We talk to Anty at Gamers Paradise, a day before the Swedish Regional Qualifier in KODE5. The Swedish summer is slowly but surely reaching its lower temperatures, just like in the rest of Europe. Either it's that, or it's me who is under the influence of the air condition at Gamers Paradise. We (me, Mazor and RandomNE) just arrived to Stockholm and Gamers Paradise to prepare for the event, where we saw SaSe and Anty sitting here practicing. After a couple of minutes, we decide to talk to Anty, since he was the eigth and last player to join the KODE5 qualifier, plus the fact that he is the newest member of the multigaming clan fnatic.
Anty played in the second KODE5 qualifier, but he was invited to play the deciding match against verGe.GLaiVe, since ElakeDuck had to leave his spot. In a best of three match, Anty finally did what he never managed to do before - defeat GlaiveGuy.
- It felt very good. It broke the ice, so to say, Anty says. We asked him why he defeated GlaiVe, and he said that he simply couldn't cope with the strategy he went - Crypt fiends, abominations and hero nuking. He further says that the reason he won now was that he was not at all as prepared before as he was now; not in the same shape as he is now.
- I have played a whole lot, and effectively. I check the replays even when I lose, and tried to figure out why. Surely, people seem to have noticed his upper curve, as he not long ago was recruited to team fnatic. I ask him of his chances for tomorrow, and he thinks they are pretty slim.
- I think that if I survive the group stage I will have as much chance as the others, my group is pretty tough, he says and mentions Creolophus and FuRy.
“
- I'm going to remove Turtle Rock, so he can't go Crypt Fiends on the map. The other Swede in his group is Kiske, the one who won the first online qualifier. Anty believes he will have no trouble defeating him.
- I got a bit surprised that he won the first qualifier, but he is pretty good against Night Elves. The player Anty thinks he will have most trouble with is with no doubt Creolophus, the Norweigan 4Kings player, even though he has been playing very bad since he joined 4Kings, according to Anty.
- I think he may be a bit too hyped, but I still think he will beat me, 1-2 or so.
Why did you play so bad in the qualifier?
- I understimated an opponent in Winner Bracket and played ORc instead of Undead. And in Loser Bracket I played against a Human player who made lots of towers and I lost my patience and focus and lost. He was not a bad player at all, it was not only tower abuse. We start talking a bit about the Swedish scene, and how it is like a new player to enter the scene, speaking of that player who defeated Anty. His name was gibb.ahlberg and is according to a couple of voices in the Swedish community one of the new rising, but still unknown stars.
- When I entered the Swedish scene as a top player it was tough to get in. Unless you win a big tournament offline or at least get very far, it is very hard to get accepted as a good player.
It is not only the KODE5 qualifier that was the reason for doing this interview. Only a couple of days ago, Anty was recruited as the front Undead player for team Fnatic. With Abver being away because of a hand injury, and that there will be lots of changes in the squad soon, Anty will be given all the game time there is. We asked him why he chose Fnatic, and why he decided to leave his previous team ID-Gaming for it.
- They got better sponsors, and most of all a spot in WC3L and NGL-one, which are the two biggest leagues in Europe. He rates fnatic's chances in WC3L fairly big, he does not think they will reach the playoffs, but a safe spot somewhere in the middle is fair enough. fnatic's first playday they go up against the American-based team verGe, a match he is very positive in.
- I think we are going to win. It depends a lot on the 2on2 match, he says. I ask about the 2on2 status in fnatic, and he replies with that they are not sure. He is not a 2on2 player, and is not an alternative at the moment, at least. Joining fnatic was an important step in his career. He has been in contact with them for a quite a while, and gets along well with the players in the squad. He have no trouble communicating with them, being the only Swede. apart from the Russians, English is good enough.
What might not be as good is the current balance in the game, according to Anty. We ask him what he would have done if he were the one deciding the patch changes. He responds that it is a very tough situation, and that Blizzard will have to do some very radical changes.
- Undead are strong against Human and Night Elf, but weak against Orc. Orc are weak against Human and Night Elf but strong against Undead, so you can strenthen neither Undead or Orc, and you can't make Night Elf or human worse. Orc have no trouble at all against Undead. They can't balance the game the way it is right now, they need to rethink.
Could it be so that the maps are bad?
