GBGL - Great British Gaming League

The Challenge Cup Interviews #1!

Written by Lant in Counter-Strike Source News

The Challenge cup is GBGL's first CSS event in a while but how are the teams finding it at the moment? Well, I asked the top two teams of the four groups how they felt they were doing!

Group One

I caught up with Team Fate's leader, jiM to see how he he thought they were doing so far.

With DFA beaten, have you got high hopes to go through to the finals now?
Yeah, but I've been looking at Eleventh and AfraidG and they look fairly strong aswell.

Your one of the top teams in this cup and certainly look like could go on to win it, do you think you can?
I suppose we could, but with the two new recruits ( Pkr and Laith) we will have to do a lot of practice if we are to have a chance.

You've had a slight roster change throughout the cup, do you think this may jeopardize your chances?
Most definitely could!

Are there any teams/players you think will give you a challenge seeing their results? If so, who and why?
Eleventh, from there old roster they were a strong team and I think if they are practising a lot and with their results, they have built a lot of momentum and we will find it hard to stop them.
AfraidG are also a team that I myself had never heard of, but then when I saw their results I was a bit worried, looking at their sites, they seem to have won a few LAN's and will be a strong team to beat!

With Epidemic accompanying you into the Quarter Finals, how far do you think they'll get now?
They were fairly strong against us and with the two wins against the other teams I think that they will be hoping to go far too.

After that, I tracked down Mikeh from Epidemic Gaming and looked at what he had to say.

Who do you think your best players been in this cup so far?
Everyone is as good as each other. Picking just one player would be difficult as everyone plays together well as a unit.

If you don't mind me saying, your not much of a heard of team coming in to this tournament, how are you feeling getting through into the Quarter Finals?
Well... We're not a known team, but we've entered the cup to prove that we have what it takes, and I remain adamant that we can go the whole way, and see the cup out to the end

Do you think you can win your match in the Quarter Finals? Who are you hoping not to draw?
I don't mind who we draw really, I hope we draw Fate, as I think the team has improved and we want to beat the best teams, to in fact prove we are the best.

Are there any teams/players you think will give you a challenge seeing their results? If so, who and why?
AfraidG seem a good team, so do Fate. I think they will give us a good match, possibly beat us. But we will not go down quietly.

With Fate accompanying you into the Quarter Finals, how far do you think they'll get now?
They have certain aspects about them that make them look as if they are going to take the cup, but it's all still to play for, we're as good as any team in this cup and we intend to show it on the night.


So, we know what Epidemic and Fate are thinking, they want to beat the best to be the best! Though by the sounds of it, both teams are anticipating AfraidG and Eleventh to give them hell!

Lets see what Group 2 has to say.


Group Two

When I interviewed Blody from AfraidG, I could tell that he has a passion for winning and his answers reflected it 100%!

Who do you think your best players been in this cup so far?
I cant tell you which is the best player cause all we achieve is done by the whole teams performance.

Your probably one of the top teams in this cup and certainly look like your in it to win it, think you'll go all the way?
Yes certainly we are looking forward to beating some more British teams!

You've passed the group stages without dropping any points, think you can go all the way with a clean sheet?
I believe so but anything can happen, I don't know of any of the teams participating in this cup so every match we have, we cant tell how skilled our opponents are going to be before we see for ourselves.

Are there any teams/players you think will give you a challenge seeing their results? If so, who and why?
I am not really interested in analysing other teams performance, we've seen and played in some top class matches and learnt from them so I hope these wont be a problem!

With NarChaD accompanying you in the Quarter Finals, how far do you think they'll get now?
To be honest with you, I don't know how they managed to win against Syndicate but if talking about their chances in play-offs, I cant tell you much either as I haven't played against any of those other teams they're going to face.


So with Blody's answers in, did NarChaD have the same attitude? I spoke to pod to see what he felt!

Over the past three weeks, who do you think has been your best player in the cup?
Its pretty hard to single out one person since we got a default win against [tdm] and then got a swift checking from AfraidG. I remember APi having a solid CT half against Syndicate on Inferno so I'd have to say him.

