Fnatic - A profesional gaming team

Johnathan 'Fatal1ty' Wendel Interview

You have spoken on the topic of ‘perfect practice’ many times in the past.  What to you is ‘perfect practice’?

Perfect practice to me is, playing with a bunch of great guys who all have different skill sets.  Making sure I learn how to play against an offensive, defensive, elusive, tactical and crazy player.  So I get to see all faces of the opponent.  This will train me how to beat every type of player imaginable.  After getting all the killer training, I just really enjoy hanging with the guys.  So definitely finding cool people to train with is a definite plus.  I want to make my training as enjoyable as possible.

How do you practice, what is your routine/training regime?

8 hours a day in game training.  Wake up at noon, train 4 hours, go run for 30 minutes, lunch, relax, train another 2 hours, relax, train another 2 hours before 4am, sleep.  REPEAT....

Do your practice methods change when an event is coming up?

Obviously I go into my 8 hour a day regime.  But I just find spots where I need to improve and focus mainly on those that are coming up.  So if I know I'm weak in any area, I pound it to the teeth till I get it.  As soon as I get it, I'm then allowed to go back to more overall training.

Do you think living with other players and practicing with them daily would improve a players skill level more so than practicing online against the same people?

Obviously!

Are there any practice methods that you feel hinder more than they help?

Don't play against noobs too much...  It's okay to go pwn some noobs for confidence, but you need to stick to people who are at least amateur to pro...  I personally like training with players in the 8th-24th range. 

Do you every isolate a specific facet of your game, such as movement, and practice it over and over while ignoring other parts of your game in order to improve your movement quickly?

Yes of course.  This is what I'm talking about if you find a weakness in your game, you need to hone it till you get it!  Don't just blow off your weaknesses.  Spend sometimes a FULL day on just that one thing.  You'll definitely appreciate it when it comes tournament time.

Do you think a person can practice too much?  Practicing to a point where it becomes harmful to their game?

Not really...  But sometimes a break is good too.  You need to be relaxed.  So if I was taking a break, the biggest break I would try to take is like 2 days... 

When you reach the top of your game, like you have, how do you continue to practice to improve?  Do you ever feel like you have hit a plateau in your skill level?

You never hit a plateau.  There is always one more thing you can add to your game I believe.  Either it timing one more item, or learning in this situation you could have done this to give you another 1-2% edge on your opponent.  The great thing though about competitive gaming is that it’s always evolving.  The player is always adapting to the other player.  So it’s a never ending battle of out-thinking your opponent, this is what I love the most...

If you know you are playing against a specific opponent, will you study their games to learn their strengths and weaknesses?

Definitely.  I always find a way to mess with my opponents head in the game.  As soon as I figure out what pisses him off, I try to do it just to get under his skin and make him make huge mistakes.

What advice would you give to a beginner who wishes to practice and become a pro-gamer?

Play with your buddies, find some friends that are as good as you or better and just play.  Do LAN parties as often as possible and have a blast online...

Thanks for interview fnatic and good luck with the practice guys.   

 

Practice, Practice, Practice.  -Fatal1ty

Max 'YoG' Yueh Interview

What would you define as ‘perfect practice’?

Perfect practice is a practice session where all 3 of your team members are giving it 100%. There is no lack of communication, and everyone is providing constructive input. When you are actually trying during practice, it becomes apparent very quickly, as things progress much smoother and team morale is high.

How do you, as a team, practice?

We primarily focus on our play as a team, and use our off time to practice individually. When we practice, one of our main goals is bettering our communication. We generally try to schedule practice earlier on in the day so everyone has the energy to perform well.  After practice, we will review video clips of our games and point out the good and bad things that happened.

How do you, as an individual, practice?

I will try to improve my reaction times, situational awareness, and overall knowledge of the game through either duelling or queuing 2v2 arenas. I will review footage I personally recorded to find ways to improve my play. I also maintain a state of maximum physical fitness to ensure my WoW does not suffer. A healthy body leads to a healthy mind.

Do your practice methods change when an event is coming up?

In duration. We practice much more in preparation for an event than we would otherwise simply for the sake of practicing. Playing WoW is like riding a bicycle, you never really forget how to play. Prior to an event however, we make sure all our strategies are up to date and our team play is still up to par.

Do you often study your opponents before you play them, or do you simply practice the matchup of compositions?

We try to study our opponents. As every team has a different play style, simply playing against a certain comp by no means ensures your success against it. Since many, if not all, the competing teams are on BG9, we will try to schedule skirmishes against them.

Do you think bootcamping regularly would be beneficial to a team/player, especially if for instance you are on a team and you live with your teammates so you are constantly practicing together?

I’m sure it would be greatly beneficial, however, it probably isn’t a rational thing to do for a game like WoW. Skype has essentially no delay, so playing from home would be close to the same thing. The main issue facing WoW players is first time LAN jitters, and living with your teammates wouldn’t address that.

Do you think there is such a thing as practicing too much?  Practicing to a point where you are doing more harm than good to your level of play?

I never think you can practice “too” much. The only thing I can see harming your play is over analysis. The key to success in WoW is to simplify, and overcomplicating things results in strategise that are much more difficult to execute. In a LAN setting, you need to allow yourself a greater margin of error.

In your opinion, would it help to actually play as other characters/compositions so as to learn their mechanics and styles?

Yes, getting into the mind of your opponent helps greatly. When you gain an understanding of certain weaknesses, you can manipulate those weaknesses that previously may have been unknown to your team. I personally play several different characters/comps on live and I feel it has helped me greatly in understanding the finer aspects of the game – an understanding you absolutely need at the higher levels of play.

Are there any methods of ‘practicing’ that you feel hinder people or do nothing for them at all?

When you practice, you need to have a goal. While it is true that you CAN gain the same knowledge simply from spamming games, analyzing your faults as a team will allow you to address those faults quicker. Simply complaining or being unproductive after losses is what hinders team practices most. If you are speaking simply for the sake of annoying one of your teammates, you are better off not speaking at all.

What would you suggest to beginners who are just starting out, that want to improve their game and that might not be as experienced or skilled as say professional players?

Find a group of players that you enjoy playing with. This is the most important thing. Players all have the potential to get better, but you don’t want to be stuck with a group of players that you can’t stand. A team will always function better when its members aren’t hostile toward each other.