VeryGames had already booked their place in the final by the time I spoke to them. No surprises there. I thought it best to interview them beforehand just in case they sneak off after picking up their cheque.

It was just a matter of who to speak to. Loic "RegnaM" Peron is the obvious choice but he declined, instead suggesting the new kid on their Gallic block in the form of Nathan "NBKK" Schmitt.

He came over and said hello in his usual softly spoken fashion. I told him that I thought he should have won the DSRack LAN MVP. "What can you do?" he answered "RpK has too many fanboys". It was a playful and relaxed answer, something that proved the big time wasn't getting to him. We headed out to one of Newbury's trademark balconies to discuss how things were going.

This is your first UK LAN, what have you thought about it so far and how does it measure up to French events that you have attended?

I think Regnam has been to i24 and the CS:S combine I think so he’s been to the UK but for me it is something new. It’s the first for us as a team too. It’s such a big event, so many people are here, which has surprised me. The delays we have had are the same main problems you get at any LAN so I wouldn’t describe this as a bad LAN. Some points could be better but I think it’s been good overall. You can’t compare it to French LANs in a way as there are a lot more mix teams and community teams here and the standard isn’t so high for all. This event we’ve had a lot of 16-2 results and so on…

No-one has more than four round off you this event I think… Is it that the teams here are bad or you are just on another level.

Regnam: Yeah I heard our average rounds against was like 2.6 or something. In answer to that question, I’d say it’s a little of both.

NBKK: We had four days of practice before the event so we know what we had to do and we just stay focused on the game, every game, and concentrate. You have to treat all opponents the same.

A lot of people criticise you on the grounds that you practice so much and that’s the secret to the success, that if they had a salary too they’d put in the same amount of success. Do you find such criticism a little stupid?

I think if you want to be the best at this game you have to like it. A LOT. If you like something you play it more and that’s the real point. We all love the game and we love to play with each other and that’s why we put the time in we do. We play for fun and we play for practice because we know we have to work to win events. We always look at each event thinking we don’t want third or second, only first. While the hours might add up we still only play three days a week, which is enough for us.

Also, a lot of people talk about your smokes and flashes and point to that as a reason for your success. It’s often overlooked you have some of the best aimers in the world – such as THE TANK – . Does this annoy you after a while or can you laugh it off?

It annoys me a bit, sure. Regnam has played Counter-Strike / CS:S for nine years or something so they know a lot about the game and if anything I think we are smart. We use our strategies to win games. We do lots of deathmatch and I think we have the best aimers too…

Nathan, off in the distance, playing for VeryGames at DSRack

What about your rise to the top? You were relatively unknown a year ago, now you are in the best team in the world. People often say talent doesn’t get chances. So how did you get the chance and why did you get the chance?

First of all I attended a lot of small LANs., 3v3s and other small tournaments. After that the manager of CreatiV came and talked to me and slot me into his line-up but it didn’t work. After that I went to more LANs, found an EPS team and we finished second. After that ROCCAT came in and asked if I would play as a sixth, which at the time seemed too good an offer to turn down, to be able to learn and play with such players. A month later I was approached by VeryGames and offered a trial and while I was happy I was forced to say yes because it was too big an opportunity to turn down. There are no teams better than this one.

Were you surprised?

A little bit because I didn’t think I could get so high so quickly. One year ago I wasn’t known in the scene and everything went really fast.

Do you ever feel more pressure on you because you’re the new kid on the block?

I don’t feel pressure or nerves because I focus on my own game too much to feel that. I try and listen and learn and I avoid all the stress. I have a lack of experience and I just look to improve myself as much as I can.

When you’re in a team with players that are experienced are you the type of player who looks to them for guidance, or are you the kind of player who likes to avoid influences and try and learn their own things?

I would say a mix. If you only follow what others do you won’t have imagination, your own brain or your own game vision. You won’t be able to make new things, or try out things that might work. I talk to my team and ask them if things will work. I don’t watch many demos, I just suggest something, try it in practice and see if it works or not. But it is a little of both because it’s easier for me to learn and have that imagination because of the people I have around me.

Is there one team you want to play in the final, and if so why?

NBKK: I don’t think we have any preference. We are here to win. I like DEMONiC.mix because they have the two best players in the UK and hudzG is a good friend of mine.

Regnam: I would say TLR because of Kritikal. We all laughed at his comments. How can people be so stupid? So we want to play them so we can show them. I play better if people make me angry.

NBKK: We like best to 16 – 0 teams that talk to us like that.