With the recent roster changes in Team Hyper! can you introduce the players that were added?

All of the players that have joined up with Hyper! I have known personally for quite some time. Up until the merge, they were playing together on the team Make It Bacon. Jon (Shredder) Hayes, Karlos (solraK) Agobian, and Sean (tuned) Portis were all members of Hyper! previously. I have known Will (wisc) Watts, Josh (Daemos) Hayes, Vishak (judas) Menon, and Halston (Tekn1kal) Bellintani through interactions with teammates and other people in the community. Everyone on the team has had experience competing at the upper level of source and is known well throughout the community.

Hyper has been slowly slipping over the last season or so, do you feel this roster change will bring Hyper! back to the top?

This current CAL invite season is the only time where the team has been struggling really. After the 3rd place finish in CEVO
professional last season, three members of the team parted ways. Joe (Jd) Dawson and I tried to piece together a new competitive team quickly in order to retain our position as one of the elite teams in Counter-Strike Source. Unfortunately the downfall of the lineup was my fault as other aspects of my life interfered, which in turn caused me to change my attitude and approach the game and teammates in a different manner. I have corrected my mistakes and attitude now, but I only have a limited amount of time to dedicate to the game, so the new roster was chosen. All of these guys have competed at the upper level of competition and are very reliable. This allows me to put trust in them to do what is necessary to compete and win. By putting together their experience and guidance from myself, I believe they will do a fine job representing Hyper!.

What current leagues/LAN's are you prepared to compete in?

Currently we are prepared to participate in CEVO-P and CAL-I. This season in CAL-Invite is tough due to two members still serving a suspension from the league. Once the suspensions are lifted however, I am positive the team will gain ground and quickly rise up to be a top team in CAL once again. As far as LANs go, the team is capable of attending any major LAN that comes up as well as some smaller ones here and there such as w2z. If Everlan and the Project Circuit LANs are confirmed, you can bet Hyper! will be there.

As manager of Team Hyper! what role do you play in Team Hyper's success?

My role is still being defined somewhat, but most of my responsibility will be financial based. The Hyper! Gaming Corporation is moving along steadily and hopefully will be launching very soon, which will benefit the entire gaming community. Once things get closer to launching, I will start releasing information on what the corporation will be doing for gaming. In addition to the finances, I will probably continue to be a backup player in case there are conflicts with the starters. I am also a good tactician and may offer assistance there if they wish to utilize me in that manner.

Hyper has had very unsuccessful LAN perfomances over the past year, did this play a role in the roster change?

While I personally consider 5th-6th at Everlan to be an unsuccessful LAN for us, I don’t think it was bad overall for the team. TXGF
however was a very poor performance no matter how it is viewed. Both of those sub-par results were my fault due to mistakes that I made before and during the events. We decided to confirm about two weeks before TXGF and I did not prepare the team properly. After the LAN, players decided what they wanted to do and went their own way. This roster change is mainly due to the fact that the
previous roster was unstable and I know the new lineup can perform without me. I trust them to do their best and put forth the effort to represent Hyper! to the best of their ability.

The previous Team Hyper! will not be taking part next season, what is the reasoning behind this?

Many of the members have parted ways with the team already, but the ones remaining have other tasks that are taking a higher priority. Joe (Jd) is getting ready for college and decided that it is best to move on past gaming. Dan (phys1kz) is a tremendous Quake 4 player and is required to play in the CPL events, so his playing time is being cut short. David (JiBBY) has been one of the most dedicated members, but the new lineup is pretty much set up. I wish him the best as he will be playing for CB7. Matt (vnmz) will be assisting the team in CAL this season and will be progressing from there. As for me, I have recently taken a position within a company that will require a lot of travel and time is becoming a scarce resource for me. Since I cannot put in the time, I will be continuing my support as the manager.

Closing Remarks

I would like to thank everyone who has ever been a part of this team and organization in the past as nothing would have been accomplished without you. A shout out is necessary to all of the members and friends in the gaming community that I have become acquainted with along the way. Last but not least, I would like to give a shout out to the European players. My hope is that one day there is a LAN where I can meet you guys in person. Everyone can still reach me and is free to send me a message in #teamhyper on GameSurge and Quakenet.

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