Time: 00:24:59 CET 15:24:59 PST 18:24:59 EST 07:24:59 Seoul 06:24:59 Beijing
BLOGS
EM Chengdu recap
Our group wasn't an easy one on paper with k23 and WeMade.FOX. The first match would be vs WeMade.FOX and nuke was chosen between myself and their team-captain.
We lost the knife, which meant we were starting as T and lost the pistol-round. Because of our good spawn the next round, we decided to run a deagle-rush on upper and quickly re-gained momentum by winning that round. The half-time score came to 11-4 in our favour and we could be very satisfied. We were confident we would be able to get five rounds as CT, and managed to win the match 17-13.
The next match vs k23, we wanted to avoid dust2, so after the process of removing maps it came down to train which felt comfortable for us. Not realising that k23 and WeMade.FOX had tied in their match, and that k23 needed as many rounds as possible vs us to advance we rolled them completely, even playing five awps at the end.
The way all the groups were played out, with a few surprises it actually felt like a disadvantage to us finishing first in the group because we could face fnatic & mouz.
However, we ended up playing EG in the first play-off match.
We knew that they had improved alot lately and that it was going to be a good match. In the end, we won 2-0 and lurppis made a comment about the train overtime which is very true. It was a deja-vu feeling from all the train matches we had played vs him and his finnish teams in the past, often going into overtime.
Next up was tyloo, which was the big surprise this tournament.
First, let me try to explain how the picking of maps process works. Each team remove one map each, then you choose one each BUT you start playing the fifth, neutral map. The second map will be the choice of the team that loses the first map.
Having tried to explain that, which took some explaining and processing for myself. We always removed tuscan and then picked the map we wanted to play last - trying to win 2-0 and actually avoiding our own pick, which was usually dust2 or inferno.
The maps to be played were nuke as the neutral, first map which we won fairly comfortably. Because of the maps system, we were happy to start by winning nuke, giving ourselves the chance to win this match on train (their choice), not letting it go to a third map - our choice, inferno.
This did not happen however. It did go to inferno and we got off to a terrible start as CT but in the end we managed to get five rounds. We had a long road ahead of us and knew we had to play this side with total control of the economy.
Robert saved us from being eliminated from the tournament basically, by winning a 1v3 on the pistol-round. After that, we played well and forced them to eco several times before finishing the map 16-14. We were in the final.
fnatic, who had some problems early on in the tournament managed to pull through as they usually do and make it to the final.
We were surprised during the picking process, to hear that they had chosen to remove inferno, while we removed tuscan. We picked dust2, hoping we wouldn't have to play it at all. As they picked train, we started on nuke which was the neutral map.
We had a tough time getting into the match and I think they were up to 7-0 at one point and making that 6-9 in the end seemed okay to us, because we knew we could pull it off as terrorists. It all came down to overtime, even though we had two rounds to finish it. Luckily, even though we were down 0-2 T-side in the overtime, we came back and finished the half 3-2 which greatly increased our chances to finish it as CT, and we did.
Next up was train and we really wanted to win right then and there to avoid playing their strongest map dust2. We won the pistol-round, but lost the next when they dropped AKs which forced us to eco. We actually only lost one full-buy round the remainder of the half which has to be seen as a good half.
Once again, they refused to give up and managed to tie the match, even though we had two rounds to finish them off.
During the overtime, we changed our game up a bit which worked very well, alot thanks to Jimmy playing great really hitting his shots.
Potentially the last overtime half, this was it. We won the first round. One more. In the second round of the overtime GeT_RiGhT was left in a 1v2 vs myself and kHRYSTAL. I was going for the full-defuse because Jimmy had been saying GeT_RiGhT had low HP. I was killed by a nade. Frej then went for the full-defuse too, knowing GeT_RiGhT was low and hoping he would take the chance of not peeking.
He didn't peek. Yes! What a way to finish the match.
Finally, it was our turn to win the SK vs fnatic final we've seen so many times this year. I'm really proud of the guys and what a way for Johan and Frej to make an impression, winning their first event for SK with such little practice.
