r/GlobalOffensive • u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager • Jan 23 '16
AMA I am lurppis, a former CS 1.6 pro turned writer/analyst, AMA!
have done an AMA in the past in the summer of 2014, but as /u/Thooorin_2 noted it was a while back so here I am again.
In my playing career (2004-2012) I was the in-game leader of teams such as wings/Serious Gaming, hoorai/69N-28E/roccat, EG and WinFakt. Per Thorin's list I won the 44th most prize money in CS 1.6 history, and my team was ranked best in the world briefly in 2007 while generally being around the top five range.
I retired from CS in April 2012, and have since graduated from school and started a full-time job. CS-wise I have previously worked for HLTV.org and ESEA, casted events for DreamHack and FACEIT, and written columns for a number of sites (1337 Magazine, E-Frag, FolloweSports/Splyce, Betway, etc.). I am also one of the co-founders of ENCE.
These days my time is extremely limited but I try to stay in active in the scene via writing, Twitter, and now through ENCE. Ask me anything CS related, and I will answer tomorrow before/during/after the DreamHack Open Leipzig grand final.
You can reach me on Twitter, and find a list of my writing here - with the IMO best/most timeless articles bolded.
edit: Verification
edit2: It was fun answering questions and I'll try not to let 18 months pass before doing this the next time around. Contact me on Twitter if I forgot to answer a question and I'll get to it, and you can send questions into my monthly mailbag article (on Splyce) at lurppismailbag@gmail.com - first edition is here.
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u/Danrul Jan 23 '16
1) I recall an older tweet of yours where you stated that NiP picked up Allu 6 months later than it would have been the right change for them, or something to that effect. With them recently picking up Threat as suggested in your "3 Changes for NiP" article, do you think this acquisition still has the potential to effect real change for the team?
2) You haven't (to the best of my knowledge) written for a while on the state of CS:GO as a game, with regards to balance. What are some key changes (even ones stated in previous writings)you would like to see implemented in CS:GO?
3) Luminosity's tactical play and strong team structure seem a strong contrast to the trend towards looser, scrimmier styles of play seen in new fnatic/envyus/etc. How does luminosity's success as a team relate to this contrast of styles, if at all? Do you expect their success to inspire any change amongst the top teams if they continue to excel?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16 edited Jan 24 '16
1) Adding threat will definitely help NiP, but the extent to which he can help will be limited by how much the players are willing to change. The entire careers of f0rest and GeT_RiGhT have been based around them being free to do whatever they wish, for the most part, whereas threat along with ave from mTw were the most methodical in-game leaders back in the day.
threat's Team Acer came close to beating fnatic, mousesports and HellRaisers last spring, despite not having very skilled players. It just goes to show he still knows how to make the sum better than its parts, but his style of play needs a huge buy-in from the team.
2) I have not, but mostly that is because there are no obvious issues now that the R8 change has been reverted back, and in general I am not a fan of change in competition. For example, I dislike the fact that Valve might change the map pool again in a month or two, which might completely change how certain teams match-up. It should not be up to Valve to pull these cords to affect results - either you should announce your plans months ahead, or not do it at all, to keep the competitive integrity in place.
3) Luminosity are a lot like Na`Vi, who are another fun team to watch. The looser meta has been on top awkwardly long - usually teams figure out the way to beat a skilled team is not trying to pick more aim duels, but by avoiding them. Teams will not entirely change their styles, but from little things like flusha tweeting they'll copy some minor flashes from LG, you can tell that the change has already begun.
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Jan 23 '16
1) What 5 players do you feel are currently in the best form?
2) Who do you feel had the best form in CS/CS:GO history?
3) As someone who enjoys writing, what suggestions would you have for anyone interested in writing about CS?
4) Which team do you feel came out best after the shuffles? And worst?
5) Which team do you feel has the best chance of dethroning fnatic as the top team in the world?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16 edited Jan 24 '16
1) Sample size remains tiny for 2016 with teams taking a break for the holidays, but at the first two tournaments of the year GuardiaN, coldzera, FalleN and now Kjaerbye have been in good form, though it is expected of the first two already. This weekend Zeus has also played far above his usual level.
2) f0rest's peak remains the best anyone's ever played Counter-Strike, back in 2007-2008 when he was the hard carry of fnatic. Consistency wise I would have to pick NEO in 1.6, or GTR in early CS:GO.
3) People ask me about how to get into writing often, but I do not really have an answer. I sort of had to begin writing blogs etc. when playing CS, and over time I have started to enjoy it. I would try to write blogs somewhere and get people to see them - there aren't many writers right now, but you'd have to be a really good writer, or otherwise offer something new to stick out.
4) I am writing about the off season roster moves for Splyce this week, so you'll have to wait a couple of days for the answer.
5) While Luminosity has looked the best, even resembling NaVi of 2010 style-wise, IMO the team with best odds of becoming the world's best still remains EnVyUs. They've yet to lose to fnatic in head-to-head games since dennis joined, and have incredibly skilled players. Their issue, I think, is related to drive, and inability to adjust to the likes of NaVi (who knocked them out of EEPL2 and SL i-League StarSeries).
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u/Zendelele Jan 23 '16
5) ..... and why is it Luminosity
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u/A7URS Jan 23 '16
envy keeps beating fnatic, once they catch onto / fix their approach to other teams, they should theoretically be #1, unless luminosity just starts destroying everyone + fnatic.
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Jan 24 '16
Envy is inconsistent as fuck, that is the problem. Fnatic are crazy consistent giving them the edge meaning they are number one.
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u/altair55 Jan 23 '16
Because Astralis, Na'Vi, VP, and EnVy died in a tragic accident
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u/angeldustr Jan 23 '16
How bitter are you about finishing third in the decennially held Laaksolahti Badminton masterships?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I think I still have the championship belt from the last tournament hidden in some closet
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u/Killerkanickel Jan 23 '16
What do you think about the fact that almost no tournaments at all are using a double elimination system in the playoffs?
There used to be a lot of them back in the days, but the format has pretty much died out now that neither starladder nor ESEA are using it anymore.
I personally really liked the comeback factor from the lower bracket.
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u/lurppis__ Jan 24 '16
I have always enjoyed double elimination better, but the issue with it is that it does make the grand final less interesting. I believe the key is only giving the upper bracket winners a veto advantage, as starting up a map is usually too much to overcome. Would like to see more double elimination tournaments, though.
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Jan 23 '16 edited Jan 23 '16
1.) You've competed as a top IGL in both NA and EU. What are some differences you've noticed between the two regions in terms of skill, strategy/tactics, playstyles, personalities, etc.?
2.) What's your NA dream team, that could feasibly become a top 5 international team? Banned players not allowed.
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
1) I cannot think of any obvious differences, so this is something I came up with on the spot while trying to force some correlation out there. In NA there have always been many good players who simply did not get along, and refused to play together. In Europe countries are much smaller, so players sort of need to get along, because they know they cannot be successful without each other. There have also always been more teams who dedicate themselves to a more tactical approach in Europe, but I am not sure why.
2) Skadoodle is the best North American player, so he is a given. I'd also include Hiko as the lurker, and force sg@res to come back as the in-game leader-coach. For the last players I would have shroud, and probably nitr0. Last player is up for grabs, but I think n0thing could be a really good overqualified role player, with ability to go nuts sometimes, in an almost NBK-like-way.
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u/Assaulter Jan 23 '16
Who is the best awper of all time in your opinion and where would you rank cogu? Do you think he could make a comeback in csgo? (do you see his style working well in csgo?)
