Fnatic - A profesional gaming team

While practicing, do you try and keep your emotions down so you can play more logically?
I am pretty sure I will. I think in a game between top players, having stable emotions is more important than other issues. Most time the conditions and controls you have met several times in your practices, you don't need to think how to deal with them, and therefore, you keeping your emotions down will be the crucial factor, which will make you play more logically.


When you lose is it hard to keep your cool? Or if you make a mistake in game you shouldn't have made, do you get upset and play worse because of it?
Yes, of course. I am the person who could be too sad to sleep all the night due to losing a game. However, if I still need to attend another game, I'll try to make myself not to be so depressed.


Do your emotions get in the way of things in real life? If you are in a slump and its taking its toll on you, does that reflect in your day-to-day life?
Real life might affect me, but not too much. When I am in a slump that could have an impact on my practices relatively.


Do the stress levels ever affect your relationships with family/friends?
I don't think so. At the very beginning, it might hurt my relation with my friends, because I was getting upset and impetuous easily. Now, I have learned how to control my mood and emotion. :)


Do you have any particular ways to suppress your emotions while playing in matches?
I have some, for example, I'd like to drink a lot of water to release myself and make myself more sober. (As the result, this method always cause me run between washroom and venue while playing games... lol)

Before the match start, I will un-bend my two arms, and cross fingers to encourage myself implicitly.


Do certain events mean more to you personally? WCG you had won twice in a row; then failed to even qualify for your third year; that must have been harder than just losing a regular event for you.
There were some... but I might be relatively relax at that moment, you know for the WCG thing, I have suppressed the stress for 3 years, I felt quite tired and depressed so much. That is regrettable; I don't want to recall that heartrending experience. QQ


Does losing important sentimental events/matches motivate you or tear you down emotionally?
There was more discouraging moments I think, however, I can transfer those discouraging moments into my new power to encourage myself and go further. Losing games will cause me to be depressed for sure, I don't want to have that happen to me, but on another perspective, that will be more challenging which is my favorite.


Do you put more pressure on yourself for big matches such as ESWC or WCG?
Yes, especially WCG, every time before WCG, I'd like to practice more than usual. I would steal all the spare time to practice like a crazy man.


If you are having problems in your personal life, does it translate into your practice and match performance? Does it distract you or cause problems?
Oh, yea. I am bored with some trifles in daily life, but that had only impact on my practices not on my tournaments. Once I am in a game, I will try my best to play well without any distractions.

Do your emotions get in the way of things in real life? If your team is in a slump and its taking its toll on you and your guys, does that reflect in your day-to-day life?
Difficult to answer that questions because I actually never thought about it but I guess my emotions from a won or lost match are reflected in my daily life somehow. But I think after almost 4 years of professional e-Sports Ive learnt how to deal with a loss or a win in a league match pretty well.

Talking about offline tournaments and final games, it is of course always a special feeling and I guess Im sometimes still carrying the disappointment or pride a couple of days after it has happened.


As a manager, do you find it important to coach your players on the mental side of the game as well? Try and help them get over the emotional mind blocks? Try and let them play logically and not emotionally?
Well, first of all I am their manager and not their coach but the dialog matters a lot to me and I find it quite important to motivate them before important matches or also calm them down if I feel a player is too nervous or cant concentrate on his match.

I also used to have some kind of speech before a tournament like WC3L finals to heighten to team-spirit and make sure everyone understood the importance of the situation.


A lot of players have problems keeping their cool and then playing well after they have lost it, do you notice that, at all in top competitions?
Talking about my players, I can say that they are all damn cool and I have a lot of respect for such strong and solid performance they used to show.

Generally I think that young and inexperienced players tend to be nervous when they play an offline tournament for the first time and you really feel with them when you see their hands shaking. However, the more tournaments they player the most they will get used to it and calm down a lot.


What would you suggest to players who have problems controlling their emotions during/after games?
I would suggest them take a deep breath and to remind themselves what their goals are and why they are playing this game. Also it is important to enjoy the game as much as possible to show a nice performance.

It is as well possible that some players do really well in practice games, but when it matters they outrage. I would suggest them to tell themselves that its always a practice game and forget about the people watching or the prize money related to this single match.


