The polish side of Frag eXecutors played very well at the IEM and beat among other things teams like SK Gaming, mTw and Na'Vi, but still they couldn't manage to reach the final. We sat down with their key-player Filip 'NEO' Kubski and talked about the IEM, the upcoming World Championship at the CeBIT and his private aims for 2011.

Before the Intel Extreme Masters European Championship Finals your team wasn't really considered to be one of the favourites, but you finished the groupstage first with no losses and you beat among others SK Gaming and mTw. Did they underestimate you? How do you explain this easy passing?

With the current level of CS there's no such thing as understimating anyone. I think everyone already knows and is aware of others. Nowadays usually people are ready for everything, on events like IEM every match is very important, so you can't just suprise others since almost everyone is watching your demos. We've been bootcamping before the event, trying to improve our tactical game, and it worked pretty good. But even though I don't feel like we've passed the group that easy. And I don't think they understimated us.

In the semi-final you lost very unluckily against mTw. How did you feel after not reaching the final?

Of course we were very unhappy. It was a very close game which could've gone both ways. But they were better on that time, and we couldn't change that. I think we all got depressed right after losing, but in the evening we just realized it was a great game, and we could see that our teamwork got better. Just decided to try looking at it from other point of view, that it's just a good sign for the future!

Why do you think you lost to the Danish after beating them in the groupstage more or less easily?

Of course a groupstage match is much different than a game in the play-offs. The pressure is much higher and maybe they were just better at playing under such pressure?

In the third place decider match you met Na'Vi. You beat them in two maps and didn't have many problems, while they just took 15 rounds overall. Do you think the supremacy of Na'Vi finally came to an end?

From my own experience I just know that you are not always 100% motivated during the third place decider matches. Our Ukrainian friends are still one of the best teams over there, and I wouldn't erase them from the top list just after few defeats.

Are you overall satisfied with the performance of your team in the tournament?

It's been one of these tournaments, when we've felt like we could've won against everyone. Like I said before - that's a good sign for the future, so I guess you can say we are satisfied.

You played very well over the whole tournament and were without a doubt one of the three best players in Kiev and performed better than any tournament in 2010. How do you explain your "sudden" skill boost?

To be honest I have no idea. :P Maybe I was just playing instead of trying so hard and thinking too much how to be the best?

The new lineup of fnatic surprisingly won the tournament. Did you expect them to win after they revamped their whole lineup and lost their core players?

We've practiced them before the event a lot and we knew they could do good. With cArn's and dsn's experience you just knew they would use new players wisely and get it working, especially with such a boost of motivation after splitting with their old members. So maybe now we can see that they were the "core players" of fnatic? Who knows, even with so many years with CS already, we are still learning new things. (smiles)

In contrast SK Gaming were eliminated in the groupstage after many thought they would be the only one to beat Na'Vi. What do you think went wrong?

It feels to me that they were not using the skills of their new players, and were playing "the old SK" style in-game, based more on tactics. Old fnatic had their own style, more of a freestyle, using f0rest's incredible aim, and GTR's smart play. In SK it seemed like they had certain missions which might have blocked a little bit of their abilities. The new fnatic let their new players to play their own style more. Or maybe I am wrong and this answer is sensless. (laughs)

Changing gears a bit. You are drawn in Group A for the IEM at the CeBIT in Hanover. Who will be your toughest opponent?

Of course our old enemies, mTw! But in our group there are also some strong teams which can show us some strong performance, like our Brazilian old friends playing in coL now, or TyLoo which was very strong last year. You just have to watch out for everyone.

After finishing third at the last IEM what are you aiming for this time? The final?

Of course we aim at the final, but who knows how it's going to be.

If you will reach the final. Who would be the opponent you would to play against the most?

If we reach the final, that will be a success already so it doesn't matter!

compLexity is obviously the team that trains the most at the moment. Do you think they could be dangerous in any way?

Of course they might be dangerous. They have some players in their lineup that have won important events in the past, so for sure they know how to be good. We will not understimate them for sure.

What are the aims for Frag eXecutors in 2011?

Attend everything and win everything. But that's just plans, so we just have to wait and see how life verifies it.

And do you have any aims for 2011? In private or in gaming.

Have as much fun as I can get from gaming. Would like to win an event, because I miss the satisfaction you can get from that.

Thanks for the interview. The last words are yours.

Thank you too. I would like to thank our management, our sponsors, especially Qpad guys who are great and fun to party with! Of course thanks to our supporters, friends and fans, especially the polish crazy ones who comment 10x more than others (please forgive them I know they can be annoying (laughs). And last but not least, biggest thanks to my teammates (and LUq who's been there too) for so many years together and for tolerating my bitching for so many years! Love for my family and my girlfriend. Take care and wish us best luck in the future. (smiles)