Nico: "Our A-game can beat anyone"

11-8-2014 03:00

For our eighth pre-ESL One Cologne interview, we sat down with Nicolaj "Nico" Jensen to see how Copenhagen Wolves' preparations are going.

This will be the first LAN test for the former LeftoverZ team, who were created in May when five talented Danish players decided to get together after finding themselves on the market.

CPH Wolves were one of the four teams who secured a spot at ESL One Cologne via the online qualifier, in which they played with Danni "⁠smF⁠" Dyg as a stand-in.

Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander's side will be going into ESL One Cologne with hope, rather than expectation, as they will only be able to practice with their full lineup for a few days prior to the event. Still, Nicolaj "⁠Nico⁠" Jensen thinks that the team have the potential to cause an upset or two in Germany if everyone does their part. Continue reading to find out what the Danish AWPer thinks about the task that lies ahead.

Nico is back to activity after a long hiatus

How have you prepared for ESL One Cologne so far? Do you have a bootcamp planned for the final days leading up to the event? Do you feel adequately prepared?

Nicolaj "⁠Nico⁠" Jensen: We've just recently started playing together as a team so we haven't had much time to prepare for the event. We had an agreement within the team about when we would start playing after the summer break, and then in the middle of everything ESL One Cologne was announced - and obviously we wanted to attend that, so prior to being able to attend, we had to rearrange our agreement and work out how much time we would have available.

Unfortunately, due to complications we won't be bootcamping but we'll surely be playing as much as if we were. We're bootcamping online if you can say that. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we're not even close to being as prepared as we wanted to be. I think smF (stand-in for various occasions] has been playing more with the team than some of the players on it, including myself, because of vacations in different time periods. It is something we have not been able to do anything about, unfortunately, but what we will have done is playing as a team for approximately eight full days before going into this awesome event...

After a long hiatus from international competition, G3 took place last weekend. What do you make of the results? Were you surprised by anyone? What comes to mind when thinking about the event?

Nicolaj "⁠Nico⁠" Jensen: Obviously NiP not getting at least a top 3 is almost a sensation in my eyes, but it just shows that most people have caught up to them. The biggest surprise would probably be NiP losing vs. both Epsilon and Dignitas - especially because I know my fellow Danes don't want to meet NiP anywhere but the final but they played amazingly this event and I'm also quite surprised that they didn't go through to the final after watching a few of their games beforehand - but that also shows how the entire level of play has risen up and the competition is harder than ever, it feels. I can't wait to "test" it with my own team and my own set of skills at ESL One Cologne, I almost feel as excited about this as when I was 13 going to my first LAN event.

At ESL One you’ve been placed in group B together with Na`Vi, London Conspiracy and LDLC. Can you go through each team one at a time, and tell us what you think about them, and your chances against them?

Nicolaj "⁠Nico⁠" Jensen: Na'Vi is our first matchup and hopefully we'll go out of the game as victors. Their online results lately haven't been A+ material but this is LAN and obviously they've got a lot more experience together than we do. I believe we have the chance to beat any team out there if we can bring out our A game but it'll definitely require a bit of luck considering we haven't had a full 2 weeks together as a team. Also it's gonna be fun playing vs. GuardiaN again I'm sure we'll have a few standoffs and it's gonna be terrifying and exciting to see who goes out as the victor. LondonC have shown some really good potential recently and LDLC are as dangerous as ever. I believe the top two places in the group could really go to any of the teams - I believe it's gonna be very close and I really can't say for sure who will go through.

Nico is looking forward to the AWP duel with GuardiaN

What are your expectations going into the event? I realize everyone will say they are in it to win it regardless of stature, but would you be happy with a quarter-finals exit? Top four? A spot in the grand finals?

Nicolaj "⁠Nico⁠" Jensen: Well, considering that we haven't played together for practically any time, we're happy just to attend. We got through the qualifications with our stand-in, Danni "⁠smF⁠" Dyg, and he deserves a lot of recognition for that. We'll be extremely happy to go through the group but if it doesn't happen, it doesn't mean the world, but of course I would be lying if I said we aren't going for the grand prize - we'll certainly do our best and hopefully we can do some damage and bring out some upsets.

