PGS victorious at WCG 2006.

You guys are here in Sweden, bootcamping at Inferno-Online for the WCG. What will it take to win that event?



TaZ: I think that tough practice, new tactics and probably a lot of luck. That’s all.





Do you have anything in particular that you’re focusing on when you’re here bootcamping?



Neo: Mostly tactics I think, because we’re pretty bad at that and we’re too lazy to make new ones, so that’s what we’re trying to do right now.





You only got a fifth placing down in Spain, what did you learn from that experience?



TaZ: We did a lot of mistakes in both games. We were overconfident against the Logitech guys, and we played too fast on Inferno, so we learned that we need to play a bit slower and recognize the style of play of our opponent.



Against mibr… Well, we’ve always had problems when we want to play with special tactics against our opponent. We tried to use special tactics against mibr to overcome their tactics and it just didn’t work out.



Neo: And maybe we’ve also learned that too much CS is not always good for us. We got pretty tired at the end.



LUq: I think that we just should’ve played our own style against mibr. We have our style… We like to play fast games with an aggressive style. We shouldn’t try to adapt too much. That’s it. That was the biggest mistake I think.

MYM’s proposal

Just a few days ago you received an offer to become the new MYM team. What were your thoughts surrounding that?



Neo: I think that the most important thing with MYM was that we would’ve been able to go to most of the events around the world, which is not available for us right now. I think that was it, because we’ve always wanted to attend every event there is and we weren’t able to do that. Now it’s going to be better in PGS I think because they gave us a better offer now.



LUq: On the other hand we hade some internal problems with the management. We had some issues with some talk which we managed to fix. Now we have better conditions and can go wherever we want to, plus we have a better contact with our management and sponsors, so I think it’s going to work out.





Did MYM’s proposal come as a surprise to you, or have you been involved in discussions earlier?



LUq: We have gotten many proposals from other teams this past year but we didn’t take it too seriously. After winning the WCG, we decided to…



TaZ: …attend more events so we can show that we are a consistent team and can win more events than three or four per year.

eSports Team of the Year, eSports Awards, Games Convention 2007.

The Strength of PGS

What is the reason that you guys have been able to perform so consistently. What do you have that other teams lack?



LUq: I think we’re playing a lot and we practice hard. When we’re in Poland we practice five to six days per week, from eight to twelve every night. Except for that we bootcamp in Sweden and have the best conditions possible, and it’s also a good opportunity for us to practice with the best teams from Europe. When we’re here we play like crazy, from morning till late at night.



I think that’s the reason, because I haven’t seen any of the other top 10 teams playing as much as we do. I think that’s the biggest thing.



TaZ: And we never get tired of it.



Neo: And maybe a stable lineup. We’ve got the same lineup for a year now.





For non-Polish-speaking people it’s quite hard to tell, but what is your tactical style?



TaZ: I think that mostly we like to play aggressive, but we try to mix some things up so it’ll be more difficult for other teams to play against us. But I think we’re more of an aggressive team.



LUq: We rely more on skill than on tactics. We prefer to play aggressive and shoot headshots, rather than play tactics, because that’s a thing we’re bad at. :)





So basically, how much of your play is aim and how much is pure tactics?



TaZ: I think that about 70% is pure aim… or more. :) And the other is the tactics.

Stardom och the life before

User question from Wisso: Are there any CS groupies?



TaZ: No, not that we’ve heard of :)





You played the final at ESWC up on stage. What was it like to play there knowing that there was thousands of people watching both live and on videostreams?



TaZ: I think we’re pretty used to it, but during the ESWC the audience was amazing. It was something totally new for us. So many people cheering, mostly for NoA though :) I think it had some factor on our game.



Neo: Yeah, maybe during a game like that you don’t think about three more HLTV spectators… The main factor was the crowd…



LUq: We had to use a different type of headphones to shut out the crowd, so we had to use Ventrilo, which we don’t like to use… Also, there was so many people and it was really hot on stage, so I was sweating so much. I’m playing with an Icemat, so my Icemat was swimming. :)





For how long have you guys been playing? How old were you when you first started?



