I sat down with (chatted up on IRC) the legendary Brian "DKT519" Flander of former UT and CS fame, and asked a few key questions about the chances of the American hopefuls at ESWC Masters and what his thoughts were on the preparation of the US players vs the Euros. Please read on for your All-American vantage point on this weekends action.
clan519: Hi Brian and thanks for your time tonight. Lets jump right into the heart of the matter and get your opinions on the US players heading into Masters.. How do you think the Americans will fare at ESWC, and why?
Destrukt: I think rapha and zero4 both have a very decent shot to win the entire event. They both have extremely smart play styles and they can adjust to any other playstyle on the fly. Chance is more aggressive and will take more risks, but if he hits his shots, he is extremely hard to beat.
clan519: What about czm?
Destrukt: I think Paul is rusty, but he is still a beast because of his intuition and timing ability. Any average player that snuck into masters will definitely get owned by czm. I think even after all of the inactivity he will still advance out of his group, or come very close to it.
clan519: Following up on that line of thought, how do expect experience to factor in the performance on lan of someone like zero4, who has won multiple titles over the years, vs someone like rapha who is basically playing in his first major tourney as a 'contender'?
Destrukt: Experience always plays a factor, but many of these "new comers" in CPMA 1.46 are extremely good and seem seasoned for their inexperience. I don't think you'll see too many chokes or anything like that.
clan519: Do you think CZM can conjure some of that old magic we've seen from him in the past, once he hits the LAN?
Destrukt: I think CZM can definitely bring back some of that old school ownage that we were so used to seeing. He may be rusty, but his rusty is comparable to some players top game.
clan519: How do you think the top euros stack up to the top Americans? We saw a jaded fox/fooki showdown at eswc Sweden, do you think they have the same level of intention as the Americans coming into this tourney?
Destrukt: Fox looks extremely impressive, but I don't think fooki will make much of a mark. If history is any indication, Fox never stacks up very well against the top Americans, so will history repeat itself? It's the big thing I'm wondering myself.
clan519: The new Euro-talents.. what do you make of their chances? A lot has been said on esr about the aimbot styles of new players like arrw, cypher, and av3k. Do you think they can bully their way into contention with pure aim skills, or will their questionable rush tactics fail them when it comes to facing seasoned veterans, either EU or NA?
Destrukt: The new euro-talents are that which are very similar to the Chance style in America. Super fast paced, super aggressive, many risks taken. I think they are going to have an extremely hard time playing against the Americans. However, if they get off to good a start, and get some frags going, they become extremely difficult to beat.
It will really depend on if they can adapt to a thinking player rather then someone who uses counter-aggression.
clan519: So you don't think aim trumps all in q3? Remember Coollers complaints about Toxic's game, the now infamous "all rail no brain" comment.
Destrukt: I think brain is definitely a factor in Q3, but it's a different type of brain game now.
clan519: Explain...
Destrukt: In the past a "smart" player was basically someone who could time almost the entire map at once (ie, czm) and at the same time still manage to cut-off and bait opponents into an attack.
clan519: Nowadays a "smart" player is?
Destrukt: The way it has changed is that it has become a game of position and angles much more so then before. The game is faster then it used to be and it becomes more difficult to run an entire map, so instead of the old fashion "robot fatal1ty" style, you have players using position much more then they used to.
clan519: So they predict your movements and cut off your flow with rail, lg damage? Or in the case of zero4, a well placed rocket.
Destrukt: For example, using the stairs on hub as leverage, or using rockets from above RA on dm6. Yeah the LG is much more effective then it used to be, so it becomes a useful tool and fending foes away.
clan519: You think theres been an increase in the level of pressure people can put on people from unexpected places on the map, due to rail and lg percentages being higher?
Destrukt: Definitely, people are hitting more shots and in result you're forced to react. This creates a cat and mouse game of position that I talked about earlier.
clan519: What maps do you find this most prevalent on?
Destrukt: All of them
clan519: Wow, one thing thats being said right now on esr is that hub has evolved since the days of czm's utter domination. Do you think that is true, and how will it affect the results of the tourney potentially?
Destrukt: I don't agree. I think many of the non-Americans still play the map wrong and most of the Americans will still have a tough time against CZM on hub.
clan519: Interesting.. Do you expect any surprise qualifications for eswc finals from this masters pool, and could you give us your predictions on who your top 3 will be?
Destrukt: I think Griffin has a decent shot to qualify and so does Chance. CZM might be a surprise for some people, but I'm not sure it would be. Right now I see Rapha making top3, but it's so hard to say man. I haven't seen the other players THAT much. I'll hold off on a top 3, but I will say Rapha will be in the top 3, maybe zero4, maybe fox, maybe griffin.
clan519: What are your opinions on the seeding/groups and what group do you view as the "group of death" and who do you think has a relatively easy path
Destrukt: I think the groups are decent. However, I think it's sketchy all the Americans are "randomly" grouped together. I don't necessarily think there is a "Group of death," Most of the groups look pretty tough. There is a lot of hype around a few players going into this event, so whether they live up to it or not remains to be seen.
clan519: Okay cool, so finally, how are your own preparations for the finals going?
Destrukt: I was at CGS for the last month, so my practice schedule was flaky, but once the guys get back from France, I will be playing a lot. I'm hoping to have a couple guys fly to my house in Minnesota to LAN, but who knows. Otherwise, I'll just keep up a practice routine with Zero4, Rapha, Chance, Griffin, and a few others.
clan519: Thanks Brian, and good luck at the finals, and hopefully we'll see a top 5 NA sweep this weekend :) (even though that probably can't happen due to post group brackets :P)
Destrukt: hehehe
p.s. ESR readers, thank you for not plussing me like it's going out of style. Let's keep this ESWC buzz real. Really.
![shaftwhores only by [EXE]dann](/files/avatars/2007/51852-shaftwhore.gif "shaftwhores only by [EXE]dann"){kind=small}
ESWC 
COMPETITION SCHEDULE
Czm vs 
Avek vs 
Cypher 
Jibo vs 
Fox 
Noctis
ESWC Masters of Paris is going to start on 5th of July. There are 24 players in the list - 6 players in each group devided by top, high seeds and challengers. Among "most famous" names - 
k1llsen.
Jeffrey "draven" Debipersad
Daniel "ddk" Kapadia
Thomas "griffin" Wall
Ondra "Legie" Konecny
Dongkin "Dongjin" Suh
wision.
Finland
Anton "Cooller" Singov who decided not to attend after qualifying for the grand finals in San Jose, and ESWC NL champion 
Impulse,