In a long-awaited announcement, G2 Esports confirmed the signings of Daniel "Daniel" Piecenski and Landon "BeastMode" Konerman in December, bringing together a trio of North America’s greatest talents. Under the new name G2 Stride, the team will challenge for titles in the region and attempt to put North America back on the map. We sat down with head coach Matthew "Satthew" Ackermann to discuss the new additions, RLCS 2022-23 and his new project, the Rocket League Players’ Association. After interviews in 2021 and 2022, this is Satthew’s third interview with Shift.

Shift: Let's start with Daniel and BeastMode, two players who officially joined G2 Stride in December. What did the timeline look like following the end of RLCS 2022-23?

Satthew: “It was an eventful offseason to say the least. We had exited the season and publicly made it known with Chicago’s LFT tweet that we were going to look for new options. The original intention was to continue with JKnaps; that's why his announcement came later, but then the opportunity to get both Daniel and BeastMode arose. We had known by Gamers8 that there was potential in this happening, but we weren’t certain how possible it was. As a team, we still had to look at individual options before we could really explore the additions of BeastMode and Daniel.

It all came to fruition in late October. We had been negotiating with them a little bit, and there had been a lot of back and forth between the organization and players. Eventually, towards the end of October, we got the signatures finalized and got the deal done.”

This is the first time you’ve had to deal with two big changes to your roster. How have you approached bedding in Daniel and BeastMode?

“We’re still in the early stages. A lot of it comes down to team building as well as setting the culture. G2 Esports has been very good to me by having internal coaching workshops for coaches in all their esports. It has given me more resources to know that I’m settling the boys in correctly and a lot of it has been relationship work rather than work within the game. A lot of the play you’ve seen so far has been their natural cohesion, just them coming in as good players. A lot of that work in terms of gelling them together and looking more towards a playstyle is honestly going to come when we know when the season starts, because I want to avoid the burnout that comes with the hard grinding that occurs during the season. I want to time that correctly and then really start pounding in our playstyle. I just want to tread lightly and tread carefully before we know when the season starts.”

Do you expect the new system to be a lot different from the way you played with JKnaps and Chicago?

“Not too different. I know people will have questions about last season and why we wouldn’t change a lot from what we did, but I think how we played towards the end of the year was a better representation of how we wanted to play and how we should have played the entire season. That's always been my ideal system and I think all the best teams in the world play similarly to this. I think we will strive for that and we’re going to look to continue playing that way. But obviously we’re going to have new nuances because the players we’ve brought in are extremely capable and can do things that we couldn’t necessarily do last season.”

Daniel and BeastMode were meant to set the region alight when they joined forces on Version1 during RLCS 2022-23, but the team largely disappointed fans until they won Gamers8 2023. From your perspective, as someone who scrimmed them, watched them, and now perhaps you’ve even had conversations about it, why didn’t things quite work out for the duo on Version1?

“It's a multitude of reasons. Firstly, they really spent very little time together as a collective three before they started playing in RLCS events. When they won that second Regional, there were issues of complacency. This had been something haunting Version1 for quite some time, because even with their previous roster iteration, I feel when they would win an event, you wouldn’t see all of them on the game as much as they were when they were grinding for the event they just won.

During the Winter Split, I remember that they all seemed kind of lost in the Version1 interviews they did following their day one exits. There may have been misunderstandings between the players about what they truly wanted from each other and what they wanted to do on the field. That's how I saw it from the outside, looking in.”

On that complacency issue: a lot of teams have suffered from it in the past. What is your go-to method to prevent complacency from having an impact on your team?

“First of all, it's about making it known that this period of complacency is looming on us and making it known that it gets much harder when you win an event. Everyone is chasing you even harder, so you have to be the one to set the standard. Making those facts known helps. Also, looking at a lot of real-life examples from interviews with coaches or players in any sport and seeing their mindset when they were leading an entire successful season, the work effort it took, and the value they put into practice every day helps. You can use that as inspiration for the players and make them aware of the standard you have to set when you win an event and for everything that follows. Typically, we look for other examples of successful professionals from other sports and base our work off of that.”

You’ve had a full two years with Atomic now. He is at the center of your rebuild and someone G2 is now putting a lot of faith in as the senior player on this roster. How is the Atomic we see today different from the Atomic who made his debut for you in 2022?

