This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

　　

You’ve said in an interview before that you first came in to contact with the MOBA genre at age 10 when you played Dota at a, in your own words, low level. What was the overall appeal of the game to you initially? Especially considering the rather notorious reputation the community had towards anyone who wasn’t able to perform in-game, did that ever get to you as a young player?

I think I was intrigued by the large amount of Dota rooms in the Garena lobby, there were a few hundred rooms dedicated to just Dota. I’d just been playing normal WC3 custom maps, so a custom map that popular must have been something else, so I tried it out. I think my level of understanding of the game was far too low for me to be an active part of the community, but i’m confident I got flamed, but that’s just part of the experience, right?

　　Anyways, I do remember one thing. I used to play in one of the swedish Dota rooms, where there was one guy named Frid that would frequently host games. These games were in that context, pretty high level, and after I played one or two games there I got banned and could never join another game hosted by Frid again. I think that about sums up my early days of Dota.

　　

From your time spent in Dota, was the competitive scene anything you found out about before your tranisition in to HoN?

I don’t think I grasped how popular dota was at the time, and I was never aware of any competitive scene.

　　

Your first ever competitive team in HoN is listed as “Pokémon Crew”. Who were part of the crew, and did you ever have any success before you joined more established teams later in your career?

Pokémon crew consisted of me, Xibbe, Mudkips, Mizukami and Heartskate, I think. I think we competed as a tier two team, but weren’t good enough for the top teams, so any success was limited to amateur tournaments.

　　Decerto

With team Decerto, you managed to win a stop at the Swedish ESPORTS-SM tournament, which qualified you for the playoffs in the event at Dreamhack Summer. Was competitive HoN something you took seriously during your stay the team, or did it become serious for you after you joined Blackfade?

Ah yes my first LAN experience, basically I was just subbing in for Decerto, and if I recall correctly, I was already a part of Blackfade. Winning the lan was fun and all, but I dont think we had that much opposition, instead, it was more of a fun experience than a competitive one. The competitive side of the game started in Blackfade, where we frequently scrimmed, played tournaments and actively tried to improve in order to win games.

　　

Around the time you joined Blackfade, there was obviously a lot of change in the air around the game’s competitive scene as the three-time Dreamhack champions fnatic were transitioning from HoN to Dota 2. Would you say that it became easier to break in to the scene overall, knowing that there wouldn’t a chance to encounter fnatic in every prestigious tournament?

It was definitely easier, by the time we entered the scene two of the top teams had given up on the game (fnatic and Lions) and the other top team was American, so we were suddenly on top of the european scene.

　　

To qualify for DreamHon Summer you defeated team [sGty] in the European qualifier’s grand finals. This team was composed of several famous names such as noobG, Fittske, Mynuts and Swindlemelonzz, were you convinced that you could reach a high placing at the tournament following your victory over them? Did you consider it a fluke given the drama surrounding the team at the time?

If I recall correctly, they were a fairly new and unstable team, and they definitely had leadership issues. Comparing these two teams in hindsight we were far inferior in terms of game knowledge, experience and was lacking individual skill in some areas, but we had a good team chemistry and knew how to execute our strategies. Going into the match we were quite confident so I wouldn’t say it was a fluke, but I don’t think they were able to play at their best, as drama and authority issues hindered the team.

　　Blackfade

With Blackfade, you travelled to Jönköping for DreamHon Summer, where you reached third place after losing to TteSports in the semi-finals, and finally defeated traDemark esports to earn 50,000 SEK. Was this expected at all from you or your team mates?

Somewhat, going into the LAN after a three day bootcamp we were feeling confident, and beating fnatic in the groupstage reassured us, unfortunately I think we let our hopes down after we lost the semi-finals vs TteSports, and morale was quite low. It was very noticeable in the bo1 against tDM as neither team really had any motivation to play, so the match was in lack of better words bad. Both teams played poorly and the throwing was constant, although I guess we managed to pull out on top. On the topic of tDm, the star players in the team (Moonmeander, Bkid, Sender) weren’t considered as much of a threat in tDm as they would be later when playing for coL, so at the time I didn’t think they’d dominate as much as they did later on when they became coL.

　　

Do you think that if your series had been a Bo3, rather than a Bo1 that tDM would’ve walked away with the prizemoney instead?

