Finnish side Virus Gaming have been on a stellar rise over the past year or so, starting off in CKRAS before recently joining up with their new home.
Key to the teams success has been the incredible performances of their star rifle man Olli "kononen" Salmi. He has been the teams main propeller in their surge for European glory and if recent signs are to be believed he is only getting better. Olli first broke into the top end of the CS:S scene as part of the highly rated Logitech.fi after many years playing 1.6. Since then he has gone on to become one of the most decorated players in Finland with numerous National and International podium finishes.
Well known for having not only brilliant aim and ability but a great knowledge of the game to boot he has been nominated for numerous MVP awards in the past year and is considered by many to be the best active player in Finland. I caught up with him to chat about his teams recent success, their departure from CKRAS and of course what lies ahead in future.
The first question on everyones minds will be your recent joining of Virus Gaming. What made you decide to leave CKRAS after so long, and why did you choose Virus Gaming?
Well, much like all beautiful relationships they have their beginnings, but like most it had to come to an end. To get to the point we wanted more from our organisation, unfortunately CKRAS could not give us the support we felt we needed and after some childish arguing we decided to leave CKRAS. After leaving we had offers but we felt Virus Gaming could deliver what we wanted :)
You recently announced that you would be taking a summer break, how long will that last and do you think it will have any lasting impact on the team?
We will start to practice when we get closer to the next major LAN events over the Autumn and Winter so we will be ready to face anyone that we meet. As far as the break having some lasting impact? Well Taneli just had some surgery done to him so now we have one female on our team, so I guess YES?
So that's why his aim is so good... (Image courtesy of CKRAS-Gaming.com)
You guys started out barely making it into our Top10 list, now you're consistently pushing VeryGames for the number 1 spot, what's the key to your success?
We have had our core players (me, aNGeldusT , Rick(testo)nashje and Cisu) for over 2 years and consistently helped to improve not only our solo games but as a team, playing together for so long helps a lot in the end. Another thing which we believe in and try to do is keep all of our calls, strats and set-ups as simple as possible so it's easy to get into a good routine. Everyone in the team also tries to learn each others games like they know their own ;).
Do you think anyone can beat VeryGames at a LAN event? The last time you tried things didn't go too well and with the addition of shox most people feel they are stronger - What needs to be done to topple them?
Of course someone will beat them at some point, it's just a matter of time, every team has a weakness and nobody stays at the top forever. I really dont think there is anything special people should or could do to beat them except practice as much as they do! *HAHA*
Your recent match in the ESL Major Series against VeryGames was a bit of a farce. What was the reasoning behind you guys not taking it seriously, it was rumoured that it was to do with the ESL taking so long to pay out money, is that the case?
To be straight it's because we have absolutely no interest in the league (have not seen payment from EPS NORDIC #1) and besides, we're on a Summer break so we haven't practiced at all ;)
Can you understand why so many people were angry at the match? And do you not think teams - especially representing major organisations - should have a responsability to deliver the goods no matter the circumstances?
Well I really don't understand the hate from the community, maybe people were expecting a huge clash of the titans or something. We have played like that in all of our online leagues, we even managed to win EPS Nordic playing like that, and Snogard last week, so we can't really understand why it's suddenly a big deal to people, because it's never been like that before. As for the organisation part and delivering the goods, we really did not even want to play in the ESL in the first place (for the reason stated above).
You've been lucky enough to attend most major European LANs over the past year, what would you consider the best from personal experience (organisation, set-up etc)?
The best lan so far has been the 30P LAN in Sweden. It had the perfect NON-BYOC setup (no magical usb drives!) with excellent PC's. After the chaotic start from the organisers it started to run smoothly towards the end which is always a plus.
What would you consider the perfect rule-set for LAN events? Do you like the idea most 1.6 events take with the bo3 single elimination? Or do you prefer the bo1 double elimination?
I much prefer BO3 single elimination, simply because it gives a bit of leverage for teams to make mistakes, rather than simply getting unlucky or making a small error on a map and heading home you can get away with losing a map and progressing. With this setup you can have multiple bad maps through the whole tournament and still win it but with the double elimination if you lose 2 maps you're out.
kononen carrying his teammates, as usual.(Image courtesy of CKRAS-Gaming.com)
The Finnish scene has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence lately, with a few players and teams springing up who can compete with some of the best in Europe, what caused the slump in the first place?
I am a bit clueless when it comes to the Finnish scene to be honest :) So I'd have to say *no comment*
What are your goals and plans for the future? Is Virus still a long term project for you or do you have your eye on anything else?
We are going to attend as many big LAN events as possible and our goal is to attend the ESWC and be the best team in the world in the 6 month period that we are contracted to Virus-Gaming.
What about the game as a whole? Do you feel that CS:S is still enjoying some growth, and are you happy with the way the scene is going and the changes being made to the game?
I hope it's still growing for a bright future where more and more teams could get sallaries from playing proffesionally. The developement of the game has been good for some time now but I would like to see more ;) Enough with the wasda!
Anything else you'd like to add for your legions of fans?
HAHA I have fans? :D Don't bullshit me! But if there's even one out there, thanks for supporting us on sourceTV. Thanks to aNGeldusT's fans as well for almost being our fans too <3 ;) NY RILLATAA!
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Thu, 17 May 2012 12:10:15 +0100
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