Fnatic.dennis: "We do not feel like we are sole favourites in any tournament"

Hello Dennis. First of all, congratulations on winning the recent FACEIT LAN. How does it feel to start your journey with the new team by winning a such a large event straight off the bat?

It feels great to get a good start. We didnt expect that much going into the tournament even though we knew we had a good chance of winning.

Let’s take a quick look back. Were you surprised when Fnatic approached you with a signing offer?

I wasnt that surprised when it came clear they were to do a player change. Im feeling very honoured though to be given the chance but as Ive been good friends with Olof, krimz and vuggo for a long time, I knew I might have a chance some day.

Fnatic boasted one of the longest standing rosters in CS:GO history. Do you feel that by replacing you with their ex-in-game leader the team will need a long period of time to adapt to the recent changes?

It will for sure take time for us to settle in how we want to play. Always with a new player you need to mix your style and combined with a new IGL we have a lot of work infront of us to build our team and game plans.

The victory at the FACEIT Stage 3 finals LAN demonstrated a level of play from Fnatic, much like what we last saw from the team at ESL One Cologne. What are your feelings knowing that your fans expect you to perform and consistently secure first place at events?

We do not feel like we are sole favourites in any tournament. There are a lot of top teams to contend for every title and to win it all is simply too much to ask for.

"We do not feel like we are sole favourites in any tournament."

Has flusha adopted the in-game leader status now that pronax is gone? What kind of impact does the coach have on your gameplay/decision making?

Its hard for me to say how things were with pronax but ive been playing in a lot of teams with a lot of different leaders and flusha is for sure the best one. Our coach helps us with everything we do more or less, he gives his input at all times to help us see things differently sometimes.

You seemed to feel very comfortable at the FACEIT LAN. All the fans were cheering for you and you also happened to be top-fragging for the team. Do these factors give you that extra motivation for improvement?

We are comfortable with eachother, I know that if i dont have a good day, theres 4 other players that will carry me and vice verse. We know that every player in our team is a star that can turn any situation in our favour.

What composes the daily routine of Dennis? How long do you spend practicing and talking to your teammates? Is there enough time for you to go out and have some fun during the evenings?

We practice a lot, especially now that we are a new team with a lot of tournaments. But I still have time to do a lot of things outside gaming aswell, I feel I have a good balance.

Playing at the top level means a lot of travelling around the world. Do you personally experience problems with jet lags from travelling and tight schedules?

Im not a big fan of air planes and heights in general :D But i guess i will adapt with time.

Do you feel the schedule for CS:GO is overfull, or is it good enough as it is? Perhaps introducing a schedule, for example like in Tennis, would be better?

I think there is a little too many tournaments right now, with all these matches played all the time you lose a little hype. I think to keep the viewers satisified you need to create more value to every top game by not playing too much.

What are your thoughts on the concept of a Team Union?

Every player, team and organizer wants the same thing for e-sport and CS:GO, I think its good.

Following up the previous question, what are your thoughts on the prize pools? The amount major tournaments offer has not changed since the very first one.

Prize money could always be improved when you look at other games and how they have evolved, but it doesnt affect our preperation or ambition to win. We give every tournament we attend 110%.

The next stop for your team is at the ESL ESEA Pro League LAN finals in Burbank next week. Have you bootcamped/put in any special preparations for it?

We have not bootcamped but we have been practicing a lot, playing and winning FBM gives us even more confidence going in to this tournament aswell.

What are your thoughts on other teams that will be participating at the event? Do you see a clear favourite?

I think LG and EnVyUs is going to be the teams to beat to win. They are in good form and are two very skilled teams.

ESL and ESEA have finally decided to introduce a best-of-three format for the double-eliminations groups at tournaments after numerous outcries from the community and players. How do you feel this will impact Fnatic as a team? Clearly this format is less punishing when it comes to making mistakes, but will it be more exhausting for the professional players and the viewers?

I think its good. When theres only 8 teams on site theres no excuse to not have it. Its good for everyone.

From a professional player’s perspective, is there any significant difference between events that are co-organised with Valve and those that are independent?

Every major creates extra hype, with all stickers, pick-em etc, more fans are involved and so the viewership is way bigger. Ofcourse it gives more prestige to win such events.

"We have 5 world class awpers and whoever has a good day with it will play it."

Who is currently the main AWPer on Fnatic? During FACEIT we saw literally everyone on the team using it from time to time. Is there a designated player?

We have 5 world class awpers and whoever has a good day with it will play it, our opponent will never know where and in the hands of who the AWP will be.

North American teams have been struggling a lot in recent times. What are your thoughts on how they can improve their situation and progress further?

I think they progress all the time. Looking back early this year we only had one decent team and now theres a lot of them, giving a lot of EU teams a big challenge.

While North America may be struggling, a South American contender, namely Luminosity Gaming, shook the entire European scene, taking down some of the most prominent teams in CS:GO. What do you think about their updated roster? Are they capable of winning the next major or is this occurrence something comparable to Cloud9’s ‘’summer streak’’?

They have 5 really great individually skilled players now and if only they find a gameplan that suits them they will be one of the top teams for 2016, for sure.

Is there an upcoming player that you think has the potential to explode in the near future?

Hard to say but i think rain and jkaem from my old team G2 will have a great 2016.

Who are your main scrim partners? How do you make sure not to reveal all of the strats that you mean to use at main events? Do you feel your scrim partners have an advantage against you as they know what to expect at events?

We play almost every team from the top30 world, it all comes down to what scrims you can find that day. We dont prefer to play any team ahead of any other, the variation gives us great practice.

Do you play any other games besides CS:GO in your free time?

I play a lot of games, almost every new game that comes out :D Aside from CS, i now play cod:bo3, rocket league and arma, but it differs all the time.

What advice would you give new players that are just starting to test out the competitive waters of CS:GO?

Surround yourself with positive people, have fun while you play and you can solely focus on evolving your play and improving overall. Never play when your sad, angry or tired, it will only come back at you in a bad way.

Can we see more streaming from dennis soon?

Hopefully :)

Christmas and New Year are just around the corner. Maybe you could let us know what you will wish for on Christmas day? :)

I wish for a great 2016 for me and the team, and also for valve to fix the revolver...