Interview with SPADES_kOtSo

clownface · 11-10-2008

With the current season of CEVO reaching an end, attention has turned to the next one. With a hand full of teams dying from both Intermediate and Professional, the community has been awaiting to see the up and coming teams and how they compare to the big teams at the top. A recently created team consisting of a mix of CEVO-I and P players has caught everyone's attention with a big lineup and results to back it, Spades is the main contender for next seasons competition the only question that remains is whether they'll enter intermediate or professional. I recently caught up with the co-creator of the team.

RG|clownface: Hey mate, thanks for your time. Could you please introduce yourself to us?

SPADES_kOtSo: Thanks for taking your time to interview me. Okay, well I started playing early February 2007 as my brother had gotten me into Counter-Strike: Source. I had always watched him play Iceworld and I always thought he was good. I finally had bought the game and I seemed to enjoy it, from there my first clan was Velocity with Faint and Elite who today I am good friends with. From Velocity I moved to Pinnacle and then onto Ominous. So here I am today.

RG|clownface: Well it has only been a couple of years and you're already in the upper echelon of players in Australia. With a new team, 'Spades', which consists of other players of the same potential. With no further a do, is it possible for you to introduce us to your new team?

SPADES_kOtSo: Yeah, sure. Well, our lineup at the moment stands at; Mindee, Po0n4u, GiANT, siBE, Shark and myself. Mindee, Poon and myself created the clan. Mindee was from Trainwreck and left - Poon and I were from Ominous which died from inactivity, Giant was from ZR which died, Sibe was from Enhance which also died and Shark was from Immunity which he left, whom we later pursued to return to Source.

RG|clownface: Wow. Sounds like a dynamic group. Can you explain the reasons behind the recent additions of both Sibe and Shark; what was it that you saw in them that made them a valuable asset to the team?

SPADES_kOtSo: Well to be honest, we all liked Sibe as a player and we saw potential in him. We pursued him for a while and after a few wars with us he was impressed and wanted to join. As for Shark, Giant and I were playing blood assault and he told me that Shark was returning to Source and might want to join us as they are good mates. So Mindee talked to Shark as he is getting his new net back this week and he is ready to SNAP faces again.

RG|clownface: Wow! With a few connections, Spades was able to add another two large players to their lineup. With these new players, can you explain to us your practice schedule if you have any and when you do practice, is it with the team or does each individual work on his own weaknesses?

SPADES_kOtSo: Well our whole team is on everyday, so we're just waiting for Shark to get his net which will be this week sometime. We practice when members come on, even if there is only a few of us on. We just practice positions and such, or if we all are too lazy we will just sit in Ventrilo and discuss strategies and how effective they are. Sometimes we all just practice individual stuff so we can improve. Once the lineup is established, we will schedule practice sessions for at least three times a week.

RG|clownface: It seems your team is looking to get working and who wouldn't? With a team of professional players where are you seeing yourselves in the future?

SPADES_kOtSo: Well at the moment we focusing on getting into CEVO-Intermediate and working our way up. If we feel we are ready for it, we'll apply for CEVO-Professional; but at the moment we want to enter CEVO-Intermediate, any other competitions there are and going to AINC Nationals when the time comes. If we all stick to it the clan will not die between then and now.

RG|clownface: Speaking of the upcoming CEVO seasons, with the amount of dying teams, do you see the other upcoming teams being able to enter this upper class of teams? If so, which teams would you look out for leading up to next season?

SPADES_kOtSo: Well there are teams that are capable of CEVO-Intermediate that just have not been seen yet such as In Real Life, Anexias, Refresh and probably a strong Western Australian team in either Defiant5 or In Real Life. However, I think Anexias will go Professional.

RG|clownface: To all those other aspiring teams out there, in your opinion, what do you think defines a CEVO-Intermediate/Professinal team from just an Amateur team? Can you give any advice to those upcoming teams?

SPADES_kOtSo: Well to be honest, to define those two divisions, the ability of the players is crucial where each individual must learn teamwork, improve their knowledge of the game and gain 'clue'. From CEVO-Intermediate/Professional teams, a player has the awesome aim and the ability to know how to clutch, as opposed to some CEVO-Amateur teams, who would not know how to clutch in a situation and would not win the round.

