Carolynn “artStar” Loquez made some time to answer a few questions about the recent Dreamhack Atlanta tournament the squad participated in, her thoughts on their performance, next year’s goals and next tournaments on the horizon.

Hello Carolynn. The team recently participated in the BYOC tournament in Dreamhack Atlanta, reaching a very respectable 3rd-4th place. First of all, congratulations on the performance. How did the team feel in the end of the tournament?

artStar: The team is always hungry for more. We definitely felt like we could have done better, we just made some minor mistakes that costed us a few easy rounds. But at the end of the day, we always take our loses as good learning lessons and learn to focus more on the positives and the things we did well on. Then when we resume practice its back to the drawing board to tidy up our team work.

Do you think you did a good run or were you expecting to get an even better position than you did?

artStar: Both! I think we had a good run, but we always expect better from ourselves, that determination is what makes us stronger!

You don’t have any more scheduled tournaments until the end of the year, at least in a LAN environment. When can the fans expect to see you again in action?

artStar: No LANs coming up means more stream time! Fans can see most of us live on our personal streams or our new podcast @RightClickShow. Until then, our next event won’t be until Feb 21st for IEM Katowice!

You have been participating in some big online open qualifiers, for example the IEM Katowice (Major) one. How do you feel about these and the results you’ve been getting?

artStar: We love open qualifiers, it gives us a chance to play in more pressured environments unlike scrims that can be more care-free. However, our last few qualifiers were a short run, but every time we learn something new that we could do better as a whole.

Are you entering these qualifiers with a practice mentality or as a possible opportunity to get a deep run and maybe even someday qualify for one of these big tournaments?

artStar: We always try and qualify but if we get knocked out, we obviously take it as a learning lesson.

The next ESEA season is not that far away. Are you already starting to prepare for it?

artStar: Even though there's not too much going on right now as far as LAN’s or matches, we still practice and take the time to watch demos and play. Like Iverson said, "When you're not practicing, someone else is getting better."

Are you doing anything different comparing to what you did last season, with the intent of getting a better playoffs placement and possibly climb up to ESEA Advanced?

artStar: We hit some bumps in the road in the beginning of this last season and kind of had our heads in our hands for a bit. With time and determination, we picked it up at the end and talked about some major adjustments we need to make for the next season, so we can make ESEA Advanced!

The holidays are upon us – is the squad taking a break to enjoy it or are you still trying to get as many hours in the game as possible?

artStar: Although we love to grind, we still value our loved ones and personal time, so we're taking a short break but as soon as the new year arrives, its grind time again!

Are there any words you would like to say to your fans to end the interview?

artStar: First fan to screenshot this interview and tweet it to me gets a $10 steam gift card for Christmas, Happy Holidays!

I want to thank Carolynn for the time she took to answer my questions and want to wish her happy holidays! Don't forget to check her social media to keep in touch and stay tuned:

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