FalleN: "cold brought many changes"

ESL One Cologne is only four days away, and we will hopefully have pre-interviews with all teams attending the major by the time it starts.

Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo sat down with us to talk about the challenges going into the standalone CS:GO event, Luminosity's preparation, goals and much more:

ESL One Cologne pre-interviews - Luminosity

How have you prepared for ESL One Cologne? Are you going to or did you bootcamp beforehand or have you only been preparing online? Have you focused on anything in particular? (e.g. teams, specific problems at recent events)

We are in Cologne bootcamping on ESC-Gaming eSports Center from 8 August until 18 August. Training everyday, at least eight hours per day. Our main focus is to adapt the recent lineup change in that short period of time for the Major. 

Is there anyone who you think is underrated and could surprise in Cologne? 

I see no any other team better than ours to accomplish this. But i would consider CLG and Renegades also.

What are your team’s goals and expectations for the event? Where do you draw the line of what you’d be satisfied or happy with?

On this tournament, move to the playoffs (top8) already means a victory over someone favorite for the title. And if we do it, nothing prevents on do it twice and reach the finals. We will be satisfied if we do perform 100% of our capacity, and if we do it, theres no line drawn.

The level of teams has been evening out recently, a number different names have been in the grand final at events in the recent months (EnVyUs, TSM, fnatic, Na`Vi, Virtus.pro, Cloud9), who will be the favourites to make it to top four in your mind?

If we cannot make it to the finals, I would go with Virtus.pro first, followed by fnatic, NiP and TSM.

What do you make of the change in the group stage format? Is it better to have a chance to play against more than three set teams before the playoffs? Is it going to be harder to prepare for such groups?

In my view this format makes the tournament with fewer surprises on the playoffs. You cannot get lucky and move from group with only one victory against a superior team and a mix of results. You have to beat at least two or more good teams to get it.

Train has been in the pool for quite some time, but ESL One Cologne will be the first major to feature it, how has it developed over the recent months? Was it figured it out in terms of playstyle, strategy, etc.? Is the current map pool diverse enough?

It´s good to see a traditional map like train featuring on the Major. I personally have feelings and great memories on those traditional maps. In terms of pool diversity, its good to have a greater number, forcing teams to care more about of being good on it all, instead of focus in a few maps, making the opponents study easier.

What are your thoughts on your group? Can you go through each match-up and say how it is likely to play out?

On our first match against Kinguim its expected to see a battle of skill, with good individual plays from both teams. The match with Envyus will be good to see how the team will behave against a favorite for the title. And for the last, against FlipSid3, i see a game as difficult as Kinguim´s match, but in a different playstyle, less agressive.

Yet again this major has not seen a prizepool change, even though the sticker money is likely to get bigger, would you like to see it get increased?

The prizepool increase will come naturally as time. For now its good to see how the scene is growing up and how the teams are increasingly competitive. This high level makes the tournament more attractive and it brings more investiments time by time.

Lately the outrage against certain weapons has decreased (e.g. CZ-75 at the beginning of the year, Tec-9 during the second quarter of 2015), are you satisfied with the way Valve balanced them out? Are there any weapons you’d like to see nerfed or buffed?

There is not much imbalanced weapons left, unless jumping scout shots. It remindes me CS 1.1 or so. Although i dont see it as a super negative point, because it makes possible some very effect plays.

Do you think the new anti-doping measures being taken by the ESL are going to change anything from past events, has this been blown out of proportion since Semphis’ statements, or is it necessary?

No, i dont think it will change the game results. The repercution was big for a very specific case. If it will not disturb the players, i agree with the anti-doping measures.

With the proliferation of both online and offline events, and having had at least one big event every weekend or every other weekend for the past few months, and with many teams travelling around Europe and North America—or both—, how do you think it will affect teams’ performances?

I think playing on this constancy can waste any team in a long period of time. In these times is very important for the teams to set priorities, wheter financial or strategic for the team image. Not only teams exposing strats and gameplays, but also the players psychological are more vulnerable and fragile on that situations, being able to lose the team consistency.

How has Cold adapted to the team since signing last month? Will he add a breath of fresh air in Cologne, as you guys have seemed to be struggling after group stage exits at both ESWC and ESL ESEA Pro League finals?

He is an awesome player and came to make a lot of positive changes on our playstyle. Definitively he was a good choice, presenting specially knowledge on strats. Besides being a very dedicated and good person, with desire to win. His adaption will not be a problem.

Since you exploded into the scene and moved to the United States to play against the top NA teams, and after getting a fair amount of international exposure, do you think other teams in the field now know you better and are more prepared to face you? Is that the main challenge you are facing now, or is it something else?

Yes, they have more information about us but thats not something that we consider our main challenge. Right now we made a lot of changes for the Major so we think that wont be a problem. Our main challenge is to play confortable and focused on our own game.

How has the transition to a North American organization gone? How much do you think it has made you improve, if at all? Do you expect to be a stronger team than the one that was already able to make it past the group stage in Katowice earlier in the year?

The support they are giving us is essential for us to improve and reach the top. The opportunity of bootcamping in europe before this Major is a crucial point for our development and without this our chances would be cut in a half. We just have to thank the confidence that Buyaka is putting on us and make the most of the fantastic support he is offering. 