Neo: We all started about eight years ago. LUq played with TaZ in their old team for maybe five years. I played against them on almost every Polish LAN. We decided to merge our teams to try to achieve something outside of Poland. Three years ago we founded the team that we are in right now.



LUq: For half our gaming careers, we’ve just been focused on beating Neo, and he’s been focused on beating us. We just got better and better competing in Poland, and then we connected… We were good. :)





How did you get in contact with all your players in your lineup? How did it start?



Neo: It started with both our teams being the top Polish teams, but both teams had players which weren’t motivated like the others. Both teams had some problems in the teams, and I was pretty tired of that. I started talking with TaZ about playing together.



TaZ: Yeah, the first time it was more like a joke. He asked me if I could join a server to play with them like a mix. And it was like, “if you want to join server, you need to join us", and we just started talking…



LUq: We also played in Team Poland together before…



Neo: I think we had talked about it before, but we used to hate each other too much, so we didn’t really connect. :)





Were there any special players or teams that you looked up to in the beginning of your career?



TaZ: I think there were many teams that we used to look up to. The special one… It’s hard to call. Maybe NiP…



Neo: Yeah, the final against X3…



TaZ: That was for me the first game I saw on HLTV.



Neo: Yeah, same here.





Do you feel that you individually and as a team has grown since you started playing together?



TaZ: Yeah, in CS… I don’t know, we’re more skilled now than before… We shoot more headshots. We’ve gained some experience and skill…



LUq: I think the most important thing is that we understand each other now. We have a very good atmosphere and team chemistry.



Neo: Yeah, we’ve gotten to know each other really well.



LUq: We spend a lot of time practicing together, and we have a lot of arguments when we practice. Like “don’t through that flash!", but in the end it’s a very good relationship. It’s much different from a friendship…

Counter-strike Source.

Source, Promod and CGS

Over to Promod and Counter-Strike Source. How do you feel about the two?



LUq: We played Source for a few months last year. We had a few tournaments, including WCG in Singapore. I think it was two years ago



Neo: To be honest, we liked that game. But we prefer to play 1.6 while there are tournaments. We are ready to play Counter-Strike Source. We need some time to get used to it, but then we can play on 1.6-level. But I think we’re going to play 1.6 until the tournaments come to an end.



TaZ: Hopefully CS Promod will own and will be more like 1.6. We’re hoping for CS Promod to succeed.





How do you feel about the CGS have you been considering playing there?



Neo: Yeah, we’ve been thinking about that. But while the tournaments are using 1.6 we want to play it because I think we have more fun playing it than Source.



LUq: And we’ve put a lot of work into reaching the top, and we don’t want to lose it. Switching to Source we would have to start from scratch.

Training

How do the bad Internet connection in Poland affect you?



LUq: When we’re playing against teams from Sweden or Germany we’re doing our thing, but still losing matches 16-0 because we can’t shoot anything. Like we said before, our game style is aggressive shooting headshots, and playing from home that is really difficult. We’re trying not to look at the scores when we play from home.



That’s why we come here to Sweden to practice from Inferno-Online, which is our second home. :)



Neo: Maybe our game style is because of our bad Internet connection at home, because when you have high ping it’s easier to kill when you play aggressive.





Are there any Polish teams worth practicing against?



Neo: No… Maybe one team right now. Polish team United, they were second in the Polish WCG Qualifier.



TaZ: They are making the biggest progress.



LUq: Two of them played with us in the ENC finals. They are the second best Polish team, and we play them from time to time.





When you guys practice, in which ways do you train?



LUq: We meet at like eight and try to talk about tactics. And then, five minutes after joining the server it like “let’s shoot some headshots" :) We’re trying to make some tactics, but it’s really hard for us. We’re using tactics from one or two years back.





What’s the difference in your practice when you starting getting closer to a big event?



TaZ: Well, we play a lot more when we have a big event coming up. Right now we have WCG coming up and we’re playing a lot… Like ten hours a day.



Our normal schedule is five to six hours a day, five to six days a week, and before an event… it’s more.



