Daniel "roca" Gustaferri is an up-and-comer in the North American CS:GO scene and was recently acquired by Echo Fox after acting as a stand-in for several weeks. roca took some time to chat with theScore esports about his transition into Echo Fox and future competitions.

Why Echo Fox? Did you seek out any other organizations or receive other offers?

When I was given an offer to join Echo Fox, there were plenty of factors that played a part: It was a good organization from what I had heard, the roster had past teammates that I knew have a lot of talent, and they had great leadership that I was confident would help better myself as a player all-around.

Echo Fox was also one of the only organizations who were willing to buy me out from my compLexity contract. This alone told me a lot about the organization and their desire to build NA's best.

Other than Echo Fox, there were a handful of teams that were interested in picking me up, but not interested in putting a ridiculous amount of money down in order to buy my contract.

What were your first impressions playing with Echo Fox as a stand-in since April?

During the ECS qualifiers when I stood in for them, I instantly felt comfortable. I fit in perfectly with all of the spots they wanted me to play, and the synergy of the whole team was really good.

The leadership of the team also was very strong. Right off the bat I knew this would be a great place for me to start becoming the player I have always wanted to be.

Sean "sgares" Gares at IEM Season X San Jose when he was part of Cloud9. The well-known in-game leader is now leading Echo Fox's CS:GO team

What adjustments, if any, have you had to make playing with Echo Fox (role, positions, etc.)?

There were not many adjustments that I had to make when I started playing for Echo Fox. I fit in pretty well with all of the positions they wanted me to play.

The biggest difference I had to face was pretty much something I had always wanted to do. As a player who is really confident in his aim and clutching, I have always felt like going in first and entry-fragging was not the right role for me.

Here on Echo Fox, I would be following up the entry fraggers, going in behind them, getting all the trades and securing the round. Obviously, there is more than that to Counter-Strike, but that's pretty much the biggest difference I faced, and I feel extremely confident in this change.

How important are in-house leagues like FPL in growing CS:GO’s talent pool?

I think it definitely gets players who aren't super known to the public more attention. I do think that most players that do have pro-level potential are already known to most teams and other pro-level players.

I feel like FPL and Rank-S are just another way for pros to play against other pros, but with money incentive. People don't play FPL or Rank-S to seek talent, and most people don't play how they would in a scrim or a match.

To me, it seems like a step up from pugging due to how the environment is and how people act while playing it.

What’s your opinion on the growing number of leagues? Now there’s CEVO, ESL, ELEAGUE, ECS and more. Is it too much?

I think the growth in the number of leagues is awesome; it's great for the game and for the players. It brings in a lot of money to the scene, and for that reason alone it drives a lot of players to become the best they could possibly be to fight at the very top of the game.

I'm going to be very biased here and say that there is never too much competitive CS. I simply love it.

How confident are you and the team going into future competitions (such as ELEAGUE, ECS and the Americas Minor)?

Personally, I go into all of my events with clear eyes and a great amount of confidence. We plan on putting in a lot of work before these events and we already feel extremely comfortable as a team.

We're not very far along in our lifespan as a team, and we're already taking maps and matches off teams that are further along. Knowing this, I believe we will have a lot of confidence as a whole and we will definitely be turning some heads.

This article has been edited and condensed for clarity.