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Counter-Strike: zonic interviewed

By: Mark Cheben - Published August 26, 2005 at 5:32 PM EDT - Writer Archive
Danny “zonic” Sørensen, former member of SK.dk just rejoined Clan.IT and Mark “jESUIT” Cheben had an opportunity to talk with Sørensen about leaving SK, and his future. Enjoy!


You joined SK.dk as a stand-in for CPL Spain from Clan.IT, if I remember correctly. Why did you join? Did it work out in your opinion? And now that SK.dk is done, where will you go?

Well, I knew from the very first beginning that the SK guys had some problems finding their level. But when you have played for three years and get an offer like that, you cannot say no. :) About the future...hmm. Well, I am coming home. :)

So we will see zonic rejoin ClanIT?

Maybe!!! :D (at the end of the interview zonic tagged up and officially rejoined Clan.IT)

Do you think the team could have done something different to not end this way?

Well, honestly no.. The Titans guys (spx, egene, whimp and drally) lost the motivation, and I really tried to work this out, but after fighting since ESWC, I gave up last week.

What was the main reason for the lack of motivation?

Girls, tired of spending so much time on a computer game was probably the main reason. Spx is golfing a lot and whimp has a girl plus his education. I think Drally and egene were motivated, but they were fine with idling, and I was not.

How did the return of SK.swe affect your team and its morale?

I cannot say it felt great becoming the "second team" but well, that is our own fault. About the morale, it actually helped us during ESWC. We felt the pressure was on them, and people lost expectations to us.

Did the organization let you know that they will bring onboard a second CS team, and that you will become the #2?

No, they said nothing would change, and it did not, but I think that we were the second team, and I hope they saw us like that, because we did not deserve to be the main team to represent SK-gaming. The SK organization was cool all the time. I have nothing to complain about.

So you did not lose any support after the Swedish team joined?

I do not know. From the first day I joined, we got a lot of criticism, so I pretty much got used to it from the beginning. :)

But the organization kept their word and did not cut your funds or traveling back?

No, not at all, as I said before.. they were great all the way. :)

With your results leading up to ESWC, many people did not expect you to place second. How did that good placing affect your team?

I thought that was the key to get the team morale up, but it actually went the wrong way. People wanted a break, and we took two weeks, and that basically put us where we started.

Word on the street was that SK.dk's contract expired at the end of the month. Did this have anything to do with the timing of the announcement, and was the Danish team going to be re-signed if you were to remain as a team?

My contract was going to end next year, but I actually wanted to get out of the team, and that started some meetings with the leaders and we agreed on terminating the contract.

Compare and contrast the current European scene to its predecessor of around two years ago. Is the European scene still dominant in international competitions, or do you feel the relatively large number of roster changes have lead to a disposable scene nowadays?

Well, in 2003 there was SK, a team no one could beat. I think the game has changed again. For like a year ago, the recipe was "stay together for a long time and you will get better with time," but I think it is different today. People who are winning this game today are having fun, and just playing a lot of mixes, et cetera. They enjoy gaming...that is why I think the "old pro-gamers" are getting their ass kicked by the newcomers. :P

What changes do you think could be made to help CS progress further?

It is hard to say; more organizations I guess. There are a lot of teams who do not have the opportunity to travel the world and prove their skills. Actually, I do not know. :)

So far in your eSports career, what has been your most enjoyable experience and why?

Hmm, that must be ESWC, of course. Unfortunately, we did not go all the way because of a strong playing coL. But playing on the scene (making a TK) must be the biggest thing I have achieved so far. And I am not done, yet. ;)

What are you looking forward to this year [event and league-wise]?

First of all, I think I am going to make it clear that my new clan is number one in Denmark, and after that we are going to work outside Denmark. :)

Any parting words?

I want to thank all our fans for supporting during this difficult time. I want to thank whimp, calc, egene, drally, spx for some great trips. I really love you guys!! And I want to thank SK for being a great organization. They really showed us how pro gaming really is. :D And last but not least, our team manager Iantje for a great job as coach.

