Hi Jacob, for those who don't know you, you came to light on Source with two of your current teammates, MSL and Nille. You played for teams such as DSrack, MoD esports, and took part in a number of Danish competitions, like TheBlast and a couple of CPH Games. What memories will you keep from this experience ?

A lot ! It was really great to play source, mostly because it was more “fun” minded than many other games. Of course we wanted to win and we trained a lot in that purpose but it was a more relaxed approach to the game than it is on GO. I've make a BIG mistake about the ambient occlusion but I am very happy that people trust me again and know that it was a one time mistake.

I think the best part of my career on CSS was probably at Theblast #4. I played with MoD-eSport with MSL, Zn0pe, Isenbo, tabaco and we were actually pretty well prepared. We started out almost losing a groupstage match but managed to win 16-13. After that we got better and we ended up beating the former CPH Wolves and finished in 3rd place. For us that was a great result, and we had a really fun time, so definately one of the best moments In CSS !

Before touching upon CS:GO, let's talk about your career on Source. For a long period, and mainly because you were young, people said that you were onliners. How did you live through these tough times ?

Well I guess we didn't really care. It was mainly the british scene that never liked us and had doubts about us. Cadred has always been the place to be for Source in Europe and it is mainly dominated by the british monkeys that thought they really were something there. Not my cup of tea! It was a really great feeling beating mTw on stage at the CPHGAMES, which was our break through, at the same event we were beaten pretty hard by the brazilians who were really good!

After playing for a while with Blight Gaming, you signed with Anexis, a German organisation recognised internationally. You've participated to nearly all possible events in that period. Unfortunately, you always fell short of expectations. How do you explain that? Why do you look stronger online ?

Well, to be honest I really think we have been very unlucky! Online we played like we used to, but at lan we always need one last thing to really break through. At ESWC we were leading 15-9 against Verygames but we weren't able to win and at the Dreamhack we needed one more round out of 45, making three draws. When you look at it in that way I would say we haven't been lucky. Also, it is important to say that, at that time, we were very unexperienced, so that might be the reason of those disappointing results. We could have done a lot better, but when you look back I think it was a decent performance !

Let's touch upon the NorthCon, which I imagine was a real disappointment for you as you couldn't stand on the podium. This is when you decided to change players. What went wrong ingame, and why were ruggah and coloN replaced?

Northcon was a weird event for us. Before ESWC, Dreamhack, etc. we always had a great feeling about our performances, but I must admit that before the Northcon we were kind of scared: it was obvious for us that picking ColoN up was to early. He needed a little more time to take CSGO in hand and to learn a new kind of gaming. So the BIG fail at Northcon was the straw that broke the camel's back! Ruggah was mainly replaced because he could not call without Cajun helping him. They were great together but alone, he was simply not good enough. And when we got the chance to pick up the biggest caller talent in Denmark and the best awper it really wasn't a hard choice. Now, I feel that we have a stronger line-up, it's more balanced and we have the right players for the right things!

Then you decided to pick two other famous Danish players: Nico and gla1ve. At face value, a smart move considering their past performances. What can they bring to the team that you didn't have before ?

Gla1ve can bring in some dedication for the calling part of the game. He watches a lot of streams, demos, etc... So, he pretty much knows how each topteam plays. He has a strong mind that benefits us when he calls our strats. He is a young player with a great future as caller.

Nico brings in a strong awp. We didn't really need an awper as it was my role, but Nico is the best and most dedicated to it so why not? He can focus 100% on it, and I can start focusing on my rifle skill wich was already decent. He is also a very strong minded player, and he always plays great at LANs!

NiP and VeryGames are very competitive and always rank first and second, respectively, while the Danish scene has been disappointing. What do you need to finally beat teams of this level ? Is there some kind of inferiority complex ?

I don’t think so, Denmark have just needed the right combination of players in the same team, which I think we have now. We make a good team and we are ready to stay together for a long time. We know it takes time to be good, and since we have changed two players we are a bit behind the other top teams. If we don’t reach our real level at the CPHGAMES or at the Dreamhack summer, we will do it after the summer. It takes time to be really good, we just don’t know how long.


Looking at ESC, who have been improving fast and steadily, do you think that 1.6 players are at an advantage over Source players ?

They don’t have any advantages, they are just used to playing a lot and are also payed for it. They have the right mentality and have tried this many times before, they will improve a lot when it comes to the part where they don’t care about bitching over the game. I really respect 1.6 players, but I believe that we will beat them! The fact that they are getting payed is also quite important. Money could motivate me a lot more. Not the money itself, but more the fact that I would consider it as my job and this is something people respect.

You were the best player of your team at the DH Winter, ranking 3rd best K/D ratio overall. How do you practice and how do you prepare offline events ?

Well, I practice a lot. I don’t really like that, but if you want to be good you have to do what you don't like. In some periods before lans I could easily take 700-1000 frags on deathmatch servers and pracc right after. I like to see my skill improving it gives me a lot more motivation. Those who just play a few gathers and are fooling around will never be as good as the ones who really dedicate themself to the game. Dreamhack was a great event for me personally, but it doesn't really matter because we didn't go through the groupstage. I should have been good just one more round

What are your ambitions for 2013, and which competitions do you expect to attend? Do you think that you can fill the gap between you and the stronger teams ?

We are going to the HKLAN where we'll play the Gaming.dk steelseries league finals and right after the HKLAN itself. We expect to win both but it's going to be hard. Fnatic are improving, so are Wolves. Also danish lans have always been kind of weird so we'll see, we hope for the best!

We are also attending the EsportHeaven Viena lan. It will be our first internationnal test, and it may be a little too soon. We think that it's a great experience for us to play as many lans as possible before the Copenhagen Games. We don’t really expect anything, but getting out of the groups is always an achievement! (Not drawing would be great too)

More and more players start to stream Global Offensive, do you think that this can help bring CS:GO to the same level of recognition as LoL or SC2 ?

It helps without a doubt. But it does not solve CSGO's problem: we need a bigger base of players so it can get as big as 1.6 was once. I believe that it will be someday but people need to get their friends to play the game, to follow it and watch the streams. LOL and SC2 are two differents things so I don’t really like to compare them to CSGO. As long we can keep a respectable amount of tournaments and price money I will be happy. People will start to follow the game if people talk about it. The fact that Valve isn't selling it in stores is sad because that would get a lot more players, but I guess they have their reasons. Maybe the game's price is too low to sell it in a store, I don’t know..
CSGO will stand if people want it too!


You and your teammates are still very young, how do you manage to find time to train, and what's your training frequency ?

Well MSL, gla1ve and Nico are not in school at the moment so they have plenty of time. I am in what we call Gymnasium in Denmark, I don’t know what it's called in France. I really don’t have time to focus on both things, so I try to be as good as I can in both. It is all about prioritizing, and currently I prioritize CS higher than school, which is probably a mistake, but I love the competition in CSGO so much! I wont have time next year to play as much as I do now, so if I want to gain skill before next year, I must do it now!

Thanks a lot for your time. We wish you the best for the upcoming events. A last word ?

Thank you!  I want to thank Anexis who still support us and believe in us. They know our plans and I hope we can satisfy them! Also it would not be possible without Razer, Flicken, FSHOST, and MR.Zap! I hope we can satisfy our fans in the upcoming events! You can follow me on facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/PimpCS - Inside stories, upcoming giveaways, etc! You can also follow Anexis here: http://www.facebook.com/AnexiseSports

We see you on GOTV and maybe at the next ESWC ? :D