On the spot with Counter-Strike: Source

Posted by: Goodeh

In this article I get a chance to talk to the Salvo players who have not been featured yet on the site, it aims to educate you, the reader, on much about them as professional gamers.

RattlesnK is not featured due to having previous had a featured profile; Harriman is currently on holiday, so his current stand in was interviewed instead.




When you heard about the CGS, what were your initial thoughts and reactions?

I first heard about CGS when the US teams were busy practicing for their combine, i know alot of the players and some of the GM's so I followed it a little bit. When i heard they were expanding to UK/Europe/Asia I knew I had to try and be a part of it.

All of you moved across from a 1.6 background, did you have any initial scepticisms of source before you started playing? Which proved founded and which proved unfounded?

When i switched to source I did it with a open mind, and i did it with the single goal of getting drafted into one of the UK CGS teams. Sure the game was not perfect in my eyes and i missed alot of aspects from 1.6 which i had spent the last half of a decade loving and playing.

However with my goal set, I actually found it fun learning and adapting to a new game, and it all worked out in the end.

How long do you think it took before you were fully adjusted to source?

Although we did really well in L.A and everything is going smooth now, i don't think any of us have even reached our maxium potenial, we have only been playing source for 6 months, and we are still learning new things everyday.

You had a brief spell during the online qualifiers with turtle gaming, why did the team fall apart and how did the move to dignitas come about?

A few days after we had won one of the CGS pre-quals, dignitas had contacted us to form a lineup for CGS combine taking place 2 months later. It wasn't a easy choice to leave Turtle gaming as if was straight after a win, but after some thinking and talking together we decided this lineup could become one of the best in the world and we never really looked back.

After being drafted how did it differ from being in your previous teams?

My bank account excluded it's not huge lot different except together we have alot of team chemistry and motivation to still improve is far greater. ODEE is also alot better than previous management i have worked under.

What did you do in the off time in LA?

We did quite a lot of shopping due to the dollar being so weak which is always nice. I played a little bit of poker with some of the other players at Hollywood Park Casino which was alot of fun and profitable. We also rented out a speed boat and took it out into the open sea to tear up some waves. We went out for a few drinks, everytime we had days off just to relax and get away from it all.

Before the first game against rio what was going through your mind?

I was very confident, we had done our homework and we fancied our chances. We started off with a win and it really set the mood in the Salvo camp.

How did it feel to win your first franchise match?

It felt good to win our first match but i wasn't letting myself get too excited as it what I had expected. We went out and had a meal and few drinks together as a team. Then it was pretty much business as usual as we started preparing for our next match vs Singapore.

After the loss what did you do in the time you had?

When we came up against Chimera, we knew it would be hard and most likely we were going to lose. However we weren't just going to give up before we had even started. We the first two games in the franchise match and CSS was up next and we just gave it our all and took Chimera all the way to the last game. Although we had won in css, and lost in the other games we lost as a team and won as a team and I was proud with what we had achieved and $70,000 was a nice sweetner to a bitter loss.

What key things will you work on for 08?

We are still learning CS:S and everytime we play we pick up new things, what works, what doesn't by the end of 08, I expect us to be No.1 or close to No.1 in the world.



When you heard about the CGS, what were your initial thoughts and reactions?

When I heard about CGS, my first initial reaction was that I wanted to be a part of it. At the time I was playing for the dignitas 1.6 team, some of us wanted to do it, some others were not that interested as they didn't want to play source, and we had some age issues. Me and Sam (Rattlesnk) worked hard to find some players that were 100% for it, and we found them.

All of you moved across from a 1.6 background, did you have any initial scepticisms of source before you started playing? Which proved founded and which proved unfounded?

Like most of the 1.6ers, we were sceptical at first, but as you start playing it, it's basically the same as 1.6. The only differences that I still don't like are the flashbang and the interpolate bug which I find quite annoying but the majority of the game is very similar.

How long do you think it took before you were fully adjusted to source?

I think it was about a month after the combine that everything really came together, especially for CGS rules. I still think our MR15 could be improved; but CGS rules are our priority.

How many hours did you practice a day at the world finals before the first game?

For the first week we played around 2-3 hours a day. When it came to the second week, it was 2-3 slots a day so about 4-6 hours.

What did you do in the off time in LA?

We pretty much just walked about, did a bit of shopping (although I didn't do much- Stu likes shopping far too much) and I think we visited about every restaurant possible around the Marina Del Rey area, and just lounged about really. We also went on a couple of boat trips
which was pretty good.

Before the first game against rio what was going through your mind?

