It has been a little while since my last interview but I have managed to find some time to do another one in between classes. This time we take a look into the new "super" team which arguably did not perform to their full potential at the last GotGames Nationals. Even though they did place 2nd I'm sure they would have been hoping to finish on top of the podium, especially with the line-up that they boast. This interview is a look into how the team functions, their goals and what drives them to continue playing a game which surely has become repetitive over the years.
Hey Stv, thanks for taking for time to speak with me.
Not a problem at all.
Let's get started, first of all could you enlighten us on how this team came to be?
Well I don't want to bore everyone with the long winded version but basically a proposal was made to form the team (emagine, havoc, digz, spunj, stv) and everyone involved was offered a spot. There wasn't really any discussion as everyone was keen, I especially as it was basically my old team which I really enjoyed playing with and had great success. With the addition of Luke I could not fault the lineup, adding in the support of Team Immunity, how could anyone say no?
Heading into the GotGames Nationals, what were the expectations within the team?
I would be lying if I said we would be happy with coming second, as we were there to win – the main motivation behind our line-up is to win competitions. It's really important for a new team to get good results early to fuel motivation and confidence, a spot in the finals was a must in my eyes. As far as personal goals I always say to get out of groups and take it from there, but I think everyone in the team really wanted a win vs Voxe no matter if we came 4th or 1st.
Why do you think the team did not realise their goal? Was it because of the tough match with Voxe beforehand or were you simple out played by a better Exile5 team?
In terms of goals being reached, I say we got half way – obviously getting into the final was a good achievement and starting point for the team but the way we finished off the tournament was disappointing to everyone.
There are many variables that come into play when I took some time to think about why we lost against Exile5. Firstly the game before hand was really mentally draining as we did not want to lose against Voxe – in a way to us that was a mini grand final in itself. So that already was a bad way to look at things, we also didn't give Exile5 much credit especially after we disposed of Voxe, as early in the day Exile5 got stomped by Voxe.
At the end of the day Exile5 came out strong, they were incredibly on point with their aim and there was no lack of confidence or conviction in the way they played their rounds and clutches. These attributes of their game play was reflected with their ability to win the crucial pistol rounds and also produce some incredible deagle eco rounds that forced us into very uncomfortable positions as CT.
Well with such a balanced line-up with experience and sharpness you will surely see success in the near future, that being said how do you see the team placing in coming events?
You pretty much highlighted our biggest strength as a team, our balance over all aspects of the game within this line up is fantastic and that alone gives us immense confidence, we definitely see success in the coming future. Alongside the in game abilities of all the players, the chemistry is an obvious stand out as well, we have quite good friendships within the team and all know each other very well so it helps. I think we will place quite well in the coming events, but that will be directly correlated with our preparation as well.
How will the team prepare? Will it simply rely on individual smarts and sharpness or will the team prepare strategically?
An interesting question and something we ourselves are having many discussions on. As mentioned before we have a really balanced line up and we have players that could potentially fill each required role in the team, which makes it really hard for us to decide what style of play we want to employ.
We will definitely prepare ourselves in the best way possible, against various teams there is certain styles of play that can be used more than others to get the win. If we can perfect each area, that being individual practice and aim mixed with well rehearsed strategies and timing we should be able to counter what teams present to us. That is the goal we have in mind.
Who do you see as your greatest threat?
Any team that takes the time to prepare strategically and individually, I think Voxe are always going to be a threat as they have a long standing line up, good chemistry and decent individual talent. Exile5 are also the obvious answer however I fear their recent line up took a major blow losing damorideR and I am not sure how they will respond to that departure. They will always be a threat though, emerging players with incredible aim. I think those two teams mentioned have a clear gap on the rest of the competition currently in Australia.
Having the support of such a prominent organisation in Immunity, could we see this team competing overseas in the future?
The sky is the limit with Team Immunity, and overseas competitions are always a possibility. However, I would personally like to string a few wins together in Australia first and complete a full season of the online/lan circuit.
(If this team was to go overseas, what events would you like to attend? And do you think you could potentially place high?)
For any competitive gamer competing overseas is that icing on the cake that makes all your hours playing worth it, having played overseas myself there is nothing more enjoyable it is the pinnacle of counter-strike. In terms of events, the biggest one would be ESWC which recently announced a CS:S tournament which is huge news, but in reality any competition that has all the top teams competing would be best even to attend.
A much debated subject is the performance of Australian teams overseas and although my position may be bias I do believe the potential to place high is there. I do not believe an Australian team could go over there and win an event straight out though but a respectable top 4/5 could be achievable with the right environment.
What most of the punters talking negatively about Australia's ability to perform overseas don't understand is the environment in which these European teams are playing in. They are consistently playing in a high level arena with no less than 5 ping online on 100 tick servers that have rego better than our LAN servers. How can an Australian team possibly compete with the world's best? That been said if an Australia team was put into that environment for a decent period I believe results could easily be achieved.
Interesting, personally I would love to see Havoc tear about Euro teams again! On to the standard questions now, do you have any tips for teams hoping to progress into the higher tiers within the Australian CSS community?
Sitting next to Luke when we play, I have personally seen him destroy European teams, when we were playing over there he was easily a top 5 player in the world – I remember watching him retake 1v4 with an awp against VeryGames on dust2, notching up about 20 frags in 5 rounds ^_^
The main tip would be consistency, change lineups until you feel you have a good symmetry and then prac hard, attend LAN events, practice don't war – play people better than you, watch people better than you, learn.
Who do you think should be competing in this seasons CyberGamer Western Digital Invite Division 1 this season?
Tough question, I've been on break from CS for over a month now so I don't know for sure all the most recent lineup changes. That been said there here is my break down of the teams
Voxe, Exile5, iM – personally I believe the 3 teams are ahead of the pack by a significant margin rosters alone present a huge difference to the other teams. All 3 teams have aim, experience and smarts by the truck load.
Qlimax – these guys are just outside, they have the ability to win games vs the top 3 teams without a doubt but they will always be the underdog. With the addition of shadzke I can only see these guys getting better so they could join the 3 powerhouses to form a very strong top 4.
Mindfreak – I believe they have proven themselves worthy, personally I hope these guys make the 8 and are a long standing 'professional' team as they offer a fresh team with hunger to win. A huge difference between mindfreak and the bottom half of the professional teams is that they actually practise and think about what they are doing unlike the other teams which are generally just well established players mixed together playing a pug.
As for the other teams I'll leave that to the admins to decide, however I would really like to see a better balance in the teams, there is always a couple teams that go 0-8 or 1-7 throughout the season and they clearly shouldn't be competing.
Thanks Stv.
Posted on Monday, 22nd August 2011
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