User Comments

1
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gl hf

who will sit on the bench in clan-it? :o
cs 1.6, the superior version.
2
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Nice interview
Steve Smith is Pro!
3
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He really tried to make SK look bad by asking 4-5 questions if SK organization treated them bad when SK.swe came back. It didn't work, lol. nt gotfrag.

This comment was edited at 08/26/2005 5:58 PM
4
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nice. zonic is defenatly underrated. hes a VERY good player.
5
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Clan.IT!!!! :D GL, zonic.
*DEAD* EG.shaGuar : i didn't take ur last coconut
6
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GotFrag Prime!
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#3 when two world class team exist within the same organization I assumed there would be some preferential treatment. Thats why I asked, if I didnt I wouldnt have been doing my job. Just because they're SK doesnt mean they get a pass.
7
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GO ZONIIICCCCCCCCC
gl with anything you do in the future
8
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wtf are you talking about #3. zonic misinterpreted the "So you did not lose any support after the Swedish team joined?" question so he asked it again worded differently...
#925BALLAZ area code 925, danville, CA
9
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#3 it's called journalism. I'd say it's pretty relevant and interesting, so I don't see your point.

Anyway, GL zonic, IT and the remains of SK!
www.TeamExcello.com - Defining Excellence
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#6

"Just because they're SK doesnt mean they get a pass."

well quite the opposite, I know gotfrag admitted themselves long ago that there has been bad blood between SK and gotfrag, though this might have been in the past and not anymore.

Good interview othervise though.
12
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what the ...
Black chocolate + White chocolate = Brown chocolate
13
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Why re-recruit zonic if they have drally and spx as clanless ? crazy danes
14
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jESUIT just squelch this guy (#3) i have been reading his comments and like 80% of them have flame intentions, look at him ...... hes baaaaad

nice interivew

so this its offical now,its end for The Titans
gl to zonic and it in the future

great work mark cheben
15
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interesting, gl to the hulk with clan-it
My english is worse than yours
16
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There was an interview recently with StaN saying that he will be back soon... maybe a comeback of SoA? :o
17
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nice i view!
"I haven't failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
18
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Nice interview. Good for Clan-IT to get zonic back, an improvement of the team no doubt.

#13

zonic is better than both of them.

nice i-view
rawr
20
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#13 zonic is better than spx AND drally.

zonic is also their ingame leader AND one of their better awpers.

but whimp is the best player in norway hands down.

This comment was edited at 08/26/2005 9:09 PM
21
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i love caln-IT cause they crushed coL gl in future
22
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"jESUIT just squelch this guy (#3) i have been reading his comments and like 80% of them have flame intentions, look at him ...... hes baaaaad"

I guess I fit in well with the gotfrag flamers then? No but seriously Id idn't mean to sound like that at all.

Zonic no dobut is a very good player but i do think drally would be a much better choice. I always do look at the gamesense stats when comparing players but i cant locate zonic in it. Drally on the other hand has some really impressive stats..
24
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#20 rofl what are you talking about. Zonic isn't the leader, and he barely awps. jesus.
My english is worse than yours
25
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#20 whimp is from denmark, i think you made a mistake, just pointing out and i think whimp isnt the best player anymore in denmark, he was hot in 2004 but 2005 is different. hpx, bloddy and the rest of IT are pretty skilled.
...
26
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Nice interview
27
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very nice interview
28
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boooorrrringgg
shoot dawg
29
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gl zonic..
30
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journalism? the purpose of journalism is to inform without bias. asking the same question twice more, with negatively loaded questions ie "did you [i]lose[/i] support," "but did the organisation [i]keep their word[/i]..." (suggesting that sk does not keep its word) is an example of editorialising. i wouldn't normally say anything, but the last few "news" articles on gotfrag have been pretty blatant examples of editorial license - what was basically an ad for verizon, or the piece on bootman's departure from 3d.

i really enjoy gotfrag's coverage, and have a great deal of respect for the body as a whole, but this sort of thing isn't particularly confidence inspiring.
31
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Nice i-view, GL Zonic!!
When you've got a gun barrel between your teeth, you can only speak in vowels....
32
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sorry!

