The up coming Extreme Masters III LA event will be the host for 9 American teams looking to put themselves on the international scene map and maybe turn some heads. GotFrag got the chance to sit down with David "savi0r" Park from Paragon of Virtue, one of the American teams in attendance, and talks about how PoV is approaching this event and what their expectations are.

For those who are unfamiliar, what is your history with previous teams before joining up with PoV?

Before PoV, I played for teams such as f2, x3o, MNM, d2x and Guardians United.

PoV's teamwork has been a key to success for the team, in addition to raw individual skill. How would you describe the playing style of your team and what's your role in all of it?

Our play style is definitely one that changes throughout the match. We like to try to feel out the map and understand how to the best of our ability what the other team is doing. My role on the team is the bait :). I'm usually one of the first ones in.

The international teams in attendance at Extreme Masters III are going to give yourself and PoV some of its first exposure of playing against unfamiliar competition. Do you feel at a disadvantage? Have you done anything outside of your normal practice schedule to prepare for those matches?

I don't really feel like it is a disadvantage as most of us have already played against international teams at big events. We are just going to play our game and see how everything goes. As for our practice schedule, we are just trying to use all the time we have to correct our mistakes. Right now we are still trying to get everything together as a team and are a little short on time.

EM III will be the host for a lot of big name teams from around the world as well as a couple American teams. Is there any one in particular that you'd like to play the most and will this event help you in the future?

This event will definitely help us in the future. Like any other LAN event, it will help us correct our mistakes and become more familiar with each other as a team. PoV has everything to gain at these tournaments and nothing to lose. As for teams to play, we are going in treating every team the same. There isn't really a team that I would really look forward to playing. I just look forward to the event. :)

Recently PoV acquired NineSpot's contract from Team EG. A former teammate of yours from x3o, how do you feel this pickup will effect your current roster?

Playing with Ryan can only benefit us. He fits in very well with our play style and brings a lot to PoV. He helps with our midgame and that's a big plus :)

Where do you think PoV's skill level lies in relation to other teams in North America? Also, who if anyone would you place ahead of yourselves?

Obviously, no matter what I say here I'm going to offend someone or some team, so...I think our skill level is probably equal with every top North American team. We've shown that to every team at some point either individually or as a team, but I'm not going to claim that we're above "so and so" or below "so and so."

PoV recently has been getting a lot of flak from some of the top American teams for being "online". How do you respond to this and does it affect your game at all?

I think it's normal for a team like ours to gain a ton of attention for many reasons, and yes, some of it is deserved, but maybe the question is why are these "top" teams sounding angry and desperate? If anything, we utilize it as fuel, and I think the comments, though funny at times, help us more than hurt us.

Its been a long held frame of mind that North American Counter-Strike teams are weaker in skill and consistency from their European counterparts. Whats your personal opinion on that matter and in L.A. will you and PoV be looking to change that view?

In my opinion the gap between North American teams and European teams is getting smaller and smaller. I think European teams have a lot of backing and more tournaments to keep them so determined. In North America there aren't nearly as many high-caliber competitive teams as there were in the past. EG and x3o have proven themselves against some European teams and hopefully we will be joining that list.

You can catch Savi0r and the rest of Paragon of Virtue in action live from Los Angeles with GotFrag's complete coverage of the 2008 ESL Extreme Masters III CS tournament, October 3rd-5th.


Galleries: Day 1a | Day 1b | Day 2a | Day 2b | Day 2c | Day 2d

Counter-Strike: Extreme Masters Day 2 CS Melee | Extreme Masters Day 1 CS Melee | WCG Day 1 CS Melee | Viewer's Guide | Cogu discusses all things MiBR | WCG USA, EM Prediction Contest | Ninespot reflects on Day 1 | x3o gives fnatic an early test | Five with punkvillE | Zonic on mTw's early exit | sfX on taking down MoB | savi0r: Looking forward to E4All | WCG CS Group Preview

StarCraft: WCG StarCraft Melee | WCG Day 1 SC Recap | Five with NonY | G5 talks about NonY and Day 2 | StarCraft in the U.S: Why care? | WCG Starcraft Preview

World of Warcraft: Extreme Masters Day 1 WoW Melee | Extreme Masters WoW Preview | Five with Sp0h