Blog:One Tap Lan 3: Fiachra “FiggyS” O'Higgins, Dovydas "SYLNT" Venckevicius, Callum "Walter" White Interview
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One Tap Lan 3: Fiachra “FiggyS” O'Higgins, Dovydas "SYLNT" Venckevicius, Callum "Walter" White Interview
This interview was audio recorded on the afternoon of the 10th of February.
Here with the boys from Figgy’s Merry Men, SYLNT and Figgy. How’s it going?
FiggyS: Not too bad. We played our first game of the day. First game we upset Cyclone, ex DEG, won sixteen – fourteen. The next game we got rolled by Nobodys in the upper bracket and now we’ve beaten Kiddiepool two – zero with an overtime game on cache.
What is the full roster for your team?
FiggyS: It’s Walter who’s flown over from England. SYLNT here, well vek here.
SYLNT: No it’s SYLNT.
Shredding all traces of veKJ.
SYLNT: Yea, veKJ doesn’t exist. SYLNT.
FiggyS: myself and Drags and Envo as well.
You guys are just a mix?
FiggyS: Yea, Thank god.
So go into the first game then. Let’s talk a bit about that.
FiggyS: We made it very hard for ourselves. We had a different player before this, obviously. He was unwell a few days ago so myself and him, we watched the demos that they had on Inferno.
That was Incepiens?
FiggyS: Incepiens, yes. What happened was we went to do the veto and we sort of knew the map we wanted was Inferno, so we went up to them and the bans literally went: Cache for us, then they banned Overpass and I banned Mirage and it just went straight to Inferno because no one plays Nuke or Train. So we got that and then we had an atrocious T side. It was so bad. We knew exactly what they were doing and we lost like four two vs. ones. And then on CT side it just clicked. We were down twelve – five and we just grinded it back. We got like some of the most insane two and three vs. fives I’ve ever seen. There’s just rounds where vek would just rush apts. for no reason and get four kills out of nowhere.
SYLNT: Just vek things you know.
FiggyS: Just vek things, “Here lads I can’t fall back, I’m in Mexico.”
Do you have the same thoughts about that game as Figgy?
SYLNT: The game was played really well from our CT side especially, but on T side we were getting too aggressive and they would either push us or we would chicken out of fights and fight one by one.
Were you expecting such a result or were you expecting Cyclone to be a bit better, ok they haven’t been practising the last two weeks or whatever but they’re still a proper team right?
SYLNT: Well to be honest we got the result I was sort of expecting. I didn’t expect the game to be a sixteen – zero easy win. They’re a full roster who has been playing together for a while and they’ve been putting in the practise. A good few months now they’ve been together. Especially Dean, Padge and Jester they’ve been playing together for maybe a year or so.
A couple of years I think.
FiggyS: Since Cerberus White.
SYLNT: Like I used to be on a team with them…
Yea, same
FiggyS: How did that work out for you?
SYLNT: Yea, a week before One Tap Lan 2 I got dropped so that was my revenge there. I think it worked as it did because for a mix we put a lot of effort into beating Cyclone. Obviously we got the brackets very early so we had a lot of time to do our research on what they would be like…
FiggyS: And shoutout to Guinnezz (distracting in background).
Shoutout to cRAZD as well sitting beside us not saying anything.
cRAZD: Just listening in.
FiggyS: But I think it’s something that should be picked up on Irish teams. When you actually do your research and figure out how a team plays a map it is very easy to upset a team that is better than you. I know it obviously doesn’t apply to your Different Gravy’s and Nobodys who just rock up and play, but yea... we won’t talk about that game because that went very well…
Are you going to do any of that for tomorrow’s games? Watch the vod’s on stream?
FiggyS: We don’t have a laptop, but I might download a couple of esea demos from Different Gravy and see what they’re strong on. But just from speccing the lan we know there is just going to be raw aim the whole way. Shoutout to Guinnezz a second time (distracting again).
