(4) eMazing Gaming

Nazar "steno" Vynnytsky
Scott "evolution" Cavallero
Matt "Lim" Beahan
Michael "chE" Guevara
Robert "Ph0bius" Irey



CEVO Season Statistics
Record: 7-5
Rounds Won: 159
Rounds Lost: 173
CPI: .4703

Emazing Gaming is probably one of the more underrated teams in CEVO, but they are able to turn things around when it counts. Before questioning how well the east coast team will stack up against the west, they've done quite well for themselves. They are top-tier east coast team that have had some recent success including winning the 2007 WCG US Open and Dust-Off Championship.

Here's why eMg is still a factor: after getting off to the rugged start in the beginning of the season, they were able to turn things around and win the last four games, thus clinching a spot in playoffs. Their unique playing style and big comebacks have gave them the chance to play for $10,000. eMg's first playoff match will be against Backfire, whom they lost to in Week 4. The team has been dominant on de_nuke during the season and will give Backfire a run for their money.

You guys had a bit of a bumpy start in the beginning of the season. Did you guys make any adjustments early in the season to pick up the pace? Does the lack of top teams play a role in practicing?

Nazar "steno" Vynnytsky: The beginning of the season started during the middle of the summer, and everyone knows CS is not always the first thing on your mind on a nice sunny day. So I think our moods were a little off and we really didin't feel like sitting around online especially with the lack of competition. Half of the scrims ended up being a waste of time because teams started fooling around or they just get bored. Our goal was to make playoffs and then put our minds to it and start focusing.

In my opinion the lack of top teams right now does play a decent role, but it depends how your team practices. If your team is the type who just goes over mistakes in scrims or after it, then yeah it plays a big role, but if your team practices and goes over stuff outside of scrimming, then it doesn't really matter who you play against.

The team itself has kept a solid core roster for awhile now, even after the upsets at WSVG which caused you guys to have an early departure. Did it ever cross your mind to make a change in the lineup? Was it the right move to keep the roster now as you come closer to the championships?

WSVG was a very good learning experience. We realized our mistakes, and all I can say is it definitely wont happen again. Making a change in our lineup did not cross my mind once because we are a little more then just a CS team. All of us have grown to become good friends and wouldn't want to play with anybody else, and we enjoy every second of being at tournaments together, you know sometimes you can get sick of teammates, or argue nonstop, but that just doesn't happen to us.

Another reason is because we know what we are capable of and are just waiting our turn, getting a little unlucky in Kentucky wont stop us from doing what we want to do :D

Three weeks ago, you won the 2007 Dust-Off Championship in Rockville taking home $4,000. Have you guys been able to practice since then? After much success, do you feel the need to mix things up before the weekend or just stick to what works?

Haha yeah the Dust-Off tournament was pretty fun! We haven't really practiced for a couple of months... I'm sure people know and see that we barely play online, and are probably wondering why, but I think it's because that's how this lineup started, and that's how we play best. We formed as a pug at a local lan and won it, and since it was the beginning of summer and nobody really wanted to play at home much, we just kept going only to local LANs and were winning them all. We did try to prepare online for WSVG and some other LANs I believe, but it would just annoy us because it's so not what we're used to. Unless of course it's a match, then we somehow manage to ignore the negatives and just focus. As for the upcoming CEVO playoffs we decided that we are going to practice online this week, and we're actually playing them together from web2zone, and then staying there and bootcamping the rest of the week for WCG, which is what I think we need and what we've sort of been waiting for.

Where do you see yourself at the end of this event? Which team do you want to face the most and why?

I can see us standing right there..waiting for the 5k check ;P, I think every team has a shot if they go in with the right mindset and prepare well enough. Besides it's CS and anything can happen!

Oh and about who I want to face the most, hmmm.. I don't know, I guess Turmoil since THEY GOT LUCKY IN KENTUCKY against us!! :]

Turmoil | Check Six | X3O | eMazing Gaming | Backfire | West Coast Rockers