I’ve already mentioned that one of the stories playing out, for those who are interested, was the return to competition for Nathaniel “tiLs” Tilsley after a spell that began after the second CGS combine.

As Michael “ODEE” O’Dell remarked on his arrival at the venue “Jesus... Last time I saw you didn’t you have someone in a headlock?” It’s no secret I’ve known Nat a while, it’s no secret that we’ve been friends for many years and it’s no secret that I have come in for flak for maybe letting that cloud my judgement. Incidentally, I don’t think it did, but how would I really know? It’s all old, old news anyway with him as a player being off most people’s radars coming in to this event and a few people being surprised at the Andy’s Vent team asking him over other options available to them. After his game against Dignitas I sat down and asked him how he thought he had done, amongst other things.

You’ve been out the top end of the competitive scene pretty much since the second CGS combine ended. Why is that?

I don’t know... I fancied a break after a lot of disappointment. There comes a stage for every player where you just hit the wall and you don’t want to play anymore. At that point you just want to get away from it. When i made the decision I didn’t know it would last this long.

So it’s not because you’re not good enough anymore

I definitely can still contend, but it takes a lot of time to be at the very top and a lot of the time that investment just isn’t justifiable for what you get back. To be the best, like some of the guys who are here today, you have to be in the game 24/7, everything you do relates back to the game somehow, and \i simply don’t have that in me anymore, if I ever did.

You’ve turned down a lot of teams before now. Why is that?

I’ve turned down a lot of offers, some really good ones, to stay out of it. I don’t want to get back into that UK loop of joining a team, playing for two months and then breaking up. It’s just a never ending cycle and it’s a waste of time.

So why did you come and play with TLR / Andy’s Vent?

Basically they asked me because Ben was on holiday. Sure, it’s “free dollar” isn’t it? You turn up and you’re guaranteed a minimum return, but it was more than that. They’re safe guys, they needed a fifth at short notice and I was happy to help them out based on who they are as people.

How do you think you performed in the Dignitas game?

When I got into my rhythm with the AWP I made some decent picks on dust2. Inferno was tough because the M4 reg doesn’t seem to work, as weird as that sounds. Rifling arch was a bit of a nightmare.

You feel there were technical factors at play?

i don’t want to sound like a dick and I don’t make excuses. Part of it will be I’m rusty. But i am surprised an event sponsored by these big names doesn’t have a top spec set-up. It’s not a gripe and I’m grateful to be here and I have mad respect for ESL contributing something big to the UK. But if you ask any player here the reg is hampered by the spec and it can be frustrating. That’s just being honest and I hope people can look into that for next time. The colt reg just seems weird and I think that is reflected in the fact most teams here are dominating as terrorists. I don’t know exactly what it is, but it is related to the set-up.

Obviously you know Dignitas well enough – who stood out for you in that game?

To be honest I was so focused on my own game it was hard to notice. I can say I didn’t feel like we were being destroyed and we got some nice rounds. The bottom line is the players in Dignitas are amazing and even with a merc they’ll make any side work hard. It was just a privilege to play against players of that calibre again. We’ve come here as the barest of mixes... Not a single PCW with this five, not even a five way conversation before this event, so we were always going to find it difficult and to get the rounds we did was an achievement.

Do you think you will be using this a platform to make a permanent “comeback”?

I don’t know, but probably not. It’s all changed since people were gunning for the CGS. There’s such a small percentage of people getting anything out of gaming, so coming back to it isn’t a priority and I’m focused on other projects.

tiLs with the rest of the "Andy's Vent" team You seem to be something of a marmite figure, either liked or hated. Generally where your name is, flames tend to follow. Why do you think that is?

I don’t understand it and never have. I do get a lot of shit, but I’ve always thought of myself as a real guy. I’ve never got involved with the back-stabbing, never got involved with the politics. Everything people say about me that has a grain of truth in it, I’m aware of as well and I never try and duck it. Yeah, I’ve had some bad LANs by the standards I aim for. Yeah, the movie thing does dog me, even though I think as a piece of work what Yemi did was amazing. Maybe there was a time I was over-hyped, but that’s beyond my control. You roll with the good and the bad and I can’t change the perceptions of people that don’t know me and don’t want to. Sometimes the prevailing image of a gamer is what dominates people’s thinking, but it’s rarely accurate. A lot of players have that problem and aren’t understood. It’s like, people don’t realise the one or two things they think they know don’t define the whole person. But that’s the way it is and if I couldn’t handle it I’d not put myself in the firing line.

You invested a lot of time into gaming, came close to something that meant a lot to you, but it just never happened. Would you do anything differently if you could?

The old time-machine question... When you say “close” I mean, that Zboard team were maybe one or two different calls from winning the combine. Or maybe one slap away is what I should say. It was fucked up and it did haunt me for a while, but as shit as it felt immediately afterwards I look back and realise that gaming was never better than it was then. We were all headcases, but we had a great time and I got to live the dream for a few weeks with people I have a lot of love for, even if it did turn a bit sour for a while. Some people don’t get it for even a day, so how can I have many regrets? Let’s see if we can get one over on FM Toxic in the third place play-off. That’ll be something in itself.