In the CS 1.6 scene there are only a few names that really stand out as "The Best". You have f0rest, GeT_RiGht, element, SpawN, HeatoN, Potti, and one other.

Filip 'Neo' Kubski has played at the top end of the CS scene for years now and was considered one of the best in the world in his heyday. Having won over $111,000 in prize money since his team formed they have been unable to attend as many major LAN events as they would like in the past few months as they have been without an organisation. Just hours ago it was announced that they would be joining the Vitriolic organisation, giving them the chance to play against the best at LAN once again.

I was given the chance to speak to Filip about his past, and what his plans are for the future:

Hi Filip, you are a massive name to anyone who follows the Counter-Strike scene. Please tell our readers how you got to where you are now?

Hey there... It's been nothing other than just hard work during all these years. Lots of training, playing, participating in different events, sometimes winning, sometimes losing. We had our ups and downs but worked through them. As you all know we had lots of organisation problems lately, and again after being cheated we became clanless, again. That's in the past now and the adventure with Vitriolic has just started!

Filip in the zone during the most recent WCG finals (photograph courtesy of Bownik)

You mentioned being cheated, what do you mean by this? Care to go into any detail on exactly what happened?

Soon we are going to release am official statement about this situation, so don't worry you will get to know everything.

Now you are in the Vitriolic organisation. What took your team so long to find a home? It was said that you were without support for some time because what you wanted was unrealistic. What do you say to people who believe this to be the case?

At the beginning we were searching for an organisation which would be able to fulfill our requirements, which were nothing else than just what we had before in MYM and Wicked. After hearing "no" from everyone we had to keep lowering our expectations. In the end we lowered them a hell of a lot. Nothing was unrealistic from our point of view.

The last major event you won was the now defunct ESWC in 2008. Although some might say it's unlucky to be playing in the same era as the current fnatic side, the closest you have come since then was losing out to mouzesports 16-11 in the final of Gamegune. How frustrating is it to wait so long for an event win?

We went to Kode5 finals in Russia, Extreme Masters in Germany, DTS-Cup in Ukraine, and GameGune in Spain. We placed top 3 in all of those events. The only one we didn't was at e-Stars in Korea where we didn't get out of the groups, but we had SK and fnatic in the group, who both ended up playing against each other in the final. I don't think that is unsuccessful considering the quality of teams attending all of these events so although it would be nice to win more events, I'm not exactly frustrated.

As mentioned your team won back to back ESWC titles in 2007 and 2008, it was then that you were considered the team to beat, what has gone wrong for you since those tournaments? Do you think you will ever be able to scale the heights you once did?

I think having organisational problems had a big influence on our game. Other teams didn't have to struggle so much with things not concerned with the game. I think now, after finally finding a home, we might be able to focus more on the game itself and with some training we can get back and finally achieve something better than top3.

You just won the Polish qualifier for the WCG in a closer match than many would have expected against D-Link PGS, do you believe that you played badly, or D-Link played well? What will you be aiming for when you attend the WCG?

The final match against them was really close, especially on nuke, where I feel that we have won only because of the network crash. I think the reason for tightness was their good game and our weak performance in the final. In the winner bracket final against them we played better. We've had a break during holidays and that's why I think our shape wasn't the best and we were a little bit random. I am pretty sure we will get better for WCG finals. We always want to win every event we attend so we'll prepare as well as we can.

Filip has played in many of these high stakes finals before and isn't phased by cameras or crowd (photograph courtesy of Bownik)

Throughout the history of both 1.6 and CS:S there have never been many Polish teams battling it out to be the best. Why do you think this is? do you think there is still time for talent to make its way to the top, or is CS on a downward spiral now?

I think the main problem why there isn't as many good teams from Poland as from other countries is the sponsorship in Poland. To be on top right now you have to be experienced, and to gain experience you have to attend events. Polish teams don't have that much support to travel around the world. And since we've been on top in Poland for a while now, they can't go to WCG, ESWC, or Kode5 finals. As for CS I have no idea to be honest. I don't feel the downward spiral though.

Are there any players or teams that you still look up to when you see them playing? Any play styles you like to replicate, or are you well and truly your own team? Who do you currently see as the best team in the world?

I still enjoy watching others play, seeing their styles and of course nice frags. Right now I think fnatic are the best team, but I also really like how mouz plays. These two are my favourites right now and of course I would like to meet them at any tournament. We've always had lots of problems playing against mouz, but I hope we can finally beat them and take revenge! And as for fnatic, since they've changed their line-up they've won almost every event they went to so definitely they are the best now.

You mentioned fnatic as the number one team. They have had the funding to attend most international events in the past year or so. How do you think you will stack up against the likes of mTw, fnatic and SK when you get the chance to attend these same events? Is there any team you want to beat more than anyone?

Personally I would like to beat mouz the most. We lost to them at finals of GameGune, and Extreme Masters in Dubai, and that's why I remember these defeats that much. We always have more problems against them than against any other team, and I just want to break that barrier. It's really hard to pick a winner of a tournament with all these top teams, because right now CS is on such level that anyone can be a winner of such event. It's sure it would be very interesting to watch.

The new Vitriolic celebrate their victory (photograph courtesy of Bownik)

At the end of last year it was announced that you would be removing the newest member of your team Jakub 'kuben' Gurczynski and replacing him with rising star Filip 'pionas' Pionka. You then decided to reverse the change after just two months. What made you decide to make the change in the first place, and why did you change your minds after one event?

We were trying to find a cause for our bad, unstable performances last year. We tried changing too much of our in-game style, but we thought kuben was the reason. Unfortunately after some time of playing without him, we noticed how much he was bringing to the team. Despite the noise we made over the internet we decided it would be better to take him back, because without him we just weren't the same team anymore.

You have played 1.6 since it began and most players who started on 1.6 have stuck with the game ever since, with a small few switching over to CS: Source. Has anything ever tempted you to make the switch to CS: S? The CGS for example?

We had few offers of joining the CGS, but we don't like CS:S as much as we like 1.6. We had a chance to try it at an event, since WCG 2006 (as far as I remember) was held on that platform. After that we went to SEC (European edition), also with CS:S, and placed 2nd after losing to x6tence. We just don't like that game that much!

Since the start of the CGS the American 1.6 scene has been destroyed. It is only now we are starting to see any teams that could realistically compete with top level European teams, who do you consider to be the best team from America? Do you believe they will ever be able to win a major International event?

To be honest I don't know the lineups in the American scene that much now. I've lost the track after they finished playing CGS. I only know EG right now and if they are able to win a major international event, I have no idea, I think they have lot of experience missing, because since their times CS has changed, and they need to practice really much to get to where they were before they left for Source.

A lot of people are looking at promod to be the saviour of both CS 1.6 and CS: Source, something that will unite both communities. Do you ever see this happening? Do you want it to happen?

I don't see it happening. I think it's being hyped up too much. I mean I am fine with uniting both communities. But I wouldn't like CS to change. I like the way it is right now and slightly better graphics wont make me want to change games when I just don't feel like changing. Maybe there are some players that are tired of the game after playing for so long, but that definitely isn't me.

You're renowned for not letting teams settle in and execute their strats, being always unpredictable and incredibly difficult to play against. Back when you won ESWC you were widely considered the best player in the world. What does it feel like to be mentioned alongside players such as HeatoN and potti as being one of the best players to ever grace the game? Would you consider yourself to be as good as them?

Of course it feels great, but I wouldn't put myself in that category yet. Although I'm not done playing so maybe when I finish I will think of putting myself on that list! But right now I still hope I can give you guys some nice entertainment and inspire a few people who watch me play, so keep on watching.