I hope that this was only the first of many good performances to come and I want to thank everyone for the support.
Peace
D
Home, sweet home.
Sooo relaxing being home now from a hectic period of time, having been to Korea and Russia past two weeks.. it's gonna be nice to wind down a bit and put CS aside for a week or so.
It's been alot of fun, especially re-visiting Seoul the last day of ESWC Masters. Myself, Robert, Marcus & Kristoffer have all been there before in '05 during WEG and we actually stayed in the same hotel as we did back then for one night. We ended up visiting our old favourite restaurant, bar & nightclub. Alot of great memories from that tournament, it is one of the best i've had the pleasure to attend.
So, two tournaments and two 2nd finishes. On paper, it's allright I suppose. We really wanted to beat fnatic on atleast one of them but they really are too strong for us right now, and any other team for that matter. The shape they're in right now reminds me of what mTw were like not long ago. I think that pretty soon in the future, one of us topteams is gonna find a way to beat them, hopefully it'll be us : ).
The fact that the finalists of both tournaments were Swedish teams is something to be proud of as a Swede though, I suppose. Sweden representing!
Kode5 was very good also, reminded me of the old CPL with no delays and very little problems. They should have credit for that and I hope to go to their tournament again in the future.
Remember, it IS more than a feeling!
Peace
D
Korea+Russia
So, i'm leaving home in about an hour, heading for Korea. I'm just about to turn my computer off and pack all my gaming equipment. I'm excited to go back to Korea because I haven't been there since WEG '05 with NiP. We're staying there til thursday and i'm not sure what this Cheonan city is gonna be like, but hopefully not all that bad : ).
We finally got our russian visas too. Damn, it's near to impossible to get them. We had to go there THREE times before they would accept our papers.
First time around, our vouchers weren't accepted AND we didn't have the neccessary insurance papers. Fine. We all got our insurance papers and corrected the vouchers. Second time, they still wouldn't accept the vouchers. WTH?! They accepted fnatic with the same ones! We had to contact Kode5 and have them send out business invitations for us, and luckily - third time was a charm for us. We made it just in time since we got our visas yesterday, and are going to Korea today : ).
Gotta finish packing. I'll keep you updated while we're out travelling.
Take care.
Peace
D
I'm le tired.
Spring is here, hoo-f-ray! The sun is shining and it's getting warmer by the day.. I haven't been looking forward to summer like this for years, it's gonna be great!
I just got back home from Gothenburg and the Kode5 Qualifier.
The tournament was played only on saturday for us. It started at 14:00 and we were done by 01:30 approximately.
I guess the tournament was pretty much as expected, we got to play and defeat both mouz and Lemondogs and I gotta hand it to them. Lemondogs is a talented team and I hope they will get the chance to go to some events so we can see what they're really made of.
Actually, we should have won 2-0 and not let it go to a third map but at 15-13 I called a round at T-nuke we usually run when we're fooling around at practice. It's called DiscoUlla and it basically means you're supposed to light up the yard of nuke with all of your nades, and then go down long. It back-fired and we ended up losing the overtime. In retrospect, it's kinda funny though : ).
After the tournament, all of us went to a bar for a few drinks to celebrate I suppose. The bar in particular closed at 03:00 so we split up. Myself, Jimmy & Robert continued to another club while Kristoffer, Marcus and Anton headed back to the hotel. I think I was back at the hotel around six, which was a bit unfortunate today. I had a hangover and I had to cancel my long-awaited drive of Antons' Audi S4, boo!
I shared a ride with Anton, Robert & Marcus on the way down and finally talked him into letting me drive it on the way back home. I've been nagging him everytime i've seen him, asking when he's gonna let me and his answer has always been "never".
Since we were in the south of Sweden and me and Kristoffer shares an apartment in the north of Stockholm, I ended sharing a ride with Kristoffer on the way back home.. another time, Anton.
Anyway, it feels great having qualified for Kode5 now, and not having to go to any other qualifications. We will chill for a day or two and then it's back to practicing for the main event.
We finally beat mouz too, hopefully the curse is broken and we will be able to in the future also.