Neo: Like yesterday, we came here at nine in the evening and we’ve been playing until morning today.

Sweden

I’m sure you guys are aware of that we let our users send in some questions before this interview. Godfather asks, what do you think about Sweden so far?



LUq: We love!



TaZ: It’s a great country, it’s a lot quieter than in Poland. We feel very good here, all the people is very nice and most of them speak English very well, so it’s easy to communicate.



LUq: We like to come here in the holidays and collect the strawberries in the fields :D Nah, but we like Sweden, even though it’s pretty expensive for us. Most of the time when we’re here we’re sitting here in Inferno-Online…





What do you think about the Swedish top teams?



Neo: Besides fnatic, they all change their lineups too much, I think. That might be why they’re not that strong right now, except for fnatic which is very strong right now.



TaZ: Yeah, that’s the biggest problem at the moment for the Swedish teams. There’s a lot of talent, but not so much chemistry or stability.

fnatic and PGS, ESWC 2007.

You just mentioned fnatic as a strong team, do you have any special rivalry against them?



Neo: We’ve been facing the at almost every event. Before we used to lose against them almost every time, but it has changed and now sometimes we win.



TaZ: When they’re in the tournament with us, we want to play them to show everyone that we’re still the better team. And it’s probably the same for them, they want to play against us and win to show that they’re number one.





Do you see that Swedish teams and players have a different playing style compared to yours?



TaZ: Personally I think they’re playing pretty much like us. They’re playing aggressive, based on pure aim. Some of the teams, like fnatic, play really aggressive. It’s really hard to find a team that plays really good tactic wise, so I think they’re mostly like us.





Who is Sweden’s best player?



Neo: zet!



LUq: Yeah, zet.



TaZ: There’s a lot of good players in Sweden. It’s hard to choose only one player. There’s a lot of talent in many players, but their playing style is very different. Some are very aggressive and some are really clutch, so it’s hard to call one.





If you had to pick one Swedish player to join your team, who would you pick and why?



LUq: We would pick f0rest instead of Neo :) Neo because he’s… lame.



Neo: I think we would pick walle instead of LUq, because he’s a bad sniper. And also instead of TaZ, because he leads us in-game :D



LUq: TaZ should be replaced of cArn, because he’s a good in-game leader.



Neo: And let’s take SpawN instead of Lord!





And if you’d do the opposite. Which Swedish team would you like to play in if you had to pick one?



LUq: I think you should talk to Neo… :)



Neo: Well, I wouldn’t want to play in a Swedish team. :)





And another user question, “Oh my god" is wondering: Have any Swedes approached you on the streets and asked you for your autograph here in Sweden?



Neo: I don’t remember, I don’t think so, no. Swedes don’t like us :)

The International Top

Do you consider yourselves as the CS team out there right now?



TaZ: We’ll see in three weeks.





Which are the top three teams in the world right now?



TaZ: fnatic are there, and we… At the moment it could also be NoA. They’re playing pretty stable at the moment. (LUq and Neo agree.)





Who is the world’s best player?



TaZ: Neo.



Neo: zet





Which is best and worst event you’ve visited?



TaZ: The worst event for us can be GameGune. We’ve always had some issues with that event. If not with the monitors, so with schedule. If not with schedule, so with brackets. There’s always something. It’s not like a bad event, but it’s unlucky for us.



LUq: The best event for me is probably the German events, like the Samsung Euro Championships and the Extreme Masters. The admins are perfect, the conditions are perfect and the computers are very good. We just need to sit down, warmup and play.



TaZ: ESWC and WCG should be added as well.

Team Chemistry and Personalities

Over to the characters in the team! Could you please tell us briefly about each player in your team and their role?



TaZ: Lord is our tactic guy. He makes most of the tactics for us, and most of the time they are very good.



LUq: He has a flash-fetish :)



TaZ: Yes, and he’s very good in 1on2-situations. He’s a very clutch player.