Let’s talk about the second game. We don’t need to spend too much time on it. You lost against Nobodys in a best of three.
FiggyS: We sort of made the decision at the start to just take it chill. We knew that there was like a one hundred to one chance that we could win it. We weren’t taking the piss but we weren’t raging like we were in the third game when we started losing important rounds. I think that worked out better. When it came to the third game we were all refreshed. None of us were trying too hard. We got stomped. First map was like sixteen – eight. Second map was like sixteen – six.
SYLNT: The two games against Nobodys were atrocious but we didn’t go full out trying to win the game because we knew we would just go into the lower bracket and roll over the winner of Kiddiepool and Eclipse game.
So you were almost focused on the next game to a certain extent.
SYLNT: Yea, we knew it would be a very very very rare chance to win against Nobodys.
Let’s talk about the next game you played which was against Kiddiepool in a best of three. Did you prepare at all for this game.
FiggyS: No we sort of thought we would be playing Phelan. We wanted to prepare for everything so we thought we would roll Phelan and play against cRAZD team or Different Gravy, whoever lost but it ended up that we actually got the upper bracket and it was all swapped. I think the way we went into the game, we were way too overconfident. I’m really disappointed in how we played Cache. Individually we are just so much better players than them. Nothing against the lads but we shouldn’t have let them get to OT. With the results we’ve put up and the results they’ve put up at this Lan, they lost a map to Calvin Hynes team and almost choked the entire series like.
SYLNT: The way we played on CT side we threw away too many rounds. On retakes we were just diving out through smokes and just pretty much not coordinated at all. One by one running out, but on T side we brought it back really well.
Do you think it being a Lan factors at all into these guys you perceive to be a good bit below your level bringing it close. Do you think it is a kind of equaliser compared to online play?
FiggyS: I think actually it’s easier for bad players to beat you online. I think on Lan, it was a bit of an outlier because we literally went into it thinking there is no way we lose this and it took us about ten rounds to go, ok they’re ten – five up now or ten – two up now. And we just started grinding it back from there bit by bit, which I actually think is a quality the team has that I didn’t expect from a mix that was thrown together last minute like. So I think we’re really good at grinding back rounds
SYLNT: We’re really good at adapting to the situation as well especially when we lose three, four rounds in a row and then we’re like right we need to switch things up.
Do you want to join us (To Walter)?
Walter: Yea, I’ll join half way through.
FiggyS: It does also help when Walter pops up and gets sixty kills in two series.
We’re talking about the game against Kiddiepool. Do you have any thoughts?
Walter: It was mostly Figgy tilting me. We knew we were going to take T side, we just knew it. They were playing too aggressive.
For which map?
Walter: Cache. They were playing too aggressive. It was easy picks really.
SYLNT: Walter picked up the awp and that was it.
Walter: They should have won the first map. The second map I knew we were going to win. It was quite simple anyway.
FiggyS: Yea, the Nuke was a bit of a curveball. It’s the only one which hasn’t been played for the entire event.
What side did you start on?
FiggyS: We started CT side and we threw really hard. We won the pistol and the first buy and we just lost to pistols and three corresponding rounds.
So you were up nine – six going into your T side?
FiggyS: No it was eight – seven.
Do you feel like it is a bit more CT sided as people have been saying?
FiggyS: I actually found the T side wasn’t that bad but I think the T side we played was very aggressive. It was super aggressive. We were throwing players outside. We played entirely off their economy. Our calls were made like “Ok there’s an awp, lets rush inner”. This is the first time any of us have played the new Nuke without the rafters or without the boxes. So we sort of called around get around the awp, because when I started awping on our CT side and when Walter started getting up and going and pushing outside, we took the map control back and starting becoming so much better.
Walter: I think were confidence based players as well. We started getting more confident on the T side. I think after that pistol round we just played confidentially against them.
FiggyS: We did the same thing on Cache. Our CT side on the overtime was way better. We were more warm, we were more aware.
