With PGS now firmly in the rear-view mirror, we sat down with PUBG expert and caster Jisooboy to get his take on Twisted Minds' dramatic win at PGS 12. Here's what he had to say:
The king has returned.
Twisted Minds was one of the most complete teams in the history of PUBG Esports. Living up to its reputation as a roster of world-class players, the team proved its abilities through results. Twisted Minds reached its peak between 2024 and 2025. In 2024, the team claimed three consecutive PGS titles. In 2025, it conquered the Esports World Cup (EWC), followed that victory with another championship at PGS 9, and finished as runners-up at PGS 10. Twisted Minds had established itself as a truly dominant force.
The four players brought their individual strengths together and operated as one. BatulinS read the flow of every battlefield, xmpl initiated engagements, Perfect1ks kept pace with the evolving meta, and Lu stood as the team's unwavering last line of defense. Rather than relying on any single player's performance, all four understood their responsibilities and fulfilled their roles according to the situation. This was Twisted Minds' greatest weapon and the driving force behind its success.
Twisted Minds was never simply a team that excelled at fighting. It knew when to engage, when to disengage, and when to begin applying pressure. From positioning and rotations that created favorable situations to the firepower needed to turn those advantages into victories, Twisted Minds possessed nearly everything required to succeed in PUBG.
In 2026, PUBG Esports officially transitioned from FPP to TPP gameplay. This was far more than a change in camera perspective. Almost every aspect of competition evolved, from how teams gathered information and planned engagements to how they secured and defended positions.
In FPP, players had to expose themselves to gain direct vision of their surroundings. In TPP, however, they could observe their surroundings from behind cover, and simply knowing an opponent's position could create a significant advantage. The ability to gather information safely, accumulate knowledge of the battlefield, and make rapid decisions became a competitive strength in its own right. These changes presented new challenges even for established powerhouses. Habits and decisions that had previously brought success could now become limitations under the new meta. Twisted Minds was no exception.
In the past, Twisted Minds had excelled at reading the battlefield quickly and shaping matches according to its own plans. But in the new environment, those strengths no longer provided the same competitive edge. Its fighting ability also began to fall behind teams whose mechanical skills had improved dramatically. With both its rotations and engagements faltering, matches rarely unfolded as intended. The team often found itself struggling merely to reach and hold positions near the center of the circle. Other teams found it all too easy to exploit Twisted Minds when it was forced onto the defensive.
Perhaps the weight of having won multiple international championships throughout 2024 and 2025 became a burden in itself. Adapting to a new environment required the team to question its established methods and, at times, abandon them entirely. But for a team that had already built such a refined system, changing those methods was never going to be easy. After all, those very methods had repeatedly delivered victories. To win again, Twisted Minds would have to aim even higher than the heights it had previously reached.
The team's results in 2026 reflected these struggles. Twisted Minds failed to meet expectations from the opening stages of the PGS season, gradually drifting away from the center of the championship race after once dominating the global stage. There were moments of resurgence. The team finished third at PEC Spring 2026 and followed it with another third-place finish at PGS 4, briefly suggesting a return to form. But it could not sustain that momentum. At EWC 2026, where the stakes were especially high, Twisted Minds finished eighth and surrendered its defending champion status to the rising powerhouse Virtus.pro.
What Twisted Minds needed was not simply to recover its previous form, but to develop a level of competitiveness that could once again succeed on the world stage. I kept watching to see how the team would overcome this difficult challenge. Yet considering its struggles in both fighting and macro play, I believed a comeback within 2026 was virtually impossible. One major reason was that xmpl, the team's primary fragger, and Lu, its last line of defense, were no longer performing at the level they once had.
The era when a single player could carry a team to an international championship was over. All four players needed to remain competitive individually for a team to have a realistic chance of winning. If even one or two failed to keep up, the entire team could quickly fall behind. Take Made in Thailand (MiTH), for example. Despite winning two PGS titles earlier this year and establishing itself as one of the strongest teams, MiTH had to compete with only three players at PGS 11 due to health issues and failed to reach the Final Stage. The consequences carried over into PGS 12, where MiTH slipped into the lower half of the standings.
Although Twisted Minds had not claimed a single championship before the final PGS Circuit concluded, I continued to watch the team closely, waiting to see if it could find a breakthrough.
