Interview and foreward by "Dr. Gonzo": Dave “JaFro” Davison

As part of our CGS coverage here at GotFrag we will be speaking to some of the players who attended the first time around, but for various reasons have been unable to attend for the second draft. The first is with Dave “JaFro” Davison, a player who finished second both in the pre-draft tournament and the London based televised finals with Zboard, only to have to watch third placed 4kings be drafted instead. With a CSS career that goes back right to the first competitive LANs he has played for a multitude of top teams, including Auxilia, r3, xciteuk, the Zboard squad he has helped establish as the most successful UK brand in CSS and he has represented his native Wales on numerous occasions. His recent attempts at a comeback seem to have been halted and many of the players he has played with over the years have moved into some sort of semi-retirement and it is possible he might be contemplating joining them. He won’t be at this CGS even either despite – or perhaps because of – coming so close last time around. We caught up with him to shed some light

You're not attending CGS this time after doing so well the first time around... What are the main reasons for that?

There are numerous reasons, but the most pressing ones are that the last incarnation of Zboard disbanded as most of the players just didn’t want to play anymore, I have working commitments and it just so happens to tie in with a friend’s birthday bash. Being honest I don’t think there was much chance of getting drafted this time, I haven't really taken the game seriously since the last CGS event. In my opinion the British draftees have already been chosen before a game has even been played.

So you're very much of the mindset that CGS is to a degree manufactured?

Yeah, most definitely. The current players in the UK have such a good relationship with the GM's that what they want, they will have. We've seen the same players playing together for almost a month now hoping to get into the current franchises, with a place being given to ritch, hudzg, wilzoo and wez. I believe that these four will get drafted in without a doubt. Its a shame as it tore other teams apart in the process.

If what you say is true what do you think the motivations are for most of the players attending?

Prize money is the big factor as you’re almost guaranteed to make something., Most of them are going over to get a free LAN and win a few bucks there. There are very few players going with the hope of getting drafted as I think most people see it the way I do. Its a joke compared to last year where people genuinely felt there were opportunities.

Do you think that it is likely to change in the future?

I don’t think so. Teams in Europe, unless professional, don’t seem to last so long. There’s no way we would see big changes in these rosters unless they mega-failed and the GM wanted to change them all around. I think the next big changes to European & UK CGS teams is when they announce new franchises in season 3 maybe. This would give more talent a chance to come in and compete at the highest level and would make things a lot more interesting.

So if you were in charge of CGS what changes would you make?

I'd get rid of the “cheesy” element it has to it and go more in-depth into the players themselves and the teams. I don’t think CGS really captures its audience at the moment, its just too much like any other game channel we've seen on TV, it needs to beat off the "nerdy" stereotype and let people out there know that gaming is a sport and gamers are in fact quite normal. It’s more gameshow than sport at the moment and no-one wants to be recognised as some novelty. This game takes a lot of skill and dedication.
Despite its faults would you not say attending the first season was a personal high for you in your many years as a player?

I've been to almost fourty LANs in four different games and CGS was by far the best gaming experience I've had. For all the 1.6'ers out there who think it’s stupid or are questioning why teams are moving over, they need to experience it first hand as they don’t know what they’re missing. The way the event went itself was spot on, it’s more the politics that have taken the shine off it since.

What is your one stand out memory of that first event?

Beatings 4kings, who went on to become London Mint, on the main stage with the likes of Heaton, BSL and ODEE looking on, then going from a massive high to then losing to Dignitas 10-9 in overtime, adrenaline was pumping and it shows how great and savagely cruel the game can be at times.

You haven't been active for a while... Do you think you will give CGS another shot at some point in the future or are you content to stay out of it?

It depends really. If the CGS takes off in season three and we see increased salaries and more franchises like in America it will be worth it. Personally I’d really want to get over there and show the US lot what we can do as I don’t think UK and European teams have given a good account of themselves yet.

And just to finish off if you were a GM and you had to draft some players, who would you pick?

Tough question and if I had to narrow it down to two players that weren’t drafted I would say that for Europe I would pick ferus and airaid just for their all round consistency. In the UK I would go for wilzoo and wez and as I’ve said I think both the GMs will be going for them too. I don’t know if airaid wants to leave fnatic, but if he does he must be considered hot property by the European managers. We’ll have to wait and see about that.