Do you have a clause in your contracts regarding the sticker money that will be coming in from ESL One? Is that something you had added later on specifically with Cologne in mind, or did it exist in the first place?

Nicolaj "⁠Nico⁠" Jensen: As we've just recently got our contracts, it has been implemented in the agreements. Both we and Copenhagen Wolves CEO Jakob Kristensen got to an agreement we think is fair for both parties and we're all very happy with it.

It’s now been weeks since ESL announced the new map pool, featuring de_cobblestone and de_overpass. Now that you’ve had a chance to practice them, what do you think about them? What do you think about the new map veto system? Do you think these changes will work for or against you?

Nicolaj "⁠Nico⁠" Jensen: Well, I love to play the maps, for sure, it's always exciting when changes happen, but to implement them prior to one of the biggest event in CS:GO history seems like a huge mistake. We've gotten to play them a bit and it just seems so confusing and random at times. I'm sure that the results will vary a lot for a long time on the new maps. I think they should implement them in online tournaments instead and then after, let's say, 6 months, implement them in offline tournaments. That way people would have a lot of time and chances to practice the maps and get to know them. Now it just seems like they threw them at us, stating that we will have to play them in about three months in a new kind of veto system which makes it even harder to learn both maps for newer teams - like ourselves. We have to learn 7 maps now - before we could say like, 'let's not not play dust2 and overpass', so we could focus on every other map in a time-span of three months. The new veto system is alright, this way we can play something else than inferno 24/7 - but the two new maps shouldn't have been in the map pool yet.

At both of the previous majors we saw a new team win a title (fnatic, Virtus.pro), propelled by new players rising to stardom (flusha, schneider, byali, Snax). Do you expect another new team to rise up this time and if so, who could it be?

Nicolaj "⁠Nico⁠" Jensen: Maybe LondonC? They are where fnatic were at least before they won DreamHack Winter - did a few upsets but never really got the top podium places. I don't know really, I'm just saying them because they are kind of new to me. I believe the podium will be filled with those who are already recognized as the best teams in the world.

You have a very strong lineup on paper, but it’s hard to gauge your level as a team because you’ve been playing with smF as a stand-in for you or cajunb throughout the summer. Are you afraid of your lack of teamplay, and how not having played a lot with this lineup, especially in gla1ve’s tactical system, may hurt you?

Nicolaj "⁠Nico⁠" Jensen: I'm not afraid of our lack of teamplay,our game will definitely reflect that we have not had a lot of time to practice, but I'm more excited to see how well we can do than our mistakes. There's a lot to work on as a team and we'll do that eventually. Right now we're going into this event with barely any expectations but with hopes of doing well. The tactical level will rise a lot after a few months together, but it won't hurt us at the event. gla1ve is a really good caller, one of the best in the game in my opinion, and if we can get his calls started and our individual skill shines, there's no stopping us.

You’ve been one of the game’s best AWPers are your peak, but seemingly come and gone since the active Western Wolves days. Do you think you can still be as dominant with the weapon as you were in 2013?

Nicolaj "⁠Nico⁠" Jensen: I certainly hope so. It's not really that different from when we played together in Western Wolves and if I just get a decent amount of hours then I believe I can take on anybody - not saying I will win 10/10 duels or even hit 10/10 shots but I'm not afraid to fail, I believe in myself and if I didn't I wouldn't even bother to play. Hopefully I can contribute as much to the team as I did to Western Wolves back then and that's all I can hope for.

CPH Wolves have been drawn alongside Na´Vi, London Conspiracy and LDLC.com, with the Danish side due to take on the Ukraine-based team in the first round of matches, on Thursday.

