Written by Victor "Adver" Titov

One team that has been in the headlines recently is Swedish powerhouse Team EYE. From winning CPL Summer 2004 to arguably their best player Hyper jumping ships to EYE's nemesis SK. To get the story behind the headlines, euro staff writer Adver sat down with IsKall, one of the key performers for EYE at CPL.

Good day, please introduce yourself.

EYE | Iskall: Hi, my name is Fredrik Persson and I live in Karlskrona, Sweden. I play Counter-strike for the team called Eyeballers who won the CPL-title in Dallas this summer.

Tell our readers about your CS career. How did you get into Professional Cybersports? How would you compare Counter-Strike during the time period when you started playing until now and how it has become today?

EYE | Iskall: I started playing cs a long time ago. I think it was in beta 3.0 when I first tried it. The thing that attracted me to cs was that you played against a real opponent other than playing against the computer, like you did in alot of other games at that time. I have played in several semi-elite clans in Sweden before like Team-Virus and Begrip to mention a few. CS has developed unbelievably through the years. Tactic and strategy plays a larger part these days since the top players are equally good at aiming. A few years ago you could get by at only being good at aiming but these days you don’t get as many frags if you haven’t got an understanding of the game and a feeling for the game.

You are playing for team EYE at the moment. How did you get in EYE? Why do you think they picked you? What goals do you hope to achieve with this team?

EYE | Iskall: I was lucky to be available at the time EYE was looking for a fifth player. But the thing that made them believe in me was probably that I’ve played against them at LAN several times before and done ok. I don’t consider myself being that good when I play over the internet and the LAN tournaments are something that really benefits me. We hope to be able to stay at the world top3 and perform to our expectations.

EYE was not your first team with a big potential. You have played with the old Begrip team before. What are the differences between these two very good teams?

EYE | Iskall: The difference is that EYE is better both individually and in the mind when performing strategies. The strategies don’t always have to be highly advanced but it is the way you execute them that determines whether you win the round or not.

You are part of what some might consider the old wave of skilled players, because you have been playing Counter-Strike for a long time. But the biggest success came to you this summer: you became CPL Dallas Summer 2004 champion. How did you feel after you got up from the chair and saw thousands of people requesting autographs?

EYE | Iskall: It felt great to beat SK in the CPL finals. It was a huge thing for me just to get to play at CPL Dallas this year. But to be able to play and then to perform the way we did was incredible. And then the fact that so many people were watching both live and on the internet didn’t exactly make it worse!

SK has been dominating CS scene for a year, but you broke the trend of SK placing first in every event they attended. How did you manage to do that? Can you tell our readers about the schedule days before CPL Summer 2004?

EYE | Iskall: We had quite a tough schedule for 3 weeks before CPL with a 3 day boot camp. Of course it was a bit hard at first to get in to the game on this level where you can’t make any serious mistakes. Us beating SK had alot to do with the fact that we were hotter during the whole event and we also really wanted to win!

EYE could not beat SK Gaming for over the year and after you joined up with the team, EYE won against SK at the main event of the year, CPL Dallas Summer 2004. Maybe that’s because you? :) What do you think have changed after you came to EYE?

EYE | Iskall: You really shouldn’t be asking me this but I can always hope that I contributed with alot of TP and security to the team. I replaced a very good player (Crw) and I really feel that if EYE flops I am to blame. But it was great to show everybody who doubted my ability to stand the pressure at this level and in a CPL final. But after all it was a team effort.

Some weeks ago the captain of your team, Hyper, left EYEBALLERS. As far as I know, he was your ingame leader. Why do you think he joined SK Gaming? Will something change in EYE after Hyper parted ways with you? Who will take Hyper’s place as captain?

EYE | Iskall: Hyper is a very skillful player who really understands the game. But Hyper wasn’t what many people says, our ingame leader, Vilden is. So our tactics won’t change that much. On the other hand, Hyper provided many other things that will be very hard to replace. I can understand Hyper’s decision to join SK when they can offer him so many things that EYE can’t today. The thing that I think is sad is that SK is buying their way to the top even if EYE didn’t get any transition fees. But money rules and I hope that this makes our fans support us even more.

