coL's newest recruit Thomas 'thoMz' Garcia is best known for his play in Gravitas/Turmoil with whom he won the Kode5 USA qualifier, finished 2nd at the WCG USA qualifier and 3rd at GameGune Mexico. Back in 2008 though he played alongside Ninespot, dRew (Irukandji) and hero, when they were were known as X3o rather than coL, and placed 2nd at the IEM Continental finals.

You have history with most of the coL lineup (from X3o) so how did your move to the team come about? What were your thoughts on the levels of coL and Turmoil prior to joining, being as they'd placed 4th at WCG USA and Turmoil 2nd, and what did you think they were lacking which you could add?

The move to coL came up a few days after WCG, and I had a gut feeling that we would be in contact again. Prior to them picking up evolution they had asked me to join before and I declined, sadly because I'm really happy where I am now and wished I made the move earlier but everything happens for a reason. As for leaving Turmoil, my stay was great and the people on that team I really enjoyed playing with the good and bad times. I knew the time for Turmoil was coming to a end when people were going to retire after China and I obviously wanted to continue on. That and this was my last chance to join coL after once leaving x3o for Gravitas almost a year ago, and declining to join again.

But aside from all that, playing with a team that has the same mindset and goals of wanting to get better and compete is the biggest reason of all in my decision. At WCG [USA] our match could have gone either way, they had an early lead on their T side and we had a slightly better T side to win the match aside that had some other issues like blowing strong leads and letting matches slip between their fingertips. Their mindsets might have changed a bit and they needed to refocus and that's when I came into the picture.

For the brief period you were in X3o things seemed to be going well with a 2nd place at the IEM Continental finals in Philadelphia so what were your motivations for leaving the team for Gravitas in the first place?

X3o was great we had a great showing but playing with westcoast people again and other included details involved at that time, It was something I had to really consider. I would say I was a bit immature at that time, and maybe should of stayed with them. No regrets though and like I said everything happens for a reason and i'm back.

In the series against EG at the ESEA s4 LAN finals EG went up 11:4 in the first map, on train, but your team managed to control every round that mattered in the second half. Then you jumped out to a 12:1 lead on them on dust2 and closed the game out 16:2 to take the series. How did you see the dynamic of that comeback playing out and what did you think of EG's performance overall at the tournament?

The train match vs. EG we were down big, a lot of unlucky rounds, but I think being down so much Drew said it best: our CT side is strong and we had to just work as a team and take control. That's exactly what we did starting 2nd half on train and carried over to Dust2. Nice and smooth. I liked that it showed us the type of team we are, even being down so much we kept our heads in the game the whole time and managed to win as a team.

I knew at the event that Warden was going to retire so that might be a factor as to why they played poorly at the event.

Aside from that one half against EG your team really hadn't faced any resistance as you rolled to the finals so what did you think of DINC's performance in winning the first map before you crushed them on nuke and then took a narrow victory on train? Do you consider them a legitimate contender based on that event's result or were they hot at the right time?

Their performance was great and their players on inferno just stepped up huge winning unthinkable rounds that we should have never allowed. After the first map we went outside knew what happened and basically had to turn the page and move on to nuke which played out well for us. train again showed the type of team we can be at times. Instead of being down on our T side we were actually having issues on CT side. So going into the 2nd after we knew the only way we were winning is if we executed right.

I would say that DINC had a really hot tournament and their players stepped up really big when they needed to. If they continue to grow with the same players and continue to perform that big at more and more events then they could be a contender.

At the WCG USA qualifier your team, Turmoil, made it to the final from the upper bracket and were up 13:4 only for EG to run off 10 straight rounds on their way to a comeback win. On nuke they were the ones with the big first half and despite a run of your own in the second, including seven in a row, you were unable to prevent them winning the map and qualifier. What are your thoughts on those games and did knowing members of your team planned to retire affect the team's performance or motivation at all?

We should have closed out inferno. We didn't work together and ended up losing in a sad fashion. On nuke we simply didn't execute anything on T side and had a strong CT half to only lose. Getting 2nd had no real meaning, I knew for a while some of us were going to retire after this year to focus on school and other things in life so it was only a matter of time in my eyes. When we played at every event though we gave it our best shot. As far as them going to WCG, it was going to be rough using 2 new players for one of the biggest events of the year. It only took them so far.

At GameGune Mexico you lost two straight maps to EG in overtime with them completely shutting out the second halves of the overtimes in each. How tough was that series? Being as EG went on to stomp WeMade Fox in the upper finals, who then beat you, how do you account for playing EG so close but then losing to WeMade Fox?

That month of CS vs. EG was really weird, we were having close games all around overtime and 16-13 16-14s. We were using PaTyoJoN as a ringer that event for perez and came in a little less prepared but that was how it went most of the time on Turmoil. It was a lot of fun being in mexico though.

