When Paul "ReDeYe" Chaloner named the final draft pick for London Mint the boos were clearly audible as the chosen player sheepishly went up to pose with his shirt. Such a reaction was probably to be expected for Richard "ritch" Gibbs, given his reputation within the scene as one of the most outspoken, controversial and difficult players to work with. Yet in terms of talent Richard has been at the top of the scene for a long, long time and only missed out on what would have been a sure-fire draft spot in the first CGS season after walking out on 4Kings.

Have there been any major changes in his outlook now that he has become one of the few professional CS:S players in the UK? We gave him the chance to speak about life after the draft, his reputation and just what it is he does to rub so many people up the wrong way. Over to you Richard Gibbs...


You were booed when you were drafted, the first instance of an individual draft pick receiving that sort of reception. How did that make you feel?

That made me feel great, knowing that I had achieved something that other people didn't want me to. Nothing like that could ever make me feel bad at all. I know I'm good enough and they booed me because of jealousy. I think it’s a fairly big reason, yeah. Obviously, as I said, they just don't like me because I speak my mind.


A few people have labelled you as not suitable for the CGS. Why do you think that is?

Well, people can label me as they wish. I was immature when I was younger, just like every other teenager, but I grew up and did what was needed to step it up to be a professional gamer. Everyone makes mistakes at some point in their life, and I believe I'm completely suited to be a CGS gamer. Look at the infamous blog that s0nNy from the Carolina Core made, he spoke his mind, just like I used to. Don’t get me wrong, I have stepped over the line a few times, but everyone at some point in their life has said something completely out of order about something.


By your own admission you played badly at Infinity Gaming 5 and as a result there was speculation that you may be dropped from the line-up. How much did the criticism make you raise your game?

The criticism from the public means nothing to me at all. It was actually James "wilzOOO" Wilson that made me play better, which was shown in overtime versus Team eBuyer at iG5. Despite the fact they said they'd already lost the match, I still managed to pick up my own game and play better. There were numerous reasons as to why my performance was not up to its usual standard, particularly having to use a TFT properly for the first time and not really caring due to the fact the LAN was so delayed. Having to use 125 Hz on my mouse on a TFT was also a nightmare, but I wasn’t going to say that at the time and have it look like I was making excuses.


You effectively walked out on this set of players before when you played for 4Kings and missed out on the first season of the CGS. What was it like playing with them again? Was there any tension?

Nah there was no tension at all. We all knew that my walking out was stupid, so we put it behind us, although we did joke about it now and again. Playing with them again was a relief though, because I don't like playing with anyone else and these lads are the sickest gamers there are.


Everybody was fairly confident that you would be drafted; how confident were you?

In the days before the draft I was confident, but as the UK Draft was actually happening I wasn’t, because it feels like a completely different ballgame when you're stood up there waiting for the names to be called out. When your name does get called, the pause after "the last pick for MiNT Counter-Strike: Source is...." seems to lasts forever.


Salvo seem to have something of a monopoly on the UK scene at the moment. How do you intend to close that gap? Realistically, do you think you can?

We intend to close that gap by practicing hard and taking back the crown as the #1 UK Team. I do think we can, it just comes down to how we play on the day! We have been practicing as much as we can, but there has been a lack of games to play and playing the same team every night is getting ridiculous because it’s just anti-strat heaven. However, we are still practicing as much as we can and I definitely think we can close the gap, Counter-Strike with CGS rules is very random at times and anyone can win - we're both good Counter-Strike sides!


A lot of people view the Salvo side as stronger player for player. What do you think?

Nah, they're good, but I know everyone in our team is just as good. The advantage they have is experience, whereas we have been known to freeze against Salvo, like on stage at i33 because we were too focused on tactics rather than just killing them. That showed that we can beat them, because although it seemed like we lost quite badly, it was only 16-11 and we got eco'd. If we hadn’t been eco’d it could have been a lot closer.


Who do you view as the MVP in your team?

Hughsy, simply because of his aim. It is sick.


Now that you're a drafted player what sort of ambitions do you have left? What do you want to achieve in the game, both in the immediate future and long term?

I just want to win everything we are competing in, continue playing with these guys in the long term and keep looking ahead for success. I don’t know if I’ll stay involved in the game really long term, but it’s possible. For now it’s just about my team.