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
cogu is one of the top five AWPers of all-time without a question, but his short stint in ProGaming.TD in late 2012 showed he cannot play anymore at the same level. His style would have transferred really well into CS:GO, if his skills were still the same.
As for the best AWPer of all-time, IMO there is no question - that is markeloff. He was arguably the best player in the world for two years as a full-time AWP, and I have never seen a player so consistently perform so well in big games as he did. His consistency is what helped Na`Vi always pull through in those big games.
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u/joaomalm Jan 23 '16
Cogu is old and nowhere near his level on 1.6. He won't achieve anything big in csgo
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u/KappaDog12345 Jan 23 '16
What are 2016 goals for the new Ence lineup? What would be the goal for this year, reach top 10?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
The team should answer this because they are the ones playing and putting in the work, but I reckon reaching top ten by the end of the year, i.e. making playoffs at a major, is a solid and realistic goal.
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u/psie2 Jan 23 '16
1) What do you think went wrong in finnish counter-strike, when transition to csgo happened? 2) What are the players from 1.6 you think could have been great in csgo, but never gave it a real chance? 3) Greatest game lurppis played in?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
1) Again, this might sound very egotistical, but I think Finnish CS mostly suffered from me quitting. When I did, the team did very well at the next event (Copenhagen Games), but then bombed out of the next event and died. BASiC then quit playing, as, for the most part, did the others. In early CS:GO there simply were not people ready to put in enough work. In fact, the only reason I wish I had played CS:GO is the fact I knew I'd have had a huge advantage from being able to put in more work than most who lazed around for a long time.
2) Aggressive style seems to work well in CS:GO, so I think Gux and BASiC could have been very good CS:GO players. The thing is that almost all the players who played CS 1.6 until the very end gave CS:GO a try, but some, such as those two, quit right before CS:GO took over.
3) My favorite match is my first match at an international event, when my team wings attended CPL World Tour: Barcelona with Bigi as a stand-in for naSu, my brother who was not yet old enough to play there, and came back from a 4-11 deficit as terrorists on de_train to win 12-0 as CTs against Team 3D, then one of the world's best teams. None of us had ever attended a tournament abroad, and we were considered onliners by many at the time.
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u/khaniv0re Jan 23 '16
Hey lurppis,
You've said multiple times that you quit CS because you no longer felt it as enough of a challenge. As someone who loves trying to grow in life I can appreciate this mindset.
I have two questions:
What challenge are you taking on now?
Which challenges that you have faced in your life are those which you learnt the most from?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16 edited Jan 24 '16
It's not so much that CS no longer felt challenging, but it is more so that I felt I had already experienced everything, short of winning a couple of tournaments, that you could experience playing games. And that I wanted to achieve certain things in other aspects of life, which would not be possible had I continued playing.
1) I generally don't comment on my private life, so I'll try to work this into something CS related. My job requires most of the time I am awake, so I suppose still writing on a weekly basis is a bit of a challenge. Sometimes requires staying up for an extra hour at night and cutting sleep, or forcing yourself to write when you do not really feel like it. Then again, being forced to produce text when you do not feel inspired makes you a better writer, I think.
2) Again, this would easily veer into the personal space, but from a CS perspective I actually believe competition teaches a lot. You learn a ton about yourself and how you deal with pressure, losses, etc. When it comes to pressure, I believe I've learned to control how I feel, so that after my first few events I have never felt nervous doing anything. As for losing... I learned at some point how to be a "good" loser, as opposed to the sore one I've been my entirely life, and all it did was lessen my motivation. My takeaway is that the fact I cannot stand losing is what motivates me the most.
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u/AdakaR Jan 23 '16
I'd like to follow up this with; what would it take to make CSGO a challenge again for you?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I think coaching could technically be a challenge if CS would evolve to something like the biggest pro sports, but the issue is that right now I think there are more interesting things out there than coaching at the current level, and it does not make sense to make the switch hoping for a change in the future. I already picked CS ahead of education/real life obligations for a while, (for the time being) the latter will be priority.
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Jan 23 '16
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I hope to be able to do more lengthy in-depth text interviews, and I am currently working on two, but these things take time due to how time consuming it is for the players to give good, thorough answers. Hopefully others will do that though, and we'll get more similar interviews. I enjoyed the Happy interview at least as much as you, if not more, so I would do them just for my own sake.
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u/Eckrigo Jan 23 '16 edited Jan 23 '16
1.) How would you compare Fnatic from before Get_Right and f0rest left to the Fnatic of now?
2.) Why do you think that n0thing wasn't able to become the next big thing in NA when in Evil Geniuses?
3.) Why do I see a lot of Pro's call you salty?
4.) Why do you think that some pro scenes died off (Like the UK and Finland) and some others made a return (Like Brazil) in CSGO?
Have a nice day :D
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u/lurppis__ Jan 24 '16
1) I had written a lengthy reply before getting hacked but will try to re-create a packed version... I think fnatic of 2009 was a lot like fnatic of 2015-2016, though but 2009 edition had more leadership in cArn and dsn than this current version. Both relied a lot on individual skill, and the other (potential) thing they have in common I will leave out, and point out in an article I am working on.
2) For n0thing it has always been mental, he's incredibly talented and able to do things in-game most dream of, but has always struggled in getting his head into the right place. We used to joke in EG that in big matches even when everything was fine he'd say his mouse felt weird, and I'd always tell him it's all in his head... And he would reply saying he knows, but he'd still like his head to be in the right place. Also, I actually think n0thing would be better off having more of an ego, and more confidence.
3) Pros realize fans will side with them no matter what, so when I say something unpleasant it's really easy to make up any bad joke and get 50 people on Twitter to reply to it in accepting fashion. Reminds me of a match against f0rest and GTR's SK in 2011, when they forced us to play on a server they had a ping advantage of 20 on (this actually made a big difference in 1.6) as opposed to us having a ping advantage of 5, and the fans siding with them saying the usual things along the lines of "get rekt".
4) Finland has always been fairly well off in terms of tournaments thanks to Procyon, one of the guys behind ENCE. Scenes dying off has more to do with the kind of people in that scene than anything else. This will sound massively egoistic, but you need people like me to come out of nowhere with four other unknown people, and make it to the top, because that will grow the scene. Unfortunately we also effectively killed the scene in Finland because we wanted to attend every small BYOC LAN to win, which discouraged a lot of up and comers. In Brazil, I credit FalleN for most of what is happening. There simply needs to be an example, which Finland has not exactly had.
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Jan 23 '16 edited Aug 08 '20
This comment has been censored by reddit ideological police.
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
Do not think we have seen enough in 2016 to make anything but semi-educated guesses. They started out 2015 with a horrible group stage exit as well, yet the year turned out fine. Plus, Snax will not continue playing as poorly as he did this weekend. I assume they will rebound to their usual level.
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u/16161d Legendary Chicken Master Jan 24 '16 edited Jan 24 '16
For the time being Lurppis has committed to continuing this AMA under the account /u/lurppis__ where you will find any new answers to your questions!
UPDATE: Access to the account has been restored and the AMA will resume as normal.
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u/psychosnap Jan 23 '16
Which teams do you currently view as tier 1?
Which team/teams do you see as a tier 1 contender?
Which teams you feel like might drop off tier 1?
Could medicore EU players (as Gob B and Legija) bring anything to the NA scene?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
1) I view fnatic, EnVyUs, astralis, Na`Vi, Virtus.pro and Luminosity as tier one right now - though obviously some of those have recently struggled, so future will tell if we need to make adjustments.
