Pre-Cph Games: oskar, Xyp9x

In the next installment of our series of pre-Copenhagen Games interviews, we sit down with 3DMAX ace Tomáš "oskar" Šťastný and fnatic member Andreas "Xyp9x" Hojsleth.

fnatic head into Copenhagen Games desperate to prove their worth after a series of roster changes struck the team since switching to CS:GO in later 2012.

Just one month, Andreas "MODDII" Fridh and Lasse "stingeR" Midtstue were brought in to reinforce fnatic after the Danish team had failed to impress in the Gaming.dk League at HKLAN. Since then, fnatic's results have been improving, with the team having finished fourth in the RaidCall EMS One ranking.

But their first LAN test will only come now, as they will lock horns with the world's strongest sides in front of their own crowd.

How has your preparation for Copenhagen Games been? Have you bootcamped or simply practiced online? Have you faced any issues? How prepared do you feel as a team? 

fnatic Xyp9x: Despite a lot of online matches this last couple of weeks (as many others), I feel we are getting prepared and ready to tackle Copenhagen Games. We are bootcamping at the moment and everything seems fine.

How important is Copenhagen Games to your team as an event? It has the most prize money since DreamHack Winter and just about every top team attending, including the North Americans. Does it being BYOC take any of the prestige away in your opinion?

fnatic Xyp9x: It is our first event together after MODDII and stingeR joined the team. As you say, there are a lot of good teams coming to the event, and it might be one of the few times this year where so many teams will be gathered for one event. We have ''only'' been playing together for one month, and comparing to all the other teams we have not had as much time to get ready. But it is still important for us to make a good result.

I think that BYOC takes a little prestige away, as your fps can be a decider in a lot of situations. Copenhagen Games has always been a BYOC event, but it has made progress as they have put up some computers for renting. Who knows, maybe it will be non-BYOC next time.

With almost all top teams present, who do you think will finish in the top four besides NiP? Is there any team in particular who isn't getting enough attention or who has been impressing you in practice? 

fnatic Xyp9x: I think that a lot of teams can make it into the top 4. There are like ten candidates to take the 2nd, 3rd and 4th places. I also think we will have a different winner this event!

Will stingeR and MODDII help fnatic to reach the top?

Do you like the format of Copenhagen Games (best-of-three groups, best-of-three upper- and best-of-one lower bracket)? What would you change? Do you think it forces teams to play too much? 

fnatic Xyp9x: The format is an advantage for all the top teams, since if the group stage used a best-of-one system, chances were that you coud choke against a team you should not lose to. It can happen in best-of-three as well, but the chance is higher in best-of-one. I like it a lot and I would not change anything.

If teams can practice eight to 12 hours a day up to an event, I think they can handle this format just as well as the other formats.

Which one thing do you think can make the biggest difference in how your team performs this week? Does your team e.g. rely on someone to have good matches a lot? Are you very reliant on pistol round wins? Anything similar besides "hitting your shots" or "being lucky"?

fnatic Xyp9x: That we can remain calm throughout the rounds and can communicate well together. That would be the main thing I can mention.

Fnatic have undergone several roster changes since switching to CS:GO. Do you think that the players may be feeling the pressure to deliver on LAN as a result of this?

fnatic Xyp9x: No, we do not set that much pressure on us, but maybe we feel it from the fans. We know what we are capable of,it is just a matter of time before we show it. I think we have been playing online in a consistent way since the new roster changes, and if we can deliver the same game on LAN, we should not have any problem to make a good result at Copenhagen Games.

We also had a quick chat with Tomáš "oskar" Šťastný from 3DMAX, who were one of the big letdowns of Mad Catz Vienna, where they barely made it out of the first group stage before failing to break into the top eight.

Still, the former myDGB.net squad, who will play the EMS One group stage next week, managed to secure an invite to the main tournament, and will now have to prove that their performances at AMD Sapphire in Prague were no coincidence.

How has your preparation for Copenhagen Games been? Have you bootcamped or simply practiced online? Have you faced any issues? How prepared do you feel as a team?

3DMAX oskar: We have practiced online for this tournament, mostly due to different commitments from our players, such as job, school, etc. We have put maximum effort into practicing so hopefull we will reach the top spots.

How important is Copenhagen Games to your team as an event? It has the most prize money since DreamHack Winter and just about every top team attending, including the North Americans. Does it being BYOC take any of the prestige away in your opinion?

3DMAX oskar: This tournament will be pretty important to us, we will have to put 100 per cent focus into the game. I am happy that so many teams will attend Copenhagen Games, especially top teams, because that has always been what has pushed me to play my best game. However, a BYOC LAN is not something I cheer for, since the conditions will not always be the same for everyone.

With almost all top teams present, who do you think will finish in the top four besides NiP? Is there any team in particular who isn't getting enough attention or who has been impressing you in practice?

3DMAX oskar: I hope this will be THE tournament where NiP will finally lose; everything can happen, of course, but who would I bet for the top4? I don't know... I want to see Verygames, ESC, Na´Vi or Quantic, hopefully my team as well!

3DMAX were a letdown in Vienna

Do you like the format of Copenhagen Games (best-of-three groups, best-of-three upper- and best-of-one lower bracket)? What would you change? Do you think it forces teams to play too much?

3DMAX oskar: I would not change anything. I will be glad to play as much as I can and hope I am not the only one. I like it a lot.

Which one thing do you think can make the biggest difference in how your team performs this week? Does your team e.g. rely on someone to have good matches a lot? Are you very reliant on pistol round wins? Anything similar besides "hitting your shots" or "being lucky"?

3DMAX oskar: Not sure. I think it's just about how many mistakes teams will make. Of course it is better to win pistol rounds since it makes everything easier but as I said everything can happen. Even the most prepared team can have bad luck and crash out sooner than expected.

Your team barely made it out of the first group stage at Mad Catz Vienna. Is there something specific you have been working on as a team since then? Do you think that negative campaign has put more pressure on your team for this tournament?

3DMAX oskar: In Vienna we lost everything to ourselves. Basically we made countless individual mistakes, including communication ones. We have tried to fix these problems. Sometimes, it is better to play under pressure, and I hope it will help us to reach higher spots in the tournament.