Would you attribute players' lack of self control in some situations to them not having the proper guidance? Say a manager or coach helping them move in the right direction?
I wouldn't say that in general, but I think that it might be a good reason especially for players who usually play alone at home and don't meet with others in an internet cafe or some kind of LAN-party.


Why is that? Explain.
If you meet with other people and watch them playing you will definitely learn from them, I think the dialog after a couple of games can help a lot as well and I don't think you will talk that much about your problems and feelings when you just played some games against a stranger over the internet.

I believe that players like TeD, Infi and Like became that good because they had really good teachers and practice mates with Sky and Suho who knew how to deal with difficult situations and had a lot of tournament experience as well.


Often times a major thing that holds teams and players back is their lack of professionalism and controlling themselves. Do you think if teams/players learned how to control their emotions more, they would survive longer or even become professional?
I think the most important thing is self-confidence. For example Infi, he looks so skinny and inconsiderable, but in fact he is such a self-confident gamer and he doesn't fear any other player. His mindset in the game is really good and that gives him a natural advantage over his opponent.

I personally think that controlling yourself and your emotions is already a part of being professional and that's what I expect from all of my players as well as from everyone who considers himself to be a pro-gamer!


When you look at up and coming players do you ever look at how they control themselves after making a mistake or losing a match?
Certainly I have my own opinion and I like to see true emotions as much as everyone else. However, I found it courageously by Sky when he stood up after his close PGL loss against Fly100% and promised his fans that he will practice harder and beat Fly100% the next time they meet. That was really impressive and the crowed loved him for that.

Well, their body language is quite interesting and something they will make some kind of sound after a stupid mistake, but I think it is like that in every kind of sports.


From a management perspective do you ever take on a lot of the players emotional hardships onto your shoulders to help them?
Not really, and I also have no idea how I could do this talking about their gaming performance. However, I try to give them the feeling that they are not alone and there is someone they can talk to if they've got any kind of problem.

Do your emotions get in the way of things in real life? If you are in a slump and its taking its toll on you, does that reflect in your day-to-day life?
Absolutely, I think it goes both ways. When your personal life or 'real life' is in chaos, it can often mean your virtual game will be in chaos too. I can recall so many times when playing professionally in which I lost sleep over a lost game. 'Why did we lose that game?' or 'How can we perform better?' were just a few questions that would haunt my head while trying to sleep. After a day or two it goes back to normal, but I would definitely say that emotion can affect both in and out of game scenarios.


A lot of players have problems keeping their cool and then playing well after; do you notice that at all in top competitions?
Yes. Gamers are really no different than sports athletes. If an athlete gets heated about something in or out of the game it can certainly affect their performance. I recall many games in which individuals or entire teams would become too aggressive based on their emotions. This in turn caused them to make sloppy mistakes and ultimately lose games.

Even I struggle with this as a player. I have to constantly remind myself to 'keep cool' and not get upset over things that happen in games. more times than not, a scenario like that can actually force you to play worse. If you dwell on 5 seconds ago instead of the next 30 seconds; you might as well just stop playing. That will be a player's downfall.

This happens in top competition all the time. I've seen players give up because they realize they've already beaten themselves.


As a renowned E-Sports broadcasting persona, you see a lot of top end players playing at the highest levels there are, when emotions run high do you notice any differences in the players performances or the way they handle themselves in public?
Emotions can be a double edged sword. One side of the blade is emotion that can defeat you, while the other side of the blade is emotion that one can use to their advantage. We've all seen it happen, Ill use Moto from the days of Team 3D as an example. Here's an individual who is typically very level headed and focused in games, yet I've seen him explode in emotion' that's helped carry his team to victory. It was 'controlled emotion. It fired him up, got the adrenaline going, and resulted in victory for the team. On the other hand, I've also seen this player (and the whole team) let emotion get the best of them and lose because of it. It's nothing to be ashamed of because it happens to the best of the best, but how teams and players learn to control that emotion is what's important.

Gamers who are masters of their own domain, who remain focused, who can turn that emotion on and off at will… those are the gamers who I believe have the largest chance of success when it comes to competing at such a high level.