This comment was edited at 08/27/2005 5:17 AM
When you've got a gun barrel between your teeth, you can only speak in vowels....
33
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Always sad to see a team quit CS but gl to zonic with his new team :)
34
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gl zonic
35
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Good Luck man , and , for sure , Have fun =)
Mess with the best or die like the rest

good luck
winner winner chicken dinner
37
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zonic rockz =)
Clan-IT no doubt will be Denmark top 1.
first version played: Beta 6.5. Nowadays: 1.6 player. =)
38
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Well.. it was expected in denmark, only a matter of time.

Zonic -> iT
Drally -> ?

spx (quits cs)
Whimp (quits cs)
eGene (isn't known if he continues playing)

#16 , StaN will not be joining SoA.. SoA in denmark right now, is a joke and has been for a long time, you wont see SoA going for the top again, because every elite player in denmark hates CrashJack (owner of SoA) besides SoA has an active lineup witch is : nyg, rytme, Lund, gizmo, ninka.

#20 , Well arent you the know it all dude, 3 swings, 3 miss by over a yard.

Zonic, is a good player but he is NOT better than spx & drally combiend thats for sure, i would say that the 3 players are evently skilled

Zonic is and never were ingame leader of SK, the only time zonic has been ingame leader for a team in a long while was for a team called Fade2Black.

Yes Zonic WAS a good AWP player in 1.3, he got very known in scandanavia because of his way of using it unzoomed (allways) and was one of the few who could use it as a closecombat weapon but today.. SpX, Drally & Hpx are alot better than Danny with the awp.

Aim wise Whimp was, hands down one of the best players in the world but he is DANISH not from Norway and besides, he never really wanted to play in 2005, he only came back because of the paycheck that SK could give him, but today in eSports, money is not enough to motivate you.
39
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very good interview, nice questions except you kept implying that SK were a bad organisation!
woot!
40
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TIIIIIIIIBIIIIIIIII!!!
41
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GotFrag Prime!
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#30 he didnt understand it the first time so I reasked it. Also, it was something I heard from quite a few people therefore I figured it was something that he answer directly. Yes some of our articles have problems with editorializing, but then again so does the NYT :] we're working on it hard trust me. Its alot harder to stay neutral when you dont copy and paste your news from other sites.
42
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GotFrag Prime!
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#30 then please volunteer your expertise to our organization!
Yeah, that joeker
43
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mmm, zonic is a good addition to IT's line-up but hes deffinetly not better then drally or spx (as #38 stated before ), as for the Titans, they had their time, placing 1st and 2nd at ESWC is something to brag about , but as all of us know there is a day when you have to go, and I think they did it in a right moment ( after placing so well at ESWC when no1 expected them to do that great ), they didn't want to
wait any longer, who knows what results they would have at their next tournament, so they just decided to leave in glory (which is in my oppinion a smart move)
44
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GotFrag has never shied away from the tough questions. This has nothing to do with SK organization. GotFrag has improved its relationship with the organization greatly with talks between BDS and myself over the past few months.

With that said, at ESWC I asked the SK.dk players similar questions in front of the entire press room during their press conferences after winning both their semifinals and losing the finals match. Every press person in the building knew that this would be happening. Jesuit's questions were needed and required because of this. We can't hide from issues just because its uncomfortable for people, we have to get to what's really going on if the public is to ever learn the real truth.
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good iview clanIT is a good team
¤¤¤¤
46
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Was never really a fan of SK.den (or SK at all for that matter), but zonic was a good player. Best of luck Zonic.
Team SOE - A Colorado Legacy - #colorado - GamerTag = Hanosandy311
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good interview :]
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i would gladly, #42 if not for my busy university schedule and the fact that australian coverage is already handled more than adequately by the likes of luten and michael_au. the implied insult is rather amusing; if you don't want critiques on the work your staff produce, don't post their articles on a large and regularly viewed website with a comment system. look to your colleague in #41 for an example of a better response.
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nice iview. gogogo zonic. GL
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#6
"Just because they're SK doesnt mean they get a pass"

i would wish u would treat organisations like cpl the same way .. just check your interview with scott valencia

This comment was edited at 08/29/2005 7:32 AM

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