More pre-ESL One Cologne interviews:

Vincent "⁠Happy⁠" Schopenhauer: "Tired of quarter-final exits"

Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas: "We haven't reached our peak"

Pål "⁠Polly⁠" Kammen: "We are here to stay"

Henrik "⁠FeTiSh⁠" Christensen: "There is no I in team"

Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell: "We can surprise a lot of teams"

iBUYPOWER: "Too many mistakes"

Spencer "⁠Hiko⁠" Martin: "You are in for a treat"

damnit!

2014-08-11 03:56

2 replies

LOL

2014-08-11 07:31

ofc they can win if they play there A game, but what if NiP,VP,dignitas or Titan bring their A game as well...

2014-08-11 12:07

n1 great interviews, wish all the players would answer ? is it language thing ?? btw the nico link in the beginning of article is wrong nico

2014-08-11 04:01

4 replies

Yes of course it's a language thing. If you're confident in speaking English you'll give better and more in depth answers.

2014-08-11 09:43

3 replies

the team all speak English well, its just a case of who's in the mood to do the interview, and who wants to hear what player the most :)

2014-08-11 13:09

Uh. I was mainly talking about the other interviews with the eastern teams, those are lacking a bit of meat so to say. This is a lot better than those with more complex answers if you want to call it that.

2014-08-11 16:33

1 reply

yeah I know what you mean sorry :D

2014-08-11 20:04

2014-08-11 03:58

nico best

welcome back Nico!! :D:D

2014-08-11 04:00

CPH is gonna get destroyed. As Nico said, their full roster has barely played together the last few months + no bootcamp. While the other top teams have been bootcamping +8hrs a day. GG's

2014-08-11 04:04

Then they play someone on Cobblestone and random beat them.

2014-08-11 04:05

most of the teams at EMS One with their A game can beat any team xD

2014-08-11 04:22

Team Wolf with their A game >>> everyone

2014-08-11 08:48

he dit not mean to include spectators

2014-08-11 10:11

lmfao

2014-08-11 11:35

Team wolf with their F game >>>> everyone

2014-08-11 18:14

Hope to see some nuts AWPing from him. Edit: and the fact that any team can take on anyone is just to show that every team just needs to have AWPer + 4 good players. There's no such thing as movement advantage for neo/f0rest some more pros like there was in 1.6 where you could outskill your opponent by using the game to its fullest, in CSGO u just run, stop and shoot... GG VOLVO PLS ADD MORE UPDATES TO MAKE THIS GAME REQUIRE MORE SKILL OTHER THEN CONTROLLING RECOIL.

2014-08-11 04:30

33 replies

stahp overhyping neo's 1.6 movement so much, it wasnt even that great lol

2014-08-11 04:51

32 replies

......... obvious saucer is obvious. Neo was a god in 1.6, all because he had mastered the movement. he won what? 6 or 7 majors? made fnatic/sk change lineups every year.

2014-08-11 05:12

29 replies

actually, i've played 1.6 since 2004 and have barely even touched css ever. i was playing shit ton of kz mod, even had a wr on xtreme-jumps at one point (also many unofficial ones). give me an example of how "good" neo's 1.6 movement was. because honestly, of those videos that have been linked when people are talking about his movement hasn't been anything special that i or any other mediocre player (that knew movement) couldnt have done. and rofl, his movement alone didnt win his majors. he was good at the game, no doubt, was a sick aimer too. but his movement wasnt anything special AT ALL.

2014-08-11 05:15

28 replies

A world record on xtreme-jumps Haha. Who cares. I hardly think that qualifies you to say whether or not neo had godlike movement in competitive Cs. Are u delusional? Why is everyone talking about neo in this thread anyway?

2014-08-11 05:54

12 replies

it doesnt? haha, do you know what you are talking about? im not indicating that i am better at cs than neo, i am just saying that his movement, from what i have seen in videos and demos, is not anything spectacular if you compare it to kreedz players (kelta, fof, shnz, brian, lewly) to name a few. it does qualify me to say whether or not neo had godlike movement in cs or not. because i know what the fuck im talking about. his movement wasn't really anything special. yes, he probably had better movement than most pros at that time. and yes, it probably also won him some rounds in a competetive match. but saying neo had MASTERED the movement is beyond retarded. he had good control over the movement and knew the engine physics to some extent. kreedz players (especially if you look at countjumps, longjumps and such) push the engine to its limits by breaking records people believe was "impossible" to beat and certain maps like bkz_goldbhop and such has been pushed to its limit so much that even really good kreedz player couldn't even come close to beating the current wr on that map. anyone who is/was somewhat decent at kreedz would have better movement than neo. and im not even kidding. by the way, if you think that having a wr on xtreme jumps is laughable material i'd like to see you beat a competetive map.

