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Of all the teams, TSM falling off after the Six Invitational 2022 was the most understandable. They had made the deepest run of all -- they won the entire event, after all -- but they had also begun their campaign a month before 16 of the other teams had.
"First we had to prep for the [SI qualifier]," recalled TSM coach Owen "Pojoman" Mitura. "And then after that was, we had to do the quals, and then right into that is straight into SI basically ... So, we were kinda going for four or five months straight."
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TSM suffered in Stage 1, with the issue undoubtedly compounded by the fact that TSM had won the biggest prize in Rainbow Six, the world championship. Everything after that, especially what came immediately after, just would not have the same lustre. And so, it was a mere ninth place finish that they managed in the NAL, with just two wins and seven points -- only one point ahead of Mirage.
"I think Stage 2, we kinda realised why we were kinda burnout from the first stage," went on Pojoman. "The thing with Stage 2 was that every team during Stage 2 was so close ... it was just kind of a toss-up who was gonna make it through [to the Major]."
True enough, the statistics back up Pojoman's claims. TSM were only three points adrift of fourth place, even though they eventually only managed eighth place. Emilio "Geometrics" Leynez and Bryan "Merc" Wrzek were the 10th and 11th-best players in the NAL by SiegeGG Rating, having Ratings of 1.08, and TSM managed four victories this time.
Despite the improvement in form, world champions TSM knew it was not good enough, said Pojoman. They wanted to be the best every time and knew they could be even better.
"That's why we started making the changes that we did," he explained. "For us ... we don't like to just do them for the sake of doing them, like a lot of other teams we find just swap out players like they swap out underwear."
In order to climb back to the top, even amidst a packed and cut-throat NAL field, TSM moved on from two players -- Brady "Chala" Davenport and Geometrics. The move, said Pojoman, was primarily aimed at avoiding "stagnation", rather than an outright focus on upgrading the team's firepower -- as many other teams have pushed towards.
"We felt like we had a pretty big lapse in, like, late game decision making and calling," he explained. "It's kind of a bonus when you're getting newer, younger players, that you're typically getting more gun skill."
The first player that TSM signed was focused on improving that gun skill directly, however, with eventual permanent TSM signing Nick "Snake" Janis starting with a trial at Gamers8.
"We knew he was nasty to begin with, so we were looking for another person to really be like... frag out," explained Pojoman. "We knew we had [Jason "Beaulo" Doty, Matthew "Achieved" Solomon], and Merc -- they're all really good at flexing onto different ops ... If we can just get somebody that can just straight shoot people, those three can be the ones flexing [onto whichever role required]."
Soon after, TSM also signed another impressive young gunner in the aptly-named Keegan "Gasher" Slovensky. However, what they also brought alongside their gun skill -- owing to an impressive sense for the game -- were "fresh ideas" for the team. That, said Pojoman, was more important to drive TSM back to the top. And because both were specifically selected for their ideas, they never felt cowed when sharing their vision for the game with their far more experienced, world champion teammates.
That approach has yielded results immediately for TSM, though Pojoman is wary of this upwards momentum evaporating after this stage. They finished top of the NAL in Stage 3, three points clear of second-placed Soniqs and an impressive seven points clear of fifth place. Seven regulation time wins were only marred by two regulation time losses and it was clear within the first two weeks that this new TSM was likely going to qualify for the Major.
Despite that, Pojoman knows that TSM are not perfect and have many problems. The trick, he said, always lies in fixing them.
"For this Major, main thing is just, like, making sure we're all working together," he shared. "Whenever we can do that, we typically, absolutely dominate."
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Domination in the group stage of the Jönköping Major may be too much of an ask in Group B, however, with Team Liquid, Heroic, and SANDBOX Gaming lining up opposite TSM. Liquid have also upgraded, with an IGL change and now have three players that are arguably some of the best in the world, while Heroic are hitting form at the right moment, and SANDBOX are an experienced team from a region TSM have historically struggled against.
"I like our group," said Pojoman. "It's not the easiest group, but it's not a bad group ... We've always matched up well against Liquid."
Greater concern was placed onto the matches against SANDBOX, with the TSM coach describing clashes against APAC opposition as a "flip of the coin". The caution likely stems from their 0-3 record against the Invictus Gaming team, who beat them twice in the group stage of the Mexico Major and once during the Six Invitational last year, and their 2-0 loss to Elevate at the Six Invitational this year.
"The shots they're hitting, like I've never seen any of them shoot like that," he elaborated, almost in shock and disbelief. "And then they go and they play against us, we're getting hip-fired across the map, like from Freezer in Kafe. It's like, 'Okay, just wasn't meant to be, apparently'."
As for Heroic, Pojoman is also often surprised at how some teams in the EUL manage to win rounds seemingly out of thin air.
"Any time I see EU ... just question marks are going off in my head, like how people get away with things," he explained. "They have a pretty obvious play style, if you watch any more than one map."
TSM are not underestimating any team, but they are oozing confident and are very clearly in it to win it.
"If we don't win the tournament, it's 'cos we weren't properly executing all together," he concluded. "If we just do those basic things, we [will] win."
Catch TSM on the international stage once more at the Jönköping Major, which will take place from Nov. 21 to 27.