HLTV.org - News: pre-ESWC interview: ESC Gaming NEO

This time it's the turn of an all time great in the world of Counter-Strike, as we catch up with Filip "NEO" Kubski from Polish ESC Gaming.

ESC Gaming received a direct invitation to ESWC 2012 thanks to their unmatchable success at the major which saw them repeat as world champions in 2007 and 2008.

The Poles haven't exactly turned yet in CS:GO as they were late to switch, but read on to find out what Kubski thinks of their changes heading into a domestic tournament this weekend, followed by ESWC.

How have you prepared for ESWC 2012? Have you bootcamped or only practiced online? Do you feel ready for the competition?

We have practiced only online, which makes us feel not as confident as we would feel after having a bootcamp. Especially in the new game where you have lots of new things to discuss.

How many hours have you played CS:GO overall? How about your teammates?

Before ESWC I will have around 250 hours in general, probably around 70 in past 2 weeks. We got tournament in Poland this weekend, and I hope it will give us some insight of how the game looks and feels on lan conditions.

What are you thoughts on CS:GO? What do you like and dislike? If you could change one thing, what would it be?

There are lots of pros and cons of that game. Personally I hate molotov granades, I wish that thing was banned. Feels that pistols are too strong, during our praccs there is lots of ECO rounds won and lost, which makes the game kind of more random. On the other hand it is cool that some other guns that colt/ak/famas/galil, used in a proper way can be viable.

What do you expect from ESWC 2012? If your life depended on guessing your final placing, what would you guess?

I am pretty bad gambler so I won't try that.

NEO was still playing CS 1.6 under two weeks ago in Portugal?

What can you tell us about your competition based on seeing them play and practicing against them? Who do you consider the strongest three teams going into the event?

We haven't played against NiP, or VeryGames, but I still believe NiP will be the strongest. We only played against Rush3D and brazilian team, but since we are much worse online than on lan, I never look at the results of our practice games.

Can you talk about your teammate and explain to our readers what everyone's role on the team is in-game?

Right now it feels that we haven't gotten any specific roles. The only ones I could mention, is kuben being IGL and pasha being a sniper. That's it.

Many say CS:S players had an advantage in switching to CS:GO, do you agree? Has the game been out long enough for it to even out?

The game been out long enough, if you have played it 24/7. We haven't, so I believe CS:S players have got some advantage. It's pretty hard to say that tho, since I haven't played that much of CSS to point out the similarities.

Do you believe it is necessary or advantageous to mix players from different games, or do you think it does not help?

I think it could help your team a lot at the beginning, since you can get a lot of good feedback from them ingame. I hope it's going to change after some time, when other teams, especially us - slowpokes and oldies learn new things.

Can ESC Gaming rise to the level they were accustomed to in CS 1.6??

With CS:GO still being a relatively new game, do you believe simply playing more hours still gives players a clear advantage?

Yeah since that's a new game you got to play a lot to learn all the new stuff.

In an interview at PGS 2012, you said you're afraid ESC won't be as good at CS:GO as it was in CS 1.6. Has your opinion changed after some practice? Are you ready to compete or are you still lagging behind the competition?

Last days of our practice have showed me that we can be good, if we put enough effort into it. Unfortunately feels like we are still "lagging" behind.

Considering your team's past success in CS, if things were to not work out at ESWC, how long would you realistically be able to put up with losing before you would call it quits? Or are you ready to work through the switch, no matter how long it takes, confident that you will pull through?

Can't really answer that one, will have to wait and see I guess. We will try working hard to get good at the game. Just have to wait and see.

This of course is not the end of our coverage heading into ESWC 2012, as we will continue releasing more interview with participating team's players as well as more features in the coming days.

Source: http://www.hltv.org/news/9373-pre-eswc-interview-esc-gaming-neo

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