Interview with NiP-HeatoN

You are probably one of the worlds most known players and nearly everyone who has touched Counter-Strike know who you are , how do you feel about that ?

Feels great to be recognized for doing something you love ;)

The American team, Mug'N'Mouse, recently announced that they weren't able to attend this years ESWC and you guys got brought into the tournament. How do you feel about being given another shot at ESWC?

Im really happy that we get this chance, since I feel that we really under preformed at the Swedish ESWC qualifier in our game vs Begrip, and we really want to show that we are a lot better then that!

The world's most known gamers are attending ESWC this year - What do you think your chances are?

Well I think it’s the best starting lineup ever for a tournament?
So I would say I would be happy with a top3 spot, which is also our goal I would have to say, But I know that if we have a good day , we are unstoppable so I really wish that we could have that when we need it the most.

How will you practice towards ESWC?

Actually we haven’t practiced at all since the WSVG. Since some people gone away on holidays etc and this came kind of sudden, but we will have 1 day of boot camping in Stockholm before we go. Walle is busy full time with making up new stuff for us, so I think it can be really good ;)

Last week you attended WSVG Louisville and there was lots of delays there - What do you think ESWC will be like? Do you expect good service etc there?

I was really disappointed in the schedule there, as well as there servers that were the worse one ive ever played on, with that much ping jumps and no reg im really happy that we came as far as we did.

When seeing NiP play 1.6 you would think they're top3 in the world, but lately you have gotten some disappointing results: What is wrong?

Well as I see it, we actually only done 1 bad games so far, and that was vs Begrip in the ESWC qualifier, Losing 2x d2 vs SK aint much of a problem for us, since we are really weak at dust2, and SK is a great team. Just sad that we only had to play them twice on that map, but theres always another chance! ;)

Are you satisfied with NiP's current roster? If not, which player would you like to bring into the heat?

Im really happy with the roster we have now, all the players are great in every way ingame, as well as we get along superb outside, and it really feels like home again=)

Could you describe what you and your team does the 15 minutes before a match?

We usually warmup for a while, then we have a 5-15 minute tactical walkthrough before every game, then we just go out there and do our thing.

How do you motivate yourself and your team before a big match?
Its not hard at all to get motivated for a big match, when u know your going to play a top team u automatically gets really excited and a little bit nervous, but that goes away as soon as the game starts.

Any last comments?
I would like to thank our sponsors! Our fans of course! And big shootout to MINITIGERN <3 , REALDOG & Our great leader Andreas!

It sure will be interesting to watch HeatoN lead his team at ESWC. Remember HLTV.org will be on-location covering the event.