To improve this, I would regularly participate pugs and just 'slut' for higher tier teams. My advice for a CEVO-Amateur team is to verse CEVO-Intermediate/Professional teams and to learn from them as well as learning from the situations you are in and to learn the ability to analyze situations and choose the best course of action to win rounds for your team.

RG|clownface: Thanks for the insight mate last proper question; with Spades being an online team do you see yourself at a Nationals LAN event in the future? Such as the Anything Interactive (AINC) Nationals or World Gamer's Tournament (WGT).

SPADES_kOtSo: We are going to play online comps but as I said before, we see ourselves going to AINC as we are all pretty excited about it, speaking about it everyday. Whatever big LAN events there are in Australia, Spades will be attending. As we live all over Australia, we'll just attend nationals competitions.

RG|clownface: Sounds good. With much to look forward to from the boys of Spades, lastly any last shoutouts just before we end this?

SPADES_kOtSo: Shout out to AusNet and Simply Gaming for the sponsorship, JamieC (our General Manager), to you for the interview, to all the Spades players and finally to Elite and Faint for helping me get to where I am today. <3

With a new lineup and a new season of CEVO arriving, I can't wait to see what this team brings to the table.

kotso · 11-10-2008

thanks ****face

learn to draw LOL

IgoreK.RUS · 11-10-2008

I LOVE YOU

Lexar · 11-10-2008

nice read , gl with the team

Salad Fingers · 11-10-2008

lol upper echelon of css lolollolol

Drazt!K · 11-10-2008

yeah yous will make cevo-p for sure.

**Hucky** · 11-10-2008

Nice interview, still interested in how you manage to call using your "k" key for voice communication.

shauNske · 11-10-2008

Awsome read, gl to SPADES in the future.

zaM · 11-10-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salad Fingers

lol upper echelon of css lolollolol

'stEEdy · 11-10-2008

a team with jcliNER as their general manager MUST SUCCEED

patriot · 11-10-2008

Started reading & couldn't stop- good article mate.

dripskii · 11-10-2008

nice clown

odd · 11-10-2008

Good Read and also GL in Future kOtSo

SubNoize · 11-10-2008

lol upper echelon of css lolollolol

akro · 11-10-2008

UPPER ECHELON

SHo · 11-10-2008

I think your article is full of lies and a complete fallacy.

revive · 11-10-2008

and results to back it? what results lol

gl with it oscar

theORZ · 11-10-2008

good read and wtf is an echelon?