WMF is a pretty good team, we lacked a lot of execution and didnt hit our shots, and I think that's why EG beat them in Mexico.

What are your thoughts on the ESEA s3 LAN finals which saw you losing to eMg after being a map up and then coL in the lower finals? Was that result behind Adrenaline being brought in for hostile later that month?

Season 3 of ESEA was a big wake up call for us to start getting more prepared and focused for LAN events. I believe Ediz [goodfornothing] flew in that morning at 6am. I think the team needed a change and we agreed that replacing Shaun [hostile] with Paul [Adrenaline] would help us start to refocus. Along side Gravitas not sending us to Germany to bootcamp it was a big mistake overall in the end and we decided to use perez for the remainder of events.

Gravitas was at point considered the #1 team in the US due to playing the best of the US teams at the EM III Global Finals and then winning the Kode5 USA qualifier. Following that you had a big downswing though so how would you summarize the strength of the different lineups the team used?

The team with impulsive, gfn, ben and hostile was the strongest in my eyes and was the best chance of winning at that time. I liked that lineup a lot but certain people didn't get along and it resulted in a meltdown. Along side not having Ediz [goodfornothing] around for almost two months to help guide us. We couldn't get it together.

You played for a couple of years with decent teams (iDemise, NetFragz, MoB) but it wasn't until X3o you got into the top US team. How do you see that early period of your career?

You have to start somewhere and work your way up. NetFragz and iDemise was when I finally thought about how much fun cs can be if taken to the next level. It takes time to find the right group of guys to make a top team. Five people who are willing to put everything they got on the line and compete, I have finally found that on coL.

Based on playing style alone you might have been a candidate for EG's 5th spot but in light of the infamous thoMZ 'what do you think of fRoD' video that seemed impossibly unlikely to even be considered. What can you say about that video?

Oh boy well almost 3 years back I would say that video came out, and I regret that I was really drunk with my old team NetFragz at ben's (Turmoil) house, and they decided to make a funny video of me talking trash about fRoD. At that time he thought I was cheating online during matches. I was around 18 years old. I try to avoid the topic nowadays.

Who is the best trash talker in the US in terms of being able to back it up and who is the funniest?

hostile for sure wins hands down but he isn't really meaning what he's saying to you personally, just a tactic to get in your head, and if you're losing and don't know how to bounce back. As far as funniest I would say sfX from DINC, you can always count on hearing him say something funny across the room during matches.

What are your thoughts on how EG have represented the USA being as they took all the qualifier spots?

I have a lot of respect for those players, they have been trying to represent and got a real taste of the difference of now and before. I'm glad they are making changes and improving their line-up. Sometimes that's what you have to do and be one-hundread percent sure that player will bring more to the table then the person before. 2010 should be different hopefully for everyone.

coL has a public image now as a team of players who attend school and so won't be able to make it to a lot of international tournaments each year. How true is that situation now for coL in comparison to the rest of 2009 and how do you see it playing out in 2010?

With 3 of us attending college right now, including myself, it's very hard to schedule in a lot this year, especially for dboorN and Irukandji, but for 2010 we are taking semesters off from our studies and are willing to put forth every inch of effort into CS and competing through-out the whole of 2010.

Playing against international competition hasn't worked out well so far in your career so how have you found those experiences and how do you feel about coL traveling to Dreamhack to compete against that calibre of competition soon?

Watching the top teams play actually makes me as a player want to get better and compete. It's been almost 6 months since I've played those types of teams, right now though coL's mindset and goals are the same and I feel really confident and prepared in a sense. Dreamhack is a test. ESEA was a wake up call.

How would you describe these current and ex-team-mates in a couple of sentences? [thoMz is then given a list he repeats while answering]

Hero - Jeff is a very smart player, and his AWP is one of the strongest. Having a player like hero on your team is always a bonus in every aspect, takes complete control of situations on his own.

Irukandji - Drew I can only imagine what goes through that man's mind when we're playing matches. Overall Drew is the type of leader/player you want to have on your team. Staying calm and relaxed during any situation is something that makes him a great player.

NineSpot - Ryan simply is a GREAT player, and on top of that his smarts and what he brings to our team is the difference.

dboorN - Aggressive, I've never seen someone just plow through a team by himself. Derek is a phenomenal player who can just pick up rounds for the team himself.

impulsivE - Impact player who can put up big numbers on the board, once he gets started you have to shut him down.

Goodfornothing - Ediz is a strong leader for any team he plays for, not only that but he can frag while doing so which is great.

As an enthusiast of the NBA which player would you compare yourself to in terms of your style or approach to CS?

That's a interesting question, since I'm westcoast and I'm a huge Lakers fan I'll compare myself to him [Kobe Bryant]: very clutch at times and makes big plays, but nothing without his supporting cast. As far as CS goes you can say the same thing: I'm nothing without my team-mates a.k.a. coL :-D.

Any finals words?

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