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Counter-Strike Source: EverLAN Interviews: shaGuar

By: Marc Turner - Published January 19, 2006 at 12:24 PM EST - Writer Archive
GotFrag asks the questions and Griffin "shaGuar" Benger has the answers. The Team 3D member speaks of EverLAN, Source and more...

The WCG Grand Finals in Singapore this past year saw the reigning CS 1.6 world champion, team 3D, take it to the Source teams and come away with the win. Now Team 3D is back to take on the best North American Source teams at EverLAN. In this continuing series of pre-EverLAN interviews, Team 3D member Griffin "shaGuar" Benger answers questions about EverLAN and Source.

GotFrag - What is 3D's motivation in attending EverLAN? Does the team feel this is a change of pace and more for fun or do you take this as serious as any other event?

We're primarily attending the event to have a good time. Of course we go into every event with the confidence and motivation to take 1st place, but we're mostly using this event to keep busy, have fun, and see how we match up against the best Source teams in North America; and we are preparing as such.

GotFrag - Team 3D obviously did very well with Source at WCG, do you feel the team will do as well with the dedicated North American teams at EverLAN?

I think EverLAN will be endlessly more challenging than WCG was. There were really only two or three teams at WCG (Kazahkstan and Singapore to name a few) whose primary game was Source, while EverLAN will be riddled with teams that have been preparing 5-6 nights a week since Summer CPL looking forward to this event. We're definitely going to have to use our extensive tournament experience and 1.6 skill to break into the top 3 this weekend, and I'm definitely looking forward to the challenge.

GotFrag - Can you explain the lineup minus Kyle for this event?

Kyle is currently on a ski vacation trip and is unable to practice and compete with us online or at LAN tournaments.

GotFrag - Who would you say is the most adept player on the team (3D) in Source? Who has adapted well to the game?

We all bring something unique to the table, but Sal (Volcano) is without a doubt the best Source player on the team, if not the world; and if you check his GameSense statistics from WCG I'm sure you'll see why.

GotFrag - Do you believe that playing Source has any long term affect on the team's timing or gameplay in 1.6?

Not at all. It's impossible to deny that there are some short term effects. During WCG prep we were losing a lot of silly games or having close games with mediocre or worse teams, and between WCG and CPL the transition really affected our performance for upwards of 2-3 weeks. However, once we got it back we were definitely back to full form, and I think we've all adjusted to going back and forth now. Our primary concern right now is still 1.6, especially due to the CEVO playoffs.

GotFrag - What do you see as the future for Source? Do you think it has the potential to become a replacement for 1.6 or do you feel that something else may be on the horizon?

No. 1.6 is still a much, much better game. Although I may have said it a bit prematurely in an interview about 6 months back and not given Source a fair shot, now that I have I can still say that despite a few refreshing additions/changes, Source on a whole, still needs some work.

GotFrag -  After EverLAN, will the team return to business as usual with 1.6 and the CPL World Tour?

Yup =)

GotFrag -  What teams do you believe will do well at EverLAN? Which teams has 3D played/scrimmed at Source and do any stand out?

In our first day of scrimming Teos beat us around a bit, showing us that we actually really had to make strats, practice hard, and come to play if we want to take the event, which was actually a really good eye-opener for us. Since then, the only team that has really impressed us has been Hyper; although we played them with a ringer. I'm really curious to see how certain players do in a LAN environment, as we'll definitely have that edge over the not so veteran Source players.

GotFrag - What has the team (3D) been doing to prepare for the event as far as practice?

We've been putting in more time than usual, even taking Saturdays to put in some extra practice time. As much as we want to go to just kick back and have a good time in the BYOC, with a shot at $10,000, we still don't want to go and get embarrassed. We want to win, and we know we can, it's just a matter of execution.

GotFrag -  When do you arrive at the event and will the team practice/participate in the byoc?

We're all there by Friday, and I'm sure we'll practice in the BYOC once we've all arrived and are set up.

GotFrag - Thank you very much for your time and is there anything at all you would like to add about EverLAN or your team?

I'd just like to thank 3D's sponsors; Intel, Nvidia, Sennheiser, X-fire, PNY, and Steelpad for offering their constant support and providing us with the opportunity to attend great events such as EverLAN. Hopefully Mikey and I can become repeat champions ;).

Full GotFrag coverage of EverLAN Winter 2006 can be found here.