First, BatulinS began making decisions much faster. The team became less inclined to push into the circle and simply hold its ground whenever circumstances turned unfavorable. Instead of trying to survive at all costs, it began actively intervening in other teams' engagements, committing its firepower to secure points. Even without a Chicken Dinner, the team could still earn points through its willingness to fight. BatulinS became noticeably more aggressive in engagements, and his success rate improved as well. Where he had previously excelled at identifying favorable positions and reading the overall situation, he now expanded the team's strategic options by directly taking down opponents.
Second, as the entire team shifted toward a more combat-oriented approach, xmpl began to rediscover his strengths as a fragger. When it comes to pure weapon handling, I can confidently say that only a handful of players in the world can match him. Professional players actually spend far less time shooting than one might imagine. Much of a match is devoted to looting, rotating, and scouting. Perhaps the increased frequency of engagements helped sharpen xmpl's instincts, because his statistics improved dramatically. He ranked first in kills (27), knocks (27), and average damage per match (391). His total damage reached an astonishing 5,871, putting him 1,611 ahead of second-place TGLTN (4,260). Most notably, he recorded 3,572 damage with DMRs, nearly five times his AR damage of 777, overwhelming countless opponents with his exceptional DMR firepower.
Third, Perfect1ks demonstrated his ability to adapt to the new meta. Recently, he had begun making extensive use of buffed Light Machine Guns (LMGs). Even after certain aspects of their performance were adjusted in subsequent patches, he continued using them aggressively to destroy enemy vehicles. By eliminating opponents' means of transportation and restricting their mobility, he created opportunities to finish them off alongside xmpl. Mortars had not previously been a major part of the team's arsenal, but this time Perfect1ks took primary responsibility for using them and produced several decisive moments. In the PGS 12 Grand Finals, he recorded four mortar kills, ranking first in that category.
Finally, Lu, who had been trapped in a prolonged slump, made his return. Across countless tournaments, I had witnessed him dedicate himself to the team and rescue his teammates from seemingly hopeless situations. Even when the team faltered, Lu stood firm like a deeply rooted tree. But 2026 had been different. His shooting, decision-making, and remarkable clutch saves had all become noticeably less frequent. I had even argued that without Lu returning to form, there could be no resurgence for Twisted Minds in 2026. Yet in this tournament, Lu showed not only the player we remembered, but something even greater, playing a crucial role in the team's championship victory. With more precise utility usage and relentless survival instincts, he helped carry Twisted Minds back to the top.
Of course, the journey on the final day was far from smooth. On Day 3, Twisted Minds held the lead, but its challengers were closing in fast. In particular, eArena claimed a 10-kill Chicken Dinner in Match 11, firmly entering the championship race. DN SOOPers also refused to give up the chase. After Match 14, Twisted Minds stood at 119 points, while eArena had 117. Just two points separated them. With only one match remaining in the 15-match Grand Finals, the championship was still anyone's to claim.
Nevertheless, Twisted Minds did not waver. While its closest rivals gradually lost players, Twisted Minds maintained its strength and ultimately secured an 11-kill Chicken Dinner in the final match. Rather than simply waiting for its competitors to fall short, the team ended the tournament by taking matters into its own hands and decisively securing the title. With 140 points, Twisted Minds became the champion of the final PGS event of 2026.
Looking back, this championship was not simply a repeat of the glory Twisted Minds had enjoyed in 2025. Instead, it was the reward for a team that had been forced to leave its past successes behind, adapt to a new environment, and endure a long period of trial and error. Even for a team once regarded as the best in the world, the new era felt unfamiliar. Its trusted methods no longer worked as they once had, and the days when victory seemed almost inevitable were gone. But through those struggles, Twisted Minds discovered what it needed to change and rebuilt the level of performance required to reach the summit.
When you sit upon the throne, it can be difficult to appreciate just how high you have climbed. Only after losing that place do you truly understand how difficult it is to rise again. Until last year, Twisted Minds occupied a position at the very top, one that no one could reasonably dispute. But in 2026, it surrendered that throne and endured a long period of uncertainty. After countless defeats and painful memories, the team finally reclaimed its crown at PGS 12. This time, it returned covered in scars, but stronger than ever.