Probably, morale was really poor and the scheduling would have made us miss out on the grand finals, so we decided between ourselves to just play a bo1 to be able to watch the finals. I can’t really say if we would have won a Bo3 or not, but they were probably the better team at the time so the odds were probably in their favor.

　　

Following your success at DreamHon, you were quickly absorbed by it’s Gosu, and were almost as quickly released from the team before you joined the new tDM roster. A red thread throughout your career in HoN up until that point however, was you always sticking with your jungle player iNsania. Was there something about the way he was in-game that made you feel more comfortable playing?

We got along very well and had a similar view of the game, and playing with him just felt natural, so when negotiating the switch to tDM I think he considered us a package deal. It was far too long ago to remember what kind of qualities he had in-game, but we played well together.

　　

You and iNsania became the replacements for fajn’ and PabloMcDad on the new tDM roster and became one of the few teams to take victories over coL at the time, who were dominating the scene. Speaking strictly of them in-game, what was it that they accomplished so much better than other teams?

compLexity GamingThey had one strategy that they executed well, a kind of 4 protect 1 strat with 2 of the heroes being heavy gankers. Their individual skill was much higher than almost every other team, we were probably the only team that could compete with them, so they were already miles ahead of everyone else. The strategy that they executed sort of became the metagame at the time, and going up against them always felt challenging, as they were always considered the favorites. However, as well as they executed their strategy, I think we eventually caught up with them in terms of execution, and we had a wider selection of heroes to run it with. After playing them so many time we also knew what we needed to do in order to secure a win.

　　

At DreamHon Winter 2012, it was a complete toss-up between which one of either coL or tDM that would win the entire tournament, but it ended up going your way in a very one-sided 2-0 sweep and you ended up becoming the second ever DreamHon champions after fnatic. Did you feel that you held an advantage against coL due to beating the majority of the team earlier in the year at DreamHon summer?

Fnatic has always been remembered as the uncontested giant of HoN, and probably always will, even after not playing the game for several years they were considered the best by the majority of HoN players. Filling their spot took three teams, and honestly I think the HoN scene improved as there was no longer a clear victor, atleast for a while. I don't think us beating them at DH Summer impacted the finals at all, the matches were surprisingly enough, not that difficult, but I wouldn’t attribute anything to my previous LAN. To be honest, I think their play was lackluster during the finals, and we were playing well, so a win was inevitable.

　　Trademark eSports

　　

The HoNCast end of year awards were completely one-sided when it came to the player awards, as you won a total of three awards: breakout player of the year, mvp of the year and best suicide/offlane player. This question isn’t aimed to take anything away from you, but did you feel as if the awards deserved to go so heavily in your favor, given that they were mostly awarded to you due to your performance at DreamHon, when a team like compLexity had been consistent since their formation and had more tournament wins?

No, I think you’re right. They were probably very biased in my favor as defeating coL was considered a great feat at the time, and doing it in such a one-sided fashion was probably the reason for me winning the prizes. The time leading up to dreamhack was dominated by coL, and in al fairness they probably should have received most of the prizes. But in a competitive setting results from the past don’t hold much value, and our win at dreamhack was still on everyone’s minds.

　　

Your experimentation in the offlane was also considered one of the main reasons behind the massive support you got in the year-end lists.

Yeah, I probably deserved the offlane prize. Offlaning in HoN had always been about sacrifing a hero that could survive well and efficiently gank once reaching level 6 or so, prime examples were Bubbles (Puck), Pharaoh (Clockwerk) and so on. The offlane or the shortlane, was also always a 1vs1 lane, but with the occasional pressure from the jungler. Wretched hag (QoP) and Wildsoul (Sylla) weren’t used at all in the offlane, but their dominance in the 1v1 situation and their ability to quickly catch up in farm made them top tier picks for me and my team. I would frequently win my 1v1 and keep up in farm with my safelane carry, so we would practically win a lane that you shouldn’t win, abusing those two heroes.

　　

At the start of 2013, when it looked like tDM were in their prime iNsania left the squad due to “conflicts within the team that created an unhealthy atmosphere that made improvement impossible”, and saw him replaced with Fittske who Mynuts had played with in [sGty] previously. Did you agree with the roster swap at the time and did you feel, looking back at it now, that this change was what caused your title as the best team around to be called in to question?