How have you prepared for ESL One Cologne? Are you going to or did you bootcamp beforehand or have you only been preparing online? Have you focused on anything in particular? (e.g. teams, specific problems at recent events)

We are in Cologne bootcamping in ESC-Gaming eSports Center from August 8th until August 18th. We're training every day, at least eight hours per day. Our main focus is to adapt the recent lineup change in that short period of time for the Major. 

What are your team's goals and expectations for the event? Where do you draw the line of what you'd be satisfied or happy with?

In this tournament moving to the playoffs (top eight) already means a victory over one of the favourites for the title. And if we do it, nothing prevents us from doing it twice and reach the finals. We will be satisfied if we perform at 100% of our capacity, and if we do it, there's no line drawn.

What are your thoughts on your group? Can you go through each match-up and say how it is likely to play out?

In our first match against Kinguin, it's expected to see a battle of skill with good individual plays from both teams. In the match with EnVyUs it would be good to see how the team will behave against a favorite for the title. And for the last, against FlipSid3, I see a game as difficult as Kinguin's match, but in a different playstyle, less agressive.

What do you make of the change in the group stage format? Is it better to have a chance to play against more than three set teams before the playoffs? Is it going to be harder to prepare for such groups?

In my view this format makes the tournament with fewer surprises in the playoffs. You cannot get lucky and move on from groups with only one victory against a superior team and a mix of results. You have to beat at least two or more good teams to get it.

How has coldzera adapted to the team since signing last month? Will he add a breath of fresh air in Cologne, as you guys have seemed to be struggling after group stage exits at both ESWC and ESL ESEA Pro League finals?

He is an awesome player and came to make a lot of positive changes on our playstyle. He was definitely a good choice, especially presenting knowledge on strats. Besides being a very dedicated and good person, he has a desire to win. His adaptation will not be a problem.

Since you exploded into the scene and moved to the United States to play against the top NA teams, and after getting a fair amount of international exposure, do you think other teams in the field now know you better and are more prepared to face you? Is that the main challenge you are facing now, or is it something else?

Yes, they have more information about us, but that's not something that we consider our main challenge. Right now we made a lot of changes for the Major, so we think that won't be a problem. Our main challenge is to play comfortable and focus on our own game.

How has the transition to a North American organization gone? How much do you think it has made you improve, if at all? Do you expect to be a stronger team than the one that was already able to make it past the group stage in Katowice earlier in the year?

The support they are giving us is essential for us to improve and reach the top. The opportunity of bootcamping in Europe before this Major is a crucial point for our development and without this, our chances would be cut in half. We just have to thank the confidence that Buyaka is putting on us and make the most of the fantastic support he is offering. 

Is there anyone who you think is underrated and could surprise in Cologne? 

I don't see any other team better than ours to accomplish this. But I would also consider CLG and Renegades.

The level of teams has been evening out recently, a number different names have been in the grand final at events in the recent months (EnVyUs, TSM, fnatic, Na`Vi, Virtus.pro, Cloud9), who will be the favourites to make it to top four in your mind?

If we cannot make it to the finals, I would go with Virtus.pro first, followed by fnatic, NiP and TSM.

With the proliferation of both online and offline events, and having had at least one big event every weekend or every other weekend for the past few months, and with many teams travelling around Europe and North America—or both—, how do you think it will affect teams' performances?

I think playing constantly like this can hurt any team in a long period of time. In these times it is very important for the teams to set priorities, whether financial or strategic for the team image. Not only teams exposing strats and gameplays, but also the players' psychology are more vulnerable and fragile in those situations, allowing to lose the team's consistency.

Train has been in the pool for quite some time, but ESL One Cologne will be the first major to feature it, how has it developed over the recent months? Was it figured out in terms of playstyle, strategy, etc.? Is the current map pool diverse enough?

It's good to see a traditional map like Train featured at the Major. I personally have feelings and great memories on those traditional maps. In terms of pool diversity, it's good to have a greater number, forcing teams to care more about of being good on them all, instead of focusing on a few maps, making the opponents' studying easier.

Lately the outrage against certain weapons has decreased (e.g. CZ-75 at the beginning of the year, Tec-9 during the second quarter of 2015), are you satisfied with the way Valve balanced them out? Are there any weapons you'd like to see nerfed or buffed?

There are not many imbalanced weapons left, apart from jumping scout shots. It reminds me of CS 1.1 or so. Although, I don't see it as a super negative point, because it makes some very effective plays possible.

Yet again this major has not seen a prizepool change, even though the sticker money is likely to get bigger, would you like to see it get increased?

The prizepool increase will come naturally with time. For now it's good to see how the scene is growing and how the teams are increasingly competitive. This high level makes the tournament more attractive and it brings more investments with time.

Do you think the new anti-doping measures being taken by the ESL are going to change anything from past events, has this been blown out of proportion since Semphis' statements, or is it necessary?

No, I don't think it will change the game results. The repercussion was big for a very specific case. If it won't disturb the players, I agree with the anti-doping measures.

Here's a list of all pre-interviews we have conducted so far prior to ESL One Cologne, check it out to see if you missed any:

James "⁠James⁠" Quinn: "Underdog status favors us"

Piotr "peet" Ćwikliński "We don't feel any pressure"

Pujan "FNS" Mehta: "Having the same core helps us"

Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács: "Facing Titan will be hard"