Here's an awesome song for all of you;
I am le tired.. take care
Peace
D
no stress
Hi.
We're praccing quite alot these days, more than normal and we're starting to feel like we're getting into shape.
It's very hard to say though. We practice versus many different teams and playingstyles so it's hard to predict whether or not it's gonna be as good on match but i'm optimistic atleast.
We changed a few strats and positions on both dust2 and inferno, but we haven't been playing train and nuke as much. It's about time to start playing all maps so that we don't get rusty on them too : ).
I'm starting to get pumped up for the Kode5 Qualifier. It's gonna be good to get to play some matches again, it's always alot of fun and hopefully we will be able to qualify.
We do have our work cut out for us though, with mouz coming and all the Swedish teams, none of which you can underestimate from the very start, or you might lose.
Yesterday was CS all day long. We started practice early, followed by a one-map match (KOTH) vs Lemondogs - which we managed to win quite easily. You gotta dig the name of our KOTH-team too, right?
After practice myself, Jimmy & Kristoffer played a nationscup match versus Ukraine which I think was a very good game. We lost the first map but managed to win the two remaining ones for a 2-1 win.
You can expect POV-demos from both matches. Stay tuned! ; )
Time for the last pracc of the day now. Take care
Peace
D
I'm on a boat
Hello.
I'm writing this blog inbetween practice games to give y'all an update since my last blog.
We're playing quite alot right now, trying to improve what we learned from our mistakes at EM. We have also been changing around some positions on different maps, and I think the ones that know our gameplay well will see a big difference.
Good or not - remains to be seen. We felt something had to be done.
As you may know, we were bootcamping for two weeks or so before EM and Jimmy 'allen' Allén didn't bother to leave when we got back home. He is still here and him and I are still hardcore LANing in my not-so-big room. It's quite messy and very gamerish but we're having fun, playing lots of CS and other games and going out during weekends.
Back to practice. Take care.
Peace
D
By Dennis 'walle' Wallenberg
Oct 5, 2009 17:31
Our group wasn't an easy one on paper with k23 and WeMade.FOX. The first match would be vs WeMade.FOX and nuke was chosen between myself and their team-captain.
We lost the knife, which meant we were starting as T and lost the pistol-round. Because of our good spawn the next round, we decided to run a deagle-rush on upper and quickly re-gained momentum by winning that round. The half-time score came to 11-4 in our favour and we could be very satisfied. We were confident we would be able to get five rounds as CT, and managed to win the match 17-13.
The next match vs k23, we wanted to avoid dust2, so after the process of removing maps it came down to train which felt comfortable for us. Not realising that k23 and WeMade.FOX had tied in their match, and that k23 needed as many rounds as possible vs us to advance we rolled them completely, even playing five awps at the end.
The way all the groups were played out, with a few surprises it actually felt like a disadvantage to us finishing first in the group because we could face fnatic & mouz.
However, we ended up playing EG in the first play-off match.
We knew that they had improved alot lately and that it was going to be a good match. In the end, we won 2-0 and lurppis made a comment about the train overtime which is very true. It was a deja-vu feeling from all the train matches we had played vs him and his finnish teams in the past, often going into overtime.
Next up was tyloo, which was the big surprise this tournament.
First, let me try to explain how the picking of maps process works. Each team remove one map each, then you choose one each BUT you start playing the fifth, neutral map. The second map will be the choice of the team that loses the first map.
Having tried to explain that, which took some explaining and processing for myself. We always removed tuscan and then picked the map we wanted to play last - trying to win 2-0 and actually avoiding our own pick, which was usually dust2 or inferno.
The maps to be played were nuke as the neutral, first map which we won fairly comfortably. Because of the maps system, we were happy to start by winning nuke, giving ourselves the chance to win this match on train (their choice), not letting it go to a third map - our choice, inferno.
This did not happen however. It did go to inferno and we got off to a terrible start as CT but in the end we managed to get five rounds. We had a long road ahead of us and knew we had to play this side with total control of the economy.
