DINOS advance to ALGS bracket stage after topping group with 181 points

The orgless DINOS squad topped the Apex Legends Global Series Split 2 Playoffs Group Stage with 181 points, advancing to the Winner's Bracket.

DINOS outperformed 39 other teams in the group stage and will now compete for a spot in the Split 2 Finals.

"There's no yesterday, play the game today," said DINOS player Joshua 'JFuture' Lubitz. "We don't want to be one of those Group Stage teams."

He said the team's goal coming into the event was to finish in the top 10 and reach the finals. "Yeah, it'd be way better to just do mid the whole tournament than to do really good and then really bad."

The team's performance was inconsistent early in the group stage. "We did really good the first game, we won the first game of Groups, and then we had two zero-pointers," Lubitz said.

He credited a change in communication for turning their day around. "And then our coach Keon was like, Jay, you weren't talking as much during those Rampart games."

"And like, I still don't even know if that was true or not, but then he just told me, all you have to do is keep talking," Lubitz said. "And then from there, the rest of the tournament felt so easy. Just never stop talking, and pretend that you want to be there even when you don't."

Lubitz said he now maintains constant communication, even while looting. "And the whole game, not even at the start, there can't be any empty air. We have to be locked in the whole time."

He described calling out insignificant actions to keep the team focused. "Me telling them does nothing. But I'm still doing it because it actually does help us, because it just keeps us focused in playing the game and not getting complacent or anything."

Lubitz said the team overcame technical difficulties during a game on Friday. "Like, on Friday, there was one game where Chaos picked the wrong character because his controller disconnected, and his mouse wasn't working at the same time."

"And so he's on Seer, and I'm on Wattson instead. So now it was a default Wattson running around, and we had an insanely difficult rotation, but we figured it out," he said.

The team's synergy allows for aggressive plays, Lubitz explained. "Like, there's one instance where I'm the only one with TP. So on Wattson, I run all the way up to launch site and take a 1v1 against Phony, and we get him killed, and then all the threats are gone."

He said he trusts his teammates to support him. "But I know that, like, even if I lose, my teammates are ready to recall me, and they can shoot for me, too."

Lubitz said he can predict when his teammate DJKilla is about to be eliminated. "Yeah, I know when DJ's gonna die before he dies. Like, every time."

"When he starts, like, rapid-fire talking, like xQc, you just know he's about to explode," Lubitz said. "It's not even important what he's saying, but he's probably just saying like, his damage numbers are cracked or 'I'm swinging, I'm swinging, I'm swinging, I'm swinging, I'm swinging.' And then just, boop, and he's dead."

He praised the skill and dedication of Challenger Circuit teams, where DINOS originated. "The Challenger Circuit teams are like, they don't get any credit for how good they are and how much they play."

"A lot of them play more than the pro teams and they scrim every single day," Lubitz said. "Like these pro league teams, they will never go into CC scrims, but the CC players will go into like bot-level scrims at the bottom of the barrel just to get more practice because they have so much passion."

He said the core of DINOS has been playing together for about a year and a half without splitting up. Lubitz, Chaos and DJKilla first played together on console before transitioning to competitive play.

Looking ahead to the bracket stage, Lubitz outlined their plan. "Well, first map is Stormpoint and we're L-rod. So we're just going to play edge and hopefully we'll find the isolated side or less congested side and we'll get the Rampart seer set up down and we'll just rip all the Newcastle teams to shreds."

"Or we'll get two zero-point games there like we did on the first day. Who knows? Hopefully it'll go good," he said.

"And then Angels Atrium should be a consistent point factory for the second half. And hopefully Atrium will single-handedly get us the top 10 and we'll make the finals."