As for how they handle themselves in public… most gamers who let emotion get the best of them simply don’t want to be in public. A lot of times these top level gamers will want to be alone or perhaps with their team to figure out what went wrong. Aside from a thrown chair, a punched wall, or some other aggressive act, I’ve never seen game emotion carry too far into the “public”.


Do the stress levels ever affect your relationships with family/friends?
I can’t speak for everyone, but you better fucking believe it does for me. Everyone deals with stress a little differently, but for me, stress is a killer. Stress can effect everything in your life from performance, to relationships, to mental well being… so it’s very important to manage your time and your stress to make sure you can be on top of your game no matter what.


What would you suggest to players who have problems controlling their emotions during/after games?
This is going to sound weird but... consider reading these books:

Feeling Good
Motivation and Emotion in Sport

Both of these books talk about controlling emotion and ultimately helping you feel better about things (whether it’s winning, losing, everyday life, etc.) A lot of the lessons relate to Cognitive therapy or thinking. It’s the idea that you can overcome a lot in your life by eliminating dysfunctional thinking, behavior, and emotional responses.

So imagine if a player is constantly telling themselves, “God I suck”. Guess what, you will suck. I found myself improving faster when I would come off a losing game and say, “Ok, well my armor control that game was really great, but my railgun was way off… so I’m going to try to work on my rail a bit in those situations”. That’s a lot better and more constructive than me going, “FUCK WHEAT YOUR RAILGUN SUCKS ASS AND YOU SUCK TOO”. Simple concepts for maximum effectiveness.


Would you attribute players’ lack of self control in some situations to them not having the proper guidance? Say a manager or coach helping them move in the right direction?
ABSOLUTELY. A manager and/or coach can be the difference between being good and being great. But that also means you need to find a manager and/or coach who can effectively guide you. They need to know how you work, how you think, how you handle winning and losing. Just because a player HAS a coach doesn’t mean they are better off… I think players NEED coaches who are able to understand the physical and mental capabilities of their players.

A personal example of this was back in the WCG 2002 FINALS when Socrates took 3rd place in Quake 3. It wasn’t an easy road for him. During group play, Socrates was dominated by Phantom of South Africa on a map that he typically didn’t have much problems with, Q3DM6. I could tell that it was EATING him up inside, so I pulled him aside and we discussed it. His problem wasn’t his play on the map, his problem was he was putting himself down on the map and it was effecting his play. We rewatched the game and talked about what he did right and wrong.

The next day out of group play, he beat Phantom so badly that the game didn’t even go the full 15 minutes. That to me was an epic example of mind over matter.


Often times a major thing that holds teams and players back is their lack of professionalism and controlling themselves. Do you think if teams/players learned how to control their emotions more, they would survive longer or even become professional?
Yes. And without sounding like a broken record, I think that managers/coaches play a big part in this.


When you look at up and coming players do you ever look at how they control themselves after making a mistake or losing a match?
Yes, that’s something that I’m always keeping an eye out for. Especially with younger players who may be new to the scene and have incredible skills… but how do they handle themselves emotionally? It’s much harder to read someone’s emotions or thoughts online, but at LAN events I can most certainly tell when someone is upset with themselves or their team.

Every person wanting to get into pro-gaming needs to consider that you need multiple skill sets to be successful. One is obviously your SKILLS, while the other is how you handle yourself EMOTIONALLY.


Do you, as a shoutcaster, ever feign emotions? If a match is boring, do you ever try to bring the match to a ‘viewable’ level for the fans by making boring games, more exciting by faking it?
It’s never faked. I’m fortunate enough to be successful because of my passion for gaming. I don’t care if it’s 5 dudes doing a Free For All in Call of Duty 5… there’s something exciting about it. And I’ll find it.

I think the WORST matches that are impossible to fake, are the ones where it’s like 50 to 1. You can’t fake excitement, I can’t even hide being bored. Those are the hardest matches for me to cast. There are some VERY EXTREME circumstances where this wasn’t the case.

