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Interview With Dig SMITE Hunter Arkkyl About Preparing For Worlds
With the Fall Split officially over and Worlds on the horizon, I had a chat with our very own Kenny "Arkkyl" Kuska on how he and the team are preparing. Team Dignitas came out on top in the final Split of the year and clinched a spot to play in Atlanta in just a few weeks in hopes of taking home that 1st Place trophy. I also touched base on what other teams he feels need to be watched and how he feels about the current state of the game.
You began your SMITE career a few years back. What was the initial appeal of the game to you and what had you mainly been spending most of your time playing prior to SMITE?
Arkkyl: I used to play a lot of WoW Arena a few years back and so after a friend of mine introduced me to SMITE, I instantly loved how similar the PvP aspect of the game felt.
My personal favorite moment since joining Team Dignitas was when we travelled to Philadelphia as a team for media training and to experience the 76ers training facilities.
You and the team just took 1st EU in the Fall Split with a record of 8-2. How do you personally feel that you and the team performed?
Arkkyl: I think we started strong but didn't keep up entirely in some aspects of the game during the last three weeks of competition. Now that we have a lot of time to refresh and change a few things, I think we will come in at our best for Worlds.
Looking back on those two matches that you lost, did you guys feel as you knew exactly what went wrong and needed to improve on? What were the big takeaways from those two matches?
Arkkyl: Against NRG we played terribly as a unit and after falling behind early, we collapsed completely. When we lost to Obey, we felt a bit behind the meta and they took advantage of that.
With the obvious eUnited coming in as the defending World Champs and #1 NA seed, what other teams do you feel are playing extremely well right now?
Arkkyl: NRG, Obey, and Mouz all look strong right now in EU, and you can never count out Rival at LAN. From NA, I would have to say Splyce could be a wildcard. They have a dangerous play style by the looks of things.
What will training and practice look like for you and the guys as you prepare for Worlds, now roughly a month away?
Arkkyl: A lot of double block scrimming days and individual grinding outside of scrims. As well as that, we will obviously be doing our research on other teams and have a bootcamp on top of that once we get a bit closer to Worlds.
What are a few things that you would attribute to the team's success this year? Were there some main focus points that you guys wanted to improve on during the course of 2018?
Arkkyl: Our failure at Super Regionals last year definitely opened our eyes to the way we should practice and what we should take from either a win or loss in a scrim environment. Our main focus was purely on improving our professionalism and the way we practiced.
Apart from Worlds, do you and the team have some major goals in mind moving into 2019? What can we expect from you guys this coming year?
Arkkyl: Just to keep on working on our issues as a unit and translating that into winning.
Are there any other players that you have a high respect for and/or hope to play against at Worlds, and what other couple ADC players would you consider up there with you at the top tier?
Arkkyl: My favorite players to compete against are emilitoo, PandaCat, and BaRRaCCuDDa. I especially have a lot of respect for them as players.
For any of your fans out there who maybe wish to reach anything close to the level of play you’ve achieved, do you have any tips for them to take them to the next level? What separates a “good” player from a “great” player in your opinion?
Arkkyl: Try to focus on your own gameplay and always critique yourself and the way you played situations before critiquing others. What separates a good player from a great player is when they can combine skill with strong communication and smarts. Mechanics may get you to a point where you can compete with the best but to stay at the top consistently, I believe you need to possess those other skills as well.
As a final question, how do you feel about the current state of SMITE? If you could, what changes would you make?
Arkkyl: I am generally fine with the state of the game. I prefer just to play and make the most of what is given to me. However, if I had to change one thing it would probably gaining more XP during the early game so I can stay level with the enemy Mid/Jungle.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions! Is there anyone that you would like to give a shoutout to?
Arkkyl: Just a shoutout to Team Dignitas and all of our sponsors.
Be sure to check him out and follow along as he and the team prepare for Worlds!