Robert saved us from being eliminated from the tournament basically, by winning a 1v3 on the pistol-round. After that, we played well and forced them to eco several times before finishing the map 16-14. We were in the final.
fnatic, who had some problems early on in the tournament managed to pull through as they usually do and make it to the final.
We were surprised during the picking process, to hear that they had chosen to remove inferno, while we removed tuscan. We picked dust2, hoping we wouldn't have to play it at all. As they picked train, we started on nuke which was the neutral map.
We had a tough time getting into the match and I think they were up to 7-0 at one point and making that 6-9 in the end seemed okay to us, because we knew we could pull it off as terrorists. It all came down to overtime, even though we had two rounds to finish it. Luckily, even though we were down 0-2 T-side in the overtime, we came back and finished the half 3-2 which greatly increased our chances to finish it as CT, and we did.
Next up was train and we really wanted to win right then and there to avoid playing their strongest map dust2. We won the pistol-round, but lost the next when they dropped AKs which forced us to eco. We actually only lost one full-buy round the remainder of the half which has to be seen as a good half.
Once again, they refused to give up and managed to tie the match, even though we had two rounds to finish them off.
During the overtime, we changed our game up a bit which worked very well, alot thanks to Jimmy playing great really hitting his shots.
Potentially the last overtime half, this was it. We won the first round. One more. In the second round of the overtime GeT_RiGhT was left in a 1v2 vs myself and kHRYSTAL. I was going for the full-defuse because Jimmy had been saying GeT_RiGhT had low HP. I was killed by a nade. Frej then went for the full-defuse too, knowing GeT_RiGhT was low and hoping he would take the chance of not peeking.
He didn't peek. Yes! What a way to finish the match.
Finally, it was our turn to win the SK vs fnatic final we've seen so many times this year. I'm really proud of the guys and what a way for Johan and Frej to make an impression, winning their first event for SK with such little practice.
I hope that this was only the first of many good performances to come and I want to thank everyone for the support.
Peace
D
Home, sweet home.
By Dennis 'walle' Wallenberg
May 11, 2009 20:15
Sooo relaxing being home now from a hectic period of time, having been to Korea and Russia past two weeks.. it's gonna be nice to wind down a bit and put CS aside for a week or so.
It's been alot of fun, especially re-visiting Seoul the last day of ESWC Masters. Myself, Robert, Marcus & Kristoffer have all been there before in '05 during WEG and we actually stayed in the same hotel as we did back then for one night. We ended up visiting our old favourite restaurant, bar & nightclub. Alot of great memories from that tournament, it is one of the best i've had the pleasure to attend.
So, two tournaments and two 2nd finishes. On paper, it's allright I suppose. We really wanted to beat fnatic on atleast one of them but they really are too strong for us right now, and any other team for that matter. The shape they're in right now reminds me of what mTw were like not long ago. I think that pretty soon in the future, one of us topteams is gonna find a way to beat them, hopefully it'll be us : ).
The fact that the finalists of both tournaments were Swedish teams is something to be proud of as a Swede though, I suppose. Sweden representing!
Kode5 was very good also, reminded me of the old CPL with no delays and very little problems. They should have credit for that and I hope to go to their tournament again in the future.
Remember, it IS more than a feeling!
Peace
D
Korea+Russia
By Dennis 'walle' Wallenberg
May 1, 2009 10:34
So, i'm leaving home in about an hour, heading for Korea. I'm just about to turn my computer off and pack all my gaming equipment. I'm excited to go back to Korea because I haven't been there since WEG '05 with NiP. We're staying there til thursday and i'm not sure what this Cheonan city is gonna be like, but hopefully not all that bad : ).
We finally got our russian visas too. Damn, it's near to impossible to get them. We had to go there THREE times before they would accept our papers.
First time around, our vouchers weren't accepted AND we didn't have the neccessary insurance papers. Fine. We all got our insurance papers and corrected the vouchers. Second time, they still wouldn't accept the vouchers. WTH?! They accepted fnatic with the same ones! We had to contact Kode5 and have them send out business invitations for us, and luckily - third time was a charm for us. We made it just in time since we got our visas yesterday, and are going to Korea today : ).
