EPT
I’m here with wayLander from Flipsid3 Tactics, who were eliminated in the quarterfinals against SK Gaming. First of all, congratulations for reaching the Legends status in Cologne. Then, I’d like to begin with your match against NiP in the group decider. Coming into that match, did you know you would perform that well against them?
Well, you can never be confident that you will perform. We did what we did, and we are happy that we won over NiP and reached the playoffs. It was a really tough game but we did it, that’s all!
That series felt actually crazy because you picked Overpass, and they actually beat you on Overpass 16-14. Then they pick Cache and you stomp them 16-2 on it. Going into Mirage, what was the spirit in the team?
To be honest, after we lost overpass we were confident in our Cache, even though we never practice it. We played it only once recently, vs Mousesports at E-League. And that’s it. So when we started on Cache we were as CT, we started getting rounds. We were getting hyped. After we managed to close it 16-2, we prepared for Mirage. We knew that Mirage is not the best map for NiP. But the randomizer picks Mirage as the decider, and we went into it like, we were just playing our game. They tried to mount a comeback but some good eco-rounds and markeloff saved us.
Moving on to the series against SK. You had a pretty rough start on the first map, but in the second game you managed to put up a very good fight against them. It was on Nuke, actually the first time in the tournament that it was picked, after being pretty much banned in nearly every matches up until there. Did you try to kind of surprise them on that map with such a pick?
Hmm no. Just a map that SK are not playing very well right now. They don’t have experience on it, and we were training it. Already during practice, we played against SK during our bootcamp, and we got a draw on it. So first map versus SK, I was very nervous, maybe because of the crowd, or the stage, I don’t know. But I couldn’t handle myself and they stomped us on Mirage. But we knew that we could take them on Nuke. It’s one of the best team in the world and they master every map except Cache and, as we saw, Nuke. These are two maps that you can defeat them on.
You got into Flipsid3 after they signed Shara and the departure of Bondik, first as a standin and then joining the official roster. Will these results improve the stability of a roster that changed a lot recently? How will Flipsid3 build on this?
Well, we passed the group stage at a major! That’s a big reason to leave the roster as it is right now!
Continuing with the team, Flipsid3 have been making it to pretty much every major [E/N they attended every major from DreamHack Winter 2014 (included) and onward] with different lineups, and this is the first time the team makes it past the group. How does it feel to be part of the Flipsid3 roster that made it?
Well, it’s also my first playoffs in a major as well, so it’s like a first small step with the team. Maybe they could’ve done it without me, maybe I was the reason they got past the group stage, I don’t know, but I hope we’ll do it again [laughs]
I also want to ask about the way you parted ways with Gambit, was it a team decision?
Hmm, it’s hard to explain, but I’ll try to do it. Basically I was told that they were going to kick me. I was mad about it. They said that they would kick me if I didn’t do some stuff like, playing better or changing some things in my playstyle maybe. I was arguing too much. So they said that they were going to kick me, and I was like “what the hell?”. After that they tried to tell me that it’s okay, they still want to play with me, that there is no reason to worry. At this point I told them that I didn’t have faith in them anymore, that I couldn’t trust them and didn’t want to play anymore. So it was coming from both sides: the team and myself.
Is that different in Flipsid3? Are you less arguing like that? Is B1ad3 easier to work with?
Well, I’m always arguing if I see that I’m right [laughs].
Fair enough! Talking about B1ad3, he’s caught a lot of attention at this major, the way he set up Flipsid3 against better opposition, countering teams, how he made the right tactical decisions for the team, etc. Can you talk about that?
He’s watching a lot of demos. I want to mention we picked up our new coach. He’s watching demos and then afterwards he shows B1ad3 things he want to point at. And after that, in the game, B1ad3 tells us the way our opponents are playing, what we need to do, how to counter them. Yes he’s a genius! [laughs]
[laughs] Well that spells a bright future for Flipsid3! Any last word?
Thanks to everybody who supported us, who believed in us. I know there was only 2% of the guys who placed their bet on us versus NiP so thanks! [laughs]
Alright, thank you wayLander and good luck in the future with Flipsid3!