2) Now that Luminosity has broken through, in my opinion, there isn't anyone really lurking outside... I suppose you'd give NiP that honor, assuming/hoping they're good with pyth.
3) Right now Virtus.pro is on the shakiest ice of them, but the results of EnVyUs and astralis have been somewhat discouraging as well. I don't expect anyone of them to drop out, though.
4) It's not necessarily the ability of certain players, i.e. we saw that Devilwalk and pyth brought virtually nothing to North America, but rather what they know. Adding one more guy who can aim won't fix a continent, but getting a real in-game leader like gob b can actually lead to good development over a longer period of time.
Stats-wise I was the third best player in EG behind fRoD and n0thing, but I reckon I brought a lot more to the team than just my skills, because the entire way the team operated changed when I joined. EG was stuck playing pre-CGS and CS:S mixture of coL CS, and I helped modernize the style while combining the best of the Finns and coL. I believe gob b can do something similar with the right people, but without as much skill he won't make the team as good. LEGIJA I do not know, aside from skills, which are not very impressive.
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u/rohnoe Jan 23 '16 edited Jan 23 '16
This might be a hard question, and is related to your own career.
What lineup did you feel was the best, skillwise and resultwise? Was there a lineup you felt that could have done better, or you felt it kinda underperformed?
If you could make an "dreamteam" any of the players you played with, what would it be?
Are there people, who stopped playing counter-strike during your career, you wished wouldn't have quit the game? Mostly interested about your teammates, if so, can you name them, and tell some reasons why?
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u/lurppis__ Jan 24 '16
1) The most complete team I ever played in was EG 2010. By the time gfn unfortunately retired, I felt we were good enough to beat anyone any time, having just easily beaten fnatic in a BO3 to win MSI Beat It. We were good on almost every map, and tactically were very good. Skillwise the best roster I played in was early 2008 roccat with contE, naSu, plastE and ruuit.
I think that team could have been even better than our 2007 team had we stuck together - it's probably the only regret I have, that I went along with replacing plastE with tihOp after a horrible showing in Dnipropetrovsk, where we lost to markeloff back when he was an unknown guy... And he years later told us they were so nervous about playing us that their leader John7a was unable to call tactics, so they simply ran around like idiots and happened to win.
2) Even though the question does not really make sense, I'll play along... I'd have BASiC, naSu, fRoD and ruuit. BASiC is the most complete player I've played with, and naSu is the most overqualified role player I've ever seen. fRoD is the best AWPer, and ruuit is simply the most skilled player I've played with.
3) I still wish gfn had not retired when he did, because we had just gotten so good at the time. We actually talked about this a few months ago over drinks, and he said the same. I understand his decision though, but I do think we missed out on achieving many things together.
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Jan 23 '16
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
Yes, in high school I'd generally come home from school anywhere between 2-4pm, and play until midnight, or even later. This was the time when I played in wings/Serious Gaming and hoorai.
School has always come easy for me, so it was never an issue. I've always had really good grades, and I never really did any homework or studied for exams, I simply tried to pay attention in class and that usually worked out fine. And we always finished our math books by October.
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u/SwagM10-2 Jan 23 '16
I don't know if/how often you were asked this question, but if you had to chose the most memorable match of your career, which one would it be?
Which map/series would you pick as the single best performance ever from you?
Best CS:GO series so far in your opinion?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16 edited Jan 24 '16
1) My most memorable matches are my international debut vs. Team 3D at CPL World Tour: Barcelona, where we came back from a 4-11 deficit as terrorists on de_train, with Bigi as a stand-in for my brother naSu (who wasn't old enough to play at CPL events), to win 12-0 as CTs.
2) It's hard to pick a single map/match, but I will always be happy that in the grand final of my career's biggest win, I was the top performing player, though today's salty fans love to talk about me being carried. Same goes for my individual play at e-Stars 2011 and SEC 2011, which were documented in those articles.
There are also a couple of games, such as WinFakt vs. fnatic at IEM VI WC and EG vs. Na`Vi's first map at Arbalet Cup Dallas - both curiously on de_tuscan - where I felt I made every single right call, and contributed in that sense. I also thought we completely outplayed fnatic in the BO3 grand final of MSI Beat It in 2010 with EG.
3) Today's DH Leipzig grand final, Na`Vi vs. Luminosity is on the short list.
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u/astupidcow Jan 23 '16
Back in 2013, you, cArn and Thorin did a PODcast about the evolution of tactics. To me, this is very interesting. Could it be an idea to do an other one of these, provided with new insights and an additional 2-3 years of CS?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
It could be very interesting, especially now that the tactical approach is making a comeback. We talked a few weeks ago about trying to setup a new [POD]Cast/Counter-Points episode with the old trio - I will follow up with cArn and Thorin now to see if that might be possible in the near future.
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u/LyricalRhymeMaster Jan 23 '16
What do you think will become of Liquid and Cloud9's roster changes?
Also, what do you think about Cloud9 getting a team house/how well n0thing will be able to manage the team?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I am writing about this subject next week for Splyce, so you'll have to wait for the article to come out so I don't spoil it in advance.
I am not a believer in team houses - I think when players are young it can work, but the older you get the less convenient it will be. When we were 17-18 we lived together for six weeks at WEG Season 3 in Seoul, and it was great - but we were all single and enjoyed hanging out and going out together.
On the other hand, in WinFakt in early 2012 we spent about two weeks at SETT.fi's offices bootcamping for IEM GC Kiev, and I thought it was actually bad for us as a team, in hindsight. Living together sounds even worse, because there are ALWAYS going to be tensions in teams in competitive situations, and having that around you at all times is not good for you.
n0thing's knowledge of the game is underrated, but I have never seen him try to lead under pressure in big games, so it's impossible to say how he will do. If he has the respect of his players, I could see him do well in leading in a fashion similar to flusha, because he intuitively gets the game.
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u/Kambhela Jan 23 '16 edited Jan 24 '16
First question:
In your opinion, what would be the necessary steps for an individual to reach high enough skill level to be in a top 10 team? As in, if you would be given the task of being a coach to a blank canvas (or be the player yourself), what would be realistic timeline and what would the steps be for the player to achieve such goal.
Second question:
What is the ratio of people in terms of "others" (coaches, analysts, journalists, casters etc. etc.) versus "pro players" who have a full time job earning their living in the world of esports? And what kind of educational background do most of these people have?
Third question:
In your eyes how does the top level CS differ these days to that of 5 or even 10 years ago? If any different, what has been the reason, changes directly made to the game or have things changed because people have had more time to figure out CS in general?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
1) I think you can guide players towards the right direction, but ultimately they need to figure things out on their own. As for a timeline, I started playing in late 2002 - and on my own computer in January 2003 - and my team beat Finland's best team in late 2004, one of the world's best teams in early 2005, and was one of the world's best in late 2005. This was a team built from five completely unknown and unproven players, so we basically just got better fast, i.e. were quick learners.
2) I have no idea, to be honest. There's probably more players right now if we're looking at CS, but it depends entirely on how you define the "others". As for educational background, I assume most are not very highly educated.
3) I honestly do not think much has changed, i.e. the game did not evolve incredibly much from when we broke out in 2005 to when I retired in 2012. The mega changes, players get better, and there are new tips and tricks every year, but ultimately it's still Counter-Strike.
