Top 20 Players of Vanguard : #6 Sib
The #6 player of the Vanguard season the Seattle Surge rookie Daunte “Sib” Gray. Sib was a highly touted prospect that came into the League on fire!
Sib went from the Atlanta FaZe substitute during Cold War to joining the Seattle Surge for the start of the Vanguard season. He joined fellow rookie Amer “Pred” Zulbeari and the duo would instantly click. They took the League by storm, each vying for the rookie of the year award. This would push the team to winning their first championship in franchise history!
Season Review
Seattle Surge in their first two seasons struggled to find any consistent success, overhauling roster each offseason. With the new rookie duo on the roster led by veterans Lamar “Accuracy” Abedi and Makenzie “Mack” Kelley this year felt different from the start. The team would make a splash in their first official tournament, netting a 2nd place finish at the Kickoff Classic. This result showcased the team’s potential for the rest of the season!
The team had highs and lows through the first portion of the regular season. While they would upset top teams, high placements were yet to be achieved. The squad placed Top 12 at Major 1, Top 6 at Major 2, and in dead last (Top 16) at the Pro AM Classic. The team struggled with individual consistency, as they heavily relied on the rookie duo to be firing on all cylinders.
It all started to change in the second half of the season. With some play style changes and a jolt of motivation from the poor placing at the Pro AM. This came to fruition during Stage 3. After finishing 4-1 in the group stage, Seattle started their march through the bracket. They would take down New York, Florida, and then beat Atlanta two times in a row to win the Major 3 championship!
The year would end with some more inconsistency. The Surge would struggle in Stage 4, going 1-4 in the qualifying stage and then placing Top 12 at the Major. During the final tournament of the season, CoD Champs 2022, Seattle re-found the spark yet again. They’d make a run to finish 3rd in the finale, taking home $320,000 in prize money. Another year of development should lead to more consistent results and the team hitting their highs more often.
How good was Sib in 2022?
Hardpoint
Sib was terrific in respawns this season, playing equally great in both Hardpoint and Control. In Hardpoint, Sib finished the year with a 1.10 KD which ranked 7th in the CDL. He added strong advanced statistics in 26.0 kills per 10 minutes, 59.8% TES rating, 3243.6 damage per 10 minutes, and 69.7% non-traded kill percentage.
Sib ended each of the five stages with a positive KD, but play at his play during Stage 3. There he ended with a 1.17 KD in Hardpoint with season highs in Kp10M (26.8), HTp10M (65.0), and TES Rating (60.8%). The star AR player also ended the season with a positive KD in each of the four maps in the pool. Tuscan is where the rookie played at the top level, ending the season with a 1.18 KD on the map with 27.7 Kp10M and 3375.5 DMGp10M. He was one of the best hardpoint players this season!
Search & Destroy
Coming up through the amateur circuit, Sib was always a very strong Search & Destroy player. Although he didn’t hit the levels he did in Challengers, he still played well over the Vanguard season. Daunte ended with a 0.95 KD in the mode with 0.67 kills per round, 94.58 ADR, and 39 total snipes. The rook also added in 12 clutches over the year, including four 1v2s and one 1v3.
Sib was at his best on BoCage this season, ending with a 1.18 KD on the map. The flex AR was aggressive on the map, knowing the best angles to take with the AR. He’d add 0.72 kills per round with 92.61 ADR and 58.1% TES rating. With a little more consistency on maps in the pool and Sib will regain that high level of SnD potential that he possess.
Control
The final mode we’ll look at today is Control. Just like Hardpoint, Sib was a monster in Control during the Vanguard season. He ended the year with a 1.10 KD in the mode, while adding 20.2 kills per 10 minutes and 74.2% non-traded kill percentage. Sib also finished the year with a positive KD on the attacking side (1.04), which was rare given the defensive favored style of many of the maps. He was equally as good at both Berlin and Gavutu, but something that pops out the most is the 1.27 KD on the attacking side of Gavutu. This is unheard of, craziness, MVP levels of absurdity. We actually had to double check that statistic to make sure it wasn’t incorrect. Yeah, that’s how good he was on Gavutu.
A look ahead to Modern Warfare II
Heading into the Modern Warfare II season, Seattle will look very similar to the team of 2022. The Seattle Surge are one of three teams that did not make changes to their starting roster, opting to run it back with those on the team now. The only change to the roster is the departure of GM/Analyst Brandon “Novus” Hewitt, but that role was fill by John “Revan” Boble. With another season of development coming to both Sib and Pred, this roster should be extremely terrifying. If they can become more consistent and keep hitting the highs we all saw in Vanguard, this team will be competing for championships at every Major!