On in particular was another WCG Quake 3 match where Python of New Zealand absolutely DOMINATED a player in group play. The final score was like 27 to -2. What made the game so unique and awesome is that Python went into SHOWBOAT MODE. He began getting these amazing frags with the Grenade Launcher, doing all these trick jumps to take out his opponent, and just playing it up to the crowd. That was the most AWESOME boring game ever.

Each game delivers its own set of emotions… I just happen to be the translator. So more times than not, it is the game dictating me.


It’s no secret E-Sports is very hard on players emotionally, but do you, as a shoutcaster and broadcast specialist ever go through the hardships E-Sports dishes out?
Hah. Wow. Way more than people realize. Imagine if your entire life was recorded on a microphone. And every time you made a mistake, there was a guy chiming in your ear going, “You said his name wrong”, “That was a flash not an HE”, “You suck”. That’s a bit how it’s like from day to day for me. I speak thousands of words over the course of a broadcast, I’m human, yeah I know I’m going to make mistakes.

All you can do is press on. I ignore most of it though, because in reality… I don’t see them doing it. And someone is absolutely welcome to come in, broadcast their heart out, and remove me from my casting throne… but it’s easier to just talk shit to someone, than to actually do something about it yourself.

eSports has given me thick skin though, and I don’t care what people want to say about me… I’m STILL going to be doing everything in my god given power to promote pro-gaming globally. And that’s worth 10000x more than some dipshit trying to verbally bash you via IRC.

Do your emotions get in the way of things in real life? If you are in a slump and its taking its toll on you, does that reflect in your day-to-day life?
Of course it does. Your emotional state dictates your reactions to things in a lot of scenarios. I can see it dramatically in the way my stress level dictates what kind of fuse for my temper I have with my wife. Things that would not normally bother me at all can suddenly grind my ever lasting nerve when I am stressed or in a “bad mood”. As I am not a player I don’t really have slumps in the context you are referring to but in my job if things are not going well it can definitely affect my day to day life.


As a manager, do you find it important to coach your players on the mental side of the game as well? Try and help them get over the emotional mind blocks? Try and let them play logically and not emotionally?
The mental side of the game is the most important in my opinion. The player has to be on top of his mental game if he/she wants to perform well. So yes that transcends into all levels of coaching.


A lot of players have problems keeping their cool and then playing well after; do you notice that at all in top competitions?
I think the more professional players tend to have much less frequent outbursts in live events than players that have not quite attained the true professional level. You still see some incidents here and there but I know with the Complexity players it is rare that you would see that type of thing at a live event. So I guess the answer is at the highest level of competition you tend to see that far less frequently than you do in lower levels.


Do the stress levels ever affect your relationships with family/friends?
Of course, I don’t think anyone in the world can say no and be telling the truth. People have emotions and therefore those will at some point affect your relationships. There are differing levels of how much depending on how emotional people are. I am a very passionate person and so is my wife. This makes for turbulent waters.


What would you suggest to players who have problems controlling their emotions during/after games?
First, take a deep breath when you feel like you are getting raged or upset. You have to be aware that your emotions can be a problem and can affect the outcome of your competition. So, you should be motivated to let them go and let stuff just roll off your shoulders more. Unfortunately, for some personality types it is hard to give advice. They know what they should do but they are still young and have not experienced enough in the world to know how to control their emotions. So no matter what I or anyone says they are going to have outbursts until one day that they mature enough to know that it is not worth it and they will learn to control it on their own.


Would you attribute players’ lack of self control in some situations to them not having the proper guidance? Say a manager or coach helping them move in the right direction?
In some cases that could be the case but as I said above most of the time self control comes with age and maturity and we deal in a market where age is on the lower end of the spectrum and many times so is maturity. However, guidance for some people could really help them in controlling it. The real key is for the person to be aware it is happening and see that it negatively affects how they perform. A coach can illustrate that and help the player understand the issue so they can work on controlling it.


