3 from 3: NXL Pro Debutants - Sacramento DMG

And last, but not least we caught up with the 2017 NXL semi-pro champions – Sacramento DMG – to find out about their Pro debut in Vegas.

1 – NXL Vegas was your Pro debut, which is a massive step for any team. In your opinion, how did Vegas go for you guys? 

2018 NXL Las Vegas Open was an opportunity to learn for Sacramento DMG. We had our new equipment, and everything was feeling to par! Our DMG edition CS2’s were flawless, making it a breeze to focus on the game. However, as a team we made mistakes; we also made very high level intelligent plays. We had goals set for the event that we left on the table. Though, we prospered in what could have just been a negative outlook for that event. We came together and talked and talked about the moment, and the future. We truly saw what we could do when we were all instinctively operating intelligently in unison. We are a force to be. It is only a matter of time.

2 – Let’s talk matches. Which game made you guys realise Pro was a different ball game?

Hats off to Edmonton Impact, Bart and Jo Yachimec and the entire family. They have allowed us to learn what the best level of play is, and how to shift gears and play against it. However, XFactor was a match at Vegas where we realized this is the pace of top level professional tournament ball. We know we can compete with any team, and any given Sunday, we can be those brothers hoisting our pointer fingers to the sky. However, with the XFactor match, we simply ran out of time. Hats off to them and their system. Ryan and Alex run a clean intelligent ship; and it shows with their consistency. They’ve been a huge team for a long time. They ran up some points on us, and we adjusted and were bringing it back, however we simply adjusted too late. It’s a point in our rookie season that we all came together and talked about the system we were running, and how to make it more efficient and potent. The level of play in pro is truly the greatest it has ever been, and it is only rising. I personally feel as though we made the adjustment quite quickly. It was tough getting here, but the goal isn’t to stay here, the goal is to be the team everyone is chasing.

3 – Which moment made you guys realise you belonged in Pro?

The moment we realized we belonged in Pro was actually the off-season before our Semi-Pro season promotion. We came together and talked over a wide range of topics. We knew we threw away the promotion the prior season, and we knew what we had cooking for the season we had. I remember sitting with everyone, and telling the team, “we can win 5.” I saw it in the work we put in, the mentality we had, and the passion we continued to develop. We came pretty close, against a stacked semi-pro division; most of which are currently playing in the professional division as we speak. Which speaks wonders for the current level of the pro division. We belong. We are here to stay.

Thanks for your time guys, we can't wait to see how DMG grows and becomes a more potent force as the season rolls on.


Photos by Fava Photo