ESWC Pre Event Interviews

Grégorio Machadinho, the ESWC Counter-Strike tournament director and qualifier manager, discusses the Female CS Masters cup:

Grégorio: Since the beginning, the main event has been open to every kind of team: male, female or mixed. ESWC work with a qualifier system and according to the level of the countries, that’s could the Top 1 team, sometime the Top 2 or Top 3 who attend to our event. If a female team or a mixed team reach this level, we can imagine that 2005 the main event could see those teams competing. Despite everything, 2005 is maybe too soon again.


Carmac interviews Matthieu Dallon, president and founder of Ligarena and organisers of ESWC:

Matthieu: Quake is a world, it’s a language. Playing “Quake” is a digital way of breathing. I believe in Electronic Sports because of Quake. That is my personal opinion, but it has the good fortune to be shared by all the Ligarena team. So, as long as Quake is not replaced or we are forbidden to use it, Quake will be in the ESWC.


With the Quake 3 Nations teams yet to be announced, one of the few certainties is Fazz, who talks about his prospects and views on the competition:

Fazz: I think I played at my highest level in the first 2 group stages. But I’m pretty sure I underperformed against Lexer in the last game. But I need to start playing more (and I most likely will) if I want the same results this year.


America's best hopes for glory in the UT2004 competition lie with Lotus, one of the best UT duelers in the world and last year's semi finalist:

Lotus:I think Fatal1ty and I were very closely matched, and I lost to him chiefly because I was afraid of him. He was the first person to smack some sense into me in UT2k3, and had done so again just a month or so ago at the USA qualifiers. I have no shame in saying he is scary to play for me.


One of Swedens greatest teams EYEBALLERS, Divino, the lead manager and organiser behind the team, he has been with the team for over a year now. His thoughts and predictions on this years ESWC:

Divino: The ESWC LAN finals will be the first event this year where we'll see which teams that has improved and which teams that have not since last year. I think there will be some upsets but I can't predict who will do it and which team that will take the loss for it. But I believe the three spots for the ESWC qualifiers will go to SK, EYE and since Adrenaline is already auto berthed as they are the reigning champions it's a wide-open story for the last spot.


The Dutch Painkiller player Vo0 active for the clan mysod and known as a great supporter in the PK community. Interview is about him and ESWC but mainly about the PK Community.

Vo0: At this moment, I would say PK is a practice game. The more you practice the better you get. Ofcourse that's applyable in every game, but in PK it's more noticable, because of the current flawed gameplay. I really hope that it goes the Q3 way, as in, I want it to become less practice-only and more real-skilled.


Team Netherlands player Prodx discusses the formation of the Dutch team, his gaming career, and - of course - his predictions for the ESWC Q3 Masters Finals:

Prodx: This is about the time that CPL Holland was just happening. Rufus and HELL played me a couple of times and really raped the living shit out of me. It's pretty funny when I think about it. Literally losing like 70 to -2 against Rufus on ztn isn't fun. Anyway, it motivated me to play more so I could kick their asses. Rufus basically taught me how to play!


UK representative Aaron-Anton Jones also known as http://www.esreality.com/?a=post&id=699281> HELL talks about how he started competitive gaming and what motivated him to his current level of play. He also gives us some talk regarding his past and present play, the UK online qualification and the attending ESWC teams.

HELL: I remember being owned by the "Barrysworld elite duellers", yet this had a great impact on my play. Getting bitchslapped around really motivated me to improve my game. At this point players were teaching me how to strafe jump etc. and the other necessities of quaking.


The French UT2004 pride th0r gets interviewed about his rise to fame and plans for the Electronic Sports World Cup.

th0r: I'm playing serious for a bit more than a year now and it affected my life in some good and some bad ways. Let's start with bad ones, I couldn't focus enough on school for 2 years now. That's not a big deal because I'm already in university so I'll be able to start back whenever I'll want to. I also couldn't keep the same girlfriend for more than 1 month. Most of them couldn't understand the fact that I was really busy with it. I was doing my best to share my time but you know how girls are...


One of the most celebrated players in the PainKiller Masters tournament, the German powerhouse SteLam gets interviewed by Scoop. In the interview, he makes interesting comments about PK and reveals what he has been doing until now and what his future plans in gaming are.

SteLam: In comparison to Quake 3, Painkiller is much less dependant on aim because of the stronger armors and weapons. In Quake 3 you could compensate for lack of armor and health by outaiming your opponent in fights. In Painkiller you can be killed by an opponent with weaker aim because the weapons cause more damage. Therefore aiming alone won't get you that far in this game.


The star of the Belarus team, keep3r gets interviewed about the Q3 ESWC Masters Cup, the Belarus team and his expectations for the event:

keep3r: Well, I think it is ridiculous to rate Sweden and the US above or below us. Why? Not because we're better, but simply because we haven't met each other before. Neither I, nor the rest of the scene, can possibly predict how we will do against them. In July we'll know for sure.


Yeltsin interviews one of the top contenders for the #1 spot in the Q3 competition with Russia - morfez.

morfez: Cooller is a good captain, he takes players not just because they are his friends. He takes the best players who can show great games. He uses his own opinion of all players to choose. But I heard about if22 =) Sizah takes him down in one shot! :D But I think sizah knows more than we all together about why he picked who he picked.