- Jisooboy
Continue reading...
The king has returned.
Twisted Minds was one of the most complete teams in the history of PUBG Esports. Living up to its reputation as a roster of world-class players, the team proved its abilities through results. Twisted Minds reached its peak between 2024 and 2025. In 2024, the team claimed three consecutive PGS titles. In 2025, it conquered the Esports World Cup (EWC), followed that victory with another championship at PGS 9, and finished as runners-up at PGS 10. Twisted Minds had established itself as a truly dominant force.
The four players brought their individual strengths together and operated as one. BatulinS read the flow of every battlefield, xmpl initiated engagements, Perfect1ks kept pace with the evolving meta, and Lu stood as the team's unwavering last line of defense. Rather than relying on any single player's performance, all four understood their responsibilities and fulfilled their roles according to the situation. This was Twisted Minds' greatest weapon and the driving force behind its success.
Twisted Minds was never simply a team that excelled at fighting. It knew when to engage, when to disengage, and when to begin applying pressure. From positioning and rotations that created favorable situations to the firepower needed to turn those advantages into victories, Twisted Minds possessed nearly everything required to succeed in PUBG.
In 2026, PUBG Esports officially transitioned from FPP to TPP gameplay. This was far more than a change in camera perspective. Almost every aspect of competition evolved, from how teams gathered information and planned engagements to how they secured and defended positions.
In FPP, players had to expose themselves to gain direct vision of their surroundings. In TPP, however, they could observe their surroundings from behind cover, and simply knowing an opponent's position could create a significant advantage. The ability to gather information safely, accumulate knowledge of the battlefield, and make rapid decisions became a competitive strength in its own right. These changes presented new challenges even for established powerhouses. Habits and decisions that had previously brought success could now become limitations under the new meta. Twisted Minds was no exception.
In the past, Twisted Minds had excelled at reading the battlefield quickly and shaping matches according to its own plans. But in the new environment, those strengths no longer provided the same competitive edge. Its fighting ability also began to fall behind teams whose mechanical skills had improved dramatically. With both its rotations and engagements faltering, matches rarely unfolded as intended. The team often found itself struggling merely to reach and hold positions near the center of the circle. Other teams found it all too easy to exploit Twisted Minds when it was forced onto the defensive.
Perhaps the weight of having won multiple international championships throughout 2024 and 2025 became a burden in itself. Adapting to a new environment required the team to question its established methods and, at times, abandon them entirely. But for a team that had already built such a refined system, changing those methods was never going to be easy. After all, those very methods had repeatedly delivered victories. To win again, Twisted Minds would have to aim even higher than the heights it had previously reached.
The team's results in 2026 reflected these struggles. Twisted Minds failed to meet expectations from the opening stages of the PGS season, gradually drifting away from the center of the championship race after once dominating the global stage. There were moments of resurgence. The team finished third at PEC Spring 2026 and followed it with another third-place finish at PGS 4, briefly suggesting a return to form. But it could not sustain that momentum. At EWC 2026, where the stakes were especially high, Twisted Minds finished eighth and surrendered its defending champion status to the rising powerhouse Virtus.pro.
What Twisted Minds needed was not simply to recover its previous form, but to develop a level of competitiveness that could once again succeed on the world stage. I kept watching to see how the team would overcome this difficult challenge. Yet considering its struggles in both fighting and macro play, I believed a comeback within 2026 was virtually impossible. One major reason was that xmpl, the team's primary fragger, and Lu, its last line of defense, were no longer performing at the level they once had.
The era when a single player could carry a team to an international championship was over. All four players needed to remain competitive individually for a team to have a realistic chance of winning. If even one or two failed to keep up, the entire team could quickly fall behind. Take Made in Thailand (MiTH), for example. Despite winning two PGS titles earlier this year and establishing itself as one of the strongest teams, MiTH had to compete with only three players at PGS 11 due to health issues and failed to reach the Final Stage. The consequences carried over into PGS 12, where MiTH slipped into the lower half of the standings.
Although Twisted Minds had not claimed a single championship before the final PGS Circuit concluded, I continued to watch the team closely, waiting to see if it could find a breakthrough.
