Behind the Gamer: SteLam

Behind the Gamer is a feature at GotFrag where we highlight a well-known individual within the community. Coming off CPL Spain with a victory, the red hot Stephan "SteLam" Lammert has been chosen for this week.

Name: Stephan Lammert
Age: 20
Location: Mainz, Germany
Current Clan: SK Gaming
Past Clans: unmatched
Most Memorable Gaming Experience: Winning the ClanBase EuroCup II with my Quake 3 team "unmatched" (zyz, neok and Sl1nger). That was the first time I won a "big" tournament in competitive gaming. Back then there was no prize money involved, it was all about honor. Of course I have to add winning the CPL World Tour Stop in Barcelona here, since it's my first ever CPL victory, which is something special to me.

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First of all, congratulations on your victory at CPL Spain. How does it feel winning an event almost a year after your start to Painkiller? Was your preparation to this event any different than the prior ones?
Thank you. It feels great. I've always won a little money here and there and I've had tons of fun going to all those tournaments, getting to know all those people from all those different countries and hanging out with them. So it always seemed like it was worth doing it. In the end, however, you're doing it to win. I finally managed to do it, so I am obviously very happy about that. My preparation looked similar to that before previous tournaments. This time I only practiced with my teammates neok and zyz from SK Gaming. Before the Turkey stop we actually practiced a little more, bootcamping with Gellehsak and Vo0 twice.

Prior to CPL Spain, many people considered you to be one of top PK players, but no one thought you were a “top 3” player. Now that you’ve ended Vo0’s monopoly, looking back at the tournament what was your initial goal?
My initial goal was simply to do better than last time, where I placed 7th. So I wanted to place 6th at least. I just wanted to move in small steps, getting better from tournament to tournament. However, when I saw how the tournament was going for me I knew that I could do really well. So I just kept going trying to get the best result possible.

You’ve lost to Vo0 twice before in the winner brackets and to Zyz once. This time around, you’ve beaten both players in the winners’ bracket to shock the PK community. Did you have any kind of super secret tactics against these players?
Having played them a few times in tournaments and lots of times in practice, I know the way they play, so there aren't many unexpected things that can happen in a match with them. That certainly helps. Then things just went my way this time and I managed to beat both of them in some very exciting matches.

Your specialty in Quake3 was mainly Team Deathmatch. Other than the obvious aiming, did any of your Q3 gamesmarts carried over and helped you in Painkiller? Do you have faith in the TDM aspect of Painkiller?
Well, I learned playing FPS games by playing Quake 3, so it was definitely a good background. I think that it would have been even better if I had played Quake 3 CPMA, because it is more similar to Painkiller. Most of the things that you can take with you from one game to another are things like "what do I do in a situation like this" and "what don't I..." and psychological aspects. That comes with tournament experience. I would have faith in the TDM aspect of Painkiller, but the focus is just too much on dueling. So TDM will probably never get the time to shine unless the CPL throws in a surprise TDM tournament with big prize money.

You’re one of the most active players in the CPL Painkiller Forums, always reporting bugs and suggesting tweaks to balance the gameplay. In your opinion, what are the major problems and imbalances in Painkiller at the moment? Do you think the game is still random?
Things like telefrags and 200+ stake damage add a random factor to the game. I guess it would be better without them. Then we have the useless bronze armor and unfortunately still tons of major bugs. Those would be the things that could be modified without changing the nature of the game.

Do you play Painkiller for the World Tour or do you actually like the game? Would you go back to Q3 if a big tournament was announced?
I've played every game for the competition and it's the same thing with Painkiller. If the World Tour had been Quake 3, I'd be playing Quake 3 right now. If there had just been 2 or 3 Quake 3 events (which is actually the way it is now) I would have still played Painkiller in the World Tour.

What does Stephan Lammert like doing, aside being a pro gamer? What does a normal day look like, minus the computer activities?
Gaming plays a big role in my life now as it requires a lot of time. It dictates when I can see my friends from around my city and when I can't since it keeps me traveling a lot, whether it's going to bootcamps, tournaments or other gaming related events like sponsor meetings. Being away so much is also the reason why I put my studies on hold for now. So if I'm in my city, I'll see my friends and go out with them. If I just got home from an event I tend to relax, reading a lot of books, which I enjoy doing very much.

What does your practice regimen look like in a normal day and before tournaments?
On a normal day I usually play Painkiller for an hour. During a bootcamp before a tournament that would be about 4 hours of playing each day. After a tournament I usually take a break for a few days, up to two weeks. You also need time to regenerate and sort your thoughts. It's at least as important as practice.

At CPL Turkey, I remember you saying that your college was in a hold for this semester and you were thinking of quitting the World Tour if you couldn’t accomplish your goals in the upcoming stops. Now that you have won a stop and qualified for the World Tour Finals, will you be continuing to play and travel the world?
Being qualified for the World Tour Finals and having won the last Stop tells me that I am doing the right thing at the moment by focusing on gaming. I'll definitely keep playing as long as I feel that way.

What are your expectations from Quake4? Do you think ID Software and Raven will be able to meet up with the community’s expectations or will it be another Doom3 disappointment?
I hope it's going to have a lot of Quake 3 in its multiplayer part. If that is the case, I really hope that it's going to be picked for the 2006 World Tour. Quake 3 is the favorite game of so many players and people still say it's the best game for spectators, so it just seems logical to me. I would consider playing one more year in that case.

Do you think that you beating Vo0 will inspire others on the tour to try even harder now knowing that he is not invincible and it’s not a tour for second place?
I am certain of it. I could see it in everybody's eyes. Frodo the halfling threw the ring into the fire, if you know what I mean.

Will this win make any changes in your planned practice/bootcamp schedule for the next stop, Brazil? Do you think that your chance of getting another win at your home territory Germany is higher than getting one in Brazil?
I won't change anything about the way I practice. I think that winning either stop is going to be equally hard. There are a lot of very good players and everybody in the top 6 to top 8 can win a Stop.

Thanks for your time, any last words/shoutouts?
Thank you very much. Shoutouts to my team SK Gaming and to everybody who attended the first two World Tour Stops.