“We talk about this a lot. He honestly says that before G2, he wasn’t even taking the game fully seriously and wasn’t thinking about a lot of the things he thinks about today. I think there are a lot of team aspects that he takes into account now. I think he fully understands the words of ‘playing for the man behind you’ now. He wants to essentially make it easier for the guy behind him after every interaction he has on the field. I think before on Team Envy, it was a lot more individual-based; it was about playing the scenario as correctly as he could for himself rather than the next guy. I think a lot of those little things that weren’t done on Envy he thinks about and does now.

From a teaming standpoint, I think people used to know him as someone who was a little more ruthless with roster moves, which I know is ironic after we’ve just made two transfers, but now he really does vouch for his teammates and really wants to work through things. Even in the down points, he really sees the value of sticking with players who have grinded with you for some time and won some of the greatest tournaments that we could have. I think he’s grown a lot in that aspect, in terms of his relationship with teammates.”

He’s had two senior players who have shown him the ropes of how to be a professional player, and now he’s playing with some of the greatest prodigies North America has ever seen. How far can he go?

“He can be a world champion easily. He already made it to that point when he was in a grand finals and we can easily make it back there to win it. He has the capability to do so and has the leadership to do so too. Sometimes he can be a little quiet, but JKnaps wasn’t the most outspoken either and while Chicago spoke the most of the three, I think Atomic can transition into that role with time.”

So you’re expecting him to make that step up to the leadership role on this new roster, then?

“Yeah, definitely. We’re also bringing in someone like BeastMode who does speak a lot as well and Daniel is very vocal when it comes to communication. I don’t think he will have to carry as much weight in that regard, but I do think he’ll have to make that step up from what he had to do previously.”

Satthew and Moist Esports' coach n0ah at the 2022-23 World Championship - image courtesy of Psyonix

Moving on to your former teammates. Rocket League came naturally to JKnaps and Chicago. They have been in the professional scene even longer than yourself and were very much the heart of G2 Esports in the esport. What did they bring to the project that you think you’re going to miss the most or are already missing?

“With Chicago, he had the ability to want to look for something that the whole team could agree on and accept while being a natural leader, which was always really important. He had a knack for making sure that the team was comfortable and that the team was confident going into each tournament.

With JKnaps, he had the ability to just listen to anything that was being said to him and be able to instantly execute upon it or at least try. He was just a professional through and through. He also just had this natural ability to beat anyone in the world to any ball that was thrown up into the air. That is why we ended up giving him the name dog because he would just go get it. I miss those aspects of the boys, and they will definitely be missed.”

For the first time in many years, both JKnaps and Chicago will be outside of their comfort zones with brand new teammates, brand new organizations and brand new expectations. In your playing career, you experienced having to take a step down to go forward. What do you recommend to your two former players on how to approach their new situations?

“I think it is an opportunity to look at the game in a new way. Both of them are teaming with players who are younger than them, who see and play the game a little bit differently than they have previously. Their way of seeing things will no longer make up the majority of a roster. I think it's about approaching these new teams with a lot of grace, humbleness, and the willingness to learn while really trying to reignite that passion that was kind of absent from our roster last season. Take it as a chip on the shoulder by saying, ‘Yes, I’ve been knocked down but I can easily get back up’.”

This past season was a slightly weaker one for G2. You were unable to reach the highs of RLCS 2021-22, but you had some great highlights. Which moment stands out the most for you as your proudest?

“Easily the World Championship just because of the bounceback we had. It was a lot of confirmation for everyone on the roster that although we had tried a lot of new things throughout the season and learned a lot of new nuances that were important, which we brought to the tournament, our general idea from the end of the 2021-22 season was correct. We were just worried about our success from that style fading. Team Vitality ended up doing a lot of things this season that we loved to do during 2021-22, and we saw them dominate with the right players. It was confirmation that we did have the right idea in the end, and it was just a great bounce back from our troubles during the Spring Split, especially with the JKnaps situation going on.”

Midway through the Spring Split, JKnaps suffered a personal tragedy that impacted his living situation. It must have been tough for the team and especially for JKnaps. How did you approach coaching the team through that period, what did you focus on, and what was your messaging at that time?

“A lot of it was patience, because we generally couldn’t practice for quite some time. Beyond that, it was deciding how we were going to approach the end of the season and how to play at the World Championship. It was mentally getting the boys in check about how we wanted to play because that's all we could do without JKnaps having a PC or a place to play from for a decent amount of time. Then, once he was able to get back in, it was about executing on that.

