Interview mit HeatoN auf der DreamHack Summer 2016

HeatoN: „Wir sind das zweitbeste Team der Welt“

HeatoN: „We are the second best Team in the World“

DreamHack Summer 2016 made left behind some great impressions. We met Counter-Strike 1.6 legend and NiP manager Emil 'HeatoN' Christensen on site, who made time for an exclusive interview.

readmore.de: The DreamHack Summer Open has come to an end. Did you like the event?

Emil 'HeatoN' Christensen: I think in general it has been a success. However, we lost in the final versus… what was their name…

Immortals…

Yes, Immortals, I had Optimus in mind (laughs). Yeah, losing to them was pretty bad but overall we played a good tournament. Our brand has gotten incredibly popular, even beyond our expectations. I saw a lot of people running around wearing NiP shirts and fans love us. That means a lot to me. Without this support it would be much harder for the players. The atmosphere and audience cheering for us made the loss bearable.

You are Counter-Strike 1.6 legend. Do you get jealous when you see the guys playing CS:GO and you are just an observer?

Actually, it’s other way round. In the end of the 1.6 era we played at gamescom. StarCraft and League of Legends were played on the big stage and we were hidden somewhere in the corner. I felt incredibly ashamed. Eventually we decided to gamble and switch to CS:GO. Step by step it started to get bigger and bigger. In the beginning the game was quite terrible. It was horrible to play it, but I was determined and had a serious approach. I’m very happy about where it is today. We had an influence on the development of CS:GO and I am proud of it.

It has been nine years since you stopped actively playing. Do you think CS:GO has better outlooks than 1.6 back then?

In my heart 1.6 will always be my favorite game. At the same time I think CS:GO fits in much better as a part of eSports. You have a matchmaking system and you don’t need to go to IRC to find a game. There are items, a ranking system, new graphics. It’s quite different from 1.6 but it gives the same Counter-Strike feeling, so I think it’s good.

What is your opinion on map changes that are often implemented shortly before a big tournament, like the new stairs on Cobblestone?

In general changes like that are good but sometimes the timing is bad because it might give some randomness to a tournament. In my opinion it is good that Valve is active and tries to develop the game, making maps more balanced, like Inferno. As a counter-terrorist you could throw molotovs and smokes to block off the T-side all the time.

What do you think about the new Nuke?

I don’t know. I like the graphics, but I did not have time to play on it. Usually when I’m playing, I’m rather picking my favourite maps. I admit it is going to be interesting to see Nuke in action when the top teams will play it.

Even though you said you don’t play a lot these days, we saw you at the NiP booth and it looked like you are still in shape. How many hours per day do you spend on CS:GO?

Maybe around four hours. I started playing again, when I moved from Stockholm to the south of Sweden, because NiP has an office there. I don’t know many people out there, so I spend more time playing computer games. It is actually quite awesome, but prior to my move I haven’t played for a long time.

When you spectate the finals of tournaments like the DreamHack Summer Open with the raving crowd, do you ever get the longing to compete again?

Not really. I like what I do now better. I mean, the best feeling I ever had as a player and coach was when we won the DreamHack Malmö this year. It surpassed all of my own games. We worked so much for that victory. I even get goosebumps when I am talking about it right now. We had this horrible year 2015 and then we won in front of our home crowd. Our guys deserved it. It beat all of my previous experiences.

After Fifflaren left the NiP lineup at the end of 2014,the team began to stumble. Maikelele and allu joined and left, it seemed that nothing worked. With pyth on the lineup right now, do you think NiP could win the major?

Yes, sure! I think we are the second best team in the world right now and I think the rankings will show this soon. Officially we are third after Luminosity Gaming and Na’Vi,but I think we are better than that.

You are confident that NiP is better than Na’Vi and Fnatic?

Yes.

And what about Immortals who denied you the trophy at DreamHack Summer Open?

Normally we would win a match against them nine out of ten times. They were focused on this tournament, whereas we had our eyes on the others. It is as simple as that. To be honest, they played quality Counter-Strike. I’m not even mad that we lost, but I am impressed by their performance. It was amazing.

Anything you would like to tell your fans, as the ESL One Cologne is slowly approaching?

Just keep being awesome! Your support was incredible in Cologne and I hope you will do this again. It was amazing. Germany feels like a second home.

In Germany you will definitely have to fight for the crowd’s sympathies with the local mousesports team.

Our plan is to go further than them, so German fans can cheer for us afterwards. But obviously they are the home team!