Team ADEPTS: from zero to hero?
2021 could be the year for the French squad.
For Team ADEPTS, 2020 has been a rollercoaster. After they qualified for PEL in late 2019, the professional league got canceled, and Continental Series was created: a 4 step circuit leading to what was supposed to be PUBG Global Championship 2020.
The French team had mitigated results all year long from Charity Showdown where they ended 11th to PCS 1 and 3 where they didn’t manage to qualify. However, and despite their results, the team has decided to stick together to represent proudly France at the highest level, and tried several iterations as the events unfold.
2020 November 20th: Raise Your Edge releases their roster following deceiving results, and the veteran player Shiv decides to join ADEPTS. With the will to play in a familiar environment again, he accepts the challenge and is determined to help them get to the next level.
Turning down offers and opportunities, the team prepares from this date its 2021 season with a slow but steady progression:
- 7th in Dreamhack Winter Showdown: The team didn’t manage to keep the first place they had at the end of 2nd day,
- 10th in DRGN Pro League season 3,
- 3rd in PSL Season 8.
The team will compete in RYE Royale starting this weekend, a stacked best of 24 series where they’ll try to consolidate their dynamic.
The same way we did with WLA yesterday, we’ll study their gameplay using Twire’s map replays, and try to understand what we could expect from them going in this new tournament.
Miramar
If I have to describe AD’s gameplay on Miramar in one word, I’d say “principles”. The team is known to give a lot of importance to the preparation: they usually study their lobby and have plans for most circles, including potential hard shifts. No matter how the series goes, they’ll likely stick to their pre-established plans, even if it implies a bit of stubbornness.
That being said, here is what to expect from AD on Miramar:
- Circle 1: If given the opportunity, the team will play for a central compound, and especially a potential game-ending position. If it’s not possible, the team will be looking for a position they can play for as much 2nd circle as possible, with easy access and drivable paths they can use to bomb central positions,
- The team will likely play very stacked past the first circle, with an obvious will to keep its manpower. In other words, if you know where AD is, you can usually expect them not to have any risky/opportunistic behavior,
- Since Shiv’s arrival, the team has shown much more qualities in straight 4v4 team fights. However, since it’s still a last resort plan for them, they often end up doing poorly if they’re the team that has to push (1 successful fight over 7 situations).
In an even better fashion than WLA, they have shown great intelligence to get the most out of their best games (51 points in 3 games).
Overall, I believe it’s fair to say PSL final games have been pretty favorable to AD when it comes to first circles, and they could easily end up in the same dynamic they had during Round 5 and lower bracket, where they were forced to play out of their comfort zone on multiples occasions (aggressive crashes, shifts away in mid/late game, hill areas, etc…).
Finally, to wrap it up with Miramar, I’d say they are their enemy. Even if they have a very low-risk playstyle that gives very few opportunities for other teams to exploit, they still haven’t shown enough flexibility and creativity to get out of the worst scenarios so far in their preparation.
Erangel
Except for the first two games, AD has shown a much more stable playstyle on Erangel than they did on Miramar.
Even if their principal rotations still reveal consistency in the way they approach different areas of the map when it comes to positioning, a more detailed analysis reveals a better understanding of how circles will play out and what important positions are.
On various occasions, we have seen them approaching circles from high ground positions, which has certainly been helpful when it comes to gathering information and then making decisions. A behavior we’ve rarely seen during previous tournaments where the team had a position heavy playstyle, going from camps to camps, with very little adaptability.
That flexible playstyle is a step in the right direction for the team, allowing them to take advantage of the situations they are confronted with, without going against their core gameplay.
Finally, the team has faced similar issues when it comes to team fights and is still inconsistent both when it comes to pushing and holding. However, if the teams keep improving in this direction, and if accepting riskier plays becomes one of their tools, they could be able to grab the extra points they needed during Dreamhack or PSL.
Conclusion
Being familiar with AD I’ve worked with and coached for a while, I’m pretty excited with the visage they’ve shown since Shiv’s arrival and the changes they slowly start to implement to become a more complete team.
RYE Royale will be excellent preparation for them at the dawn of the 2021 competitive season. We’ll also wait cautiously for PGI.S teams to be back from Korea and see if AD can maintain its rank and play the troublemakers on the road to PGC.
RYE Royale will be streamed on twitch.tv/raiseyouredgegaming starting March 6th at 7 PM CET.
Maxime “Znooper” GONY
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