I recently interviewed Jason "Moses" O'Toole from TEC, the last undefeated team in CAL-Invite. We discussed the team’s play at CPL and in CAL, as well as what the team plans are for CPL Winter 2004.

If you would, please introduce yourself and your position in TEC.

Moses: I am Jason O'Toole, AKA moses. I am TEC's newest member, and I don't do much in TEC aside from come up with big rounds when we need them, and play consistently to the best of my ability :)

TEC finished rather disappointingly at CPL Summer. What do you feel were the reasons for such a finish?

Moses: Well, the big reason was the lineup. While it looked good on paper (elude/gouki/gosu/griff/wakefield), the players didn't dedicate enough time to strategy and teamwork. They are all good players, but nobody there is good enough to carry the team to a good placement on their own. That is why the Gilberts brought in new blood (jaden/tool/myself), and we plan to give TEC their best placement ever.

How is TEC preparing for CPL Winter?

Moses: We haven't started yet... mostly because I am still playing soccer for my high school. I have games Monday and Thursday until around 9:30EST, which is crappy because those are also match nights. My practices usually go from 7-9 EST, so we can't scrim TOO much. When it ends, we will practice probably 4 days a week for 3-4 hours a day for a while, and party at gosu's house for a week pre-CPL with Mr. Rod Longhofer

Will TEC be attending any upcoming LANs prior to CPL?

Moses: Hmm, not before CPL. I might be attending a couple local Midwest/Chicago-area LANs with the u5 guys, but I'm not sure about the rest of TEC because they all live in Texas. As a team, TEC's next event is CPL.

TEC is currently the only undefeated team in CAL-I. How do you think the team will finish the season?

Moses: We're all pretty optimistic about finishing undefeated. Elude even has a $20 bet with his dad that he will. However, we know that we have a big match with 3D, and after that, the other teams at the top of their division. We're gonna remain positive and take the season one match at a time. I think we'll finish with a maximum of two losses, and at the top of our division.

Speaking of 3D, how do you think they have changed since CPL Summer?

Moses: Obviously they've changed for the better. They look like a team who has just dug themselves out of a deep hole and emerged as a top team once again. I'm really happy to see them win a big event. I think they've all been playing very well, moto especially... and the pickup of Volcano doesn't hurt too much considering he is the best player in the world (in my opinion).

TEC is only ranked 7th on the North American Gotfrag rankings. How do you think being undefeated in CAL will affect the rankings?

Moses: Probably not too much, and that is how it should be. Everyone knows that the TEC name hasn't had a major LAN win since KillerLAN so long ago (that was with a completely different lineup). To have accurate rankings, people need to base them mostly upon LAN play. While I'm not saying online accomplishments don't count, they definitely shouldn't count for much compared to LAN.

SK, EYE, and The Titans have been doing especially well in past events. What do you think of Europe and its gaming scene?

Moses: They have an excellent gaming scene as everyone knows. Not only because of amazing teams but because of the way that most of those teams have corporate sponsors and financial support of some sort. It has always been a challenge for USA teams to beat European teams and I see it to be no different in the future. However I think that nowadays we have more teams to challenge their might than just one or two.

The South Korean team MaveN beat SK during WCG for a huge upset. What do you think of the Korean scene?

Moses: Honestly I have no idea about the Asians, but it looks pretty good if they beat SK :p

Do you have any final words?

Moses: Hmm, sure. Lance wants to donkey punch Midway and gosu is a fat ugly donkey. dER dE DER DER DER