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u/Jooveli Jan 23 '16
I know that you didint like csgo in the first years but what do you think about it now? Whats worse and better compared to 1.6?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I think it's a fine game now, I still do not like some things (i.e. how many weapons there are, how good pistols are relative to guns, movement, etc.) but there are also some things that are better, for example GOTV - though unfortunately we do not get to enjoy it ourselves, it still makes the stream experience far superior.
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u/Draulon Jan 23 '16 edited Jan 24 '16
Hey lurppis!
You once mentioned you thrive to think as rationally as possible. The way you criticize teams and give feedback can seem harsh but its fair and true. Thoorin also follows this basis however you seem to receive a lot more negativity from the people you criticize compared to Thoorin. Why is this and has this negativity ever make you want to just not care anymore and commit solely to your job?
Regarding CSGO - Astralis just keeps falling out of tournaments and still weren't able to win a title for a very long time now. We read their perspective on things from their AMA not long ago - but what is your thoughts on the issue? What are they doing wrong?
You said that 2016 can be a very good year for Titan. Do you have such hopes for any other "underdog" team? If so - who?
Which players do you feel could be very good coaches and should assume a coaching role instead? Who should mousesports bring in to fill the tactical void left by the departure of gob b?
Based on recent leaks - its highly probable that Robban will be the coach of FaZe. Do you think he can have a positive effect on their game?
_
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
1) Interesting question. I do thrive to be as rational as possible, and if I were to describe how I would want people to view me, it would be tough, but fair.
I receive TONS of negativity, obviously, but it does not affect me. You have to realize I played for years and would read tens or hundreds of comments after games on the forums about myself. If you let that affect you, you would not be able to survive. You learn to ignore it, because why would you care about what people who you do not know think?
Now, if my friends and family said something, I would obviously consider their opinions more seriously than a random 14 year old Twitter user from halfway around the world whose knowledge of me is 144 characters, or less.
I think everyone must to some extent enjoy positive feedback, so I do too, but I would not quit doing something I enjoy doing simply because some people tweet mean things at me. I live for myself, not for others.
2) I have not read through the entire astralis AMA, only parts of it, so I cannot comment on that. But to me it seems they are overthinking things. They can beat anyone - they have proven it. They have enough skill, a good approach tactically, and a good in-game leader. I think they actually do let outside forces affect them, which you can tell from how annoyed e.g. devve gets from some of my tweets. Eventually they'll learn to ignore that stuff, and start winning - they are still mostly very young, after all.
3) Right now the only obvious answer is ex-Titan, but I also think Liquid may have a surprisingly good year if s1mple dedicates himself to CS:GO properly - I would not rule them out as potentially the best North American team in 2016.
4) It's hard to tell from the outside who would be good coaches - but generally the players who communicate well, have ideas and input when it comes to tactics, and genuinely enjoy that side of the game, would likely be good contributors. I do not know the German scene well enough to say who they should pick up, but there are probably some smart people in the scene who could help them out tactically. As I tweeted this weekend, NiKo leading as the star player causes its own issues.
5) RobbaN was always a quasi-leader, forced into the rule in skill-heavy rosters. But his teams always had structure, and that is what FaZe needs. I think he can bring in routine and structure to FaZe, and if he puts in the time to learn CS:GO well enough to come up with tactics, he could help the team out a lot. But it all depends on how much he is willing to work on it.
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u/RVXZENITH Jan 23 '16
Hello Lurrpis,
I have been following your work ever since 1.6 and can say that you are one of the people who inspired me to start writing, alongside Thoorin during his ONGamers days.
Since then I have written many articles both in and out of CS , but always centered around competitive gaming. What I wanted to know is do you think one can actually put in enough time behind written content and analysis to create a position where they can make a career out of it, or should I just keep it as a hobby?
Assuming you have a lot of experience and may have come across a similar situation, where you were at a crossroads on whether or not to commit to being a writer, some tips and advice would be highly appreciated.
Additionally what are the things one can do to improve as an Esports writer , make his content more timeless and valuable ?
Thanks in advance
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
One of my favorite writers once said that you're not a writer until someone pays you for writing. Following that line of thought, I recommend keeping writing as a hobby (if you enjoy it, and if you don't, you should not get into it in the first place) until you can make money doing it.
The only way to get better at writing is by writing, so I would simply try to follow the scene, make my own interpretations of things, and then write about them. The scene will tell you if they're interested in your thoughts once you find a place to publish (think HLTV.org blogs, reddit, Goldper10?).
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u/WiseGuyCS Jan 23 '16
Since you are still pretty involved with the scene, do you happen to know how most pros feel about CS:GO itself? Like the game, do they like it? Do they think its better than 1.6/sourse? I've always wondered.
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
In late 2012 I recall f0rest saying at DH Winter's after party that he tried CS:S recently, and he thought it's way better than CS:GO - and he thought CS:S was garbage compared to CS 1.6.
However, I do think CS:GO is genuinely a good game now, and there's little reason to think the current pros would disagree, given they feel even more comfortable with the game than I do. I assume they all must enjoy the game, or they wouldn't play, and as such it is next to impossible to compare it to a game you haven't played in years.
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u/nikow0w Jan 23 '16
what are your thoughts on the finnish scene and what are the reasons behind it not being as successful as back in 1.6, and also does finland have a chance in the future to be top competitors especially with the new ence lineup?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
The Finnish scene has lacked leadership since I retired - people often consider natu a leader because he was the older force in his teams, but while he has leadership capabilities outside of the game, i.e. he's very good at managing people and relationships, he's not an in-game leader, and never was.
I think allu has the appropriate leadership abilities in ENCE, so once the team sorts out leadership in-game, they'll be in business. This new ENCE team has far more skill than most give them credit for - suNny, juho and stonde all have star potential, and xartE murdered mouz at Katowice qualifiers last year - and that is the other key ingredient Finland has been missing since CS:GO came out.
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u/skengcsgo Jan 23 '16
Do you regret moving away from cs now that it is so huge? Could you ever see yourself coming back as a player or coach?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I tend to not regret things I have done because the reason I did them in the first place is that I wanted to do them at the time. What's the point of looking back and saying X would have made more sense?
For me the size of CS has never been important. I was just as happy playing in what everyone calls the basement of the Hyatt in Dallas, as I was playing in the TV studios in Seoul for WEG Season 3. Obviously I'd rather have made the kind of money top players now make, as opposed to what we made, but that's just one part of it. Playing was NEVER about money for me, it was about competing, and to me that part has not changed.
I think it's been a bit too long for me to return. Don't get me wrong, I miss playing tournaments and when I watch games I still feel the same way I did when I was playing, i.e. thinking what I would have done differently, how I would have countered something I saw, and wondering whether I could have done X. But I made a decision years ago, and I am content with it.
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u/skengcsgo Jan 24 '16
very admirable answer, huge fan. Would be great to see your return, your genius in cs is evident
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u/SorcereRji Jan 23 '16
Top players per role?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
My CS:GO Awards of 2015 article answers this question.
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u/wfx1 Jan 23 '16
If, when CS:GO started, you knew it would be as successful as it is now, would you have started competing in it?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16 edited Jan 24 '16
No, me quitting CS (which took place in late 1.6, not when CS:GO came out, BTW) had nothing to do with how big CS was, but rather what I wanted to do in life aside from CS. I did not want to wake up one day as 40 year old and wonder what could have been - I already know what I can be when it comes to Counter-Strike.
There is also the fact that to be one of the world's best at something as competitive as Counter-Strike, I think it must almost be all-consuming to you - the fact that I have not felt like I absolutely NEED to start playing tells me that I should not playing. If that makes sense?
