tarik: "IGL the smarter solution"

OpTic are going to be facing off against local rivals Cloud9 in their opening match at cs_summit.

Keep reading to find out what Tarik "⁠tarik⁠" Celik has to say about the team's preparation, the issues involving finding a fifth player, cs_summit, and what OpTic hope to get out of the tournament.

The latest news to come out of the OpTic camp is the inclusion of hazed as coach, who will also be standing in for the team for IEM Sydney. How did that come about?

Jason is currently on trial as our 5th player and in game leader whom will be playing with us at future events until further notice. Finding an experienced in game leader in the North American region has become a difficult task for us. Jason is willing to learn and develop himself into the role which made us optimistic about giving him a chance. Bringing James along as a coach is something that we all feel is necessary and beneficial to our long term success.

As you are still looking for a new player, have you considered scouting smaller scenes that could have some hidden talent? Kind of like what happened with mixwell.

We did consider options from other regions and did try our best to see if there was any undiscovered talent that we could take advantage of, but the biggest problem for us is the fact that we have always had a very short time frame to work with.

What kind of player are you looking for, someone very skilled, or someone who can work with hazed and lead the team?

Finding someone with crazy skill that could add to our firepower was an option for us at one point, but we quickly realized that an in game leader would be the smarter solution for our team. Almost all of us had taken a chance attempting to become the in game leader, but none of us ever really felt comfortable in the role and only did it for the sake of the team. Having someone work closely with James would be the ideal situation for us. James has already been a big help with adding structure to the team which makes me hopeful for the future.

Is there a timeframe set for the team to be up and running at 100% again?

Unfortunately there is no set time frame for when everything will click again, however we obviously want to get back into our best form as soon as possible. It was frustrating for us to go from being a top team and falling to where we are now, but I’m confident that we can come back stronger.

What do you think of the concept behind cs_summit, having a very relaxed atmosphere where the players just chill and stream and play together?

cs_summit is a unique event for everyone and a completely different change of pace but makes for a great event. Making the event exclusive to players is an interesting twist. I can already see the event bringing players closer together and production has been working on some cool skits which should be exciting. Today will be day 1 of the tournament so I’m excited to see how everything pans out.

How has the team been preparing for cs_summit? Have you done anything in particular as a team, or have you practiced more individually?

Since we have brought James into the team, we have been spending more time adding new strats and polishing existing ones. It’s extremely important for us to make sure we have structure, organization, and a game plan for every map that we play on. Making sure everyone is on the same page will make it easier for everyone to play. Spending time together in a server is the most efficient way for us to grow which is why that has been our main focus lately.

What are your goals for the event? What is OpTic currently fighting for?

Everyone will do their best to win the event and that is what we always play for. We will fight to win it.

If you can’t win, what would you be happy with? And what improvements would you like to see within the team that aren’t related to score/standings?

Progress and potential would keep me content. Our main problem right now is communicating properly and staying composed which is something that we are actively working on. There is a lot of work to be done within the team but we are on the right road to making things right again. Thank you to everyone that has been with us through our highs and lows, your constant support has helped us get through the hard times.