his advantage (boosted or on trains). All of this doesn’t really play into the strengths of the young Californian. NoA will have to look at another solution if they want to improve their play on this match, which almost halted their CPL run before it began with a tough 13-10 win over e7. The best solution looks like another move for Method placing him in the upper ramp of the lower site. This would force Knoxville to rotate to alley but his excellent teamwork with his long time friend Naikon, who plays middle, would allow him to take over this spot effectively. Again this is all depending on comfort level, if a player doesn’t understand and can’t effectively play well in his spot it can hurt the team drastically.

The final map is de_nuke, arguably NoA’s best map. After dominating both Adrenaline[GX] and mouz on this map, there isn’t much room for improvement. For destructo’s end, he plays an important position in the upper bombsite but he doesn’t really shine in this position. A 12-5 mark on the CT side against xeno was subdued for him. He did handle rushes through the hut/metal door and outside pretty effectively. Aside from retaking/quick support of bombsites, destructo next best skill is simple frag management. What that means is his ability to take down targets coming from more then one direction, something he showed well on de_dust2 in bombsite A. On the other hand, slowing/stopping direct head on rushes weren’t his most ideal positions.


This leaves NoA with two problems, if you play to the strength of destructo that forces you to move someone out of the upper bombsite in de_nuke and second someone then has to replace bsl at the ramp room. The ramp room was one of the most solid places on the entire map for NoA at CPL, they continue to brag about it to this day. The removing of bsl leaves a hole there though that could be filled by moving Shaguar into that area full time from his rafter/outside location or moving another player in there. The best option looks like moving Naikon into the ramp room, using that teamwork with Knoxville to continue their lockdown. This would eliminate their other problem as well because destructo would then take over Naikon’s spot in upper bombsite with his fellow Californian Method.

Many of these changes seem simple but it’s often not that easy. Every one of these players has been an all-star on their teams in the past and in turn have become use to the positions they like to play. This can create problems inside of a team, one of the biggest reasons a player doesn’t stick around with the new team they just joined. Disputes or even resentment over not playing the spot their use to and most effective causes them to do poorly. This poor play in turn creates a rift between the new player and his incumbent team.

The biggest reason why NoA had the success they did merging all of these new players when the team was first created is Knoxville. His success as a leader and understanding of the game allows him to work with players harnessing their skills to help the team overall. Still the experience of merging new players together is different then adding a new player to an already proven formula, creating another challenge for Knoxville. It will be interesting to see how he solves the problems of the departed bsl and the joining destructo. Don’t forget, they still plan to announce a 6th player which could create even more changes to an already complex situation.