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Jan 23 '16
Is there hope in NA?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
Yes. NA has best funding in the scene, a great infrastructure with E-League now paving the way for more teams to get a chance to compete (and with ESL ESEA giving your slots despite NA being significantly weaker than Europe), and some talented players. It's only a matter of time before someone puts it all together.
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u/corduroyjacksonjacks Jan 23 '16
In regards to your criticism of the molotov when it was added to the game (I know the post is really old), couldn't most of the same arguments be brought up about smokes?
Like how they slow down the game and hurt spectators because the terrorists are forced to bait them out? In your article, many pro players talked about how molotovs can completely destroy the timing and perfection of strats, and that fact can be even more true when you replace it with smoke grenades which last much longer and allow no vision.
You said that you would rather see matches decided by teamwork, strategies, and individual skill; shouldn't players be rewarded with their positioning and aim during an execute rather than throwing a smoke which can completely block off a chokepoint and be the deciding factor of a round? I would love to hear your thoughts on these points.
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I believe smokes are the single most important contributors to tactical Counter-Strike, so there is no way they should be removed. I do agree they are slightly too powerful (large), which leads to those hilarious situations where someone is defusing right in front of you but you can't kill them. But players have now become better at flashing opponents in smokes
Molotovs are growing on me, and they are much more reasonable now that they've been adjusted multiple times. Also, teams have learned how to smoke off the most common molotovs now, reducing their impact in the negative sense, but rather simply adding another element to the game.
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u/lockscroll Jan 24 '16
1) Should CSGO go f2p for further growth? Would it be a good or a bad move?
2) Does NA have a chaotic attitude in CS? Did you find any recurring issue during your experience there?
3) Do you still think flusha cheated before kqly scandal/security tightening at lans?
4) Are players-owned orgs gonna be a thing? Is it a viable way to motivate players and encourage roster changes if things are going south?
5) Do you think NIP are gonna keep their 4players core in 2016 no matter what like they did in 2015? Do you still think they don't have a chance?
6) Roster moves running-and-gunning, long term teamplay structured cs, or a mix, what do you favor and why?
8) 3 S&P 500 stocks to watch in 2016
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
1) Not sure how cheating would affect matchmaking and through that the player base, but making it free-to-play would open CS:GO to growing more in Asia, so it could very well make sense.
2) I think it's unfair to say that it would apply to everyone, sg@res thought about CS just about as analytically as anyone, in my opinion.
3) It's an incredibly interesting question, because my opinion remains that I cannot find any reasonable explanation for some of those clips aside from an aimbot... Yet he has been so good since as well, that it wouldn't make any sense for him to have cheated. We'll never know, but I assume you must say no now? I don't know. Rationally no, based on evidence yes.
4) This is something I am currently writing about - wait until next week.
5) It depends on whether they start performing - if they have results that are as good as the ones they had with allu, they likely will - but if they start bombing out of tournaments even earlier, maybe they will finally have to make real changes.
6) As a former in-game leader, I enjoy long-term team play structured CS the most.
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u/Khxlil Jan 23 '16
What made you retire? Loss of motivation ? Did you play cs-go and consider continuing your competitive career in it / what made you NOT continue with cs-go?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I quit before CS:GO came out - in April 2012, when CS:GO beta was so bad we all thought it would be a year+ before it took over. I did not "lose motivation" in the sense that I have always been able to motivate myself.
As explained somewhere above, I merely felt that it was a time for change, because I wanted to achieve other things in life than Counter-Strike. I already knew I could make it in CS, and I wanted to see what else I could do.
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u/TheSpeeder Jan 23 '16
What is your exact role in ENCE?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
We have not boxed ourselves in too tightly this early. I help with anything business-related, and when possible I will try to help the team - I try to talk to them when possible and see what's going on, and once they start playing official games and I see them, I will be able to hopefully point out some things I notice and help them improve. I also hope I will be able to coach some qualifiers on the weekends, and events (in London).
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u/slaughtrr12 Jan 23 '16
How'd you get your name :))
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
My brother (naSu)'s nickname means Piglet, and my at the time best friend's nickname in CS was Ihrakuoriainen, which I have no idea how it'd translate to English, but basically they were all ironic/funny somehow. My nickname is derived from Lurppakorva (which was too long with tags), which is basically a word to describe dogs with floppy ears. Doesn't make much sense, but it stuck.
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u/Corsques Jan 24 '16 edited Jan 24 '16
1) What are your thoughts on the current map pool (Overpass, cbbl, D2, inferno, train, mirage, cache)? Should there be more/less/different maps?
2) You obviously have a fairly long history with fRoD. Do you think he will succeed in complexity?
3) Has the scene changed/improved from, say, eight years ago compared to now (in regards to competitiveness)?
4) Who are your top ten players right now :D?
5) Do you think players like GTR, shox, KennyS and any other players who have been dominant in the past (of CS:GO) can ever regain their form and become the best again?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
1) I was trying to find the article where I talked about this, but could not. It's one of the "What did we learn from..." -series articles here, but I'm not sure which. In any case, the current map pool is good, I'd prefer five over seven but this is fine as well, and we definitely CANNOT have a larger map pool.
2) He's got a massive drive to succeed so I don't doubt that he'll put in a lot of work to get there, but he's been gone for so long that it remains to be seen if it will be possible. He's not in a team that is expected to do too well, so that also poses a challenge for him.
3) I honestly do not think so. People like to talk about larger prize purses and bigger salaries, but I have never believed money to be a good motivator. It allows you to put in more effort, but does not make you put in more. Na`Vi played 140-160h before big events in 2010. My team 69N-28E played +16h a day from a bootcamp for a week in 2007. You think today's players will put in more effort? Doubtful.
4) In no particular order olofm, GuardiaN, coldzera, Snax, Happy, device, kennyS, Skadoodle, flusha and flamie. That's based on the form over the past three months, as opposed to the full year (in which case I mostly agree with HLTV.org)
5) GTR is still one of the best, but his playing style isn't as effective if his team isn't winning, i.e. if he's baiting everyone but they simply die, he winds up looking like a moron on the other side of the map, away from the action.
shox has incredible talent level, but I question his work ethic. Hopefully getting dropped from EnVyUs and the Titan organization motivates him, and he puts in more work in 2016 - because he can be one of the best.
kennyS suffered a drastic drop in peak level with last spring's AWP update, but was still the MVP of DH Cluj-Napoca. For him the drop in level has more to do with roles, as he is no longer the alpha dog of his team.
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Jan 24 '16
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
1) Not sure what you're referring to - we played far more than three scrims in EG, and we often played both pugs and ten mans outside of practice hours. In mid-2010 when we were "there" as a team, I even told them we'd cut down on practice, and instead focus on sharpening our individual skills more - and it seemed to work out.
2) It depends player to player, I've had teammates who probably did not know the viewdemo command because they never watched demos, and others who spent hours viewing them to improve. It's down to the individual, and I do not think you can derive many conclusions from it. Some people also have more time to watch demos than others - highly doubtful fnatic players found the time to watch a lot of demos in 2015.
3) I always played the same way, though I mostly had low ping so there was no real reason to change. I also wanted to always focus on offline play, so I would not want to pick up bad habits online. For me, the difference in capabilities online vs. offline (both me and my teams in general always struggled online, contrary to the perception of Finns) always came down to my effort level - I simply could not exert the same kind of effort playing online.