Neo: If you forget a tactic in-game he’s going to kill you :)



LUq: He can join a server and try out a flashbang for a whole day, and then he brings us in on a server and tells us “I will show you guys a flashbang" :)



TaZ: Next will be kuben… He’s the newest guy in the team. His role is mostly to kill the guys from behind. We’re sending him to kill people from behind, because he’s best at it. He’s also our second sniper, so he’s very important.



Neo: I heard that in Sweden you say “Grims" when someone is not helping the others, in Poland you say “kuben" because he used to be an in-game-leader in Poland used to say “you go right, I go left". We try to use that now because he’s good at it :)



TaZ: It’s pretty normal for the good teams that the leader stays back.



TaZ: The next guy is LUq… He’s our main sniper in the team, and most of the time when it comes to long distance we just put LUq there and…



Neo: …he dies :)



TaZ: No, I’m kidding :) He’s a very stable player for our team.



Neo: And during the game you can always hear him scream. That’s why he has so many pictures at Fragbite.



TaZ: That’s why all the people like him.

TaZ: About Neo… He can use AWP and rifles. He’s a one man army. If you need a gun, he’ll just throw it. When we want a guy dead, we send Neo. He’s doing all the dirty work in our team so he’s very important to us.



LUq: Doing the dishes and cleaning the rooms… :)



LUq: TaZ is our strat caller. He’s a very good with rifles and he’s also our second Deagle on the team, after me. He also does a lot of work with the tactics on the team. He is very calm in the game so we can always count on him.



Neo: Sometimes when it comes to tactics he doesn’t listen to us, which might go really well or we might end up losing because of it. He can go “Trust me, let’s send five guys to the same place" and then we always die :)





Do you guys spend time with each other outside of game as well?



TaZ: We’re playing a lot with each other, so it’s hard for us to meet after the games. Also Neo is from [Polish city], kuben is from [another Polish city] and only three of us are from the same town. When we finish our practice we want to meet our friends and girlfriends.



Neo: When you spend five days a week with the same five guys you want to forget about them when you can. So when Friday comes you don’t want to spend it with them :)





How did you come up with your nickname?



TaZ: Warner bros, the Tazmanian devil.



Neo: Matrix



LUq: I don’t know, think it sounded good, somehow :)



Neo: Lord used to calm himself Lord Shadow, or Shadow Lord :D



TaZ: kuben is from his real name, Jakub.





What do you think you’d be doing now if you hadn’t started with CS?



TaZ: As for me I’d probably have learnt more and had better grades at my university, and have had some more fun.



Neo: Yeah, I guess I would’ve focused more on studies and spending time with friends.



LUq: I don’t know.

The Future

Where do you see the Counter-Strike scene in five years, and what will you be doing by then?



TaZ: I see it mainstream, hopefully. Maybe not in Poland but in the United States, Sweden and Korea.





Will you still be playing by then?



Neo: Hope so :)



TaZ: Depends on many factors, it’s hard to say at the moment. We know that we’ll play for at least one more year.



Neo: As long as we can and have fun playing…





Are you still hungry for victories after all the success you’ve had so far?



TaZ: Of course, I think that’s one of the main factors for our team.



Neo: I think we got even more hungry.



TaZ: Yeah, the greed for wins… We are always really angry when we lose a game.



LUq: Some teams that have reached the top don’t play as much as they did when they were trying to get there. But we want to stay here and play even better, so we play much more. Every match is important to us, and we want to win every single one because we like the feeling of winning.



Neo: Before we used to travel to a lot of tournaments too, but we didn’t win the tournaments we were attending. That’s the worst feeling you can have – you’re traveling around the world, you’re tired sleeping on the floor and then you lose a match and have nothing to do. That’s terrible.



LUq: Before, when we didn’t win, everyone used to be angry at some mistakes we did in-game afterwards. It was hard emotionally.



Neo: So we got even more motivated to win.



LUq: No one of us want to feel that again. :)



TaZ: After losing at GameGune and finishing 5-6th, we started playing a lot more. It’s hard to get to the top, but even harder to stay there. So we have to play more and more.



Neo: Yeah, GameGune reminded me of old times… :)





Do you have any events planned for the future except for WCG?



