We already have one DEMONiC down, next up is the other side representing the organisation.

The player I caught up with was one George 'hudzG' Hoskins. Hot off the heals of a win at the ESL Nations Cup he's come into the event brimming with confidence. With fellow team UK representative HenryG here taking part in his last ever LAN it's an emotional one for the other half of the "G-Team". I got speaking to him about his chances at the event, as well as his time with team mTw and of course team UK.

I'm not even sure myself haha. I think we had the best five players we could have fielded for the event and on the day it just seemed to click. We came into the event not really expecting much and I think that helped us out as we had no pressure at all. Some of the other teams had problems with the set-up's as well and with four of the team UK playing in the CGS I just think we adjusted quicker than them. I think it was won for us when we beat Germany 2-1, taking nothing away from Denmark I just think that felt much more like the final and after beating the Germans - and three of my teammates - we were very confident we could go on and win it.

Nope. Not at all really, I was busy at bootcamp with mTw, Henry has just got a new job so didn't have time to practice, Sam was with his girlfriend a lot of the time. On top of that we were supposed to be taking mx to the event but he had some family troubles so we had to draft in Re1ease at the last minute - it worked out well I guess. The only thing we had going for us was that four of us had played with Power Gaming in the past so we just used the same strats as we had before, Hughsy is a smart player so he managed to pick it up pretty fast.

The main reason they had weaker teams was the rule from the ESL stating that only 60% of the national team can play for the same "club team". In a way the UK's instability did us a favour this time given that nobody has teams haha, with the Danish and German, and even the French scene it's a lot more stable meaning they have to mix things up. Denmark had a Reason/Speedgaming mix, France had a D4/Verygames mix and Germany had an mTw/SK Gaming mix. It also helps that we'd all played together in the past so could just call strats we had used before.

I personally like the rule. I mean it works both ways, sure the best players should play for their country but at the same time it cuts it off for a lot of the "Lower Tier" players. I mean, if that was the case then the national team would just be the best team in that country, Power Gaming for example. At least this way it gives everyone a chance to play for their country and represent them.

HudzG with Power Gaming

It's just the UK scene. It's always been the same, at the moment there is nobody developing any new talent. I mean the older players such as myself or Henry aren't doing enough to bring through new talent. No matter what people say that's the core reason for it. When it was me, Henry, ritch, tiLs, beta and more all coming through we had players like Ben0 who were willing to take a chance with us, and look at us now, we've been - without sounding arrogant - at the top of the scene since. We can just through together a mix and pretty much turn up to these events and earn free money. It's totally wrong but it's just the way it is at the moment. If you look at what FeTiSh has done with the Danish scene we need to do the same. Players like wantz, purity and gravity.. 9 months ago we could beat them without much hassle but after FeTiSh took his time and helped them progress they've become some of the best players in Europe. I think for the scene to develop we need to be helping these younger players get better because when we're not here who is going to replace us?

I know for sure that I'll be quitting "professional gaming" whenever this mTw team comes to an end. Not to say that I'll be leaving the scene completely though because I've already been speaking to the Rasta Gaming guys, arky and Damage, and I want to help their teams get better and progress. I love what those guys do and I feel there's a lot I can do to help these guys, and the teams currently in the organisation. I love eSports and I love CS:S especially, so something needs to be done to ensure a future for the game.

Like I said in the interview before, CS:S is as big as the community want to make it. If you look at other communities like TF2 they get behind events and they make things happen. If we do the same then there's no reason why it can't last for another 5 years. Hidden Path are now helping develop the game, listening to the ideas of the competitive community, so there's no reason why it can't eventually grow bigger than CS 1.6. When it comes to the Counter Strike genre I can't see anything replacing it in the near future because it's still the number one FPS shooter out there, competitively anyway.

The "G Team"

Well I've not had much to do with it at all but I think the changes are very positive. They're good for the game and will only get better. I like a lot of RegnaM's suggestions - for de_inferno etc - and I think a lot of the changes already made have been very good. The instant smokes will make the game faster than it is already and add a whole new dynamic to the game and anything that keeps the players changing up and adapting is fantastic for the game.

Well I'm here personally to see all the guys again. Yourself, Gonzo, Henry and everyone else and basically just say goodbye to Henry - as this is his last event. We had a long chat after ENC and decided that this should be the final hurrah basically. DEMONiC just had spare tickets that they had bought ages ago and with i-series you can't refund them, so they kindly offered them to us and that's about it. We're going to take it seriously of course but we're not too worried about where we place, we might come second or we might come 8th, we're just here to have some fun now.

Yeah of course. I mean I think if the right opportunity came about it would be enough to lure Henry out of retirement, he has a good job now, he's just graduated and he's just won ENC so this is the right time for him to quit. As for myself I think about it often, I've finally got my first LAN win under my belt. I'm almost finished my catering course and have a long term girlfriend now so gaming is slowly taking a back seat. As I've said when my time with mTw comes to an end that will be it from me, I'll still be around though.

Yeah well we're going to be bootcamping for various IFNG games and EPS is the priority, it's like the premier league of CS:S for us. But we'll be heading to TeX later this year as well as SLAP Live, so that's the first two major events you'll see us at. This will be be the last team for a lot of us, I mean hossa and nooky are both getting old, as is myself so we really want to do well, we want to contend with Verygames and I genuinely think we can.

Yeah we can challenge them.. We have the players to do some damage definitely but, like it's been said before they are immensely well drilled and a brilliant team. It will take a lot for anyone to stop them but they can be stopped. It's happened before, if you look at the previous great teams they've all crashed eventually. fnatic, Salvo, Reason Gaming and now Verygames, they can all be beaten.

Big shout-out to mTw and all their sponsors for allowing me to be here. Of course a shout to everyone I love, Henry, Gonzo, nat etc. Thanks for the interview!