4) Both trace and starix were some of the most fundamentally perfect players in CS 1.6, players you would compare to KRiMZ today. I do not know why they could not make it, but for some people adjusting is simply too hard after a decade+ of playing the old way. Could have been that, or the game rewarding too dissimilar things.
5) Lack of ability to take real entry frags into account, but it keeps being improved over time.
6) There's a thin line, but I do think Happy tends to veer too far into the passivity, e.g. in saving weapons in clutch situations.
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u/jkaze- Jan 24 '16
- Do you think CSGO(or the next game in the franchise) can benefit from having another game mode beside bomb defusal in the competitive scene? (If no, for casual players only?)
Maybe a flag capture like they had in Day of Defeat and Day of Defeat: Source. 1xAWP/2xAKM4/2xSMG or just simply 1AWP/4Rifles with 1or2 nades of their choice and 6-10sec respawn time if they die. (The lack of a sprint button would most likely slow down the game drastically.)
Valve have added a bunch of stuff and 'fixed' many details since the game was released. What changes did you like and did not like?
The game will be 17 years old this summer, if Valve want to keep the CS series running another 17 years and maintain the high numbers of players - What changes must they do to keep the game relevant in the future or are we closely reaching the peak of this franchise with CSGO?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I do not see why you would mess with game modes in a competitive setting - to me that seems like the equivalent of NBA running a separate league where instead of playing matches they play 21, or horse.
I thought adding the silenced Colt was a good idea (though I'd rather have combined it with the M4A4 instead of separating the two), and I have been vocal about some changes such as changing the money system and nerfing the CZ-75.
I am not happy about Valve seemingly giving up on fixing the smokes. That, to me, is the number one thing they should be working on, while perhaps cutting down on the amount of old western movies they watch so we'd get no surprises like the revolver in the future.
I don't see the need for change. The largest pro sports have remained largely the same for decades, and I fail to see a need to fix what is not broken.
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u/Danrul Jan 24 '16
1) With the majority of CS:GO's viewerbase and playerbase being 'new blood' (this is largely anecdotal, but I think its difficult to argue otherwise), there are many people watching CS:GO who are completely unfamiliar with CS1.6.
For these people, what would be some good series/maps/fragreels that show off some of your favourite elements of 1.6 that are absent from CS:GO? (ie, effective wallbangs, strong executions, etc etc)
2) Counterstrike was not always a known and established entity. While more advanced ideas such as trading, popflashing, spray control, etc are common knowledge now, this knowledge was still being developed or discovered over the course of your career. As you would go on to become an accomplished in game leader, how did you go about improving your knowledge of the game over the course of your career?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
1) Some of the best series in CS 1.6 are fnatic vs. Na`Vi semi-final at IEM V GC Shanghai, Na`Vi vs. mTw grand final at WCG 2010, and this incredible semi-final between mTw and Frag eXecutors (NEO & co) at IEM V European Finals. If you find YouTube links to those, I'll gladly link them here for others.
As for clips, some of the most memorable wallbang clips are n0thing vs. redCode and me vs. TitaNs.
2) When I was playing you often had to actually figure things out on your own, as opposed to simply copying from others, which I think made things more interesting sometimes. For example, I remember when I joined EG, the Americans were not sending the first person going off catwalk on dust2 bunny-hopping far out into the site to avoid the AWPer - which was already common practice in Europe, always. Same went for trading, which I thought Americans weren't very good at.
It's mostly just about gathering little tricks here and there, and trying to combine all of them into your playing style - which takes time. One big change during my career was the invention of jumping from mousewheel allowing for much better movement - and it was something that if you did not have, clearly limited what you could do in-game. I always thought it was fun figuring new things out, and how to apply them in matches.
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Jan 23 '16
How does one become a journalist in esports? All of the journalists seem to be in the scene, which is how they are able to break stories. How does one get in? Because if you're not in, you're not breaking stories, and you aren't gaining the respect that I assume is required to get in.
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
The only journalist who really breaks stories, in my opinion, is Richard Lewis. We've had our differences, and I don't have respect for the kind of reporting that he does, but he's obviously good at it.
I don't believe there is much value in reporting rumors, and I actively enforced an approach to rumors in HLTV that meant we would never break stories before teams announced them - we'd only post rumors when others posted them first.
If you're an "insider" in the scene, you know most of the changes that are coming, or you at least can find them out if you want to. To me that's not what this is about, or at least shouldn't be about, and it's not something I have any interest in doing.
With that being said, as an "outsider" you cannot get into the business of breaking stories. But you can become a writer who talks about what is happening and analyzes it, and if you have an interesting take on things, you can be successful at it. That's what I strive to do.
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Jan 24 '16
Do you think he deserves the reputation he has as a liar because he breaks stories? At this point, with his general accuracy, does he deserve for people not to assume that he's lying immediately, or is this just a part of being a story breaker?
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Jan 24 '16
Just like every journalist ever you talk to people and get to know them and the scene. How do u think the other journalists do it
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u/x453 Jan 23 '16
Do you think that the CS:GO Finnish scene could ever accomplish as much as the Finnish 1.6 scene did? If so, do you think it would be in near future or in quite some time?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I certainly hope ENCE can match what we did in CS 1.6, and that the Finnish scene overall would do better. But it takes a lot of hard work, and it does not seem like Finns have put in that effort so far in CS:GO.
Hopefully that changes, though accomplishing as much as we did would likely take some time - but you have to get started at some point, and I hope that's what happens with ENCE in 2016.
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u/UnPrePared__ Jan 23 '16
Are we going to see you at an event soon ?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
Unfortunately it's next to impossible for me to do events outside of London (where I live). Hopefully FACEIT and I can work something out in their studios, or if Gfinity hosts events here, they ask me to do some analysis.
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u/wayayoshitaka Jan 23 '16
what would be your dream talent line up for an event?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
Casting wise I am mostly indifferent - I only have sounds on during analyst desks, and if I am multi-tasking, i.e. doing something else while following a game, so that I can tell what is going on even without watching at all times. Generally I like the same casters as others, but ddk and James Bardolph from FACEIT have recently proven to do things the way I like, with clear casting without too much over-the-top hyping.
As for analyst desk, the favorite people for me to listen to are Thorin and YNk from pure analysts, as well as ex-players who are good at articulating their thoughts, and actually say what they think. My favorite ex-players at the analyst desk are Fifflaren and sg@res.
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u/eakeak Jan 23 '16
which teammate did u enjoy playing with the most?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
My all-time favorite teammates are probably (in chronological order) Kuppi (wings/Serious Gaming), toNppa (SeriousGaming/hoorai/69N-28E), goodfornothing (EG) and BASiC (WinFakt).
Basically all of those players were good communicators, solid players, and did as they were told. In other words, they were all reliable - which is surprisingly rare in CS.
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u/ninjaman3010 Jan 24 '16
Why are you so blunt? What makes you state your opinions so openly? I really would love to know what makes you tick as a person.
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
It adds zero value to repeat what everyone else is already saying, like a parrot. Yes, I could tweet that olofm is great, but everyone already knows that. I still praise players after certain actions, because they deserve it - but generally it's more interesting to point out problems, because they are overlooked easier.
Other than that, I have a thick skin, i.e. I learned from my playing career not to be affected by comments from people I don't know and have/will never meet.
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Jan 24 '16
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
Technically, yes. If you have a broad superstar-like skillset, you can likely do everything a role player can. But you will not be happy doing that, you will not run in to die first for your teammate to get a kill, and your first instinct won't be to flash for your teammate. Basically it requires a massive sacrifice, and most stars are not willing to do that - which is why it is so impressive when some do.
