asmo: "In CS:GO you never know"

Berzerk lost their previous organization ALTERNATE very recently, and were knocked out of the DreamHack Summer qualifier by AliGon. However, they received a last minute invite to fïll one of the final four slots.

They've also added 18 year old Alexander "alexRr" Frisch to replace Christian "Rak" Hermenau-Puhlvers to mix things up. Read the interview below to find out more about Berzerk.

asmo's Berzerk no longer don the colors of ALTERNATE 

How have you prepared for DreamHack Summer; do you feel ready for the event? Have you only practiced online or also bootcamped? How do you plan on spending the remaining time before the event kicks off?

asmo: Despite the fact that we have been playing for just 3 weeks with our new 5th player our preparations are going as good as possible. We wanted to do a bootcamp but since we were dropped out of ALTERNATE this opportunity vanished, and instead we had to try and pracc as often we can online.

Do you believe the lengthy break from LAN competition since Copenhagen Games will affect the results at DreamHack in any way, or does constantly playing official matches online make up for it? Are you afraid of giving up your game plan too much online?

asmo: I think it's always an advantage to be able to participate at as many LANs as you can but if you use your practice time efficiently you could make up a bit. I personally would prefer to do bootcamps to strengthen our friendship and in-game bonding but like I said before it wasn't possible.

Who do you think will be your toughest opponents at DreamHack? Any potential dark horses who have seemed particularly strong lately that you think might surpass everyone’s expectations in Jönköping? Anyone who might disappoint?

asmo: Our toughest oppents are NiP and Virtus.pro, it's difficult for us to handle them on the server. I really can't and don't want to predict what is going to happen because in CS:GO you just never know.

What do you make of your chances at DreamHack? What would be a realistic goal for your team, and what would you be ok settling at? Is there any extra pressure for you to perform well at this particular event?

asmo: As I always say, step by step. At Copenhagen Games we went out at top16 so the next logical step would be to get to the top8 or more :D but i would be very happy when we reach top8 and more importantly when we manage to play our best. I don't mind losing if we do so to a team which has played better than us and deserves the win more, but obviously you are aiming to win if you play your best.

Player	Age	Rating
Kevin "kRYSTAL" Amend	20	1.06
Alexander "alexRr" Frisch	18	1.01
Felix "fel1x" Zech	26	0.97
Azmican "asmo" Berberoglu	23	0.97
Manuel "SolEk" Zeindler	27	0.87

Was the end of cooperation with ALTERNATE just ahead of DreamHack Summer something you expected or did it take you by surprise? Did the failure to qualify initially have something to do with it? Where does that leave your now looking into the future?

asmo: It wasn't really a suprise but I didn't think that this would have actually happened either. They let us wait like 4 weeks to tell us that we are out and I am kinda mad at this point because after they took so long we couldn't take our time searching for an organisation which suits us ahead of DH.

kRYSTAL had an amazing individual performance at Copenhagen Games, even against Titan in the match that knocked you out. He flashed that potential many times now, but it never seems to be enough to take your team to the next level, should we expect the same from him now? And is the addition of alexRr perhaps the piece you were missing?

asmo: I am pretty confident that kRYSTAL can do amazing again and if we all step up we can show an entertaining performance. AlexRr is really young and has some really good ideas and through him we have like a new wind in our game and I am pretty sure that will make us stronger, maybe not now but it definitely will as we continue to play together.

Ever since your n!faculty lineup reached 4th place at ESWC 2012, no German team has been able to replicate that kind of success internationally. What do you think has been the problem? Are the German teams still looking for that perfect lineup that can compete with the best, or do you think more teams could have the potential to do that but are missing something (and what would that be)?

asmo: The main problem for German players imo is that they can't invest that much time to play and pracc CS:GO like others (except mousesports). If I compare the amount of my CS:GO hours with one of NiP, VP or Titan it's mostly not even the half of it. We also got a problem with getting along with each other, there are really few players and teams who stay together but the rest is constantly changing roster and imo it's impossible to be on top if you always change players.

Berzerk have been placed in group A at DreamHack Summer together with NiP, Nameless and ENCE. Their campaign in Jönköping will begin on the morning of June 14.

They will attend the event regardless, but they are also crowdfunding to try to raise money to cover some of the cost. You can support them by donating money here.