2014-08-11 08:29

11 replies

wow dude..I can imagine you are a a BIG retard IRL

2014-08-11 09:38

6 replies

im pretty sure we all know who the retard here is mate. hint: it's you.

2014-08-11 09:48

5 replies

btw..you must be REALLY good in cs? I mean, you do have just as good as, or even better movement than one of the most succesful cs players of all time aka neo. haha retard wtf

2014-08-11 09:50

i had better movement than neo. and so did many other players. but that doesnt necessarily mean i was better at cs than neo nor did i ever claim that i was. now if you'd like to shut the fuck up i'd really appreciate it because i have no intention to discuss this any further with you because based on your two most recent replies i can already tell that you're not the sharpest tool in the shed. btw, you're not really norwegian are you? it's not often i see norwegian people act this retarded.

2014-08-11 09:58

This may be hard for you to realize, but kreedz means nothing in competitive cs. Show me one match at a decent tourny where any name you have introduced with your argument has doen ANYTHING in the professional CS scene. You can't because climbing and kreedz means NOTHING. Anyone can push "limits" and break records when they aren't under pressure every second. Not one person gives a damn at how well you jump or pixel step. I am a god a surfing, but that doesnt mean shit. I also will wreck everyone's face at scoutzknivez, and strafing through low gravity, guess I should act like I know what I'm talking about now, like you sir. They are talking about gamesense and movement around the map in relation with your opponent. You really are clueless.

2014-08-11 17:28

no. i could easily pull off anything than people refer to as "good movement" that neo did. Easily. youtube.com/watch?v=oTh5v5Km-_c this, i could do that without fail every single time. i could dd down train slope/ramp inside and land on bombsite in matter of seconds. i could reach spots neo never could (jumps that are hard to reach for mediocre movement players) for example: youtube.com/watch?v=PYFbfSk5ON8&list=UUw.. (actually that jump is easy to hit, but yeah) and lots of other spots. i could even bhop from redrock ontop of nuke gate roof and onto the box. climbing and kreedz means alot brah. my gamesense wasnt near as good as neos, no, but i could take my kreedz skill that i had obtained over many years and easily use it in competetive matches without fail. Easily. breaking records also gets you under pressure because you really want to beat that record. actually, when i beat my first record i was shaking like no other at the end because my adrenaline was pumping so much. two players who were much better movement players than neo was qewi and vapor and you can easily see it in some of their vdeos. youtube.com/watch?v=m0wTqhNI5nY but eh, i dont even wanna bother with this discussion anymore because dumb fanboys obviously cant see that neos movement was mediocre at best. he was an insane player, but his movement? nah. btw im not saying this to "brag" about my skill or anyone elses for that matter, im just saying what i do to compare to neo and try to make you realize that neos movement wasnt really that great.

2014-08-11 19:24

The thing is that your thoughts on movement are different from what made neo so great. Neos movement skills was all about aiming, dodgeing and movement on a tactical level. It was his timing in his movements, his positioning, his rotations and roaming that made him special. Not jumps or the like. But both things are related to movement.

2014-08-12 14:38

comparing kreedz with competive lol

2014-08-11 22:32

lolololol. its not hard to take your kz skills and use it in competetive matches. i dont understand why you think that is. youtube.com/watch?v=m0wTqhNI5nY you see?

2014-08-11 22:36

um I don't see how the movement in that movie is better than neos

2014-08-12 19:08

ok.

2014-08-13 00:23

...among the pro players his movement was lightyears ahead, he wasn't breaking kz wr, he was winning cs tournaments.