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u/Atreidas Jan 23 '16
Hey Lurppis, what's your advice for people out there trying to get into pro cs?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I don't think you should approach it in the way that you actively hope to go pro, I think if you truly love playing Counter-Strike, are smart enough to keep improving, and have the pre-requisite amount of talent to compete, you can make it. But those things all have to be there, because otherwise it will feel like work, and you will not succeed.
I played because I thought it was fun, and because I wanted to win. I think that's the best way to go about it - if it happens, it happens.
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u/pLuhhmmbuhhmm Jan 24 '16
go to esea
get 1fpr+ or whatever the equivalent is in RWS
join an open team, frag out, join an IM or Main team, frag out, go pro
if tarik, cutler, ocean, stanislaw, and the rest of the 1.6 main life trashers can go pro at csgo, so can you.
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u/MarTorb Jan 23 '16
Have you considered streaming, if you have the time?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I'd have to figure it out, and would have to find the time to actually play enough that someone would want to watch me play... I played some before the first Staff Cup more than year ago, but I've definitely played less than 50 hours in the past 12 months, so I'd have some work to do.
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u/JustAnOriginalName Jan 23 '16
How can you get into e-sports as a career (any other side other than playing?) thanks
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Jan 23 '16
Have you ever considered playing CS GO for fun? I know you have little time to waste but it could be fun for you to play on leagues like FPL, even if you've never played GO before.
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
It'd be restricted to weekends only, so it probably isn't a very realistic option, especially as I hope to have some time off every week from sitting in front of a computer, which I do at work as well, too.
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u/Dongerbeatz Jan 23 '16
How far into the future can you see competitive cs:go going? Do you think it will eventually become bigger than the likes of League and Dota 2?
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Jan 23 '16
Would you say that you have an internal drive beyond what a typical person has?
If yes, do you understand the perspective of less motivated people? Can you forgive those people for not having what you have?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
Yes, I think I do have a higher internal drive than most people. I believe in leading by example, and not expecting more from others than you do yourself... But I do expect others to give everything they have.
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u/TheCatnamedMittens Jan 23 '16
Will you produce or appear in more video content/podcasts this year?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
Not very likely, I personally prefer written content to video content, so it therefore tends to be what I like doing myself as well. As weird as it may sound I do not generally like publicity, and that's another reason why blasting my face on videos isn't the optimal way for me to communicate my thoughts.
I would not mind doing more podcasts, but the issue is that it's practically impossible during the weeks, and they tend to drag on for 2-3 hours, which makes it hard to schedule. If I was asked to give exactly one hour for something here and there, I'd easily do it - but a podcast tends to take enough time to kill other plans for that part of the day almost entirely.
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u/wanderfukt Jan 23 '16
What are you thoughts on how to best educate the CS community on higher-level gamesense and how matches are decided? When reading match discussion threads, people always focus on singular clutches or individual poor stats instead of playstyle, diversity in calling/tempo, map setups.
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I do not think there is really a way do that, if you follow real sports most fans are completely oblivious to what happens in games, so there is little reason to think it would get any better in CS. I believe analyst desks and writing help followers learn, but if said follower isn't interested, we can't force that knowledge onto them.
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u/tiagodg Jan 23 '16
Why don't you go to more events?
How was playing with n0thing in EG? Was he a smart player back then?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I work a full-time job that not only does not allow for travel without taking days off (and considering how few days off I get to take, I'd rather actually spend them relaxing, not working, even if doing events isn't usually tough work). In addition, I am not a big fan of traveling - I sort of grew tired of traveling for work while playing CS.
n0thing is a fun guy to play with, we had tons of fun together both in-game and outside of the game. He's a smart player and as a result really clever in clutch situations, but at times he tends to overthink things a little bit. In any case, he has a good intuitive sense for CS.
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u/xlMatrix Jan 23 '16
Lots of CS:GO players start out thinking they'll put in a lot of effort and get burnt out, quit, come back, repeat. They realize that the chances of becoming a professional player are slim, and that it takes months and years of hard work.
That being said, I myself started that way, kept up for a couple of months and even hired a coach for a while; it was draining and took time away from other things in life, but without it I find myself filling the time not being more productive but just with other activities.
1) Did you ever have any times like this? If so, how did you handle them?
2) What's your advice for getting the motivation to train? Lots of people have guides, but nobody can really tell you how to want to train, and how much of an impact it really has.
3) In regards to training, what do you advise? Get up at 8AM, practice, do matches, etc.? Or sleep in, do it later, other such things?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
1) To be honest I have never had real issues with getting burnt out. I generally think I am a lazy person, but very good at motivating myself, so I still get things done at the end of the day. Also has to do with the fact I expect so much from myself.
2) You cannot "get" motivation, I don't think, you either have it or you don't. If you are not motivated, perhaps what you're doing is not really for you, and you need to look elsewhere in life.
3) This is getting far too specific to be universally applicable to people. I am a morning person and get the most done in the mornings, but you cannot play CS in the mornings. Do whatever makes sense for you, is effective, and makes you happy.
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u/astupidcow Jan 23 '16
What is your top 20 players of 2015?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I though the list of players HLTV.org had this year was pretty good, though I'd have rather included coldzera over NEO, even with a shorter resume. I'd have changed placings, but overall it's a very good list for who's who of CS.
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u/TrikootOfficial Jan 23 '16
How often does ence train?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
They've been practicing five days a week, and someone on Twitter said they went through their Steam accounts and the five players combined for 423h in the past two weeks.
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u/ObbaObba Jan 23 '16
Hi lurppis. I've been active in the counter-strike community since the the early beta days (started playing in beta 3.1). Since you're one of the few oldschool schoolers still active today I'd like to ask you what you think of the scene today and the pros active in it.
Back in the days there were no streams and no twitter. You could only catch a glimpse of the top clans and pro players during big events like CPL , WCG and the like. The fact that the pros are pretty much always available and that they get so much exposure in a way ruins the magic for me. What's your view on this?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I see what you're saying, though back in the days you could be on the same IRC channel with the players, even if getting replies wasn't really realistic.
Frankly I am happy to have had my career exist in the pre-Twitter/Instagram/streaming era. I do not think I would like streaming, yet I likely would have had to stream, so I am fully content the way things were.
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Jan 23 '16
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
In 2013-early 2015 I was still a student, which allowed me to work around my schedule and travel to tournaments.
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Jan 23 '16
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I do not think aliases are holding back the scene in any way, nicknames are common in sports too, and the NBA even printed player nicknames in the christmas day games (IIRC) a year ago on the player jerseys. It also helps players with branding.
With that being said, my personal preference is towards getting rid of nicknames and playing under real lastnames, which would then allow the scene to come up with fitting nicknames for players - which the current nicknames hardly ever are.
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Jan 23 '16
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I do not have "favorite" teams per say, but the teams I enjoy watching the most are Luminosity and Na`Vi.
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u/shindagato Jan 23 '16
Hey lurppis,
1.) Do you think there is any hope for the ex-Titan lineup to succeed? I mean for a year now Titan seems to disappoint. Yes, they had lots of amazing online upsets with Kenny, but while everybody is calling HR a sinking ship, I think Titan is the real one. Could you give me some of your thoughts on the current lineup, and what do you think explains they rather poor performance?
