tihOp: "Top3 would be satisfying"

In the third installment of our pre-GameGune interview series, HLTV.org sat down with Crack Clan's Tino "tihOp" Puumala to know his opinion on the upcoming GameGune event.

As one of the tournament's top-seeded sides, a lot is expected from the Finnish team, who will have their second international appearance for Crack Clan.

At Dreamhack Summer, Crack Clan looked on course to reach the knock-out phase, but in the end bowed out of the tournament in the group stages because of round difference.

They are now looking to reach GameGune's latter stages and HLTV.org has interviewed Puumala to find out how Crack Clan have been preparing for the event.

Crack Clan exited Dreamhack Summer after a two-way tie with Aquintra, finishing the group behind the Swedish team on round difference. Are your team still mulling over that event?

Not really, we failed big time in our last event so now we really want to show that we are better. We got a tie from the match but we got dropped from the group due to round difference, we were simply in a terrible shape that day.

How far do you think that your team could have gone had you progressed to the knock-out stage?

At the top level of this game, the difference in skill level between individual players is slight so when you see two good teams playing each other, anything can happen. Our goal was to reach the final, and we really believed that we would... Too bad it didn't happen.

At Dreamhack, your team did not pose much of a threat to DTS Gaming, losing the match 16-5. Do you think you are better prepared now to meet other high level teams?

Yes, we are. Against DTS we called some wrong tactics at the wrong time and they got their game running as they wanted. Also losing both pistolrounds gives a huge advance to your opponent.

How have your team been practicing for this tournament?

We play 4-5 days a week, depends on if everybody is able to play. Everybody tries to keep their individual skills on top by playing mixes and Deathmatch or whatever they prefer, and then at evenings we play some practice games to get our teamwork better.
 
What are Crack Clan's goals for GameGune?

Victory. Top 3 would be satisfying.

You have been drawn in the same group as Ledpc, Unibet and dRu. What is your opinion about these teams?

I have only heard about Ledpc and I know they are fine. I do not know about Unibet and dRu, but you should never underestimate any opponent.

You switched teams a couple of times these past months. What made you link up with astralis, the team you had criticized for removing you right after WCG?

They are all good players and friends of mine. We tried to find an organization which would cover our travel expenses, which never happened and people were unmotivated so I joined up with rootz, who had already found sponsors to cover such expenses.

Shortly after joining astralis, you left the team to join rootz, now known as Crack Clan. At the time, neither team had found an organisation. What was the motive for your to take on this challenge?

I knew rootz had already found an organisation.

After GameGune, do you have any other events planned?

Our next stop will be the Finnish WCG qualifiers from August 6-9 in Helsinki. After that all the possible main events there will be.

HLTV.org will be in Bilbao to provide on-site coverage of GameGune, so stay tuned for all the latest news, and some surprises, on one of this summer's hottest events!