2014-08-11 06:05

#31

2014-08-11 08:30

This answer right here is absolutely correct. Movement helps you to some extent. It makes your gameplay more fluid. It also might give you a slight advantage when peeking corners but that's about it. It's not about knowing how to move, it's much more about when and where to do it.

let us understand then. what means for you good movements in 5v5? what should've neo do to be "pro" like kz players, regarding movements? explain in detail. imo you are wrongly mixing kz maps, where are some conditions to reach those scores, with normal maps where those conditions doesn't exists. hint: so you are clueless.

2014-08-11 16:09

read #82 im not mixing kz maps with real maps, im talking about kz because in most cases the jumps on those maps are alot harder to pull off than any jump in any real competetive match. it's not hard to take your kz skill and use it in competetive matches. not at all.

2014-08-11 19:20

10 replies

ok. if for you is not hard, i will wait 1hr here, and in this time i'm waiting for your replay, with a demo, in which you will demonstrate all your sentences about you being better than neo in movement. please make a demo with ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTh5v5Km-.. , youtube.com/watch?v=PYFbfSk5ON8&list=UUw.. , and another you consider relevant. upload the demo at some uploading site and post the link here. and bro, you argue with some vids in which some noname players mixes, with anothers nonamers. i'm quite sure, that if neo with his team, would've have played with your team, he could do a lot of good movements, cause your team is noob. no ofense, but again, your args are clueless.

2014-08-11 23:16

9 replies

bro, you do realize that campath video is mine, right? :D that ladder jump on mill is easy as hell, i can do that and also one which is alot harder from inside train (cant find a video right now). snyway, i dont need to prove anything to you and im pretty sure even if i wanted i couldnt because i dont have 1.6 installed anymore and havent played it in 3 years. so my movement nowadays would probably suck ass. ofcourse neo could do great movement vs any team. so could i? what are you even talking about. it doesnt matter which team you're facing, its not like youre gonna have worse movement if facing stronger opponents.

2014-08-12 00:08

8 replies

bro, you just talk and got no proof about what you say. do it one more time. make a demo with you, and use the radio to see your name. otherwise you just trashtalk. which i'm almost 100% you are trashtalking

2014-08-12 10:29

it seems like you still dont realize that the video you linked to IS MY VIDEO and it is my yt channel. so thats already proven! :) (check videos description now). but for your sake, i went into a cpl_mill even though i dont see the reason why i need to show you this because it's a really easy jump. puu.sh/aP63i/b16f6905e4.rar search for vamp on kz-scandinavia or cosy climbing and im pretty sure you can find some of my old records. havent touched kz since 2010 so im rusty as fuck too. anyway, im done with this. it's pointless to try argue with fanboys.

2014-08-12 10:53

oh i see. now i'm 100% sure you are trashtalking. gtfo noob!

2014-08-12 10:45

riight. #100 :) oh, and maybe you should try reading #96 and #82 too. get lost kid.

2014-08-12 10:56

ksguild.org/MGalleryItem.php?id=278

2014-08-12 11:03

lmao so rekt kid, you mad because i actually did prove myself and you have no comebacks brah?

2014-08-12 11:12

having a big mouth without any proof, means either you are retarded, either you are retarded.

2014-08-12 11:13

i just proved myself you fucking mongoloid, did u dl my demo or see my video @ #100? are you retarded mate?

2014-08-13 00:21

What the.. It really was on another level.

2014-08-11 12:34

read my replies :) it wasnt, no. maybe if you compare him to other top players - but if you're talking about cs movement in general there were alot of people MUCH better than him.

2014-08-11 19:21

Welcome back, glass awp it on buys, cz it on ecos, armor up after wins and on pistol (even ct) and GL

2014-08-11 05:23

go go CPHW.

2014-08-11 07:15

gl would be cool if they beat navi :D

2014-08-11 07:51

Looks like CW are not really into this tournament. Im sure they could not believe they qualified for ESL One as well. You choose to play game at professional level, and you decide not to try your best when you have chance to attend a very important tournament which can shape your team future based on performance (sponsorship, ads, etc....) . Thats not professional imo.

