SPOILER of the PRX vs NRG game.
Kind of a bait title, I’m sorry for that. Sometimes pros do play time after planting a bomb, but not as frequently as they could, and it sometimes leads to the most mind-blowing throws I’ve seen.
Take PRX vs NRG that just finished a few minutes ago. Davai vs Mada in a 1v1, everything on the line for PRX. The bomb doesn’t have a lot of time left. Mada is playing Yoru so no smokes. Why on earth is Davai dry-peaking from B Hall and not trying to play his life, extend the time, and win with the spike. Roughly 30 seconds had already ticked on bomb. He only had 15 left to win the round.
I understand that bomb wasn’t planted for him in that position, but I don’t believe that a dry-peak when Mada already saw you is a better decision than playing time against NRG’s best mechanical player. Maybe someone can explain why this decision was made, and in general why pros tend to take fights instead of playing time so frequently, even when the bomb is about to go off. It happens so much and I always question why pros can’t have just a bit more patience. Pros are so incredible at everything in the game, but time management is frequently a weakness I see from pro teams, in my opinion.
I understand things aren’t always black and white, pressure is huge in matches, especially ones like the example I gave, and players don’t always have this in their minds. But they have 4 other teammates who should be considering these things and advising their decision making, especially in such important moments.
I’m only an Ascendant player so I don’t pretend to know everything. But in that scenario I’m playing time instead of taking a 50/50 virtually every single time, and I’ll win (in my rank) with that decision way more than 50% of the time. I guess this is more so a rant on the concept of playing time in 1v1’s at the pro level being so rare. And when pros do play time, whoever is playing time tends to win at a super high rate vs not playing time in 1v1 post plants.
EDIT: I just want to add that a lot of people are saying he was trying to catch a timing, and yes I agree and understand that decision if bomb was just planted. Even with Mada knowing the strat, that doesn’t make it easy for him to bait Davai so quickly. But at the same time, to everyone’s point, at such a high level you have to try to outplay at the micro level, and it doesn’t always work out. I can’t stress enough how little time was left. Even getting Mada off bomb once will likely win you the round. Better to wait for the drop. Let Mada sit in window and burn even more time imo.
Lar0k vs BABYBAY in a 1v1, everything on the line for BBL.
Pros Never Play Time
SPOILER of the G2 vs BBL game.
Kind of a bait title, I’m sorry for that. Sometimes pros do play time after planting a bomb, but not as frequently as they could, and it sometimes leads to the most mind-blowing throws I’ve seen.
Take G2 vs BBL that just finished a few minutes ago. Lar0k vs BABYBAY in a 1v1, everything on the line for BBL. The bomb doesn’t have a lot of time left. BABYBAY is playing Yoru so no smokes. Why on earth is Lar0k holding from B Hall and not trying to play his life, extend the time, and win with the spike. Roughly 30 seconds had already ticked on bomb. He only had 15 left to win the round.
I understand that bomb wasn’t planted for him in that position, but I don’t believe that a hold when BABYBAY already saw you is a better decision than playing time against G2'S best mechanical player. Maybe someone can explain why this decision was made, and in general why pros tend to take fights instead of playing time so frequently, even when the bomb is about to go off. It happens so much and I always question why pros can’t have just a bit more patience. Pros are so incredible at everything in the game, but time management is frequently a weakness I see from pro teams, in my opinion.
I understand things aren’t always black and white, pressure is huge in matches, especially ones like the example I gave, and players don’t always have this in their minds. But they have 4 other teammates who should be considering these things and advising their decision making, especially in such important moments.
I’m only an Ascendant player so I don’t pretend to know everything. But in that scenario I’m playing time instead of taking a 50/50 virtually every single time, and I’ll win (in my rank) with that decision way more than 50% of the time. I guess this is more so a rant on the concept of playing time in 1v1’s at the pro level being so rare. And when pros do play time, whoever is playing time tends to win at a super high rate vs not playing time in 1v1 post plants.
