bds: "I do not see SpawN in SK"

HLTV.org sat down with SK Gaming Managing Director Andreas "bds" Thorstensson and discussed the Swedish team's current moment.

SK Gaming have been very disappointing of late, having failed to qualify for this year's World Cyber Games following a defeat to H2k-Gaming in the semi-finals. More recently, they failed to go beyond the semi-final stage at the IOL Final 4 after a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Begrip Gaming.

The Swedish team have been linked with roster changes, with Marcus "zet" Sundström strongly tipped to leave after missing his flight to Cologne, where he was due to play at the Global Challenge.

In this interview, Andreas "bds" Thorstensson shares his view on Sundström's situation, the likelihood of Abdisamad "SpawN" Mohamed returning to the team and also the possibility of SK raiding the former MYM team.

HLTV.org questioned Thorstensson about the fact SK have decided against tabling €20,000 for H2k pair Johan "face" Klasson and Frej "kHRYSTAL" Sjöström, but he declined to answer following the news on our website.

zet missed his flight and could not attend the Global Challenge in Cologne. Will SK take any disciplinary action against the player?

Yes, we will. It was an unacceptable behaviour. He let down his team mates, ESL, our sponsors and last but not least our fans.

As one of the owners of SK, how do you look at the fact that one of your professional players could not play a tournament for missing his flight?

Pretty much summed up above. As a professional player you just don't do this.

SK's newest player, zneel, played well in his first event but he did not exactly shine at the IOL Finals. What is your view on zneel's contribution to SK so far?

To be honest I am not that involved in terms of players when it comes to their skill and ability in a team anymore. I totally trust [manager] Anton and the team in making the best judgement here.

Regarding the controversial departure of Tentpole from SK, there were reports in rakaka saying he was released after protesting against the team's overdue wages. What can you say about that?

I don't want to go in exact details since this is something between SK Gaming and Tentpole, but that is definitely not the reason.

With the former MYM team without a home, some say SK might consider picking up the Polish squad. Is parting company with the Swedish team something SK would ever consider?

There is a lot of history behind the Counter-Strike team being Swedish. Do I see that changing in the future? It could happen. Will MYM be our new team? No.

And having two male Counter-Strike teams in the past, would SK consider such scenario again?

No, we will not have two teams in the future. The main reason why we had that in the past was so we could participate in ESL Pro Series.

What do you think that SK Gaming's Swedish team are lacking right now?

I think we are behind other teams in terms of tactics and the ability to read opponents. Skill wise are definitely on top.

Just right before the IOL Finals, allen told fragbite SK had been training with Snajdan. If so, why didn't you use him at the tournament?

The players have at numerous times been practicing with other players, it is quite common.

As you know, SpawN has signed an endorsement deal with ZOWIE Gear and has refused to rule out the possibility of a return to competitive play. Would SK ever contemplate bringing him back?

Abdi is awesome and I really hope that all his future endeavours work out for him. I do not see him in SK, and I am not sure if we will see him in a top team again.

Do you think that SK miss Tentpole?

Tentpole is and was a great guy. Of course he is missed, but we believe in our future team.

How big of a blow was it for SK, who placed second at WCG last year, to know they would miss out on this year's event?

It was a major disappointment. Nothing more to say really.

Looking at GeT_RiGhT's impact on the new fnatic team, do you regret letting him go without really giving him a chance?

Like I said earlier, my involvement isn't on that level anymore and I trust the decisions that were made back then. He really excelled during the first part of this year and I am happy for him.

What will be SK's line-up for Extreme Masters Chengdu?

Time will tell...