The AC Admin spinoff team is here and ready to showcase at LAN3. From launching backseat investigations, to competing on the battlefield, we’re excited to see what they bring this time around in Columbus. I sat down with Yanno aka zyk to learn more.

CAL-AC

zyk, berry, magnum, justsam, icono

It wouldn’t be a zyk roster without bringing back some OG names, and pairing them with up and coming talent. How did it all come about?

Honestly, after the whole SpawnX debacle, I was pretty adamant about not going to LAN. I was just going to organize from a distance, do my scheduling job, watch the stream, and leave it at that. But after talking to a few people, actually a lot of people, you included buddy, I got ‘convinced’ to go. The whole FOMO aspect definitely came up, but the real thing for me, as cheesy as it sounds, was to get to see people I love, watch some great CoD2, and drink. Then once I started playing again after that three-ish month break, I pretty quickly realized, holy fuck, yeah, I love this game and I can’t really pass on playing it at LAN. The roster kind of came together naturally. If I was playing, I knew I was going to be playing with Berry. And I’ve wanted to play with Sam for a while, we destroyed the Stroker’s draft pug together, and since then, I just had that itch to play with him. Icono kind of fell into our lap, a real gift, and we’re just really happy with what he’s bringing to the table with his stability. Then Magnum gets a chance to play a different role. He’s not scoping anymore, but he gets to play with a group of people who genuinely love the game and understand the flow of the game and what it should be, and he’s fitting right in. Yeah, a roster thrown together pretty much last minute, but with potential IMO. – zyk

There’s a huge cohort of teams around you guys that have similar aspirations, seemingly fighting for the last few open slots in the playoffs. Would you say that is the goal?

Apparently I rigged the groups, so it should be fine. But no, the goal is obviously to win, but I’m also a realist about where we stand. It’s not necessarily about the players or the talent. It’s more about the amount of time we’ve actually had playing together. I’ve been really busy, Icono’s been really busy, Berry just started a new job, so we haven’t had the luxury of just grinding every other night. We’re making Sunday. Whatever happens next is in our hands. The play-ins should be ridiculously entertaining and I hope some of the teams sacrifice their sleep a little to stay and have fun, watch, and shittalk. This is the most competitive the scene has ever been, and that goes for the top-tier, as well as the mid-tier. – zyk

This team comes in with not a lot of time, but a lot of overall skill and experience. What are you leaning on Saturday that will get you to Sunday?

If I’m being completely honest, I’m not really thinking about Sunday at all. As an organizer, I wouldn’t necessarily hate spending Sunday watching the best NA has to offer, and drinking a couple of Panther 1-14s, but once I’m actually playing, the competitive side takes over, and it’s really just about figuring out every round, one step at a time. The group stage is longer this time, I think people are going to feel it, so I think a big part of Saturday is just managing yourself properly. Stay fed, keep your energy up, don’t lose your composure after a bad game, and be ready for the stretches where the schedule gets heavy. At some point, all of that probably leads to one bo1 where everything is on the line anyway, and then potentially a late play-in, bo3, after an exhausting 14-hour day. You just need to be able to step up and still be there mentally. So for me, I’m not looking ahead to Sunday. I’m just excited to play the morning group, get through the grind of Saturday, and see where we stand when the important games come around. – zyk

Is there a team you are personally excited to face in Columbus?

Yeah, I mean, I always enjoy playing against Janneis. They’ll always be my friends, so those games are usually good vibes, and honestly, that’s a big part of why we’re still here playing a 21-year-old game. Competitively though, I’m really looking forward to the UP matchup. I think they’re arguably a much better team now, and this should probably be their best LAN. The role changes seem to fit them really well, and from what I’ve seen, their playstyle has changed with that too. It’s harder to contain Sixxer when he’s not on scope from a strategic aspect. I also feel like they have every reason to want to beat us, considering Berry and I knocked them out at the last LAN when we were on Nemesis. So I’m sure they’d love to return the favor. They’ll probably pick Matmata too to redeem the 13-1. And I’m definitely not overlooking Ultra either. They’ve got enough talent to beat pretty much any of the mid-tier teams there if they’re playing well. – zyk

Putting on the event itself and your role in doing so is always appreciated. Were there any potential “changes” that were discussed as it relates to this LAN given the number of teams has increased once again?

If we had gotten to 16 teams, there was definitely a possibility of changing the format. Four groups of four, then potentially starting playoffs Saturday evening instead of having the play-ins. With 15 teams, though, we didn’t really have that luxury, so we’re sticking with the eight team playoff bracket. Maybe that’s something we can revisit in the future if the event keeps growing. I was honestly pretty excited when I saw we got to 15. Getting that close to 16 opens up a lot more possibilities. As for my role in it, I kind of started doing this because if I’m going to play in an event, I want it to be done properly. I want the event to have competitive integrity. I want the best team to win, and I genuinely just love the competitive side of this game. So whether it’s the ruleset, the schedule, the bracket, or all the little details around it, I want it to be done as well as possible. For some reason, I become a pretty serious autist when it comes to this kind of stuff. Which is probably why Doug and Harold hate my guts, because I can tend to overthink or worry about certain possibilities or problems. – zyk

Any last words?

Honestly, just thanks to everyone for putting work into this thing. Harold, Doug, Magnum, Trump, Nightmare, Nytrix, Telly, Redz, ABK, Kevlar, Birdman, and everyone else doing something for a community of autistic inbred retards and somehow keeping a 21-year-old game alive. Athn too, for making the Discord in the first place. And honestly, it feels more alive now than it has in a long time because of the work people have put in. The CoD4 guys deserve credit too. They’ve come in, tried to learn the game, and actually embraced it even if it’s not their bread and butter. Even Check 6, when they first came in and were still learning the game, brought another level to the competitive side of it. Say what you want about them, but you can’t disregard the dedication. Before that, nobody was really stratting. We were mostly playing off feel, individual reads, and good nades. They forced everybody to prepare more seriously, think through rounds more deliberately, and actually get better at the game. That raised the level for everyone. Even dumbass Panther has a role. Somebody has to keep the arguments, shit talk and general excitement alive. That’s probably one of the coolest things about this community. Everybody has a role, and a lot of people have kind of carved that role out for themselves over the years. Some organize, some cast, some build teams, some make content, some keep everyone arguing in Discord, but it all helps keep the thing moving. For a 21-year-old game, the fact that we’re still growing these events and getting this many people excited to compete… yeah, it’s pretty fucking rad. Also P.S. The schedule of this LAN is a lot tighter, with a lot less leeway and no buffers. It’s likely that it won’t go as smoothly as the other LANs, but I’m hopeful that it’ll all end well. Cheers. – zyk