Gotta finish packing. I'll keep you updated while we're out travelling.
Take care.
Peace
D
I'm le tired.
By Dennis 'walle' Wallenberg
Apr 12, 2009 19:49
Spring is here, hoo-f-ray! The sun is shining and it's getting warmer by the day.. I haven't been looking forward to summer like this for years, it's gonna be great!
I just got back home from Gothenburg and the Kode5 Qualifier.
The tournament was played only on saturday for us. It started at 14:00 and we were done by 01:30 approximately.
I guess the tournament was pretty much as expected, we got to play and defeat both mouz and Lemondogs and I gotta hand it to them. Lemondogs is a talented team and I hope they will get the chance to go to some events so we can see what they're really made of.
Actually, we should have won 2-0 and not let it go to a third map but at 15-13 I called a round at T-nuke we usually run when we're fooling around at practice. It's called DiscoUlla and it basically means you're supposed to light up the yard of nuke with all of your nades, and then go down long. It back-fired and we ended up losing the overtime. In retrospect, it's kinda funny though : ).
After the tournament, all of us went to a bar for a few drinks to celebrate I suppose. The bar in particular closed at 03:00 so we split up. Myself, Jimmy & Robert continued to another club while Kristoffer, Marcus and Anton headed back to the hotel. I think I was back at the hotel around six, which was a bit unfortunate today. I had a hangover and I had to cancel my long-awaited drive of Antons' Audi S4, boo!
I shared a ride with Anton, Robert & Marcus on the way down and finally talked him into letting me drive it on the way back home. I've been nagging him everytime i've seen him, asking when he's gonna let me and his answer has always been "never".
Since we were in the south of Sweden and me and Kristoffer shares an apartment in the north of Stockholm, I ended sharing a ride with Kristoffer on the way back home.. another time, Anton.
Anyway, it feels great having qualified for Kode5 now, and not having to go to any other qualifications. We will chill for a day or two and then it's back to practicing for the main event.
We finally beat mouz too, hopefully the curse is broken and we will be able to in the future also.
Here's an awesome song for all of you;
I am le tired.. take care
Peace
D
no stress
By Dennis 'walle' Wallenberg
Mar 31, 2009 22:40
Hi.
We're praccing quite alot these days, more than normal and we're starting to feel like we're getting into shape.
It's very hard to say though. We practice versus many different teams and playingstyles so it's hard to predict whether or not it's gonna be as good on match but i'm optimistic atleast.
We changed a few strats and positions on both dust2 and inferno, but we haven't been playing train and nuke as much. It's about time to start playing all maps so that we don't get rusty on them too : ).
I'm starting to get pumped up for the Kode5 Qualifier. It's gonna be good to get to play some matches again, it's always alot of fun and hopefully we will be able to qualify.
We do have our work cut out for us though, with mouz coming and all the Swedish teams, none of which you can underestimate from the very start, or you might lose.
Yesterday was CS all day long. We started practice early, followed by a one-map match (KOTH) vs Lemondogs - which we managed to win quite easily. You gotta dig the name of our KOTH-team too, right?
After practice myself, Jimmy & Kristoffer played a nationscup match versus Ukraine which I think was a very good game. We lost the first map but managed to win the two remaining ones for a 2-1 win.
You can expect POV-demos from both matches. Stay tuned! ; )
Time for the last pracc of the day now. Take care
Peace
D
I'm on a boat
By Dennis 'walle' Wallenberg
Mar 25, 2009 19:54
Hello.
I'm writing this blog inbetween practice games to give y'all an update since my last blog.
We're playing quite alot right now, trying to improve what we learned from our mistakes at EM. We have also been changing around some positions on different maps, and I think the ones that know our gameplay well will see a big difference.
Good or not - remains to be seen. We felt something had to be done.
As you may know, we were bootcamping for two weeks or so before EM and Jimmy 'allen' Allén didn't bother to leave when we got back home. He is still here and him and I are still hardcore LANing in my not-so-big room. It's quite messy and very gamerish but we're having fun, playing lots of CS and other games and going out during weekends.
Back to practice. Take care.
Peace
D
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