After Hyper left the team, bevah came back to professional Counter-Strike gaming and joined up with EYE. He played with you guys already, but that was during a time when EYE didn’t play at such a high level. How have you gotten along with him? Do you believe that the same level of the old EYE team can be developed by him?

EYE | Iskall: Bevah was a very skillful player before he joined the military service and we believe that he can come back to the same level. He has some things to learn though but the more we play the better it works for us. We will do everything to come back to the same standard as we had during the CPL.

After CPL Dallas, Hyper leaving, and bevah joining, you are still one of the best teams in the world. What will be the next event you attend with EYE and why?

EYE | Iskall: The next event coming up is 011, which takes place in Norrking, Sweden. All of the best Swedish teams will be there and it will be a great challenge to us.

What are your hopes for the upcoming Nollelva Digital event 2004, many top teams will be there? How will you prepare for it? Who are the main favorites for this tournament?

EYE | Iskall: It could be hard for us to perform as well at 011 as we did at CPL but we will be very disappointed if we don’t make it to the top3. SK are the favorites but it will be fun to go up against all the other great teams as well. I won’t be surprised if a team like the Titans wins as the current form can determine the outcome of the game.

What you think about the new changes in the Swedish CS scene? Begrip Gaming was formed some weeks ago; replacing hyber by miniwalle @ spixel.

EYE | Iskall: I think it’s fun and good for the stage that there are more elite teams coming up. I think miniwalle will do well in spixel but it will take a while before he feels totally at ease with playing at the level that spixel does. But I wish spixel all the best because they are really nice and worthy of more successes like they showed at the eswc.

Can you predict Top 5 teams of the world at the moment?

EYE | Iskall: It’s really hard but I will try to make a list without EYE. 1. SK 2. Rival 3. Titans 4. Spixel 5. D-sky.

A while ago, SK Gaming has started a CS players rating section on their website. If you could change some positions, what would you do to it?

EYE | Iskall: There are so many things that you don’t see through HLTV and that only shows when you play with the team. So I think it’s impossible to make a list of CS players. For example I think it’s very strange that archie isn’t on the list even though he was our best player during CPL. That proves how much this list says about what’s really going on and it feels like it’s not serious. The alternative is to make a list based only on aim. On the other hand a ranking list of the clans is a totally different thing.

Okay. How does the usual day look for you with the exception of playing CS?

EYE | Iskall: At the moment I’m unemployed after having worked for quite a while, so now I spend my days with my friends and go to the gym. I play alot of cs on weeknights now since we have to practice with our new team!

Let’s take a look at your life outside Counter-Strike. How have your family and friends reacted to your success in the Counter-Strike world? Do they know everything about you, or you don’t want to tell your friends about your computer life?

EYE | Iskall: Everybody thinks it’s really fun that I’ve gotten something out of all the hours I’ve spent playing. I probably would have quit playing cs a long time ago if it weren’t for the money and the attention. The hard part is that my friends and my girlfriend suffer from all the time I spend on cs, but it has been easier to accept for them now with all the success.

What about your hobbies? Do you have some?

EYE | Iskall: My hobbies are all kind of sports. I have tried almost all there is. At the moment is hard to do any sport seriously since the weeknights goes to playing cs. Luckily I’ve found the gym so I can keep in shape.

Quick Questions

Computer: Shuttle, Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, 1024MB RAM, ATI Radeon 9600
Mouse & Pad: Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0, fUnc surface
Keyboard: Logitech Special Edition
Headset: Sennheiser PC155 USB
Game Resolution: 800x600
Sensitivity: 2.3
Crosshair: Green, middle size, solid
Favorite Map: de_dust2
Favorite Gun: m4a1 colt
Favorite Food: Homemade food
Favorite Drink: Water
Favorite Movie: The Fast and the Furious
Favorite Player: Walle from spiXel
Favorite Game (aside from CS): NHL 2005

Unfortunately we have reached the end of our interview. If you want to tell something for your friends/teammates or someone else, now’s your chance!

EYE | Iskall: Thank you for a great page and I would like to say hello to everyone in EYE, my girlfriend Anna, my friends and of course to all of our fans! I also greet our future sponsors who won’t be disappointed!