There is a reason why comebacks are a bad idea.

Often it's the reason you quit in the first place; you're either too fat (not me, swear), too tired, too slow or too fed up to keep up with the young and hungry. Believe it or not, that was the first thought that crossed my mind when I was approached about "saving MIBR" in this tournament.

While I was explaining that the speed of the game was beyond me I could not help but be talked into the unlikely comeback by the big, sad eyes of Raphael "cogu" Camargo.

I'm on site in Seoul to cover this event so this might be a refreshingly new way of covering it? By actually playing the games myself.

The way competitive Counter-Strike works makes it hard to see the fine points of the game as a spectator on the internet. You do not see how the teams are communicating, and the effects of the oral exchange by watching HTLV. Often things or players, look stupid in situations that is impossible to understand through HLTV simply because there is no way for the audience to get the information the player is getting.

Prior to actually sitting down I was convinced that my Portuguese was up to the task. At least the CS-Portuguese. It's not that difficult to know the name of the many positions on any given map.

Alas, the pace of the game got to me again during our first practice game. Before I clumsily managed to spell out where my opponent was hiding he had moved somewhere new - a place I had no idea what to call.

Dazed and confused I ended up shouting it out, first in Norwegian and then in NorwEnglish. To laughter from everyone present in the practice area. The in-game communication had indeed changed since my last event in July of last year.

A huge part of the game is maintaining an intelligent flow of information. For instance, in MIBRs match against Hacker on de_train tonight there were several rounds that were lost simply because I do not speak Portuguese as well as I should have. Brazilian teams are not exactly known to communicate well either but MIBR handles that well, when they don't have a stray viking to worry about.

In-game calls are made by "cogu" and they are, at least from my point of view, a lot more detailed and coherent than several European teams as of late. With the abundance of Brazilian skill to boot, that should work wonders for "our" team this weekend.

From a Scandinavian point of view the players behave very different. It seems like the will to outshoot the opponent, the situation and odds notwithstanding, outshines the cynicism needed to win the majority of those close rounds.

That's exactly the opposite approach I have had to take to the game in this day an age. Old timers have to live by the words "chose your battles wisely."

It does not make sense to charge in first when you know you are not able to get the entry that will put points on the board. So, my strategy, regardless of what the team is doing is to take it easy. Listen and learn first timers - someone's backside can not shoot back. Speaking of learning, you could also watch some of MIBRs players, especially Nak and cogu, if you want tips on how to rifle.

I'll predict that if MIBRs run here can be successful to the extent of reaching the final both will be strong candidates for MVP. Their limitations lies in the tendency to mope when faced with the combination of a deficit and an aggressive opponent. Perhaps that became the teams downfall in the late rounds on de_train. MIBR took a 6-0 lead as counter-terrorist and had total money control. Hacker managed to eat away at the lead, "we" could not cope and had problems adjusting.

The lack of tactical adjustment is also one of the easiest flaws to point out for a spectator but while playing it is extremely hard to recognize where the shoe doesn't fit. This has to do with the way teams practice. One or several players stick to their "sites" and make up routines. If they, for some reason, fail to have the desired effect on the opposing team, rounds will be lost.

That's how "we" missed a great opportunity to gain a valued map win tonight. And a little bit because of old legs and old hands as well.