Saintt: "The goal of every player and coach is to win"

Today, we are sitting down with Carolina Royal Raven's head coach, Brian Saintt, to discuss the current season's progress and the team's excitement in ending the franchise's championship drought.

Player Performance and Team Dynamics

Ronnie: Do you think this season has been successful considering expectations going into it?

From an organizational standpoint, I’d say yes. However, from a competitor’s perspective, the answer is no, as the goal of every player and coach is to win. It’s never going to be easy when you're the last team to form in the off-season. So, given those circumstances, qualifying for champs is a win from the organizational side, especially for a franchise that hasn’t been to champs in over 1,000 days.

Ronnie: How have you and the team helped Thomas "TJHaly" Haly achieve his best season in the CDL era, or do you believe it's primarily his own effort?

Teej has been fantastic ever since he stepped in for us last year when Reeal’s visa situation went awry. It’s always up to the players to put in the work and absorb the knowledge given to them, so I want to give full credit to him. I also believe he and Gwinn have a natural pairing and friendship that made it easier for him to have a resurgence over the past 1.5 years.

Ronnie: It doesn't feel like Isaiah "Gwinn" Gwinn has been as impactful this year as in 2024. Would you agree with that assessment, and what will it take to see a superstar Gwinn at Champs?

In my eyes, Gwinn has been very good this year. With this game and the longer kill times/movement, it’s harder to take over from an individual standpoint compared to last year, which had faster kill times. A lot more teamwork is involved in this game, and you need the whole team firing and team shooting, regardless of how good a flow a single player is in.

📸 Photo by @mediabyIsiah

Preparation for LAN Environment

Ronnie: We know Austin "SlasheR" Liddicoat doesn't believe in online CoD. How difficult is it to prepare for a LAN environment with weeks of online-only practice leading up?

It’s not ideal, but at the end of the day, practice is almost always exclusively online. It’s about being aware of common issues and being cognizant of correcting them and fine-tuning what we want our map pool to look like for champs.

Ronnie: How are you feeling playing a team that just beat you at DreamHack Dallas? And what effect will this have on the team's preparation?

It’s a matchup we’re all really excited for. Toronto is a team we’ve played twice on LAN this season, both going to game 5—round 10 and round 11 respectively. We want to come out and prove that we should have closed the series out last time a few weeks ago.

Season Awards

Ronnie: Who do you think should be awarded the regular season MVP?

I'd go with Thomas "Scrap" Ernst.

Ronnie: What about Rookie of the Year?

David "RenKoR" Isern.