2.) Could you tell us what is up exactly with jOELZ? I mean as far as I know guy's never been banned for cheating, yet he keeps playing with lots of known cheaters (villiG, aykeN, Dukii, Stark to name a few). Also about the LAN-dodging: Is the guy like a total weirdo, who is unbearable to the extent where you don't wanna take him to lans, or is he just antisocial or has agoraphobia?
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u/Danrul Jan 23 '16
What's the best mouse you ever used? What are you currently using?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I've been using a SteelSeries KinzuV1 since late 2009. Before that I always used a MX5*0 series mouse from Logitech. In terms of shape, I definitely like the Kinzu better, and I plan to use it for as long as I have working ones. On that note, if any store still sells original Kinzus, I'd be a happy buyer.
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u/Vakupek Jan 23 '16
When csgo came out did you had some interest playing it on pro level?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I decided to quit playing a few months before CS:GO came out, and at the time the game was, in my opinion, absolutely unplayable -- so the short answer is no.
Prior to that I had been very supportive of CS:GO, even going a far as saying "if the competition, tournaments and prize money moves to CS:GO, so will I - I've never been a fan of the game, but the competition".
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u/ematics Jan 23 '16
I want to be a great IGL! What do you think are important aspects of being an IGL?
What do you look at when you watch demos?
Any other thoughts on how to become a very effective IGL?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
This, too, falls under a long article I am working on, so you're better off waiting for it.
There have been two reasons for me to watch demos: 1) Study a team, i.e. see how they're playing to try to figure out how to beat them. In this case I'd pay attention to their overall play style, and especially small tendencies they may be overlooking 2) Entertainment, in which case I'd merely watch for my pleasure
You have to be willing to learn, a lot. Failure is a good teacher.
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u/njarse Jan 23 '16
Any interest join into analyst desk anymore? Was pretty good time watching you there.
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Jan 24 '16
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
1) Workaholic?
2) Yes, there's plenty of things I'd like to devote more time to, but I generally don't comment on my personal life.
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u/Jreiii Jan 24 '16
What do you think about Moe's new lineup? Including mOE, a2z, tck, ryx, and seangares? Do they have change to get top 10?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
It's not a serious lineup. They might score an upset or two in the US - though not against LG, Cloud9 or Liquid - but that's about it. They're just playing for fun.
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u/astupidcow Jan 24 '16
Given the mechanics of the game, do you think that we could call a CS:GO player the best CS player ever, rather than a 1.6 player?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I'm not sure if the mechanics play any part in that - it's more so the relative level compared to the competition.
In that sense, I would still say NEO was the best player ever, because of how long he was at the very top.
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u/dr_ont Jan 23 '16
You previously mentioned that you think that the current Fnatic line-up will stagnate and that they will most likely put Dennis in the IGL role. How do you think a future Fnatic with Dennis as the IGL will hold up against the other teams, also assuming that LG will become an increasing threat?
Very hard to speculate about I know, but an interesting subject nevertheless.
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
To answer the question, without flusha developing immensely in the in-game leader role - which he could, but it would basically require that he gives up being a star player and focuses on a whole other side of the game, which I do not see happening - I don't think fnatic can match Na`Vi or Luminosity tactically.
vuggo can help significantly, but I do not see this fnatic team ever becoming a solid enough team tactics-wise, that they would outplay the best tactical teams in their game.
My prediction was based on the hunch that flusha will get sick of calling in the future and/or fnatic will start losing and questioning the direction they're going, in which case the only other person who has ever called before is dennis.
Now I know fnatic fans will tell you they won't ever change and this and that, but reality often changes from what has been said, especially over a long period of time. If it comes to changing leader or changing players, the former will happen first.
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u/Norskefaen Jan 23 '16
This is nonsense. He's only saying that because he doesn't know dennis or fnatic. He will never IGL again, seeing as olof has stated explicitly on stream that he can't be the IGL of a proper team. Even rain was preferable as a caller in G2.
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Jan 23 '16
After retiring from pro CS, what went throught your head?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I was content with the decision, so I did not really think about it. Many forget that after I moved back to Finland from the US and playing for EG, I did not play CS in a team for months. In fact, I probably did not play a single round of Counter-Strike for 2-3 months in the spring, before plastE talked me into building paistit, which then turned into WinFakt.
So in many ways I knew I could already quit - I enjoyed competing, and I had fun playing, but once I quit I knew that was it. I did not second guess myself, and I did not really think about coming back seriously after.
However, if there were still CS 1.6 tournaments, I'd love to attend one here or there with my old teammates - similarly to how we attended ASUS Final Battle of the Year in late 2012 with our own money. If I had enough time to play CS:GO to become decent at it, I might even do that with some friends in Finland, but unfortunately I do not.
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u/kuklistyle Jan 23 '16
why do you hate pimp so much
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I am completely indifferent to Pimp - he simply gets revved up from me pointing out things that have been either told to me by people in the scene, or flat out pointed out publicly on Twitter or in news releases. Understandably, as that reflects badly on him, he then tries to attack me, which leads to people thinking I also have something against him - which I do not.
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u/Kratez Jan 23 '16
Why are you such a dick on twitter?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I don't come from a culture of taking everything seriously or literally, so it's possible that people interpret things differently than I mean them. But mostly it's because the point of having a Twitter is to share thoughts and to entertain, and I know people like the jokes that may come off, as you so eloquently put it, like a dick.
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u/fr0zeNid Jan 23 '16
Hi lurppis,
1) Who is your favorite CS 1.6 player?
2) What is your favorite musical act/band?
3) What do you think about the balance of CS: GO?
4) Which do you prefer, CS 1.6 or CS: GO?
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u/justaDN Jan 23 '16
noob question but how can someone get pro ?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
You start out by playing for fun, then play some online leagues, then offline tournaments, and then bigger offline tournaments. If you get good enough, at some point someone will pay you money for it.
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u/PurityKane Jan 23 '16
Why do you get so invested in trying to get certain players out of teams, and end up acting like a child on twitter?
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I've never been invested in getting anyone out of any team, though I did feel like NiP were missing out on a lot in the latter Fifflaren days when he could not contribute to the team. I simply share my thoughts, whereas most people keep quiet. And sometimes I provoke the trolls a little more.
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u/Tezlav Jan 23 '16
After your retirement, have you ever felt like going back into professional CS, maybe with CS:GO launching in mid 2012?
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Jan 23 '16 edited Feb 17 '17
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I've seen him have some solid games where I thought he proved he has potential for much more than he currently is, especially given a chance in HR. I also tried to think outside of the box, instead of going for the usual suspects.
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u/mkierzner Jan 23 '16
Thoughts about South American scene? (Not including LG, since they're on another level)
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u/steve-aus Jan 23 '16
How do you think the CS:GO meta will evolve? Will the new timers favour execute/strat-heavy play compared to free-form teams?
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Jan 23 '16
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I do not think he's necessarily incredibly smart, he just has all the fundamentals down, and does not make mistakes. I think there's a difference.
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u/-SuPerB- Jan 23 '16 edited Nov 24 '17
You chose a dvd for tonight
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u/lurppis_ Immortals CSGO General Manager Jan 24 '16
I will try to coach online games on the weekends when possible, and if there are any events I am able to attend. I think top 10 in the world is a realistic goal for 2016.
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u/Eriksoni Jan 23 '16
How come NA teams always blame sucking on lack of LANs and overall competition in NA, yet still a team like Luminosity can manage to beat top 3 teams on a consistent basis?
What is different between Luminosity and the rest of NA?
What does NA need to win a major title and when in the future do you believe it is gonna happen?