With a smooth win over Syndicate, do you think if you met them ever again then the scoreboard would be different?
Yeah Syn gave us a pretty tough time when we were T so credit to them, as CT we were pretty solid and managed to take the rounds we were after. I defiantly think winning the knife round is important when you play first to 16.

With another week over and you going in to the Quarter finals, how much further do you thing you can go?
All depends what team turns up I guess and what map we get. Results have been hit and miss as of late so were just looking to take each game at a time. Its been a while since we won a league so maybe this could be our turn.

Who out of the three teams you've played in the group stages gave you the best match? winning or loosing.
I think I have to give credit to AfraidG, they handed a very solid CT set-up on nuke. As much as we mixed it up and picked they slapped it back on us. I can see why people would predict them winning this tournament, lets just see how good they are on the other maps which aren't so CT biased.

With AfraidG accompanying you into the Quarter Finals, how far do you think they'll get in the cup?
I cannot comment on other teams too much in the league as I have not heard of a few, but I'm pretty sure eleventh:hour or AfraidG will win this cup.


So, again, Eleventh:hour and AfraidG seem to be popping up alot! I think were seeing a clear indicator on who teams are scared of. Lets see what the 4 teams from group three and four had to say!


Group Three

Eclipse of eleventh:hour, one of the teams feared at the moment, was in high hopes as he answered my questions!

Over the past three weeks, who do you think has been your best player in the cup?
The whole team is on form at the moment and are better than ever before. I couldn't answer that question as every member in eleventh has their own individual talent in different areas. That's why we are a team.

Beating FF$ must be a nice feeling, do you think if you meet them again, will the scoreboard be different?
It was a nice feeling to finish the groups undefeated, I wouldn't say it was a nice feeling to beat FF$ as its just a part of the game. If we met them again in the knock-out stages, it all depended if their roster stayed the same, if it changed, so would the score but if it stayed I cant see there being much difference.

With another week over and you going in to the Quarter finals, how much further do you thing you can go?
All the way obviously. I have full confidence in my team and expect nothing less than to bring home the gold.

Who out of the three teams you've played in the group stages gave you the best match? winning or loosing.
If I had to choose id choose FF$ just based on the fact they were the only team to get rounds from us.

With FF$ accompanying you into the Quarter Finals, how far do you think they'll get in the cup?
It all depends on how the draw comes out, I think if they met some of the higher seeding teams then their time could be cut short.


With one of the higher ranked teams done, I went to the team who slightly came higher by one Round Difference. FF$, and I got Drifter to answer the questions!

Over the past three weeks, who do you think has been your best player in the cup?
Easy. DMF. Running this team for my clan has at times been challenging. However you do come across diamond players occasionally that make it worth while, DMF is one such players.
You would have to be in game to understand fully. Its the things you cant teach, game sense, calmness, clutch, communication. I'm honoured to play with him.

Losing to Eleventh must be annoying, if you meet them again do you think then the scoreboard will be different?
Annoying? No I wouldn't say so. Make no mistake Eleventh are a good team, losing to them is no discredit to us at all. We did already have progression to the quarter finals in our hats before this fixture, and with difficult Clanbase, ED, and EDCSSL fixtures around this same time, we saw this as a match we can take our foot off the gas. There was only DMF from our main team playing, and this was reflected in the score line. There is no point showing all we have when we would have gained nothing. Its good to keep something back for the knock-out stages when we really need them. If the fixture meant more to us at the time, I think you would be looking at a different scoreline.

With another week over and you going in to the Quarter finals, how much further do you thing you can go?
We can make it all the way. Would be daft to say otherwise. There has only been one shock loss in the group stage as far as I call it, so things are going to plan thus far. Obviously, the team draws will make a big difference. With no insult to anyone, there are still a few weak teams left in so whoever draws against these will have themselves a relatively easy game. I hope the draw is kind to us.