I really do want to make note of how professional JKnaps was throughout the entire situation. The way he practiced, you would have thought nothing had happened to him; it was a shock to see from all of us. We were constantly worried about him, but he never really showed anything on the outside that made us worry, so he really was an exception to what I think could have been a much worse situation. Then the other two responded well, kept their heads down and were patient with the entire situation. When we got back to practicing, it was just back to normal again.”

On a personal note, can you reflect on these past two years with G2 Esports? What have you learned along the way?

“I think this dates back to our last interview, but it just comes down to a lot of confidence stuff and sticking to what you believe in. It's been a nice breath of fresh air to bring in Daniel and BeastMode who have gone through something similar and also believe in sticking to what you’ve been working on. It's a common issue in Rocket League Esports where teams throw everything in the trash and try to restart, but really having confidence in your style and saying bad days were only bad days, where it was only a gameplay issue, not a game plan issue. The importance of keeping track of how everyone is doing and everyone’s understanding of how we want to execute a plan on the field. These have been the biggest things I’ve learned this year.”

Has the role lived up to your expectations? How does it compare to when you were a professional player?

“It is just as nerve-racking, potentially even more because of your lack of impact physically on the field. There is a lot more ambiguity to it (coaching) as well because it's still such a specific team role and such an unpaved path when it comes to Rocket League coaching. There are probably a lot more nights where I’m thinking about the team. When I was a player, I pretty much just thought about how I was doing and how I was trying to improve, but now I have this whole collective unit of players. I’m constantly thinking about their well-being, how they are playing, and how they are playing together. It's a little more to keep up with mentally.”

You were a founding member of the operations board for the Rocket League Players’ Association (RLPA) in July. How have these early months been for the association, have you been able to realize your initial plans?

“We’ve honestly been working pretty hard, especially recently. We have made a lot of good strides in terms of getting the representation we feel we need from professionals and coaches in the scene. We’ve had our initial talks with Psyonix after reaching out and they are very much aware of our presence, which should lead to good conversations with them in the near future. I think things have been going well and Jonny has done a good job leading the cause.”

Do you expect there to be a full partnership between the two parties, will they accommodate and support you, or are you just going to co-exist?

“It's hard to fully say right now because talks are still early, so as time passes, we’ll have a clear image of what the true relationship between Psyonix and the RLPA will be, but right now I’m pretty optimistic about everything. I think with the Epic Games merger, all the stuff with Rocket Racing, and the layoffs that have occurred, they are figuring out a lot of stuff on their side of things. We’ve had those initial talks, but I think right now it’ll be a little bit of waiting until we can really get into the meat of things.”

The association brought onboard former player and coach Fireworks in an advisory position. Having worked for Luminosity and Evil Geniuses in extensive roles, what has he been able to bring to the table since coming onboard?

“First and foremost, a plethora of connections. He’s worked with a lot of people in the industry, he knows the game and played it at one point. He’s a good guy and is more suited than some of the players and coaches that are in the organization when it comes to professional talks with higher-ups. He’s a good voice for us when we’re speaking with Psyonix because he’s just very professionally driven. I think we’ve brought in a good member who brings a whole new collection of skills to the table that some of us on the board don’t necessarily have with our backgrounds.”

In recent months, we’ve had further troubles with the situation at Womens Car Ball, Shift reported that G1 allegedly owed around $150,000 to its former team [which seems to have been cleared up since the interview] and the wider community have been exasperated by the lack of communication between Psyonix and the wider esports scene. We haven’t seen any statements regarding these events from the association. Are these not issues the association is there to help tackle?

“They are issues we’re here to help tackle and again, there has been a back and forth internally on which and whether we should make statements on these different issues. I think we want to put together a more collective statement and make sure we establish that healthy relationship with Psyonix before we’re out here making potentially relationship-damaging statements. We want to proceed carefully with that and really want to establish that relationship first.”

What can we expect to see from the association in 2024?

“A clear bridge between Psyonix and the professional players, that's the main reason I’ve been brought on and my main cause within the board, where I find my purpose while working with the RLPA. There is more beyond that, but I can’t reveal what we have in the works.”

We have conducted two interviews with Satthew in the past, you can view these below if you are interested on hearing his thoughts on other topics in 2021 and 2022:

Writer: Elliot McSheen

Editor: Jens Koornstra

Thumbnail: Will Connell

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