First, BatulinS began making decisions much faster. The team became less inclined to push into the circle and simply hold its ground whenever circumstances turned unfavorable. Instead of trying to survive at all costs, it began actively intervening in other teams' engagements, committing its firepower to secure points. Even without a Chicken Dinner, the team could still earn points through its willingness to fight. BatulinS became noticeably more aggressive in engagements, and his success rate improved as well. Where he had previously excelled at identifying favorable positions and reading the overall situation, he now expanded the team's strategic options by directly taking down opponents.
Second, as the entire team shifted toward a more combat-oriented approach, xmpl began to rediscover his strengths as a fragger. When it comes to pure weapon handling, I can confidently say that only a handful of players in the world can match him. Professional players actually spend far less time shooting than one might imagine. Much of a match is devoted to looting, rotating, and scouting. Perhaps the increased frequency of engagements helped sharpen xmpl's instincts, because his statistics improved dramatically. He ranked first in kills (27), knocks (27), and average damage per match (391). His total damage reached an astonishing 5,871, putting him 1,611 ahead of second-place TGLTN (4,260). Most notably, he recorded 3,572 damage with DMRs, nearly five times his AR damage of 777, overwhelming countless opponents with his exceptional DMR firepower.
Third, Perfect1ks demonstrated his ability to adapt to the new meta. Recently, he had begun making extensive use of buffed Light Machine Guns (LMGs). Even after certain aspects of their performance were adjusted in subsequent patches, he continued using them aggressively to destroy enemy vehicles. By eliminating opponents' means of transportation and restricting their mobility, he created opportunities to finish them off alongside xmpl. Mortars had not previously been a major part of the team's arsenal, but this time Perfect1ks took primary responsibility for using them and produced several decisive moments. In the PGS 12 Grand Finals, he recorded four mortar kills, ranking first in that category.
Finally, Lu, who had been trapped in a prolonged slump, made his return. Across countless tournaments, I had witnessed him dedicate himself to the team and rescue his teammates from seemingly hopeless situations. Even when the team faltered, Lu stood firm like a deeply rooted tree. But 2026 had been different. His shooting, decision-making, and remarkable clutch saves had all become noticeably less frequent. I had even argued that without Lu returning to form, there could be no resurgence for Twisted Minds in 2026. Yet in this tournament, Lu showed not only the player we remembered, but something even greater, playing a crucial role in the team's championship victory. With more precise utility usage and relentless survival instincts, he helped carry Twisted Minds back to the top.
Of course, the journey on the final day was far from smooth. On Day 3, Twisted Minds held the lead, but its challengers were closing in fast. In particular, eArena claimed a 10-kill Chicken Dinner in Match 11, firmly entering the championship race. DN SOOPers also refused to give up the chase. After Match 14, Twisted Minds stood at 119 points, while eArena had 117. Just two points separated them. With only one match remaining in the 15-match Grand Finals, the championship was still anyone's to claim.
Nevertheless, Twisted Minds did not waver. While its closest rivals gradually lost players, Twisted Minds maintained its strength and ultimately secured an 11-kill Chicken Dinner in the final match. Rather than simply waiting for its competitors to fall short, the team ended the tournament by taking matters into its own hands and decisively securing the title. With 140 points, Twisted Minds became the champion of the final PGS event of 2026.
Looking back, this championship was not simply a repeat of the glory Twisted Minds had enjoyed in 2025. Instead, it was the reward for a team that had been forced to leave its past successes behind, adapt to a new environment, and endure a long period of trial and error. Even for a team once regarded as the best in the world, the new era felt unfamiliar. Its trusted methods no longer worked as they once had, and the days when victory seemed almost inevitable were gone. But through those struggles, Twisted Minds discovered what it needed to change and rebuilt the level of performance required to reach the summit.
When you sit upon the throne, it can be difficult to appreciate just how high you have climbed. Only after losing that place do you truly understand how difficult it is to rise again. Until last year, Twisted Minds occupied a position at the very top, one that no one could reasonably dispute. But in 2026, it surrendered that throne and endured a long period of uncertainty. After countless defeats and painful memories, the team finally reclaimed its crown at PGS 12. This time, it returned covered in scars, but stronger than ever.
- Jisooboy
Continue reading...