Often times a major thing that holds teams and players back is their lack of professionalism and controlling themselves. Do you think if teams/players learned how to control their emotions more, they would survive longer or even become professional?
As I said above, I do think this can be the case. You also can’t roll everything that makes a pro-gamer into time, patience and mental discipline. There are a select group of gamers that make it to the professional level and they do put the time in and they are patient and they do have mental discipline but that is not all there is to it. I know Mommy and Daddy always say you can be anything you want to me you just have to work hard, while this is true for many things in life it is not true for professional sports, gaming etc. There has to be a high level of natural ability, hand eye coordination and intelligence there. You simply can not take someone with no hand eye coordination and the IQ of a turnip and turn them into a pro gamer. On that note, there are many players I have seen come and go over the years that have the right base to build on but can never get past the emotional rollercoaster gaming causes them and therefore don’t make it. So the short answer to your question is in some circumstances, yes.


When you look at up and coming players do you ever look at how they control themselves after making a mistake or losing a match?
This is critical for a top level player. If they can’t get over a mistake then they are doomed mentally the rest of the match. If they get overly angry at something then their mental game is typically shot. Gaming is all about control. You have to control the mouse, keyboard, DPad and most importantly yourself. Calm and cool is the best way to success. This does not mean a player can not get excited and cheer. Positive emotions can be a good thing, it is the negative ones that are the real issue.


From a management perspective do you ever take on a lot of the players emotional hardships onto your shoulders to help them?
I personally don’t. I know Alex is a friend to the players and therefore I am sure he tries to help them with any issues they may be having. I am not cold hearted and would gladly help out if they ever needed be but business is generally business for me.

Do your emotions get in the way of things in real life? If you are in a slump and its taking its toll on you, does that reflect in your day-to-day life?
No my emotions never mix, you need to separate the two, this not a reality world, there is money, players emotions, etc. But your day to day regular life cannot interfere with your E-Sports life; you cannot put your online life in-front of your regular life.

Don’t get this confused, I take this very seriously. But I mean you need to learn to separate the types of personalities and day-to-day handling of people.

I made a good friend, with a server company I used to work with. He passed away in a house-fire and I had never even met him in person, but it hit me like a lead weight. It really hurt; I never expected to feel like that about someone I just met online.


As a manager, do you find it important to coach your players on the mental side of the game as well? Try and help them get over the emotional mind blocks? Try and let them play logically and not emotionally?
Well for the most part I find that the players I bring in have a good grasp in that. And good communication takes it. In my experience, my presence seems to bring in a level of calm to the situation.

I try and explain to the players sometimes, if players are yelling at each other I will say “hey guys, you need to focus on the present, not something that happened 20 seconds ago”

A lot of players have major egos, so you have to treat them like kids sometimes. As an owner you don’t want to overstep your boundaries, you need to let them handle their sections; unless they ask or something drastic comes up, only then will I step in and help. But other than that, you need to give them their space and let them handle themselves.

To be honest, if you need to coach the players you’ve picked up, you probably shouldn’t have picked them up. You want to pick up players who already have the mental aspect down pact, if not; you made a mistake picking them up.


What would you suggest to players who have problems controlling their emotions during/after games?
Well, basically guys who have trouble controlling their emotions during the game, I tell them look, this isn’t everything, this isn’t your life, unless you are trying to make a life out of this, just play to have fun, don’t stress yourself out. After the game, if you are dwelling on the loss, you are already planning on your next defeat. Let that shit go, and just move on.

Some guys will just let their emotions get in the way of the team, people like that you sometimes just have to cut ties with. They don’t realize that this is for fun. And one day they will realize, while sitting in their grandmothers basement as a grownup, that their dreams aren’t coming true.

People need to realize whether or not they are going to get there, if not, then just does it for fun.

You need to realize that maybe 99% of gamers won’t have the opportunity to make money and do this for a living.


Would you attribute player’s lack of self control in some situations to them not having the proper guidance? Say a manager or coach helping them move in the right direction?
For some people it might be that, maybe they haven’t had a lot of success in ‘real life’ and maybe they over strive to be a god online. You can’t look at the guidance of the managers/coaches of a team to be the problem.

You either have it or you don’t. It comes from who you are as a person. If you lack self control in real life situations, you will lack it online as well.

You can look at the person, their upbringing; you can’t really look at the coach/managers. The person will already really have those self control issues.

You might be able to help them to control it a little, but you will never fix the personality disorder. Online gaming is really just another outlet for them.


