CSGO: The Danger of the Captain Role, the Fall of Snax and the Hobbit

In-game leader (IGL – captain in the game) is completely different from other roles in CS: GO. This position requires a process and working spirit that is different from other positions in CS: GO. IGL requires you to focus all of your time on it. It is very difficult to move into the IGL position, although we have seen some successful names like Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella (Liquid) or Chris “ChrisJ” de Jong (mousesports), the success rate of the transition is extremely high. low, even if the team has talented coaches behind it. The vast majority of players think that the leadership role is not too difficult, but actually this position is very stressful. And the most obvious example comes from the fall of Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski (former Virtus.pro player) and Abay “Hobbit” Khassenov (Gambit). Both these players were once the brightest stars of the team and both also destroyed their own playing careers when taking on leadership roles.

During the last three months of 2016 through the first three of 2017, Snax was arguably the best player in the world at one point. His individual skill is outstanding, and Snax’s influence when it comes to AWP, lurk, and clutch makes him a heavyweight opponent of Marcelo “Coldzera” David or Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz. Snax knows what to do, where to stand, and how to destroy opponents.

During this time period, Virtus.pro is the hottest team to follow. They were never a strong team. There are too many candidates for late 2016 and early 2017, not to mention Astralis showing themselves to be the superior team. But VP always creates a fever. No other team can excite viewers like that. You feel like you are part of the Virtus.Plow army (Virtus tractors) as they fight hard in each battle. It was a special time to watch. And in the end, Snax decided to take on the role of IGL.

At the time, Filip “NEO” Kubski was the IGL of the team, but he was tired of taking on the role for so long. It’s an exhausting job while honing personal skills like other members, creating tactics, spying on opponents, fixing/managing internal problems. Speaking of leadership, TaZ should be the chosen one. But for some reason, the team empowered Snax and this move pushed VP into the abyss.

From that moment on, everything they built fell apart. The team was relegated both LAN and online. Nothing worked. The only bright moment was the EPICENTER and it was considered a transient phenomenon. During this dark time, Snax answered the HLTV interviewer as follows,

“The members are like people who lost their souls, we can’t find ourselves again.”

The team then realized their mistake and Snax left the IGL position. But this decision only happened after more than half a year and Snax no longer reproduced the glorious image of the past.

Virtus.pro gradually “lost the ball”, losing match after game, until Snax was bought by Mouz. Fans and Mouz hope Snax will find himself, but only time will tell.

In addition to Snax, we also witness another superstar who is in the same situation. Hobbit is the rookie of the year in both CS:GO and esports in general. Hobbit proved himself to be the second star of the tier 2 team Gambit, and his efforts earned him CS:GO’s highest achievement, a Major championship. Who can forget that classic moment in Inferno, when he single-handedly saved the team against the Immortals? This is a historic moment for Gambit members before… the internal division.

Things start to happen at the Hobbit’s wedding. The team decided to kick coach Mykhailo “kane” Blagin. As a result, Zeus and kane returned to Na`Vi while Gambit chose AdreN as the team’s IGL.

In the next debut at DreamHack Malmo, everyone thought that Gambit had made a great decision to make the top 4 and it made everyone doubt Zeus’s importance in this squad. AdreN is the superstar of the team and Hobbit is the best rookie in the world, helping Gambit to break into the top 10 in the world. Then what must come will come. Gradually, the void left by Zeus grew larger. AdreN was the first to die when he lost his superstar form while trying to lead the team.

Then it was Hobbit’s turn to try his luck and, like Snax, this decision ruined his form. At that time, he was considered as the top 5 most potential players in the world, but the moment he took over IGL, all his skills were almost lost. Unlike Snax, he did not do IGL for too long, however, “broken mirror is difficult to heal”. In the first half of 2018, the Hobbit is no longer the powerful monster we saw before in 2017.

Gambit continues to have difficulty finding its own IGL. They keep trying one member after another. From AdreN to Hobbit, then Dosia, to seized. Seized was the first player to fall for taking on a leadership role. Seized was forced to take on this task after coach Na`Vi was unable to direct the team due to a regulation from Valve (the coach was not directly involved in directing during the round) and since then he has not been active. gain personal skills like before, even though he was one of the best supports himself.

When we look at it as a whole (or specifically, in this case Snax and Hobbit), there is clearly a link between loss of form and the IGL role. Except for the case of ChrisJ, the vast majority of players will drop in performance. Similar to MIBR’s Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, this AWPer has not been able to return to the form of 2016. So what has influenced this?

Multitasking (multitasking – taking on many tasks) and attention to detail in each thing in the game will eat away at the individual skill of the player. The perspective of the players changes when we talk about IGL and casual players. Each has a common role and a place on the team that they need to focus on. The vast majority of people need to focus on individual roles and good communication and game sense in order to play consistently. IGL is different, they not only focus on themselves, but also have to plan in accordance with the skills, personalities and philosophies of the members.

Their horizons broadened, both in-game and out-of-game. In addition to aim training, IGL has to watch demos (match replays), collect ideas and refine it, apply them and evaluate their effectiveness. In the game, they have to focus not only on themselves, but also on the game. For example, MIBR’s tactic in Mirage on the B side is usually using nade to isolate locations on the bombsite.

The first reaction of the B defenders is to ask for a support rotation. But in reality, players won’t do that if they have watched MIBR demos because MIBR also uses that amount of nade to setup split A from window, two from connector, one from T-con, and one from palace. In that moment, IGL must understand what is going on, where the game will go next and make a decision. Even if IGL makes the right decision, they can still fail to defend if they lose in terms of individual skill.

And this example is just one round in the whole round. Imagine IGL would have to think through all the rounds, the burden of the captain position would be very heavy. IGL changes a player, the way they play and the way they think. They are no longer pieces of the puzzle, but people who put the pieces together. Perhaps, this role is too heavy for Snax and Hobbit. In the case of Snax, he has always been a very sharp player. Always in the right position, at the right time to handle the enemy. As for Hobbit, he also called while Zeus was at Gambit, but never realized the burden of taking on the role completely.

Both have been hit hard and it continues to this day. Snax has been out of IGL for many months, but he was forced to part because he is no longer in the form of his peak. Hobbit and Gambit are still having trouble finding a common voice to fill the position left by Zeus. With each passing month, the problem got bigger and bigger as Gambit members switched IGL positions.

The dangers of being captain are undeniable. Who remembers the peak of Snax and Hobbit before they became IGL? Snax masters the world, he craves and constantly crushes his opponents. The last time we saw him at his peak was early 2017, over a year ago. With Mouz, hopefully Snax will find the light again. Hobbit is looking to break into the top 5 players by the end of 2017. Now, no one pays attention to him when Gambit drops more and more.

According to VPEsports

Guide to becoming IGL CS:GO Part 1