With the PUBG Global Invitational running in Berlin, it was a hot day of competition between some of the best PUBG teams worldwide. Teams like Gen.G Black and Team Liquid rose to the occasion in Day One to overcome in the first set of third-person perspective matches. That said, with 20 teams fiercely competing, not everyone will overcome. North America's Team Gates had rough luck on their first set of matches, falling to 19th in the overall standings. We caught up to Gates player Donte "Cillo" Burgese and despite the rough start, Cillo shared enthusiasm for the Invitational's style of competition and optimism of his team to rise up to the challenge in the coming matches.
Twin Galaxies: So at a lot of PUBG events, it’s been a format of 16 teams, but here at the Invitational, you’ve got 20 teams, meaning 16 more bodies and threats to deal with in a match. How do you feel it compares? Has it been weird at all?
Cillo: Actually, I rather enjoy the 20-team format. Sure, with 20 teams it can get a little hectic and it matters who gets taken out early or who runs into bad luck. And by bad luck I mean those occurrences when a team rotates right into the path of another team and having an early fight. The people that don’t like 20-team will often feel like everything’s taken. There’s less resources to grab, whereas in 16 teams, it’s more about strategizing and positioning around locations on the map. I prefer 20 teams because it’s less about getting a location and holding it down and more about skills on the fly, how you play the field, and how you counter threats when there’s more of them around.
TG: And this first leg of the Invitational has been third-person of course. It’s been said that many in the Western competitive scene of PUBG prefers the first-person perspective. Is that true of you and your team? How has Gates adapted to the third-person game?
Cillo: Honestly, we may not prepare as much as we would like for third-person, but our focus has been heavy on the first-person game. It may hurt us here, and I wish we could be solid at both, but we’ll be comfortable when it comes to first-person matches.
(Check out the video above to see Day One of the PUBG Global Invitational and see how it played out from Team Gates' perspective)
TG: Do you feel opposed to third-person competitive? Should the scene abandon that format and focus on first-person?
Cillo: I don’t. I feel like it really depends on the region because there are a lot of teams in various regions that favor one or the other. I don’t want it to cross over to where you can do both at the same time, but I think there’s room for both formats in the competitive scene, as long as it’s done right.
TG: With Sanhok having been on the scene recently, do you have thoughts on whether the map would be good for competition?
Cillo: For me personally? Yes. But again, I like the more hectic style of game that comes with this 20-team format. Where the traditional map and format favors positioning more, I feel like Sanhok is a great fragging map. I feel like it’ll favor more in-the-moment combat skill and reflex. You must be on top of your shooting game to survive there. I’d love to see that translate to competitive in some way.
TG: Do you think the format would have to change because the map size? Would Duos work better in Sanhok?
Cillo: I’ve played some Duos and I enjoy them, and yeah, Sanhok would definitely have to be different because of the smaller map, but I really think competition of this style could be cool because it would show which teams can frag hard, hold their ground, and take over other people’s ground. I’d love to see that.
TG: And obviously it was a rough day on Day One for Team Gates. Does that shake you up? How does the team get past that?
Cillo: We keep in mind that it was just one day. I personally believe it’s best to not let it hold us down. Once it’s done it’s done. We pull it together, improve upon our mistakes, and get ready for the next one. We’ll be fine.
It will be interesting to see how Cillo, Team Gates, and others adapt their game to meet the challenge of the Global Invitational in the coming days. With another day of third-person competition ahead of them and a set of first-person matches coming, it's still anyone's opportunity to rise to the occasion and make their mark upon the world stage of PUBG competition.
Don't miss Team Gates and others as the PUBG Invitational picks back up in Day Two. You can see where and when to watch in our handy viewing guide for the Invitational.