I definitely agreed with the roster switch, it was an unanimous decision. The decision was made because we had been performing poorly, and much of it was attributed to our individual play, there were also some unresolved issues between Insania and other members, so it was for the better. But we did continue to perform poorly, and at some point I think most of us lost motivation to play, somewhere in time we had lost our mojo. I think we would have been in far worse shape if we had kept him.

　　

The HoN scene in NA was also in a state of flux following the announcement of world star jungler Chessie leaving compLexity in favor of joining Stay Green, coL’s greatest rival at the time. This team would eventually go on to become the world’s most accomplished HoN team and seemed to have become the ultimate brick wall for your team, as they smacked you down with an overall score of 5-0 in your first two encounters in the GSL qualifier, and later grand final. Were external factors playing in to your conditions at the event, given that it was in Thailand, or did you simply feel like you had gotten outplayed overall?

We were just not on the same level as sG, they were far superior to us and every other team, and we were constantly the underdogs going into matches. Besides all they ran was this one strategy, and we were too stupid to figure out how to counter it, although i’m pretty sure they were just abusing the stale balancing of the game.

　　stay Green

Following the GSL finals in Thailand, you were bound for Las Vegas for the inaugural HoNTour world championship event. After having placed 2nd in the GSL, did you feel as if the tournament would only be between you and Stay Green once again?

We were set on finishing second, we weren’t afraid at all of the other two teams but didn’t feel like we could beat sG at all, so finishing second was all that we could accomplish.

　　

In the end, it would be a very similar story to Thailand as Stay Green thrashed you three games in a row to win the championship and $60,000. This must have been a disappointing finish for you once again, as you were bearing the title of 2012’s “team of the year”, but I would like you to develop exactly why Stay Green had this unbeatable presence surrounding them.

As i said before, they had this one strategy that they would draft every game, and no one was able to find a good counter to it, even now I’m pretty sure the teams taking games off sG were just executing the same strategy, but better. But at that time no one was able to do that, and us and coL was stuck in the same kind of playstyle that we had during our dominant streaks.

　　stay Green after defeating tDM at the HoNTour Grand Finals

　　

Was the fact that Chessie’s little brother limmp was part of tDM ever affect the team going in to your series against each other? Did he ever feel more pressure in particular since it was his bigger brother he was competing against?

It wasn’t really a factor at all, they didn’t look at it as an incentive to try harder.

　　

With the loss at HonTour, and the overall state of the event and HoN’s competitive scene overall, tDM disbanded following the event. The entire ex-tDM squad continued to play under Stay Green.eu, which led to you attending another DreamHon tournament, but were this time unable to reach the grand finals as compLexity battled Stay Green for the title. Was everyone in the team at that time still as invested in the competitive aspect of the game, or were you set to move away from the game at that time?

I think we all pretty much lost our motivation to be the best, and were practically aiming at a second place, although after poor play we were unable to get to the final. The motivation just wasn’t there.

　　sG.EUIn relation to that question, did you have to put in much time into HoN in order to stay on top during the school months?

　　Not really, HoN wasn’t as demanding in terms of scrimming, and besides, school at the time was even less demanding, so I had all the time in the world.

　　When you eventually found yourself returning to competitive MOBAs Dota 2 was your choice and your first team was Stay Free together with PPD. Something interesting to look at here is that PPD had picked the role as captain/drafter already, and it’s currently what he is being praised for the most when it comes to EG and your recent success. Was he ever considered a good drafter in HoN, in comparison?

　　I don’t think Peter ever drafted in HoN, but I doubt it would have made a difference. In EG though most of our drafts are pre-determined, but Peter usually has the most say in determining certain heroes that would fit well into the lineup.

　　

Stay Free chugged through the MLG Full Sail qualifiers, but were unable to attend due to you and your stand-in being European, which mean that your travel stipend wouldn’t cover the costs. Hadn’t it ended in such a fashion, how do you think that you would have faired in the event itself? What was your take on Take 5? Do you think you could have beat them had either of you made the LAN?

If we would have gone we were destined to compete against Dignitas in the finals, and I don’t think they were that impressive at the time, so a win wasn’t unlikely. Maybe, we never actually played against Take 5, so I don’t know how a match between us would have gone, but it was probably a 50% chance at most.

　　

The journey for you and PPD continued as you two joined Super Strong Dinosaurs following the dissolution of Stay Free. This stay seemed to be rather chaotic, as you left close to a month after having joined it in the first place, did you feel like it was still a team you as a player grew in in some way?

