With just days to go until MLPD’s CSS Challenge, and the tension mounting, we are bringing the community a number of ‘pre-MPLD Talk’s’ with some of the players that will be attending the event. The first edition sees us talking to miNt Gaming’s captain, Daniel “merc” Balusik.
miNt lineup:
Daniel “merc” Balusik
AJ “M1gHTy” Morkel
Kline “w1domaka” Moralee
Dillon “uNreal” Jost
Roberto “Cha0tiX” Rocha
James “zer0ch4nce” Wijnberg
Could you give a description of each of your teammates and their roles within the team?
AJ “M1gHTy” Morkel – Is a very cool level headed player always looking for ways to help the team improve. AJ’s role in the team is to get initial frags and entry frags. He is probably the most important player in our lineup when entering bomb sites on both Terrorist and Counter-Terrorist.
Best weapon: AK47
Kline “w1domaka” Moralee – Has been our most consistent player, and is one of the original members from the initial lineup. Kline is one of those players who are able to take out 3 or 4 players a round. He is a rock solid defensive player and is easily able to watch any bomb site alone.
Best weapon: AWP
Dillon “uNreal” Jost – Has some amazing skill and really knows how to read the game. His ability to clear bomb sites has really helped us win against teams who have a strong Counter-Terrorist side. He is one of our main entry fraggers, and his knowledge of the game far surpasses that of most Counter-Strike 1.6 and Source players.
Best weapon: Deagle
Roberto “Cha0tiX” Rocha – Is also one of the original players from the initial lineup. Rob has been an underrated player in the past, but recent games have shown why he is an asset to the team. He is able to get the necessary picks needed to win rounds. He is able to use any gun to his advantage, still getting picks.
Best weapon: m4a1
Daniel “merc” Balusik – The last of the original members, Daniel has shone during the past few months in the miПt Gaming team. He too can clear bomb sites with just about any gun, and is one of our entry fraggers too. His fast awp’ing ability on open maps make him a valuable asset to the team.
Best weapon: m4a1
James “zer0ch4nce” Wijnberg – Unfortunately James wont be attending MPLD due to personal reasons, but he is still in the starting lineup and will play for the team during BOTC and rAge.
Recently your team brought in former 1.6 players Dillon ‘uNreal’ Jost and James ‘zer0ch4Nce’ Wijnberg. Have you seen a direct impact from this move? Should Counter-Strike: Source teams consider including former 1.6 players to strengthen their lineups?
The direct impact has been huge, James now calls for us, and is still able to play his own game – which is very important for any team, and Dillon is one of our main entry fraggers . I think before bringing in any players into a lineup, no matter how well they play or what games they play, teams should make sure there are no personality clashes and that you have players grouped with similar playing styles. Not only did we bring Dillon into the team because of his amazing skill and his knowledge of the game, but also because we knew that brining in another 1.6 player would compliment James’s playing style, it also doesn’t help that they are good friends, bringing them into the team was one of the best things we have ever done, and it payed off for us during our last few AGASA games.
What are your predictions for the event?
It doesn’t look like Soviet will be able to make it, which does open the field quite a bit. I think that we could see Swift, mINt, Pantheon, eC and caL do well, it will be anyone anyones game on the day, we also have to remember that miПt and Swift wont have their full practiced lineups.
1. Pantheon – They are a very strong LAN team and have proven that time and time again.
2. eC – They have the competition experience.
3. miПt / Calamity – Both teams showing great potential, both capable of pulling off a few upsets.
Who do believe will be the underdog at the event, and might turn some heads?
I think that caLamity have been a largely underrated team especially with their new lineup. They have some awesome players in their team and I think they could possibly pull off a top3 finish. Again another thing that will be playing in their favour is that they will have their full lineup, where most teams will have to use 6th players and/or subs.
The BOTC v5 will commence right after the Pantheon MPLD Challenge, is your team prepared for this online competition, and do you believe it will be more competitive than ever?
To be honest we havent really prepared for anything, because most of our members have been writing exams, and Kline will be writing exams during BOTC, so there’s not much else we can do. I do think that many of the teams who were still in their younger stages during the last BOTC will place a lot better this time round. Also many of the lineups have changed so we could see a different team taking the crown home.
Some say the South African gaming scene is in disarray and is a ship slowly sinking. Do you believe events like the Pantheon MPLD Challenge, and the rAge 2009 event reinvigorate the community, or do some more drastic interventions need to be taken?
By no means is the South African gaming scene in disarray, if anything it is growing. I think events such as rAge and the Pantheon MPLD Challenge will help strengthen it, but each year the competition is getting tougher and tougher, and there are a few more tournaments which do help. Companies such as Incredible Connection, Dynax and Panda Security have also helped teams grow and further their accomplishments.
Thank you for your time.
No, thank you-_^
Article courtesy of Pantheon Gaming
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