IEM: Big players make big plays in big games

One would think that steady hands were one of the most important things a CS-player could possess. Well, think again. Former Counter-Strike 1.6 greats like, Jonas 'whiMp' Svendsen and Muhammed 'mJe' Eid, made it their trademark to always take their hands off the mouse during games to ease their wrists.

New FnaticMSI outfit, Richard 'Xizt' Landström, has the same habit. Like Eid and Svendsen, his hand's position on the mouse is being very forward, leaving him no option but to take his hand off it some times. Yet he still comes up big for the team in the important matches. Against both Na'Vi and Lions, he had over 20 kills, clutching important rounds left and right.

Like the rest of the team, his debut event has been a fairytale so far. Getting matched up against Na'Vi in their first game of the event, FnaticMSI.CS claimed a hard fought 16-14 victory. Shortly after they drew 15-15 with Lions and finished the first day at the event off by beating the forZe mix handidly.

The talking point of the first two days has been the revitalization of FnaticMSI's ingame leader, Patrik 'cArn' Sättermon, who was 2nd in the individual stats after the first four games of the tournament. Yet the most remarkable thing has been how smooth the rest of the team has worked. And Landström's contribution stands out as the proof of how steady cArn and dsn's hand have been when they picked their new players.

"A tactical madfragger" Sättermon called Landström when I asked him about how he would classify the youngster.

"He's really one of a kind" Sättermon continued. "He understands the game and has the sickest aim at the same time". And in all actuality that sounds an awful lot like the former The Titans and mTw starlet, Jonas 'whiMp' Svendsen. Famed for his aim and his understanding of the game, Svendsen was positioned at the same spot as Landström - on the far left and with a license to kill. A lot.

When day one turned to day two, I had the chance to sit down with Landström for a chat. He is no stranger to the competitive circuit or big money matches, but still admitted that the FnaticMSI tag is a heavy one to wear. He doesn't get nervous he says, but he is trying to get used to the added expectations that follow the transfer to a team of FnaticMSI's size.

If judging by the statistics, he has nothing to worry about. He might not have the steadiest hands, but he still has a 66.7 win-percentage in 1on2 situations and has won all of his 1on3 situations. 

On day two, Landström, Faruk 'pita' Pita and Marcus 'Delpan' Larsson, all showed that they're up for their new tasks in FnaticMSI. Two stomps against forZe and Alternate aTTaX saw the team progress through the groupstage as winners, sending them directly to the semifinal. Even though the group victory was based on more surplus rounds than Lions, it can't take away from the players that they performed on the biggest stage in the world, against the allegedly best team in the world.

Now they sit out the first game tomorrow and will face the winner of Na'Vi Vs. MYM in the semifinal.

"We're probably going to meet Na'Vi" Pita said when I talked to him after their match was finished, "but we don't care. We've already beat them once, we can do it again".

FnaticMSI might be a new team with a roster that still needs to cut some edges and work out some differences, but they have the things winning teams have: A common goal and the mentality to get to that goal.