From 24-26th July 2009, the FnaticMSI Counter-Strike 1.6 team will be participating in the e-Stars Seoul 2009 tournament in Seoul, South Korea, representing Team West.
The popular Korean tournament, despite not being as traditional in format as its rivals all across the globe, is arguably seen as one of the most important series to attend due to teams and players only being allowed to participate via fan vote, the achievements earned in the previous season and the committees evaluation of the team and players as a whole.
FnaticMSI have been selected to play for Team West for the third time in a row and its only a small testament to the way the team have been dominant at every tournament so far this year.
So you get an understanding of a players point-of-view heading into the tournament, we will be interviewing a number of players from the team about their expectations and general view.
Rasmus "Gux" Ståhl
1. You've been dominant at every tournament so far since you were brought into the team, do you expect this to continue at e-Stars Seoul 2009?
We've been very fortunate that our new squad has worked out perfect but at the same time we expected this because I know we have a lot of quality players in our team. I expect this to continue because of the players we have; they are probably the most individually skilled players there are, so I think and hope this will continue for us.
2. How do you explain the success of the new line-up? The old line-up itself was very successful but the current one with both you and GeT_RiGhT seems to be unstoppable?
We have a lot more hunger in this team and I think this line-up is more individually skilled than the last one and maybe me and GeT_RiGhT bring something more to the team that the old one was missing.
3. FnaticMSI head into this tournament for the third time running in three consecutive years, are you confident of bringing home your first e-Stars title?
Haha, yes I am confident as always!
4. You've never been to an e-Stars tournament before but from talking to people and asking around, what is it that makes it so special?
I think that the atmosphere around the tournament seems to be really good so I think that's the most special thing and I think every tournament in Korea is special as gaming is much bigger there than in Europe.
5. What is your opinion on the format of the tournament i.e. the whole process of going through a voting stage and then The Team West versus the Team East aspect?
I think it's okay because the game is really fan-based and the fans should really choose who they want to see playing. Then, of course, it's really fun for once to team up with the others from Europe as we know them pretty good.
6. Are you looking forward to taking a break from the more "traditional" tournaments when you get your chance to play at e-Stars? Is there a little less pressure?
Hmm, no, there isn't less pressure at least not from my point of view as I always put a lot of pressure on myself to perform. So I don't think we have less pressure because of this, we want to show the others that we are still the best team in the world.
7. Last year e-Stars introduced the coaching system in which both the West and the East would be given a person to "coach" the team. Do you notice any differences to your play when you have a coach behind you?
It's a bit different to have a coach behind you, it can be both bad and good if the coach knows what he's doing. If it's a good coach who knows how to boost the teams performance and make the players more motivated then it's good but and if it's the opposite it's bad. So I guess it can be both good and bad to have a coach behind you.
8. Are you looking forward to Sam coaching you this year?
Haha, yes, always looking forward to having Sam coaching us.
9. What do you know about your opponents from Team East? We have Tyloo, WeMadeFOX and k23, what are your past experiences of them and why is it that Koreans always seem to play 110% better in their homeland and always surprise?
I don't really have a clue about Tyloo but I know that both WeMadeFOX and k23 are good teams and are worth watching out for. I think Korean teams get a lot more motivated playing in front of their home crowd and they probably feel fresher playing in Korea and not having all the travelling work to do and so on.
10. What are you looking forward to most attending this event?
Winning!
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