lozo · 11-10-2008

soon to be cevo-p imo

HazfkN · 11-10-2008

gw nice write up, already read it on rga site though. :d

11-10-2008	#1 (permalink)
clownface Contributing Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 674 Rep Power: 580	Interview with SPADES_kOtSo With the current season of CEVO reaching an end, attention has turned to the next one. With a hand full of teams dying from both Intermediate and Professional, the community has been awaiting to see the up and coming teams and how they compare to the big teams at the top. A recently created team consisting of a mix of CEVO-I and P players has caught everyone's attention with a big lineup and results to back it, Spades is the main contender for next seasons competition the only question that remains is whether they'll enter intermediate or professional. I recently caught up with the co-creator of the team. RG\|clownface: Hey mate, thanks for your time. Could you please introduce yourself to us? SPADES_kOtSo: Thanks for taking your time to interview me. Okay, well I started playing early February 2007 as my brother had gotten me into Counter-Strike: Source. I had always watched him play Iceworld and I always thought he was good. I finally had bought the game and I seemed to enjoy it, from there my first clan was Velocity with Faint and Elite who today I am good friends with. From Velocity I moved to Pinnacle and then onto Ominous. So here I am today. RG\|clownface: Well it has only been a couple of years and you're already in the upper echelon of players in Australia. With a new team, 'Spades', which consists of other players of the same potential. With no further a do, is it possible for you to introduce us to your new team? SPADES_kOtSo: Yeah, sure. Well, our lineup at the moment stands at; Mindee, Po0n4u, GiANT, siBE, Shark and myself. Mindee, Poon and myself created the clan. Mindee was from Trainwreck and left - Poon and I were from Ominous which died from inactivity, Giant was from ZR which died, Sibe was from Enhance which also died and Shark was from Immunity which he left, whom we later pursued to return to Source. RG\|clownface: Wow. Sounds like a dynamic group. Can you explain the reasons behind the recent additions of both Sibe and Shark; what was it that you saw in them that made them a valuable asset to the team? SPADES_kOtSo: Well to be honest, we all liked Sibe as a player and we saw potential in him. We pursued him for a while and after a few wars with us he was impressed and wanted to join. As for Shark, Giant and I were playing blood assault and he told me that Shark was returning to Source and might want to join us as they are good mates. So Mindee talked to Shark as he is getting his new net back this week and he is ready to SNAP faces again. RG\|clownface: Wow! With a few connections, Spades was able to add another two large players to their lineup. With these new players, can you explain to us your practice schedule if you have any and when you do practice, is it with the team or does each individual work on his own weaknesses? SPADES_kOtSo: Well our whole team is on everyday, so we're just waiting for Shark to get his net which will be this week sometime. We practice when members come on, even if there is only a few of us on. We just practice positions and such, or if we all are too lazy we will just sit in Ventrilo and discuss strategies and how effective they are. Sometimes we all just practice individual stuff so we can improve. Once the lineup is established, we will schedule practice sessions for at least three times a week. RG\|clownface: It seems your team is looking to get working and who wouldn't? With a team of professional players where are you seeing yourselves in the future? SPADES_kOtSo: Well at the moment we focusing on getting into CEVO-Intermediate and working our way up. If we feel we are ready for it, we'll apply for CEVO-Professional; but at the moment we want to enter CEVO-Intermediate, any other competitions there are and going to AINC Nationals when the time comes. If we all stick to it the clan will not die between then and now. RG\|clownface: Speaking of the upcoming CEVO seasons, with the amount of dying teams, do you see the other upcoming teams being able to enter this upper class of teams? If so, which teams would you look out for leading up to next season? SPADES_kOtSo: Well there are teams that are capable of CEVO-Intermediate that just have not been seen yet such as In Real Life, Anexias, Refresh and probably a strong Western Australian team in either Defiant5 or In Real Life. However, I think Anexias will go Professional. RG\|clownface: To all those other aspiring teams out there, in your opinion, what do you think defines a CEVO-Intermediate/Professinal team from just an Amateur team? Can you give any advice to those upcoming teams? SPADES_kOtSo: Well to be honest, to define those two divisions, the ability of the players is crucial where each individual must learn teamwork, improve their knowledge of the game and gain 'clue'. From CEVO-Intermediate/Professional teams, a player has the awesome aim and the ability to know how to clutch, as opposed to some CEVO-Amateur teams, who would not know how to clutch in a situation and would not win the round. To improve this, I would regularly participate pugs and just 'slut' for higher tier teams. My advice for a CEVO-Amateur team is to verse CEVO-Intermediate/Professional teams and to learn from them as well as learning from the situations you are in and to learn the ability to analyze situations and choose the best course of action to win rounds for your team. RG\|clownface: Thanks for the insight mate last proper question; with Spades being an online team do you see yourself at a Nationals LAN event in the future? Such as the Anything Interactive (AINC) Nationals or World Gamer's Tournament (WGT). SPADES_kOtSo: We are going to play online comps but as I said before, we see ourselves going to AINC as we are all pretty excited about it, speaking about it everyday. Whatever big LAN events there are in Australia, Spades will be attending. As we live all over Australia, we'll just attend nationals competitions. RG\|clownface: Sounds good. With much to look forward to from the boys of Spades, lastly any last shoutouts just before we end this? SPADES_kOtSo: Shout out to AusNet and Simply Gaming for the sponsorship, JamieC (our General Manager), to you for the interview, to all the Spades players and finally to Elite and Faint for helping me get to where I am today. <3 With a new lineup and a new season of CEVO arriving, I can't wait to see what this team brings to the table. __________________

