The BGIS 2024 Grand Finals kicked off with a bang as BGMI fans were presented with enthralling action across the six games of Day 1. Topping the charts to no one's surprise, was Team SouL who finished the opening day with 58 points and one Chicken Dinner.
Team SouL started well by clinching 12 points on Eragenl but then underperformed on Miramar. They got back in form on the third map, Sanhok before dominating on map 4. SouL took home the Chicken Dinner and 25 points on Vikendi on the back of a top-tier performance from Nakul, Rony and Spower who combined for 15 dismissals. Finishing the day, Team SouL took six and seven points while registering 39 eliminations, the most by any team so far.
Leading this star-studded squad is Mohammad "Manya" Raja who made the right calls to help his team seal the top spot on the table. Looking back at this performance, SportsTiger interacted with Manya and delved into what SouL needs to improve on and the team's plans for Day 2.
There were mistakes on Miramar: Manya on SouL's Day 1 performance
Analysing the day's overall play, Manya spoke about the impact of the new points system on the strategies in the Grand Finals. Points in the BGIS 2024 Grand Finals are awarded based on a 10-point scoring system instead of the previous 15-point system which awarded more placement points.
Manya said, "Teams are going for more kills as they present more points, unlike the previous system which offers more points for survival. Earlier, teams would opt for a heal battle or push for survival. But now teams pushing for at least four to five kills and avoiding an abrupt ending to the game."
Speaking on areas of improvement, Manya stressed the sub-par performances on the Miramar map. He opined, " Yes, we are on the top but I think there were mistakes on Miramar and we couldn't get the results. Barring that map, we had a decent performance overall."
Our consistency was the key across the six maps: Manya
Addressing the positives from Day 1, Manya spoke about the consistent performances of SouL. He expressed, "We generally avoided abrupt ending, barring Miramar, and took a few points from each map. Then we also clinched Vikendi which gave the side a massive boost. But our consistency was the key across the six maps."
Manya backs Venom Gaming to make Top 3; NakuL to win MVP
Looking forward to Day 2 and Day 3, Manya opened up on the possibility of attempting drop clashes. He revealed, "If the intensity goes up and we need kills, we have certain teams in mind with whom we could attempt a drop clash."
Concluding this conversation, Manya picked Venom Gaming as a team which impressed him on Day 1 and has backed them to finish among the top three. Then the SouL IGL named his teammate Nakul "NakuL" Sharma as a possible MVP candidate thanks to his incredible form in recent times.