Seeing as my role was completely different from what it currently is, i don’t feel like it made much difference in the end, instead I think I got more accustomed to the competitive scene of Dota and gained some valuable experience.

　　SADBOYS / EG

At the start of 2014 you, PPD, EG's Universe and Fear as well as Arteezy created a mixteam called SADBOYS. Those three names are some of America’s most established, and the run you and PPD had enjoyed in Dota 2 up until that point had been spotty to say the least. How did the five of you decide on playing together?

Artour had been talking about creating a new team for the new year, with the goal of making the TI qualifiers. The team itself had several candidates, but after mixing and trialing, the team was decided and me and Peter joined the roster. The team was formed with a firm goal of making TI qualifiers, and if the results weren’t there early enough and there was no apparent potential, disbanding would’ve been inevitable.

　　

The center-fold of recent EG line-ups has always been Fear as a player, and it seemed obvious that he would be in the central role of this new line-up as well. Were there any other candidates in mind for the 1 position?

I wasn’t really in the position of discuss potential players, and even if I could, I don’t recall there being any better options for an american carry player.

　　

Three months has since passed, and you are currently part of North America’s undisputedly best team, do you see any parallels between the height of tDM’s reign in HoN to this current EG roster, or are you still cautious about getting too excited before you’ve attended any international LANs?

I think we’re very confident in our own skill, but from a public view all that remained is for us was to prove ourselves at a major LAN. I also don’t think a reign as dominant as the one I experienced in tDM could be possible in Dota, as the competition is fiercer and better.

　　

The age factor is once again something I think is interesting to bring up in this case. The years between you and your team mates in tDM seemed to be 3-4 tops in most cases, but here there is a divide of close to 10 years between you and Fear, and close to half a decade between you and Universe/PPD. Is there a hierarchy based on the age in the team, or is it divided unto the roles you all play?

I don’t think age matters at all, everyone has an equal say and me and Artour can contribute with equally much as everyone else. While the age factor is interesting on paper, it really isn’t apparent when ingame, or in our ordinary team atmosphere. I don’t think age has anything to do with how you play, instead I think we have similar mindsets when playing, which leads to us being perceived as playmakers.

　　

Expanding on the transition from offlaner to support in your case, from what I’ve heard being a support player in HoN was much more slow paced in comparison to supports in Dota 2 given the low global gold gain and the low XP range from both neutral creeps and lane creeps. Did this ease the transition for you from the offlane role to the support role?

Well playing secondary support for EG often leads to me having the same amount of farm as our offlaner. In addition to that, my primary goal is often the same as our offlane hero, I’m supposed to set up kills and maintain a steady farmrate, so I didn’t find the transition difficult at all. In fact, i’m probably one of the more non-supportive support players.

　　

With you and PPD coming from a HoN background, I think it’s always interesting to see how the top HoN players think about the game and how it reflects in picks and playstyle. Is this the case for you two?

I actually don’t think there’s a lot we brought with us from HoN, besides from mechanical skills. The games are much too different for us to be able to execute the things we ran in HoN.

　　

The series you played against Team Liquid in the SLTV XI America finals was the first real test for your team following the Monster Invitational. TL were considered dead meat when they entered the Bo3 but ended up almost taking the ticket to Kiev over you. Was the tilt a real factor for you going in to the entire series, due to the misunderstanding surrounding the supposed WB advantage?

It was unfortunate that we didn’t get an advantage, but to be fair, us having an advantage would’ve proved really unfair, as a 1 game advantage in a bo3 is quite ridiculous. We were obviously dissatisfied, but I don’t think we were put on tilt. Even though we didn’t have a one game advantage, we were still very confident playing against team Liquid, so the impact it had was very minor.

　　

Eternalenvy had to become a last-minute addition for your team in Kiev. Did it impact your own outlook on your team's overall performance before the games starded?

Seeing as we had already been repeatedly using a standin in Mason, it wasn’t new for us as a team. We were already accustomed to an “outside” player as our carry, and when a very capable player such as Envy joins, our hopes were still as high as they would’ve been with any other player.

　　

What was the feeling of being at a LAN that contained the absolute tip top competition, especially after knowing that youd been placed in a group with the TI1 and TI2 champions Na'Vi and iG?

