Fnatic - A profesional gaming team

Although in the middle of preparation for the upcoming ESWC event in Paris, France, Danny 'zonic' Sørensen took some time to sit down with Fnatic.com. The 23-year-old mTw star from Denmark talks about the long awaited first title with the new mTw lineup, reveals how important his individual performances are for himself and shares his thoughts on the ESWC and the brand's debts.

Danny, why does mTw always play great at DreamHack?

It is always a great setup at Dreamhack. Great computers, good monitors and they always schedule the event really well. I don't know if that is the main factor to why we play good at Dreamhack, but it is definitely helping (smiles)

NaVi and FnaticMSI were considered to be the top contenders ahead of the event, but both teams crashed out during the Quarter-Finals. Can you tell what happened?

I didn't watch their games because we were busy getting ready for our own games. However fnatic and NaVi are great teams and I expect them both to do really well at ESWC. Fnatic lost to H2k, and when you play teams that are from your own country, people anti strat and know each other very well. NaVi lost to SK which also is a good team, so I expect to see at least one of these two teams in the final at ESWC.

After achieving average results in the past few months, you did not give up one map throughout the hole tournament. What happened?

I think it was the teamplay that worked out for us this time. We also won a lot of gunrounds, and that build up the confidence I think. Regarding the preparation, I think we played as much as we did to any other tournament, so on that part nothing has changed.

So would you say minet and trace are now fully integrated in the team, tactical wise?

I really think they are. But the strange thing is I have thought that after each event basically, but you get surprised I guess. However back when we lost the two matches in EPS against playzone and cbteam we decided to switch some positions on several maps, and that really made our game better in my opinion.

What are your old teammates mJe and whimp doing now? Are you still in touch?

They are both studying hard on University and enjoying the summer I guess. I obviously don't talk with them so much since I am busy with school and CS, but I always get two text messages before an event saying; Good luck I hope you win! etc.. so it is really nice to see they still supports us, and I miss them a lot.

You had a huge impact on the DreamHack title with your individual performances - e.g. your three aces in the Grand Final. How important was the title for yourself and your confidence? You have been criticised for not playing like you used to with the old team.

I really only think about winning as a team to be honest. I couldn't care less if I made 3 aces in a final we didn't win. However it is a great feeling to know that you played an important role in a victory, and especially in the final. I wouldn't say I've been playing bad lately, I've just taken another role in mTw. I have been playing as a backup player for mTw since I joined, which means if Sunde takes out 3 in b1 on inferno, I am only on my way to the bombspot which basically makes it impossible to make an impact on the round. And if Sunde, ave and trace die in A, I have to safe my weapon.

However lately I have been helping ave improving our teamplay, by taking care of the new guys. I believe they are totally integrated in our gaming style, so I can finally focus on my own game, and I think that is what happened at Dreamhack. Hopefully I can continue my play, but I really just want to win as a team! (smiles)

It took you more than a year to overcome this lean spell after undergoing lineup changes and finally win an event again, what somehow brings SK to mind. Do you think their situation similar to yours, and all they need is more time to imply Gux and face?

I really don't know much about SK to be honest. They haven't won many tournaments over the past years, and I might think a big change will be needed to move on. I think some of the old players in SK have just lost motivation, and maybe just playing because of the salary. However I don't know anything, so I am not trying to step on anybody’s toes.

Thinking of FnaticMSI in 2009, they added two new players and immediately won their first event. How can this be explained, that you for example needed several months to get the new team working, but FnaticMSI managed to impress right away?

I think our playing style is extremely based on tactics and teamplay, where fnatic, because they have such good individual players, adapt to their opponents in game. I think cArn is one of the best tactical leaders in the world to adapt the opponents they play, where we kind of win our matches because of great teamplay and smart thinking. So when GeT_RiGhT and Gux joined there wasn't the same process to go through, since they often rush a bombsite five people and just take out their opponents in 1on1 duels.

The ESWC event is coming closer and closer. Björn 'threat' Pers stated this is the event he is looking for the most this summer, do you feel the same?

Yeah kinda. But I believe Arbalet is on the same level as ESWC right now. I have huge respect for what Mr. Arbalet has done to the eSport scene, and their event is extremely professional with ex-gamers working as admins. I don't know much about the new owners of ESWC, but I always enjoy going to Paris.

What do you think of ESWC's unresolved debts? Are unpaid prizemoney/salaries still a big problem hindering the development of eSports like they were in the past?

Yeah they are unfortunately. The old ESWC company owes us $12,500 and to attend an event with the same logo and name, who basically got destroyed personally for me is of course something I think about. However I have had some great experiences with ESWC so I am willing to give it another shot (blinks). I really love the event!

Do you consider yourself as a top contender going into the event, now that you have won DreamHack with an impressive run while teams like FnaticMSI and NaVi crashed out of the tournament quite early? What are your goals for the event?

Our goal is top 3 as always (smiles). I think it's almost impossible to win 2 events in a row, but I hope we can continue our play. But for now we must be satisfied with a top3.

Well then, good luck and thanks for your time Danny. Any last words?

I just want to thank everyone supporting us, appreciate it! Thanks to mTw for being so nice to us sending us all around the world this summer. visit www.mymtw.com! Special thanks to: Mindfactory, Sennheiser, Kaspersky, OCZ, mysn.de... Ciao!

ESWC 2010 is set to take place from July 1st-4th. Stay tuned to Fnatic.com, as Roald 'roychez' van Buuren and Jonathan 'Shiru' Dury will be providing you with live footage right from Paris.

Photographs courtesy of HLTV.org and ESL