RUBINO: "Trying not to lack in individual skill"

Earlier today, Dignitas clinched second place in Group B following a tough series against LDLC, in which the Norwegian-Portuguese-Danish mixture won Cache comfortably before falling short on Nuke and edging the Frenchmen on Inferno following overtime.

Calling in-game is still very new to RUBINO, who's adapting to his new role in dignitas

We got a hold of Ruben "⁠RUBINO⁠" Villarroel after the match, who took the role of the in-game leader upon the creation of the roster, to find out more about how he and the team have progressed, and naturally Dignitas' journey at the Minor so far:

This match must have been a rollercoaster of emotions, these last two maps, how did you deal with that being such a new team and you being such a new leader?

Well, I think the maps we got, we felt pretty confident, to be honest. Cache has been a good map for us, it fits us very well and it showed, we beat them really really confident there. Nuke, we have been trying to play, but it hasn't been like the best map, we haven't figured it out yet, in a way that people are not as comfortable on it as on other maps. I think we should have won that map, I felt like we threw that away, some rounds we never should have lost, but that is normal for a new team, we're talking in English and for some people it's really new.

Communication errors and such is going to happen. I know when I played in North, it was the same, sometimes we had communication errors and we were a really good team, and we talked in the same language, but still, there were some errors. So, it's harder when you're talking in English, and that's not anyone's native language. But I think we're improving really, really well, after the Nuke game, we just said that was their map, they didn't win, we lost that. Going into Inferno, we were really confident, they haven't had the best results on it, which we haven't either but after playing versus PENTA, we figured out some ways in which we were lacking and tried to improve on it, get more T rounds and such. Overall, it was okay.

Talking about the ending on Nuke, losing the last seven rounds after being up 14-9, it felt like you rushed it and kept trying quick plays, is that how you viewed it afterwards as well?

The problem with Nuke is that we don't have a lot of tactics, we have two smokes fast outside, and that's basically what we have. So, you can go yard and try to out-aim them, but they will probably beat you, because they have crossfires and angles, getting AWP kills and such, so we just tried different things, going down vents, silent out secret, and just try to surprise them.

One round, at 14 something, we went down secret, it was 4v4 and we still lost, so that's what I'm talking about, the communication errors are still there, and we just need to improve that. But we're still a new team and I think we're improving day after day.

So, you feel like communication is the biggest problem in the heated situations?

For sure, I was playing in North and Danish players have been known for really good communication, so for me going from that to here, we are really lacking communication-wise. But it will come, it takes time, everything takes time, but I think we just need to play, play, play, and just try to improve everything.

I still think that we have shown some potential here - I'm not saying like being a contender, of course, but we have some possibility to actually qualify here. It will be hard for sure, but we're aiming at that for the moment and we just need to practice and practice, and hopefully we'll get better.

Being a new team and yourself being a new leader, do you think having played quite a few maps here, especially with how close some of them have been, will that help you deal with the playoffs series better?

I think so. We have some really experienced players, like jkaem, me, and fox, and TENZKI too, he played with me in dignitas before. cromen is an up-and-coming talent I'd say, he's really good, of course he still lacks some experience and he needs to just learn it. He will just improve more and more, I think, he will be a really, really good player when he finds out how everything works and gets more experience. We have something good going here, but we just need to practice more.

What about yourself, how do you see your own progress, adapting to this new role as an in-game leader?

It's really hard, because I've never been an in-game leader in that way. I'm not sure, sometimes I like the structured way, where we have smokes and we know what to do all the time, but for some reason, we don't have a lot of tactics. We felt that this style we were playing was working in practice, so I also think this event is a bit about understanding about how we want to play and how it's going to work.

So I think it's just about getting experience at events, to get to know each other, and I need to be better at calling, of course. But it's still a new thing for me, and I'm trying to be that guy that doesn't lack too much in individual skill to have some impact in the game, while also being a caller. When you're a caller, you think about everyone else and watching them, but you also need to focus on your individual level, because you also need to be pretty good frag-wise.

That's my thinking about it and you see like gla1ve is doing well, MSL has stepped it up a lot now, and you need that, or else you'll be that last guy who is not helping the team in more than just the calling. If the calling isn't working and you're not having impact frag-wise, it's hard. I have some things I have to work on in heated situations, I need to be more calm, but it's new for me and I just need to get better, basically.

Is there anyone specific you look up to, try to learn from, having played with leaders like MSL, of course...?

MSL's calling and how he sees the game is a really good way to look at the game. Of course you have FalleN, I really enjoy watching SK, how they play, I think they play really really well together. Astralis, of course, there's a lot of teams I look up to in a way how they call and how they work, but I also think that this team has so many experienced players, so it's more easy for the caller to call, because he gets so much input from people. I think we're lacking that a bit, so it makes it a bit harder for me to call the right things, because I'm guessing off my felling sometimes. I think I'm doing a fine job, but it could be better, for sure.

Do you think you have the type of players to make a structured style, though, playing with ex-FaZe players like jkaem and fox, who were used to more of a loose playstyle?

I'm not sure if we're going to be the structured team all the time, I don't think that will work for this team, because fox is more comfortable playing more aggressive, he's been playing really amazing here. When he plays aggressive, he's better than when he's playing defensive, because he's not comfortable playing defensive.

You need to give your players a bit of space, I would say, like SK gives fer, he can do whatever he wants it seems like, and felps can do a lot of things. But they also respect what they need to do and what not to do. We lack that a bit, still, but maybe I need to get more mad if that happens. We'll see.

Going into playoffs, then, facing off against BIG up first, how do you see your chances against them as well as PENTA and EnVy?

BIG have been showing some really good results lately, gob b has been doing a good job with that team, tabseN is really amazing right now. They will be very hard to play against, but I still think that if we play our A-game, we have good communication, we don't lose stupid rounds as we did today, we have a pretty good chance for sure. But if we do, like we have done here, it will be hard, the clutches we lost nearly cost us the game today, and I felt that this could have been a 2-0 if we had been practising more and got to know each other better. I think we can beat them, yes, but it will be hard.