Going into a LAN where all the top teams are competing obviously feels great, getting the chance to prove yourself against the absolute best and proving yourself is always a pleasure. With that said, we were kind of relieved as we didn’t have to face DK, the team which we were most afraid of. Seeing as we didn’t have to play them, we were kind of content with our group and thought we had a good shot at getting out of the groupstage with atleast a 2-1 record.

　　Game 2 of your series against Alliance was definitely a game for the ages, as you brought the game back from what looked like certain defeat following a massive play by you and Universe. Was the plan to simple go for a last ditch attempt in this kind of fashion pre-planned by you?

　　Me and Universe had already decided that we absolutely had to initiate on the silencer, and as soon as Universe got a vacuum off I would instantly follow up. Fortunately we got that huge opportunity where Universe found 3 players and I followed up, which eventually tipped the tables in our favor. But in the heat of the moment and in the aftermath of that successful teamfight, we were still focusing on winning, but as always, coming back from a deficit and winning a teamfight where you are at a disadvantage is refreshing and hope inducing.

　　

The post-game cameras showed your team being very calm and collected, even after some of your incredibly close victories. Is this reflected in-game as well? In contrast, the iG squad literally shouts at eachother during the game, but do you communicate in a more quiet manner?

Personally I’m not very emotional ingame, nor is our team, but when the situation calls for it there’s yelling and shouting in our team too, mostly due to excitement and encouragement. It might be a bit counter-productive, but emotions tend to take over when in a LAN setting and shouting or just being more vocal comes naturally.

　　

Was there anything that you saw from DK the entire tournament that ever made you feel like they were weak in any aspect?

We felt confident as we entered our series versus DK, and thought we had a solid grip on what they played during the groupstage, but unfortunately as it turned out, they were far too versatile to be locked in one playstyle or set of heroes. The prime example in wisp kind of caught us offguard and played a huge role in our defeat, and I’m confident they’re capable of doing something similar with another hero, as they showed when they kept winning games versus empire without touching the hero. With that, I definitely feel like they’re the team to beat right now.

　　

Going down to the loser bracket finals, you battled Team Empire for a chance to rematch DK once again. Unfortunately for you, off the back of a draft that fell flat in the first game, you weren't able to close the series out after winning the second game, and were eliminated in 3rd place. Your captain seemed to take the loss in a very personal manner, blaming himself for the defeat. Was the rest of the team as shook as PPD seemed to be when you were out?

I think we were all a bit disappointed, as we didn’t consider the series against Empire resulting in a loss. We had already set our sights on DK and were very excited to get to play them again, but as you said, unfortunately we didn’t quite reach that far and got knocked out. As we had hoped for so much more, we were all quite emotional after the finish and I don’t think Peter was the only one feeling displeased.

　　

With your performance at SLXI, a TI4 invite for your team feels all but secured. Has the LAN in Kiev made you confident going in to the event, seeing as you now know who the obvious favorites for the title are, and knowing that you managed to finish 3rd at one of the absolutely most stacked international tournaments in Dota history?

It definitely boosted our confidence. Personally I didn’t realize we were so capable in our play, but after performing at Starladder going into a tournament with similar competition will feel more natural and comfortable. Although much can change until TI4 and being complacent and confident in the performance you had at a previous LAN will only hurt you. But the experience and the things we learned from Starladder will be invaluable for us if we play TI4.

　　

After detailing your entire journey within esports in this interview, what do you feel when you look back at it today?

I could’ve spent all this time playing table tennis instead.

　　

Looking ahead, it’s obvious that you have already experienced higher highs than many competitors in esports experience throughout their entire careers. Seeing as you're as young as you are, does esports still feel like an attractive venture for you going in to the future?

I haven’t decided if I am going to continue playing next year, as that is when school gets serious and when my results actually matter, but that’s probably dependant on our success. As for the future, a career in esports isn’t unheard of, but I don’t think it’s the first thing I would consider.

　　

Final words/shoutouts?

First and foremost I’d like to shoutout EG as in both my team and organization for personally giving me the opportunity to compete at such a prestigious event. I’d also like to thank both Mason and Envy both for aiding us in Fear’s absence, In addition, I’d like to thank NaDota, GrandGrant, Bulba and Corey for their support, and last but not least Insil for her invaluable contribution.

　　And shoutout to my sponsors Monster, HyperX, BenQ, Razer, Cyperpower, ZAM, Need for Seat and Design by Humans.

　　Photo Credit: GosuGamers, ESPORT-SM, Monster eSports, HoNCast, Blackfade, Starladder