I was pretty confident about the game ahead to be honest. I knew what I had to do and all I had to do is make sure that I would do it. I didn't really feel nervous at all I was just ready to go.

Did you expect the rio match to be so easy?

I wouldn't say it was easy, but from all of the games that we faced (in relation to CS), I think it was one of the harder teams we would face in the Championship. Thanks to Rattlesnk we got the early picks, and if you get the first pick in CSS - as long as you dont do something silly the round is pretty much in the bag, especially on Dust2 I think.

Were you expecting Chimera's source team to be stronger?

Chimera are a good side, they have a strong lineup coming from a good 1.6 background so we expected them to be tough. I think we just played the game pretty perfectly, making almost no mistakes and winning most- if not all of our 'clutch' rounds.

What key things will you work on for 08?

For me personally, making sure my aim is up to scratch and watching demos to find out new positions/tactics. I think that's all we really need to do for 08.

You bring in wez to stand in for harriman who's in New York, how is he fitting in?

I think he is doing fine, he need to learn a bit more about the game as he hasn't played for long, but it all comes with time and we've got plenty of it.



When you heard about the CGS, what were your initial thoughts and reactions?

I think like many people I was very sceptical at what was being said about the league, they were supposedly offering salaries to players and managers but my first thought was definitely to try and get involved somehow, even though the game being played was source instead of 1.6.

All of you moved across from a 1.6 background, did you have any initial scepticisms of source before you started playing? Which proved founded and which proved unfounded?

Of course it wasn't ideal having to change games but it was a great opportunity for us so we decided to go for it really. When we first started playing I think we found the aiming part fairly easy as that basically just carried through from 1.6 but we just had to learn all the angles and flashbangs and how to control the spray and just basic little things like that. I think the main problem was the flashbangs as in 1.6 it was alot easier to avoid them!

How long do you think it took before you were fully adjusted to source?

Well there are always new things you can learn even if you have played a game for years but when we attended the qualifier in Birmingham/London I don't think we had fully adjusted yet and it was our aim that got us through it.

What kind of preparation did you do in the run up to the qualifiers?

The team was only formed about a month before the qualifier I think and we had a whole host of problems trying to adapt to source and we also had a lot of problems with not having 5 people online to practice so I don't think we were fully prepared. We always went into the qualifier confident as we had much more LAN experience than any other team there even though we were playing a slightly different game.

What did the media training all the drafted players have to do consist of?

In London a woman came and talked to us for an hour and gave a short presentation on basically what we should say if we were ever interviewed and she also gave us some things to take away just so we know what to say to represent the league as well as possible. In LA Marc and Sam did some media training but I’m not sure what that consisted of.

What did you in your time off in LA?

The first week and a half we had pretty much all the time we wanted to do anything bar when ODEE wanted us to practice but as we weren't really sure of the schedule I don't think we made the most of the time we had free. We went shopping at Santa Monica Blvd a few times, rented a boat and went out once or twice and me and Stu went to Hollywood one day to see the stars and we went to hooters to eat after! Me, Pete and Sam went to universal studios one day which was quite fun but personally I would of preferred to go to six flags but we had no idea how to get there!

Before the first game against Rio what was going through your mind?

I think as both of us had come from a 1.6 background it was going to be down to the team that had adapted the quickest but Rio were always in the practice rooms and from what we knew of them when they were mibr we knew it was going to be a tough game.

What key things will you work on for 08?

I think we just have to keep practicing as hard as we have been and it should pay off even though ODEE always expects more :-) We have played a few maps alot more than others so we need to get to the same level on every map.

If you could change one thing about the CGS what would it be and why?

I'm guessing everyone else is going to say we need more POVs in the CS games so I’m going to be different and say higher salaries! :D Nah, I’m not sure really, I guess I would change the style of the show as they have done it more as a TV show than a gaming show but you can understand why they have done that.



Elliot “Wez” Welsh has been standing in for Stuart “Harriman” Harriman whom is currently on holiday in New York, he played with the team at the Infinity Gaming #5 LAN event in Birmingham.

Hello Elliot, for those readers who may not know you, please introduce yourself

Hello! My name's Elliot Welsh, I’m 18 and I’ve recently moved to Counter-Strike: Source after playing 1.6 in teams such as Dignitas, c4u, alltherage and virtuoso.

How are you fitting in as a stand in for the team so far?

Well I’ve known Pete and Sam for a while after being in teams with them for quite some time, so getting on outside the game isn't a problem. Game wise I can only really go off practice matches but everything’s going really well now after a bit of a shaky start.