Neo: We want to go to a KODE5 qualifier. SHG Open in Denmark probably. We’ll try to be at every event there’ll be.

Neo

Now we’ve come to our little Neo-section. Lately Neo has gained a lot of stardom, do you think he deserves it or is he overrated?



TaZ: I think that it is well deserved. He’s played pretty amazing during events like WCG and ESWC. It’s well deserved.



LUq: He’s winning a lot of clutch rounds and important rounds. He’s never stressed, and you can count on him. Sometimes it feels like we’re all doing a lot of work, but the crowd is only cheering for Neo but we are used to it.





A reader’s question for Neo. At the ESWC final you were 1on3 against NoA in the final. What went through your head when you realized that you had secured a tie for your team in the final?



Neo: I don’t know. We had been waiting for that round for a long time. I just tried to win that situation and it worked out.





How did it feel to win all the prizes at eSports Awards? Were you surprised or was it expected?



Neo: I only expected the award for CS player. I think it was mostly between me and f0rest, but he was not nominated. The other one I didn’t expect at all, so I didn’t know what to say up on stage :)





How does one become as good as you are?



Neo: Just practice hard. That’s it.

Prize money at ESWC.

The Economical Perspective

What is the best and worst aspect of being a CS pro?



LUq: The best is that you can travel a lot, and the emotions of winning and losing.



TaZ: Earn a lot of money.



Neo: The bad part is probably that you have to sacrifice a lot. You have to focus on CS and play as much as you can.





How do you fair economically? Are the salaries from PGS enough to support you?



Neo: Yeah, at the moment yes, but we don’t know for how long, so we try to get as much as we can while we can.



TaZ: It’s getting better and better with time. Maybe next year it will be even better. At the moment I think it’s a decent salary for us.



LUq: Looking from the point of being double world champions, it could be better, but looking from Polish conditions it is very high. On the other hand we could get more, but we are satisfied.



TaZ: We are trying to stay with both feet on the ground. We don’t want to get caught up in the money. It’s all about the sport.





How’s the salary compared to a regular worker?



TaZ: It’s a lot smaller.



LUq: It’s good, the one we have now is good I think. Not the highest but…



Neo: If someone who doesn’t know esports asks you how much you earn, they’ll be very surprised that you can earn that much money playing only a game.



TaZ: We are students, so for students such a salary in Poland is good.

General User Questions

Which teams are the hardest to predict in game?



Neo: fnatic.



TaZ: Alternate Attax. When I called strats against Attax it was really hard, because moon is playing a lot of mind games and he always tries to predict the other team. He’s really skilled at putting four or five players in one spot. When I try that I only fail. :)



LUq: Beside that they also watch demos before every game, so they are always prepared. We don’t like to play against Attax, it’s really hard for us.



Neo: Generally German teams are really good at tactics.



TaZ: Teams with very good leaders, like cArn, walle and cogu, are hard for us.





What is your opinion on the duck-walk-technique used by many players nowadays, bug or part of the game?



TaZ: I think that it in some ways ruin the game. It looks really strange when you watch the HLTV. During the WCG it will be illegal.



Neo: You have to adapt and use it if you want to be in the top.



LUq: It’s like the WCG where it’s not allowed. Teams that will attend should read the rules, because we’ll be watching ;)





You guys are from Poland and Poland is a pretty religious country, are any of you religious?



TaZ: I don’t think any of us is really believers.



LUq: We can pray for something, but it’s not like we go to church.





What is “kurwa"?



LUq: It means “good luck".



TaZ: “Oh, what a great play!". We shouldn’t translate it here, because it’s a bad word. It’s a curse. We just scream it when we’re angry.



LUq: It’s gaming language. Some secrets you cannot know :)





Thank you for the interview and good luck in the future!



LUq: We’d like to thank our fans, if I can use that word, and also our sponsors: PGS, Pokerstrategy.cc, SteelSeries and every other company that is supporting us.



TaZ: Inferno-Online for giving us the opportunity to play on such a high level.



LUq: Yeah, it’s our second home. Thanks Fragbite for good pictures and coverage of the tournaments!



Neo: Tack!