Often times a major thing that holds teams and players back is their lack of professionalism and controlling themselves. Do you think if teams/players learned how to control their emotions more, they would survive longer or even become professional?
Basically when you get deeper in the pro scene, you get more teams that spend more time on their image. You will find more players controlling themselves better, or their teams doing it for them.

We have a few players on our team that could probably flame all day on forums, if it weren’t for good management, they would probably do that.

I don’t think it holds teams back, unless they let it to. If you cannot control your players, you are in the wrong business.

I don’t think it holds so many of the major teams back, maybe smaller teams, and they will just disappear.

If they would control themselves better would the progress further? Yes I believe so; you will see what you can do, and what you can’t do the further you get up the professional ladder.

The higher you progress up that ladder, the more people in the organization will feel the Neuse tighten in terms of what they can do, and what they can’t do. Shit rolls down hill.


When you look at up and coming players do you ever look at how they control themselves after making a mistake or losing a match?
Yes I do, definitely. I can’t give exact details, but I know of some players who have a world of potential, and one thing that I look at is how they control themselves in vent, when they make a mistake, sometimes they dwell on it longer than they should.

What they should do is get past that instantly, and continue on. Unless you can put that focus on continuing on, you won’t be a top team.

And if you can’t get over a loss, maybe you shouldn’t be doing this. That’s why we play games, to learn how to lose, you play to win obviously, but you learn to lose. And if you can’t get past that, you shouldn’t be here.

You need to have a short memory, a really short memory; you need to put mistakes past you instantly. If not, you will hurt yourself in-game or in the next match.


From a management perspective do you ever take on a lot of the players emotional hardships onto your shoulders to help them?
Yeah. Honestly, yeah. I started A51 in 2002. I have 2 partners, Kevin ‘OG’ Anderson and Jager ‘jagman’ Buss.

I’ve dealt with younger players who have had issues at home, 14-15 year olds. One of them had issues with his father, and I have handled that.

It’s definitely a personal thing for me; you have to be able to handle that. Some of these kids look up to you as the only person they can talk to, or look to for advice. If we want gaming to stop being blamed for societies problems, we need to be able to listen to players and give them some wisdom. It doesn’t take a lot to take an hour or two to talk to someone who needs your help.

I have never had a problem doing that, never.

I have kids on this team still that joined when they were 15 or so, kids who have joined the military. So yeah, there are ups and downs in their lives. If you can’t talk to them, you aren’t a good person, if you shun them and disregard their problems, you aren’t a decent person.

While practicing, do you try and keep your emotions down so you can play more logically?
Yes I'm trying, like that I can focus on the game and not on the fact I'm losing ( When I'm losing I become angry )


Does striving to become a professional gamer ever put more pressure on you than normal?
No, I think that the aim of becoming pro isn't a reason of stress.


When you lose is it hard to keep your cool? Or if you make a mistake in game you shouldn’t have made, do you get upset and play worse because of it?
Like I said in 1st question, I'm trying to keep down my emotion but I still don't control myself enough, So yes I get upset and so I play worse.


Do your emotions get in the way of things in real life? If you are in a slump and its taking its toll on you, does that reflect in your day-to-day life?
Hmm no I don't think that I'm stressed because of E-Sports and it don't affect my everyday life


Do you find that having a manager or a coach would help you play better and handle yourself more professionally?
Yes this would be really useful for me, I already have some buddy who helps me but I can't call them a " coach ".


Do you have any particular ways to suppress your emotions while playing in matches?
Hmm yes, I put the sound on the max to be focused only on what is happening in the game.


Is being part of a country with a top tier professional player harder on you? You always know that to attend major events such as ESWC and the WCG that you have to play them and win to attend, does that cause any sort of anxiety?
I just moved in France so I've still never met ToD in this kind of events but I'm still in competition with other French player (hG Psyko Wolf ) Yes, I have to train before each event if I’ll have to play against one of them.


If you are having problems in your personal life, does it translate into your practice and match performance? Does it distract you or cause problems?
Yes it affects my train because I'm not in mood to practice, I play worse or I don't play at all.