- The Undead versus Orc matchup has never had a good map. There are only bad maps and worse maps, he says and referring Twisted Meadows as the bad map and Lost Temple as the worse. He adds though that it gets better and better. In many of the leagues they have removed the worst maps, such as Maelstrom. When asking of his favourite map, he mentions Twisted Meadows, because it is hard to crep on and it benefits the Undead race.
- Undead does not need to creep that much compared to the other races. Mostly you just push your opponent and hinder them to creep instead. His favourite hero was undoubtedly the Death Knight, for his ability to totally change the game. He's the best in all the matchups, apart from Undead mirror.
Favourite...
Undead: SK.Sweet, apart from MaDFroG, of course. Sweet is the most complete Undead player, even if Lucifer have won more titles, such as ESWC. Though it feels like Sweet can do the same if he gets a chance. It is great that he joined SK-Gaming, for now we can see him play in the Wc3L and see how he performs against the other top players. He will be a free win in the 1on1 matches in every clanwar. There are few players that can beat him.
Human: I will have to say ID´SjoW, who switched from Night Elf to Human after playing Night Elf during the entire Reign of Chaos perid. He changed to Human because he thought it was a funnier race. He switched from a better to a worse race. Props to him. I believe he will advance from his group tomorrow together with SaSe. he might have some trouble in the Semi Finals if he goes up against an Undead player.
Night Elf: SaSe, because he always seem to go mass Dryads against nearly everything. I have known him for a quite some time now, I've seen his skill increase. We are good friends in real life too, but seeing as how he lives in Gothenburg and I in Stockholm, we only meet at events and such.
Orc: The old ElakeDuck who whined a lot and went mass towers. It was the Orc you hated to play but watching him play against others was so funny. Apart from him, it is probably Grubby who always performs well and seems to solve every tough situation in-game.
“
- The tournament scene is very bad in Sweden right now, we barely have a community anymore. There's a lot of tournaments and such in Germany and the rest of Europe, but Sweden is really dead, sadly. We asked what is needed in the Swedish scene more than just more tournaments.
- We need players who can compete with the top-notch players, like Grubby and so. I believe SaSe is the one who is closest in being one of those, but he is still a few steps behind.
As the final question, I asked what he thought of GosuGamers. He said that he is quite new to our site, after DreamHack Summer 2006 he has been online at our site a couple of times. He thinks that GosuGamers is a good site with dedicated administrators, but that we lack the fanbase that is needed.
- Something special is needed, like interviews and such to draw the users to the site. GosuBet is a good feature.
When the interview was over, Anty went back to his computer to play more WarCraft 3 to prepare for tomorrow's event. I wish Anty the best of luck in the tournament tomorrow, and his upcoming career with fnatic. If you want to see more of Anty, come to Gamers Paradise in Stockholm tomorrow, where he will play in the Swedish KODE5 qualifier.
Anty played in the second KODE5 qualifier, but he was invited to play the deciding match against verGe.GLaiVe, since ElakeDuck had to leave his spot. In a best of three match, Anty finally did what he never managed to do before - defeat GlaiveGuy.
- It felt very good. It broke the ice, so to say, Anty says. We asked him why he defeated GlaiVe, and he said that he simply couldn't cope with the strategy he went - Crypt fiends, abominations and hero nuking. He further says that the reason he won now was that he was not at all as prepared before as he was now; not in the same shape as he is now.
- I have played a whole lot, and effectively. I check the replays even when I lose, and tried to figure out why. Surely, people seem to have noticed his upper curve, as he not long ago was recruited to team fnatic. I ask him of his chances for tomorrow, and he thinks they are pretty slim.
- I think that if I survive the group stage I will have as much chance as the others, my group is pretty tough, he says and mentions Creolophus and FuRy.
“
I think that if I survive the group stage I will have as much chance as the others, my group is pretty tough
”When asked about what he thought of his opponents in Group B, he said that FuRy is a player with great routine and experience. He is unsure of his current shape, but he believe it will be pretty close between them.- I'm going to remove Turtle Rock, so he can't go Crypt Fiends on the map. The other Swede in his group is Kiske, the one who won the first online qualifier. Anty believes he will have no trouble defeating him.
