Just a few weeks ago Mousesports announced that they will be adding Manuel 'approx' Zeitz to their team in 2011. After they completed their lineup with Thanh Vinh 'ninja' Bui we had the chance to sit down with approx and ask him about his new mates, the changes in Sweden and the upcoming tournament in Kiev.

Hello approx. After quite a long time in which you were playing for Team Alternate you are now changing sides in order to play for their biggest rival named mousesports. Could you please give us a short description about why you are going to play with them?

I realized some changes had to be done about one and a half year ago. Either a change considering the lineup of Alternate or on the other hand something really new had to happen.

Back then, as I already stated before, I was picked up to be the team leader of Alternate with the power of decision in order to create a new team and I really believed in this opportunity to field again a fresh and motivated team after roman left to mouz. To make a long story short: They overlooked me and nothing really changed since they went back to the established players. From this point I knew if mousesports would offer me to play for them I would accept this challenge for sure.

And when Toni, Roman and Manuel tried to get in contact with me to ask me whether I was willing to play with them I was quite keen about, but yet I had to face the fact I already signed at Alternate for another year. A transfer fee was never an option so I had to play another season for Altnernate. In fact we stayed in touch during the whole year and as everyone knows Alternate did not reach their goals this season and so I did not recover my spirit to play another season with them. But things were still not clear due to the death of cyx and after a long period of revising in which we talked about whether we should set up a new team for 2011 or not.

You looked quite unhappy during the award ceremony of the EPS SXVII finals. Was it only a kind of wrench or were you just unsatisfied with your own performance as well?

I was simply unsatisfied with both the team's performance and mine as well. We could have won it on Saturday when we failed to win versus mouz during the semi-finals when they did not play their best game. We knew they will not play like this again on Sunday.

With your withdrawal with Team Alternate you will tear a hole in their lineup. Do you think they can find an equivalent replacement? According to rumours CHEF-KOCH as well as the up-coming-talent crisby were said to be your replacement.

I believe that the new team is able to grow a team spirit like we did in 2007/2008. But yet they will not field the quality we had back then. From my point of view it depends on the individuals since they've only gotten fresh blood into the lineup and they are missing the experienced players so far.

mooN and Roman R. are said to leave Alternate as well and at least one of them is going to sign at TBH.eSports. Can you confirm this?

I can't confirm anything, but I heard about the rumours between Roman R. and TBH, indeed.

Alternate did not reach their goals during the last few years, especially regarding their performance at international tournaments. Did you take this into consideration when thinking of joining mouz?

I always wanted to win a major international tournament and in all probability I could only do so with mousesports since Alternate was just not good enough. Another reason why I joined mouz was that I lost the fun of gaming and I really needed something new. And considering the fact I always had a lot of fun playing together with Roman. Besides that I heard that a guy called Tixo tends to be a little jester.

Which was the most intense moment during your time at Alternate?

The most intense moment for me was our heading into the final of the IEM Continental Finals 2009 in Hannover. The match versus mTw was simply incredible. It was like a movie: We made it into the overtime, but then lost. But still it was an outstanding performance from our team and it was the first time I was not sad to lose a match. It was a tense match and could have gone either way.

Was it a hard decision to draw the line and leave Alternate and how did the rest of the team react?

It was quite hard for me, but still this step had to be done. I don't regret it at all. The team was not surprised and they had a certain feeling that I was going to leave. Considering the two new contracts I had the feeling they already concluded with the season and let theirselves go.

The latest pick-up for your team is now announced and is ninja. Do you think that your team is able to be successful, even at international events?

We are playing much more smarter now than during the last four years I played for Alternate. Of course some things are going wrong, but the game intelligence is way higher than at Attax. Ninja is struggling through a hard time at the moment, but with the help of Fatih he is growing every day and I believe we can set up our tactics by we attend the bootcamp.

You two will replace Kapio and gob b, who are both some of the best German players ever. Do you think you can fill this gap successfully?

Considering their achievements so far it seems to be impossible to fill this gap, indeed. We will field a different team with a new spirit. If you want to compare us with their success one has to admit that it won't work out. But yet we believe that we can herald a new era at mousesports and of course we are trying to show off an achievement history such as theirs.

Can you briefly state the tasks of each team member?

Ninja - ingame-leader
Tixo - team-captain / patient madfragger, but not in ECO's (laughs)
roman - madfragger
karrigan - madfragger / 2nd AWP
approx - AWP / tactical support for ninja

Considering the national Events: Who will be your hardest rival?

I think TBH.eSports will be our strongest rival this year.

Your first performance test will be in two weeks at the Intel Extreme Masters in Kiev. Last year Mousesports was able to win it. This year you've got to struggle through group A in which you will play versus mTw, SK Gaming and frag eXecutors. Do you think you can hold their pace already?

I am not sure at the moment to be honest. But regarding our latest results and the development of our team as a whole I tend to say we can reach the top3 in this group assuming we are able win versus the Frenchies and MYM.

To which event are you looking forward the most?

I have to admit I don't know every event taking place this year, but I'm looking forward to Kiev and the qualification for the Global Finals in Germany.

Enough for mousesports let's focus on the Swedish teams. After all of the changes which have been made lately who do you consider to be the better team: SK or fnatic?

Some changes had to be done at SK. They were always one of the best teams, but not the best one. Fnatic was suffering from this a lot, although they seemed to be more sympathic to me and we met them at several events and were bandying words with them as well. I really feel sorry for them but that's how this business is. I am pretty sure that SK is the better team so far.

The teams this year are having one big goal they are all looking forward to: To end the supremacy of Na'Vi Do you think someone can stop the Ukrainians this year?

Well, it seems more difficult to beat them this year due to the fact many teams have to deal with the integration of new players into their lineup. So from my point of view I can't see any team being able to beat them if they can keep their motivation on a high level. But on the other hand this could be a disadvantage for them since they could not check any demos in order to check out the new tactics, but time will tell and so we have to wait if things will run smoothly again for them. But still it will be very hard to break them and obtain superiority from them.

Which team do you think has the best players at the moment.

I believe SK is the strongest team, which doesnot necessarily mean they will win every event.

Thank you for the interview and now we got time for your shoutouts.

I thank mousesports since they placed their trust in me so far and last but not least Manu and Roman for picking me up! Umpumpen da!!

(Images courtesy of ESL.eu and fragster.de)