Walter: They were doing some stupid stuff on T side on overtime honestly. They were running through smokes and I was like “What are you doing?”. I was so confused. I think they gave up at one point honestly.
FiggyS: I do feel that they choked a lot more than we did though. Obviously Cache in an example. They were up fifteen – twelve and we brought it to fifteen – fifteen. They won one round in overtime. But even on Nuke when it got to the tense rounds. Rounds that would reset us. There was one round I remember on the overtime in Cache where cOMPLEX was saving an awp in T spawn and I run by him and he misses a point blank shot on me and he misses a second one and I just 180 and one tap him. Ruined their economy for the rest of the overtime. Small little things like that contributed.
Walter: So in summary, easy money. Easy money.
FiggyS: Like it just wasn’t difficult at all. I almost broke my desk and Walter’s off now.
Do you think the changes will bring it at all into the map pool?
FiggyS: I hope it does, I really liked Nuke. I think it was a good map.
SYLNT: The new Nuke is better, see if you are in hut you can’t get shot through the window from mini. Every time on the old Nuke you would have to check two angles. It’s always been harder. Now that you can just wide swing and it’s so much easier.
FiggyS: It will reward an aggressive T side, it won’t reward the old Na`Vi Nuke T side where you would execute inner with all your utility in the last ten seconds and insta stick the bomb plant.
The Dream. The way CS should be played.
FiggyS: A purist.
Do you think in the RAID event at the end of March it will be played a bit more.
FiggyS: I don’t think at this level it will. But I hope to see it more in the pro scene. I don’t think teams are bothered at this level. The main reason we were playing Inferno as opposed to cache was because it was in ESEA. So we knew the team would be comfortable on it. When you are coming to a LAN full of mixes and you’ve been praccing for months like Cyclone have you go “oh, we played this in ESEA, we got two decent results in it. These are just no-namers, Just playing the map for fun.”. I think it’s always going to be Cache is King
Let’s bring our focus to tomorrow’s games. You’re on for eleven?
FiggyS: Eleven tomorrow and it’s against Different Gravy.
SYLNT: Did Cyclone lose?
I think they are still playing at the time we are recording this. Different Gravy are up one – nil. cRAZD is going to check the score.
FiggyS: We’re just presuming.
Do you think they will lose to Cyclone?
FiggyS: They have a chance. Sure we beat Cyclone. There is a chance that Different Gravy could choke also. But I think the eleven o’clock start could have an effect on Different Gravy. I think if we hit them hard and hit them fast on the first map and rock them they seem like the kind of team that can get tilted at each other. And they don’t seem like the kind of team that would take kindly losing to our tier ten Irish Counter Strike players.
So Different Gravy are up a map and look like they are going to close the second one. Are you going to reflect on your previous games or any of the Different Gravy demos or go into it with the same attitude as today?
FiggyS: I reckon I’ll just go up to Walter and say “Yo, can you do that again”. Either me or vek will get sixty kills again.
Will we see you guys as a mix for the RAID event? Are you going separately? Are you going at all?
FiggyS: I don’t know about myself. I don’t know about anyone else. I don’t see Walter coming over for RAID because it’s so close. But I think we’re happy with how we’re doing. I’ve already mixed a LAN with Walter and vek. We went to Meltdown LAN in England.
SYLNT: And we won it… easily. Greatest comeback in history.
FiggyS: fourteen – two in Train.
Are you guys going to the RAID event without Walter then?
FiggyS: It could be a topic for discussion depending on how our game goes tomorrow.
You guys haven’t bought tickets for it yet?
FiggyS: No, none of us.
Any final words, shoutouts, callouts?
FiggyS: @AtSylnt, @WalterMuffin, @FiggyCSGO
Walter: @Tobin I love Tobin.
FiggyS: TobinSDK are whatever.
Walter: Is cRAZD in UKPL?
FiggyS: Is cRAZD in UKPL?
We will also have an interview with eLe from Different Gravy coming out shortly.
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