User Comments

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Though there are problems in source(that valve will keep fixing), it was pointless asking shag if source will dominate due to him being a hardcore 1.6 player and being successful at it. Other then that, good read.
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Good interview, sheds some light on some important topics!
[b]-[/b]
4
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Good read =)
5
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Getting yped for the this tourney. Really wish the last patch fixed source TV though.
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shag does best interviews!
7
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3D just makes any tournament interesting for some reason. If they werent there i doubt i'd pay attention to it at all.
sup

<3 shag .... this tourney will be good.
407dc for the win
9
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gl to 3D at this tourny i think they will finished 3rd, behind CB7 and PG.
iM dblstR intel
11
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cant wait
12
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shag, have my babies
[b]coL.fRoD Sexiest Pic!!!![/b] ------> http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/8008/c..
13
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Nicely done.
Day of Defeat Legend
14
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um kyle is on a ski trip, how old is he? go to school wow
15
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get legit shag, get legit
16
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lol good interview but 3D i doubt will take 1st but they will come close though, gl to them and everyone else :)
MarE
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#7 ftw.
[b]steiner is back[/b] Living proof that you can smoke, drink, do drugs and still get a 95 average.
18
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3D will obviously do well but I dont know about top 3, possibly top 5
19
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good read, and hes right Volcano was insane on source @ WCG
[b]« World's finest k0lz. »[/b] www.Sloganizer.net
20
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cool interview and good luck to 3D at everlan
21
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it is hard playing cs 1.6 then going to source but source is a mile easier, Go team 3D
what is this?
22
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'a mile easier'... its all relative to who you play against
23
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I found it alot harder going back to 1.6 from source #21
"now see MIBR, now not. they come and win. you lose and cry. MIBR , my MIBR, good of." - KDM
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Source is hot.
25
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shag doesnt bs at all.to the point
Fanboyism can cause severe blindness, irrational behavior, faulty language, and incoherent ideas
26
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i didnt read what shaGuar said (sth i WILL do now) but i know he deserves 10/10 :P
4cro
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3D FTW.
Hi.
28
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i think brandon knifed volcano twice in that scrim.. it will be interesting to see if his online knifing skills translate well to lan ;D <3 teamhyper
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good read
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you cant say source is a "better" game, its a different game. Anyhoo, go hyper.
PKTraceur doubts the power of greyskull

GL guys
"When the rich wage war its the poor who die"

after becoming cal-i source, 1.6 was ALOT easier when switching back
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omg owned
<Graham> love ksharp,!!! frequently head shot
34
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"1.6 is still a much, much better game"

Want to give a reason? Oh that's right, you can't.

You'll hate on it so you can continue to latch onto a game you know you're one of the best at, pretending that there's a real reason why it's flawed. Once 1.6 dies out (and Source has already surpassed it in terms of popularity) then the 1.6ers will come running and claim it improved and is now worth their attention.

Source hasn't changed much, if at all from a gameplay perspective for well over six months. Now quick scoping is a bit harder to do (but not as hard as 1.6, and not a reason why 1.6ers claimed Source was bad, many liked the awp delay being gone) and there are a few more maps. That doesn't make a game that much better. Source has been good since they added Train however many months ago.

Source was bad when the netcode was wonky and people didn't have correct settings and crappy hardware. The netcode was dealt with nearly a year back, and if you still have crappy hardware, that's not the game's fault.
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good interview.
Asif
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my boy nerdpolice-tuned showing 3D how this game is played online.
GUNIT~
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#34, no it hasn't surpassed it in popularity, pubs or otherwise (most definitely not league-wise), i don't know why you would even say that.

i don't see why you're still saying "once 1.6 dies out and source takes over..." when the only tournament i know of this year for source with any kind of prize money is this one, everlan. (edit: actually i guess wcg will still be source, but that's because they're contractually obligated to use the newest version...not because it's popular or something) why would you think 1.6 is going to die out? just, seriously, give me a reason to think 1.6 will die before source. 8 years old or whatever or not, 1.6 is still more popular and has more money being put into it as far as competitions, so why would you say that...

come on, cpl world tour vs. everlan, which game do you think is more popular?

This comment was edited at 01/19/2006 3:26 PM
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Great Interview!

Best of luck at EverLAN.
Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose.
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#34
http://steampowered.com/status/game_stats..

yeah source is so much more popular nowadays, it gained about 20 thousand users in the past 3 months , while 1.6 has the same ol amount of users...o but 1.6 still has twice the amount of users then source...
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#1
fixing problems?? you mean like messing up the quick scope

#34 if your good in 1.6 your good in source. the reason i hate source is cause its so easy and i dont get the adrenaline rush that 1.6 gives.

This comment was edited at 01/19/2006 4:29 PM
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Yeah I have to say #34 not sure what your talking about.
Good read.
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Good Read. Good questions asked and well responded.
sometimes you can be inspired by love but sometimes it can push you away
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#34 would you please give us some cold hard facts about how source is more popular then 1.6? o yeah thats right you can't

Anyway good read and gl to 3D at everlan
#highhopes
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only reason im even going to watch 3D is because of shag
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Good read, I do not think you can compare 1.6 to CSS though, they are totally different games...
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#34 take your medicine
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</3 shaguar
mouz fan! wnv fanboy!
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#24 source is not.
#Premier! Texas LAN team competing in CAL-Ripken

We all bring something unique to the table, but Sal (Volcano) is without a doubt the best Source player on the team, if not the world; and if you check his GameSense statistics from WCG I'm sure you'll see why.

Sal is the best source player in the world. Nikon may be 2nd best, but is still 100% online.
;o
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nikon is attending everlan

This comment was edited at 01/19/2006 6:42 PM

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