Lions swe is considered to be one of the upcoming top teams. One day before the IEM in Kiev start, we had the chance to sat down with Lions star player Niklas 'niko' Johansson. He talks about his expectations for the tournament, what his family thinks of his gamerlife and why he didn't take the opportunity to join fnatic.

You will be attending IEM Championship Finals this week. What expectations do you have for the tournament?

Our goals are to drink at least one bottle of cheap vodka every day and after that we want to pass the group stage and make some damage in the playoffs. No, but I seriously believe we can make top three.

You will be in group B facing fnatic and Na'Vi. Do you see any chance to beat at least one of them?

I really believe we can beat any team if we have a good day, but of course it will be super hard to play Na'Vi since they are super high skilled. (laughs)

Recently Xizt moved to fnatic and you replaced him with Gux. Now you will face his new team in the groupstage. Does this motivate you a bit more to beat them and show Xizt that he made the wrong decision?

No I don’t really care about that. I wish Xizt and the fnatic boys the best of luck, except when they play versus us in Lions.

What makes you confident that you go through the groupstage? You got some tough opponents in your group.

We´ve been playing really good during practice and we have a lot of fun when we play.
Insta hs + fun + confidence = win! (laughs)

How did you prepare for the tournament? Did you do any bootcamp?

We started practicing online right after Christmas. Yesterday we had a one day bootcamp here at CyberArena Café in Kiev.

Who do you think will win the tournament and who will be the biggest surprise?

I think mTw has a good chance to win the tournament, they are really solid. The biggest surprise I think will be the guys in Lions, they are awesome. (laughs)

Changing gears a bit. With Gux you signed a very experienced player. Did he improve the game of the Lions in any way?

He improved us both in game and outside the game. Gux is an awesome player and we all fit perfect socially together. (not gay)

Do you think your team will be able to become one of the top three teams in the world and win some major tournaments this year?

I see so much potential in this team so I will say: "DA".

To which event are you looking forward the most this year?

I don’t know all the events for this year, but WCG is always cool.

Na'Vi had an impressive 2010. Do you think they can carry on their dominance in 2011 or will they become beatable this year like every other team did after their 'best year'?

Hard to say because of the Swedish silly season, time will tell. If I have to guess I´d say they will be beatable just like Fx, mTw and fnatic who all have had one year of pure ownage.

It is said that you had an offer of fnatic when they were searching for a fifth player. Why didn't you take the chance to join one of the best teams in the world?

I really enjoy to play in this team and as I said before I will even be more fun now with Gux.

Was your team more happy that you will stay or disappointed that you didn't take such a huge opportunity?

They were really happy that I decided to stay and I´m glad that I did. kHRYSTAL immediately called me and told me he loved me because of my loyal decision.

With being a pro-gamer you fly all over the world. Did you ever think of something like that when you started playing?

No, I didn´t. It was like a dream coming true. (laughs)

How did your family and friends first react when you told them that you will get a monthly salary for gaming and fly all over the world?

My mother said WTF and my father just LOL´d. (laughs) No, but my parents have
been really supportive since I started gaming even when I was a noobie.
My friends are just jealous, because of all the traveling.

What are you doing besides gaming?

Chilling and drinking. (laughs)

When you weren't so successful. Did you ever think of quiting?

I had a break for a while when I started working, but after 8 months of work FYRR73 talked me into gaming again. I´m glad he did because here I am today happy as never before. (laughs)

Thank you for the interview. Last words are yours.

I just want to thank our sponsors for sponsoring us and making this possible.