Sunde: "fnatic will be harder for us"

The Extreme Masters III has reached the Continental Finals Europe. You executed the Main Round perfect, with 7 wins, out of 7 possible. Will the constant winning continue at the Continental Finals or is there a team that will stop you?

On paper our group looks manageable and the weaker of the two. With that said we have to step cautiously, I don't doubt that every team has made a strong effort to prepare well for the finals. The only world class team in our group is fnatic and my guess is that we will be fighting them for the 1st place in our group.


There have been quite a few changes when it comes to lineups the last couple of months. How do you see the newly formed fnatic and mibr, will they be a bigger or lesser danger than with their lineups?

Looking at mibr's line up (red. cogu, BTT, nak, KIKOOO, spacca), I would consider their old line up (red. cogu, BTT, nak, fnx, bit) stronger. KIKOOO was a good player, but coming back from such a long break from CS is definitely tough. spacca is an unknown player to me, so I don't want to comment on him. fnx and bit are two good players, which they have proved several times. To sum up, I would regard mibr a weakened team.

fnatic on the other hand is a lot more difficult to place, they have had their old superstar lineup, that have shined for them for ages, but lately have seemed a bit off track. And now they are here with two substitutions (ins->Get_Right & archi->gux). Once in awhile things have to be changed to keep a good engine running and that's my guess of what fnatic have been doing. They've taken in two players with a lot of motivation and commitment, which might be just what they've lacked. Although things are changing, and hopefully for the better, they have only had short time with their new lineup, and I can't help wondering if they will be fully prepared for this upcoming event.

We, being a team that have had a good read on fnatic, and often beating them, will not think of fnatic as a weaker opponent. Though they might lack a bit of organization, they will gain a lot of unpredictability.
All in all I think fnatic will be harder for us to play, but might have a harder time playing the mediocre top-team.

Coming into the Global Finals, Evil Geniuses received a spot after wNv being unable to show up. Are you ready to take on the Americans and are the Americans ready to mess with the Europeans after the switch from CGS and Counter-Strike: Source?

From what I've read and heard, they think they're going to make a comeback as an international top team, and that might not be a lie. Personally I think we Europeans might be a bit more humble, and I cannot help hoping they will stumble a bit on their road to comeback. Having said that, I'm not the kind to hate based on "what I've heard", and I wish them good luck no matter what. I have never had the chance to play the old coL team, so I don't know what to expect from them, coming back from a vacation in Counter-Strike: Source. My guess is that they will have a hard time playing against the European teams, and we will of course be ready to take on the American legends, should we make it to the global finals.


After a victory at Kwazq #2, you guys have been bootcamping for a week. What was the goal with this bootcamp? Did you feel too rusty, in the need of new tactics or simply just eager to prepare best possible prior to this event? In an interview with readmore, solo said that WeMade FOX currently practice 12 hours a day. Is this the key to success or can you simply play too much CS that it will make you vomit?

We simply bootcamp to prepare the best possible way, going into a big tournament like Extreme Masters III. We always strive to update and change our tactics, to stay less readable, both when practicing from home and bootcamping. I'm sure that 12 hours CS a day would make us hate playing pretty fast, and for sure not being the key to success, at least not for us.

Being the team to beat in 2008, mTw are a team which other teams have well studied. How are you guys prepared to counter being read, any fancy tricks or moves up your sleeves?

I think we have a good idea of which teams might know us well, and we always consider how big the chances are of being read, before doing an old tactic. As mentioned above we update, change around and make new tactics. Also we can use very well known tactics to throw an easy fake.


You find yourself in a group without your biggest nemesis’ MYM, Crack Clan and emuLate. You do however group up with fnatic and XLBet.Mirror, will this group be harder than most expect, looking at the teams in group b?

I would not consider MYM our nemesis anymore, but we sure landed in the right group in my opinion. I'm looking forward to see what will happen in group B.

Your expectations for the Continental Finals Europe, who will be the team(s) to watch, top 3 and where will mTw end up?

If I was a spectator I would watch matches with mouz, fnatic and of course us. I feel that we are really well prepared for this event; going into this feeling we have no worst map.
Putting us in top3: mTw, mouz & SK. Without us in top3: mouz, SK & (fnatic or MYM) - CS being a bit of a day-to-day game I won't put numbers on the top3.