A few days before the start of the PG Nationals Summer Split, we sat down with coaches Fabrizio “Gine” Ginestroni and Ettore “Evan” van Loon from DSYRE to talk about their season so far and the ambitions for the second half of the year.
Image Credits | Esports.net
DSYRE – Who are they?
DSYRE is an Italian gaming organization born in 2021, with the goal of becoming a leading esports and lifestyle brand. By incorporating the music, clothing, and entertainment industries with the competitive element of the gaming world, DSYRE wants to elevate the esports experience.
The organization is currently competing in seven different esports titles: VALORANT, FIFA, Teamfight Tactics, Call of Duty, Fortnite, Overwatch 2, and League of Legends.
In particular, I had the chance to talk to the two minds leading their LoL team, head coach Gine and strategic coach Evan. The two boast several years of competitive experience within esports and the Italian scene, and recently finished 3rd in their first split with DSYRE in the PG Nationals, the Italian ERL (European Regional League).
‘There is a strong chemistry with the team and staff’
With the Summer Split starting on June 8, I asked Gine what was his opinion on the team so far and whether they were satisfied with the results achieved during the Spring Split:
The year has been going well so far, there is a strong chemistry with the team and the staff. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get a spot at EMEA Masters, which was our initial goal, so that was a pity. Regardless, there were a lot of positive aspects that make us confident for Summer.
For the Italian competition, only the two top teams get to participate at the EMEA Masters, and last split, the two spots were taken by MACKO Esports and Outplayed, who count multiple years of presence in PG Nationals. Considering DSYRE made it to the first Italian division at the start of the year, I wondered whether the lack of experience played a part in their result.
Gine mentioned it wasn’t that but rather a couple of issues that came one after the other which halted their progress. While they started off great, the team wasn’t able to keep up that improvement in the second half, so other teams caught up. Evan shared similar thoughts:
Even though I came into the team at the start of 2023 with the roster almost locked in, we were clicking among staffers right off the bat. I’ve known Gine for a long time, ever since he was playing competitively so I’m not surprised to see us having a great synergy. Result-wise, we weren’t able to hit our goal, so we’re not that satisfied. That said, it’s extremely rare to see everything working fine from start to finish, especially when you have many players to manage: losing some consistency is part of the game, considering all players are in different locations.
Gine also added he was surprised to see rookies taking up a leadership role during official games, and that, according to Evan, the only time where they felt like they had some experience issues was only in one particular series against Axolotl (AXL), which saw DSYRE won 3-1. He claimed the team was too overconfident on that occasion, making the series a lot closer than it should’ve been.
Even though DSYRE is one of the newer organizations in the scene, they are known to be successful when it comes to the competitions. When asked whether the team felt that pressure, Gine mentioned that the players aren’t that affected and that the staffers probably feel it a little bit more. That said, both coaches are more focused on making their lineup can deliver high-quality games in the most consistent way possible, so that they can reach the goals set.
Read also: LoL Patch 13.12 – What changes will be coming in?
The goals, roster changes, and opinions on the competition
Speaking of goals, they are going to be the same as the previous split: reaching EMEA Masters. Gine said that they “want to make sure they can work well and reach the finals in the best form possible”. Evan also went deeper in that regard:
he feeling I had when dealing with our players is that their performance was directly correlated with our work. As long as we’re able to improve the team overall, the results are only the byproduct and the consequences of what we’ve done. We want to get to EMEA Masters and fight it out with the very best, knowing that we can contend for the title. I don’t think it’s an absurdly distant target but we also don’t see it as an obsession we’re actively chasing after.
DSYRE will be fielding a modified roster for the upcoming Summer Split, making one change in the support role by changing Nikos “HungryPanda” Nikolaidis with Alf-Kristian “Nash” Sund. Gine shared some insights on what happened during the mid-season break:
Right after we lost to Outplayed in the Spring Playoffs, we talked to the players and decided to give them a chance to look for teams in the major ERLs. Two of them, Xonix and Aetinoth, wanted to stay with the team regardless of what happened, so we started building the roster around these two, with particular attention on Aetinoth because we think he has incredible potential.
We didn’t do many tryouts because we put more emphasis on talking with the candidates and looking for the right personalities to insert into the roster, and Nash felt like was the right fit to get one step closer to our goals.
DSYRE are not the only team making changes for the Summer Split, so I asked both coaches their opinions on the other teams and which roster piqued their interest the most. Gine explained that given the presence of the relegation tournament after the end of summer, the average competitive level has gone up since teams want to avoid falling near that zone. He also added that he’s looking forward to Cyberground Gaming (CGG) because they were able to pick up the former ITM Challengers support Kadir “Fleshy” Kemiksiz, as well as Axolotl since there is DSYRE’s former player Enrico “Enryy” Zunren Jiang. Evan also thinks that the bar got raised slightly:
I feel like the top four teams from Spring got stronger this split. MACKO is sticking with the same roster, we had one roster change, and Atleta’s roster is basically an upgraded version of the Axolotl lineup from spring (which finished fourth). These three teams are technically better, but Outplayed is no longer a top team. While I don’t think CGG are as strong as Outplayed’s spring roster, they are technically the ones replacing them among the top four. As for the other teams, my impression is that the bar got raised a little bit across the board, but it’s not that big of a jump.
Speaking of teams and players, Gine and Evan revealed some of their must-watch players. Aside from all the DSYRE players and Enryy, who they think is finally getting a deserved shot, Evan added one of his former players, Stefano “Taba” Tabarelli, who recently returned to competitive play on DREN Esports. “I’ve had the chance to briefly work with him in my previous experience, so I would be glad to see him perform,” he added.
Recently, ENEMI3S found themselves being promoted to the PG Nationals following Webidoo Gaming’s removal from the competition. The team was dominating in the second division, and will now find themselves fighting stronger teams.
When asked about his thoughts on the team, Gine said he’s curious to see whether there is a gap between the two divisions, considering DSYRE last year was able to beat Samsung Morning Stars in the promotion tournament to land in PG Nationals:
I did watch them briefly in Proving Grounds. They played well for a second-division team but I also felt like there was a lot of skill gap. They were able to play some team comps that worked mainly because they could skill-check people, but I don’t think that approach can be equally effective in PG Nats. ENEMI3S are likely going to be a mid-bottom pack team, but I’m excited to see how kPr (top laner) performs, considering he was the raid boss last split.
Before ending our conversation, Gine also wanted to thank the fans for their support so far and all the people he met at the Milan Games Week last year. When I asked whether they had a special person to shout out, both mentioned Axel “Galaxy” Arizzi, DSYRE’s CMO. The two wanted to thank him for always helping them out with everything, adding that it’s an “awesome feeling knowing you have someone like him by your side”.
With the PG Nationals around the corner, make sure to follow DSYRE’s run in the Summer Split, starting off on June 8 at 20:00 CET on Twitch, when they will be facing Axolotl and their former player Enryy.
Read also: LEC Power Rankings 2023 – Which are the best teams going into Summer?
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