Hello, please introduce yourself and tell us the history of the Blackdragons team?
Sure. My name is Eric Boston, or "sinurgy" to the gaming community. In Quake2 I was known as "RedEye", of b|d and [dz] fame. I changed my gaming alias due to the excessive amount of players in other games using different variations of it. I joined blackdragons in late 1998 while Darkpriest and Bronx were leading. I quickly proved my loyalty and skills and was announced as a leader in mid 1999. Since then, we've achieved #1 on OGL in both TDM and Ra2 numerous times. Our first attempt at competing in any LAN event was at QuakeCon 2005 this year in texas, which we had 3 guys finish top5 in the Quake2 1v1 tournament. Rigg5 finished 3rd, I finished 4th, and mik3d finished 5th. We haven't had a chance to play in a TDM LAN tournament yet, but are looking forward to in the near future.

So who will be your starting lineup? On what do you base your decisions for the starting lineup?
It's hard to say what the main starting lineup will be because we have so many guys near the same level of skill in TDM. I've been picking starters based on skill, communication, and activity. I may sub different individuals in according to the map being played. Right now, our top 4 players in no particular order are: DaHanG, mik3d, Scooby, and Clamp.

Where are you all located around the U.S.?
I'm from the bluegrass state, Kentucky. Mik3d is from good old North Carolina. DaHanG and Vorador are from Florida. Scooby recently moved to Chicago from Poland. Rico and Clamp both live in New York. Rigg5 is constantly on the move, he's getting a pad in texas… he's moving as we speak.

What are your goals for the team?
Of course, our main goals are winning each tournament we sign up for. Other than that, we'd like to get sponsored for lan travels and gear.

What leagues are you currently competing in?
We are competing in GGL and Caleague. We plan on competing in future events if they plan on holding any q4 tdm tournaments, such as QuakeCon, ESWC, or WCG to name a few.

What makes TDM so fun, in your opinion?
The first thing that attracted me to TDM was the overwhelming amount of frags that you can rack up. After playing for so long, I soon grew old of going for the best kill/death ratio and found that playing as a team with strategy elements made it more fun. Going over your flaws as a team and working them out just makes you want to keep playing the game until you're near perfect.

Who do you think is your biggest competition right now in North America?
It's hard to say atm. Some teams have their practice streaks and can stay in good shape, but then a week later fall out. Right now, I'd have to say DarkSide's starters are good when they are all on, along with inevitable demise's. I haven't had a chance to play Aggresion yet, so maybe they'll pack a punch. As for clan Kapitol, I think they haven't been as active as they were the first month the game came out. I want to give Canine some props for being the best team in the west, but I just don't think they are getting as much practice as the teams over here are to compete for that #1 spot.

How much do you try and practice in a week? Do you have a practice schedule?
Lately due to the holidays, we haven't practiced much, but usually we try and scrim at least once a day. I have everyone's phone number, so when we need one for a certain scrim, I just call them. As for the practice schedule, we've tried to work one out with cK, but it seemed they weren't that active/interested. I think it would have been nice to have a schedule like that.

For people who have never played or watched TDM before, can you give us a couple examples of strategies or how your team coordinates during a match?
Just remember certain timings for weapons and power-ups. Weapons re-spawn every 30 seconds, mega-health re-spawns every 35, armor re-spawns in 25, and Quad re-spawns in 2 minutes. Develop your strategy based off these timings. Guard a certain area and develop routes to and from certain power-ups once the timing is near. Try to keep the powerful weapons away from the opposing team. There are many different strategies, just know the basics and come up with your own guarding positions and routes.