2014-08-11 07:58

Who says they are not trying their best?

2014-08-11 08:09

They joined the tournament to play some pracc's against top teams, no intention of actually qualifying as in their previous statement when they got together... if you read it... they stated they was taking the summer off and not planning on praccing or taking the game seriously till August :) the fact they qualified just proves they have real raw talent :)

2014-08-11 13:13

Totalt hiNdbær!

2014-08-11 09:13

Wise words from a decent player..

2014-08-11 09:17

If Nico goes above 40 hours, he may go nuts :D

2014-08-11 09:42

steamcommunity.com/id/Nico_- Done.

2014-08-11 10:57

some sick awp battles incoming :) Nico with only 1000h and being that good......

2014-08-11 11:17

Another random danish team. God i wish old mtw could play teach these new kids some stuff. I don't see them doing any dmg in ESL One. Would like to be proven wrong but then again its the danes since mtw disbanded Anexis had some light in the tunnel going for them but no other danish team has managed to come close to either of those 2. Its kinda sad considering they have quite skilled and over all complete players in their teams :( .

2014-08-11 10:43

Ehm, dignitas?

2014-08-11 12:47

they are legit dude,but the sad thing is every danish team is disbanding after 1 disastrous tournament or at least changing players.Im afraid that the same thing will happen again if they fail at Esl

2014-08-11 13:01

would've rather seen mouz at ESL as they are actually a team, these guys have barely played together as Nico said

2014-08-11 12:57

They won against mouz, it's fair that cphw is attending

2014-08-11 13:03

Yea I know, but still

2014-08-11 13:41

im afraid that they will disband if they fail to advance from the groupstage xD.This team has really big potential on paper with individuals like cajun and niko,also gla1ve is mega legit for IGL when it comes to fragging and calling.

2014-08-11 13:00

they won't

2014-08-11 13:05

with danish teams u can never be sure whats going to happen if they fail in 1 tournament xd

2014-08-11 13:26

nice read, gl cw!

glhf cphw go rek everyone

2014-08-11 13:15

Again, pimp and the co never praccs to a big event.... ffs

2014-08-11 13:30

I didn't meet the old CPH but... is just me the one that thinks this particular lineup is overrated? every news or whatever about them is completely hyped to the point you may think they can win everything... ... but then you realize they will place 4th in their group

2014-08-11 13:45

personally, i don't think they're too hyped - they are filled with great players, a good leader but i think they need to find that cohesion most teams strive to achieve - karrigan seems like a really on/off player in csgo though so yeah...

2014-08-12 10:32

wat !

2014-08-11 14:08

Nico is a great awper but they are not good enough

2014-08-11 15:01

2014-08-11 15:30

disband before esl colone inc

2014-08-11 16:15

Only thing they will Beat is their meats. after they lose!

2014-08-11 16:17

Thing is, for them to win they have to play their A game and the other team has to play their Z game

2014-08-11 18:20

I think you're underestimating them now. They may have had some questionable results online, but they still have a solid lineup. In my eyes, cajunb is the best player in Denmark, Nico is by far the best awper, gla1ve MIGHT be the best IGL (I would argue that he's the best if he really gets to get a few months to sort out strats and such), pimp is a pretty solid fragger. The only question mark for me is Karrigan. I think he has improved a lot since the fnatic days, where, frankly, he sucked, we'll see if it's enough though. I feel like they can definitely beat LC, and might be able to beat na'vi if they "hit their A-game". LDLC would be tough, simply because they are so drilled as a team, you can't fake them etc. as easily as the other teams in the group. Definitely don't think you can write them off though. Also nico is fucking amazing on lan.

2014-08-11 22:41

Exactly right.

2014-08-12 00:42

A lot of teams would think their "A game" could beat anyone lol, the question is do they believe their A game can beat the likes of IBP's, NiP's, VP's, etc's A game.

2014-08-12 00:43