Who out of the three teams you've played in the group stages gave you the best match? winning or loosing.
Eleventh. The first team we played we beat 16-0, and to be frank, they had 4, and may as well have not shown up (glad they did, 16 rounds is better than 3 points).
The second game was closer, but we fielded a very weak team knowing they were capable of still getting the result.

With Eleventh accompanying you into the Quarter Finals, how far do you think they'll get in the cup?
In my opinion, there are only 3 clans who are a safe bet to end up in last four. Eleventh are one of these.


So a relatively calm group, with eleventh being a cup favourite and FF$ staying calm with a sound team, both teams seem like there going to go far!


The last of the groups, Group Four, Corruption and som, both placed in the Quarters after week two had a relatively easy week going head to head, but lets see what the both had to say after Corruption beat som!

Group Four

Firstly, I caught up with Head of CSS, AntiX and talked about Som

Over the past three weeks, who do you think has been your best player in the cup?
I believe Som work more as a team than individuals, so I would say we have all worked together to make it through to the Quarter Finals. However, one person that's stood out has to be Scudd.

Losing to Corruption must be a hurtful feeling, do you think if you meet them again then the scoreboard will be different?
I don't want to make excuses for losing, Corruption are a very good team and I have great respect for them. However, we did not field our best team for the match as we had already made it through. If we meet them again who knows what the result will be, but we will definitely be more up for it.

With another week over and you going in to the Quarter finals, how much further do you thing you can go?
The standard of teams in GBGL over the last months has greatly increased, and I think there are some tough opponents to face if we want to make it all the way. I believe we have the ability to make it to the end and win as long as we keep our heads.

Who out of the three teams you've played in the group stages gave you the best match? winning or loosing.
Corruption without a doubt. No offence to the other two teams but I believe Som and Corruption were very well matched and that both teams learnt alot from the match.

With Corruption accompanying you into the Quarter Finals, how far do you think they'll get in the cup?
Corruption are a great team, and I wish them the best of luck. I think it all comes down to the draw, and who they have to play and on what maps. But they could certainly cause lots problems for teams.


As I felt weird interviewing myself, I did it with leader Shortie of Corruption, he had this to say!

Over the past three weeks, who do you think has been your best player in the cup?
We've had some excellent team & individual performances so everyone's played their part. However, if I was going to stick my neck out it'd pick XistEnCe - our Norwegian awper! The guy's been pure class for us, showing a lethal touch with that sniper, and pulling us through in crucial times like the Sect8 match - if we lost that we could of had a very different cup. Hats off to all the Corruption members, they've all done me proud!

Winning against Som. must be a great feeling, do you think if you met them again then the scoreboard may be different?
I know Som rested a couple of players and stated before the game that inferno was their worst map. In fact, we played them on nuke in a pcw a few weeks back and got demolished 16-3! I've no doubt they'll be much better if we play them again but I'm totally confident that Corruption have what it takes to cause another upset.

With another week over and you going in to the Quarter finals, how much further do you thing you can go?
Well to be honest we haven't played much de_train so we're going to have to practice like mad and work on some strong tactics. Whoever we get I hope we can give them a great match and I'm sure we've got every chance of progressing to the last four.

Who out of the three teams you've played in the group stages gave you the best match? winning or loosing.
I have to say our first match again Sect8 was the highlight for me. Many people (including a few of our members) were slating them before the match saying they were rubbish and I think they took us by surprise! They came out all guns blazing and were 10-5 up after their terrorist round. After a few stern words however, we got into the zone and then blitzed the T round. It was a superb comeback and I enjoyed every minute of it. I'm sure Sect8 will say the same!

With Som. accompanying you into the Quarter Finals, how far do you think they'll get in the cup?
Som have got to be the outside bet for top place. As I said they rested a couple of players against us and I think that showed when they faded away in the 2nd half. I can imagine AntiX and the gang will sort it out for the Quarters and could well make it to the final. I'm hoping we'll steer clear of them (and AfraidG) until that stage!


So there it is, it does appear that according to nearly all teams, eleventh and AfraidG will be in the final with NarChaD as third!