One of the American participants of the ESWC gets interviewed about PainKiller, the game he is to play in Poitiers. His name is daler.

daler: I always found it better to keep my opponent on their toes as much as possible. Confidence is a huge factor in gaming and once your opponent has it, you have to break it as soon as possible. I find it best by running straight at them and praying to quake gods that each rocket just goes right past me. So far I found it to be pretty effective against nearly every opponent. I mean what kind of player would expect someone to run straight at them at the most random times? Although I have had to switch up my routine a bit to counter the things my opponents would do to stop my berserk style. I had to do something that I found to be against my beliefs in gaming… playing defensive.


The star of the German Q3 team, diablo gets interviewed about the chances of his team at the tournament in Fance.

diablo: I don't like to call anyone favourites in general and I don't respect them in particular for that. However I think the Netherlands will do some damage. Germany.. heh... it's really hard to say. The last time Germany was represented on a big tourney was by stelam who did very well. Since that time everybody has been thinking Germany would have no good players anymore. And we didn't have a single chance to prove ourselves, including last ESWC. But this year we will give our best :) fear us!


Italy's stermy talks about his participation in the PainKiller tournament. He will be facing players like Vo0, SteLam and Fatal1ty so there is a lot to talk about.

stermy: It's hard to explain to people about this thing, especially to the guys in my age. Staying at home to train on the computer is strange and many people simply don't understand it. My friends admire me and have always supported me. Being a netgamer takes away lots of time.


One of the shoutcasters at the event will be the famous djwheat . We have interviewed him about the ins and outs of shoutcasting as well as his expectations for the Americnan Q3 team's performance.

wheat: Well, I guess there is alot of good news to report these days... I just got married, had a great honeymoon, and am back to my old "lots of freetime" self. Team USA after some very rocky times during the selection process, finally found some excellent sponsorship, and secured 3 spots for Team USA (ZeRo4, czm, socrates). ESWC contacted me and asked me to be present this year to commentate with Geist (something we've both been looking forward to for quite some time).


America's best UT2004 player in Poitiers stryfe is questioned about the upcoming event.

stryfe Right now I think th0r, lauke (hi plumcakes!), forrest, zulg, and the rest of the list all have an equal chance at getting that 1st place. I know personally you can never count someone like Lauke out, and with th0r playing like he is right now he is gonna tear ass through this tourney also. It's such a hard decision to make or even comment on with all these amazing players in one tournament, I am scared of how the group stages are gonna pan out ;)


The CS tournament will probebly come down to the rivalry between SK and NoA. This is why we decided to talk to Siege, the manager of NoA.

Siege: A team is only as good as its weakest link and in order to ensure stability everyone within an organization needs to know their role and understand how crucial they are to the success of the team. From my position as General Manager, to Hallvar “knoxville” Dehli as Team Leader, to our players, sponsors, partners, and our staff – every position has its role in the progression of the organization. We all understand the stakes, and we’re determined to continuing our top placements in all events we compete in.


Sizah interviews the most celebrated FPS player of the planet, Fatal1ty. The American is looking to win the PK competition in Poitiers. His participation will definitely make the event more interesting.

Fatal1ty: Well of course there is always natural talent. I can pick up pretty much any FPS game and be a dominant force without any practice. But if you're going to be #1 at anything, you still have to put mad amount of practice in to get to that level. The thing about being #1 is, when your #1, you know it. It's not like a guess or a theory that your really good. You're just sitting there in front of your PC and you just got done playing all day and no one is even coming close to you and you just realize... Wow, I'm going to win the tournament!

Carmac interviews Zero4, fresh from his team's victory in their group match against France. Wireweights, achievements and ESWC are all included, along with much more.

Zero4:When I first got into playing Quake 2, I found myself getting more and more competitive. Finally when Quake 3 came out I was determined to play and eventually win at a high competitive level. I noticed in every game prior to this, Quake & Quake2, everybody acquired their own strategy that stemmed from a basic strategy. The core of this strategy came from a player named Thresh

[img45=left]Lauke

Lauke: I have noticed that people have started relying more heavily on aim than tactics compared to the last UT2K3 event. Last year it was Lotus and Fatal1ty that did that but there were players like zulg and GitzZz that put more emphasis on strats and in the end it got them farther. In the end it can get you farther because at every tournament you will have a worse day or even a worse map where you will not aim as well as the opponent and get hammered

In our third interview from ESWC, Carmac talks with dutch player and latecomer If22 about his crash, team selection, and of course the Quake 3 tournament:

IF22: I think it all started when Sizah passed, the laptop to the front, to you (zr0), and at one point you placed a mascot which you just bought at the gas station, next to your laptop, and Erick (MmtC), he asked me “do you want to make a picture of it?”

Fox

Fox: I advice fatal1ty to say his goodbyes to Smu while he can, cause they wont be bunking together forever. The more successful fatal1ty gets, the greater threat Smu faces. I wouldn't be surprised if you see Smu on eBay in the future ;D


Return to ESWC Article

<< prev page || Article Page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 || next page >>