11-10-2008	#2 (permalink)
kotso Monster Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: FORUM POLICE Age: 17 Posts: 4,548 Rep Power: 10570	thanks ****face learn to draw LOL __________________ ................._@@@__ ......_____//____?__\________ - ---o--------FORUM-POLICE---@) -----` --(@)======+====(@)--

11-10-2008	#3 (permalink)
IgoreK.RUS Honorary Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Sydney Age: 14 Posts: 1,647 Rep Power: 1755	I LOVE YOU __________________ Looking for a source team. "Smith - add this to your sig you russian lovemachine"

11-10-2008	#4 (permalink)
Lexar Contributing Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 642 Rep Power: 2036	nice read , gl with the team __________________ #inimicaL lexarr zer0ps Raz0r Relix maeCAT m1ck[N] Idle and Support @Gamesurge

11-10-2008	#5 (permalink)
Salad Fingers Pro Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: SydskeboNNN[2p] Posts: 7,413 Rep Power: 6795	lol upper echelon of css lolollolol __________________ #LunchBRiNGERS LunchLAD-LunchDog-Lunchdock-Lunchkro-Lunchiecoma-Luncht!k n00bcake: Shut up joel, you've dropped out of uni more times than stedy has been laid stEEdy: wai- oh okay deal!~

11-10-2008	#6 (permalink)
Drazt!K Monster Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Long A Box Posts: 4,304 Rep Power: 4165	yeah yous will make cevo-p for sure. __________________

11-10-2008	#8 (permalink)
shauNske Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sydney Posts: 847 Rep Power: 2730	Awsome read, gl to SPADES in the future. __________________ #Pinnacle.au - #AFO - CSS.BF2.TF2.COD4 Nak - Shaunske - iRection - Yekim - etriC - iceX

11-10-2008	#10 (permalink)
'stEEdy Monster Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: SP1 [MULTI] NO-CD Posts: 4,749 Rep Power: 6027	a team with jcliNER as their general manager MUST SUCCEED __________________ tc ~

11-10-2008	#11 (permalink)
patriot Monster Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Central Coast Age: 19 Posts: 2,122 Rep Power: 5342	Started reading & couldn't stop- good article mate. __________________ <tenfour> thankyou for the new sig <tenfour> "<devise`patriot> apparently you're a cheater, or atleast an ex cheater." <tenfour> will earn me like 100 rep... easy

11-10-2008	#12 (permalink)
dripskii Monster Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Melbourne Age: 16 Posts: 3,025 Rep Power: 4619	nice clown

11-10-2008	#13 (permalink)
odd Participating Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 281 Rep Power: 448	Good Read and also GL in Future kOtSo Last edited by odd; 11-10-2008 at 05:30 PM.

11-10-2008	#14 (permalink)
SubNoize Banned Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Sydney Posts: 8,486 Rep Power: 0	lol upper echelon of css lolollolol

11-10-2008	#15 (permalink)
akro Monster Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: MULTi.rar Age: 19 Posts: 2,385 Rep Power: 3475	UPPER ECHELON __________________ RockNRolla ;{ "I never do the same thing twice, Thats why Im storm1n. Cause Lightning never strikes the same place twice." -Storm1n on himself

11-10-2008	#16 (permalink)
SHo Monster Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: $andskeboNN Posts: 3,860 Rep Power: 6760	I think your article is full of lies and a complete fallacy. __________________ I play dead - It stops the hurting - I play dead - and hurting stops

11-10-2008	#17 (permalink)
revive Pro Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: NSW Age: 18 Posts: 5,310 Rep Power: 2742	and results to back it? what results lol gl with it oscar

11-10-2008	#18 (permalink)
theORZ Participating Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 249 Rep Power: 1015	good read and wtf is an echelon?

11-10-2008	#19 (permalink)
lozo Honorary Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Kellyville 2155 Age: 1 Posts: 1,294 Rep Power: 3478	soon to be cevo-p imo __________________ myspace

11-10-2008	#20 (permalink)
HazfkN Contributing Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Gold Coast, QLD. Age: 17 Posts: 715 Rep Power: 2113	gw nice write up, already read it on rga site though. :d __________________ ____________________ ____________________ HAZ$$CASH[2b]