Thanks!
Interviewer: ragnarork
CSS: FO-nTTaX
Graphics: DearDave
Photos: HLTV.org
Well, you can never be confident that you will perform. We did what we did, and we are happy that we won over NiP and reached the playoffs. It was a really tough game but we did it, that’s all!
That series felt actually crazy because you picked Overpass, and they actually beat you on Overpass 16-14. Then they pick Cache and you stomp them 16-2 on it. Going into Mirage, what was the spirit in the team?
To be honest, after we lost overpass we were confident in our Cache, even though we never practice it. We played it only once recently, vs Mousesports at E-League. And that’s it. So when we started on Cache we were as CT, we started getting rounds. We were getting hyped. After we managed to close it 16-2, we prepared for Mirage. We knew that Mirage is not the best map for NiP. But the randomizer picks Mirage as the decider, and we went into it like, we were just playing our game. They tried to mount a comeback but some good eco-rounds and markeloff saved us.
Moving on to the series against SK. You had a pretty rough start on the first map, but in the second game you managed to put up a very good fight against them. It was on Nuke, actually the first time in the tournament that it was picked, after being pretty much banned in nearly every matches up until there. Did you try to kind of surprise them on that map with such a pick?
Hmm no. Just a map that SK are not playing very well right now. They don’t have experience on it, and we were training it. Already during practice, we played against SK during our bootcamp, and we got a draw on it. So first map versus SK, I was very nervous, maybe because of the crowd, or the stage, I don’t know. But I couldn’t handle myself and they stomped us on Mirage. But we knew that we could take them on Nuke. It’s one of the best team in the world and they master every map except Cache and, as we saw, Nuke. These are two maps that you can defeat them on.
You got into Flipsid3 after they signed Shara and the departure of Bondik, first as a standin and then joining the official roster. Will these results improve the stability of a roster that changed a lot recently? How will Flipsid3 build on this?
Well, we passed the group stage at a major! That’s a big reason to leave the roster as it is right now!
Continuing with the team, Flipsid3 have been making it to pretty much every major [E/N they attended every major from DreamHack Winter 2014 (included) and onward] with different lineups, and this is the first time the team makes it past the group. How does it feel to be part of the Flipsid3 roster that made it?
Well, it’s also my first playoffs in a major as well, so it’s like a first small step with the team. Maybe they could’ve done it without me, maybe I was the reason they got past the group stage, I don’t know, but I hope we’ll do it again [laughs]
I also want to ask about the way you parted ways with Gambit, was it a team decision?
Hmm, it’s hard to explain, but I’ll try to do it. Basically I was told that they were going to kick me. I was mad about it. They said that they would kick me if I didn’t do some stuff like, playing better or changing some things in my playstyle maybe. I was arguing too much. So they said that they were going to kick me, and I was like “what the hell?”. After that they tried to tell me that it’s okay, they still want to play with me, that there is no reason to worry. At this point I told them that I didn’t have faith in them anymore, that I couldn’t trust them and didn’t want to play anymore. So it was coming from both sides: the team and myself.
Is that different in Flipsid3? Are you less arguing like that? Is B1ad3 easier to work with?
Well, I’m always arguing if I see that I’m right [laughs].
Fair enough! Talking about B1ad3, he’s caught a lot of attention at this major, the way he set up Flipsid3 against better opposition, countering teams, how he made the right tactical decisions for the team, etc. Can you talk about that?
He’s watching a lot of demos. I want to mention we picked up our new coach. He’s watching demos and then afterwards he shows B1ad3 things he want to point at. And after that, in the game, B1ad3 tells us the way our opponents are playing, what we need to do, how to counter them. Yes he’s a genius! [laughs]
[laughs] Well that spells a bright future for Flipsid3! Any last word?
Thanks to everybody who supported us, who believed in us. I know there was only 2% of the guys who placed their bet on us versus NiP so thanks! [laughs]
Alright, thank you wayLander and good luck in the future with Flipsid3!
Thanks!
Interviewer: ragnarork
CSS: FO-nTTaX
Graphics: DearDave
Photos: HLTV.org