- I got a bit surprised that he won the first qualifier, but he is pretty good against Night Elves. The player Anty thinks he will have most trouble with is with no doubt Creolophus, the Norweigan 4Kings player, even though he has been playing very bad since he joined 4Kings, according to Anty.
- I think he may be a bit too hyped, but I still think he will beat me, 1-2 or so.
Why did you play so bad in the qualifier?
- I understimated an opponent in Winner Bracket and played ORc instead of Undead. And in Loser Bracket I played against a Human player who made lots of towers and I lost my patience and focus and lost. He was not a bad player at all, it was not only tower abuse. We start talking a bit about the Swedish scene, and how it is like a new player to enter the scene, speaking of that player who defeated Anty. His name was gibb.ahlberg and is according to a couple of voices in the Swedish community one of the new rising, but still unknown stars.
- When I entered the Swedish scene as a top player it was tough to get in. Unless you win a big tournament offline or at least get very far, it is very hard to get accepted as a good player.
It is not only the KODE5 qualifier that was the reason for doing this interview. Only a couple of days ago, Anty was recruited as the front Undead player for team Fnatic. With Abver being away because of a hand injury, and that there will be lots of changes in the squad soon, Anty will be given all the game time there is. We asked him why he chose Fnatic, and why he decided to leave his previous team ID-Gaming for it.
- They got better sponsors, and most of all a spot in WC3L and NGL-one, which are the two biggest leagues in Europe. He rates fnatic's chances in WC3L fairly big, he does not think they will reach the playoffs, but a safe spot somewhere in the middle is fair enough. fnatic's first playday they go up against the American-based team verGe, a match he is very positive in.
- I think we are going to win. It depends a lot on the 2on2 match, he says. I ask about the 2on2 status in fnatic, and he replies with that they are not sure. He is not a 2on2 player, and is not an alternative at the moment, at least. Joining fnatic was an important step in his career. He has been in contact with them for a quite a while, and gets along well with the players in the squad. He have no trouble communicating with them, being the only Swede. apart from the Russians, English is good enough.
What might not be as good is the current balance in the game, according to Anty. We ask him what he would have done if he were the one deciding the patch changes. He responds that it is a very tough situation, and that Blizzard will have to do some very radical changes.
- Undead are strong against Human and Night Elf, but weak against Orc. Orc are weak against Human and Night Elf but strong against Undead, so you can strenthen neither Undead or Orc, and you can't make Night Elf or human worse. Orc have no trouble at all against Undead. They can't balance the game the way it is right now, they need to rethink.
Could it be so that the maps are bad?
- The Undead versus Orc matchup has never had a good map. There are only bad maps and worse maps, he says and referring Twisted Meadows as the bad map and Lost Temple as the worse. He adds though that it gets better and better. In many of the leagues they have removed the worst maps, such as Maelstrom. When asking of his favourite map, he mentions Twisted Meadows, because it is hard to crep on and it benefits the Undead race.
- Undead does not need to creep that much compared to the other races. Mostly you just push your opponent and hinder them to creep instead. His favourite hero was undoubtedly the Death Knight, for his ability to totally change the game. He's the best in all the matchups, apart from Undead mirror.
Anty's favourites
Favourite...
Undead: SK.Sweet, apart from MaDFroG, of course. Sweet is the most complete Undead player, even if Lucifer have won more titles, such as ESWC. Though it feels like Sweet can do the same if he gets a chance. It is great that he joined SK-Gaming, for now we can see him play in the Wc3L and see how he performs against the other top players. He will be a free win in the 1on1 matches in every clanwar. There are few players that can beat him.
Human: I will have to say ID´SjoW, who switched from Night Elf to Human after playing Night Elf during the entire Reign of Chaos perid. He changed to Human because he thought it was a funnier race. He switched from a better to a worse race. Props to him. I believe he will advance from his group tomorrow together with SaSe. he might have some trouble in the Semi Finals if he goes up against an Undead player.
Night Elf: SaSe, because he always seem to go mass Dryads against nearly everything. I have known him for a quite some time now, I've seen his skill increase. We are good friends in real life too, but seeing as how he lives in Gothenburg and I in Stockholm, we only meet at events and such.
Orc: The old ElakeDuck who whined a lot and went mass towers. It was the Orc you hated to play but watching him play against others was so funny. Apart from him, it is probably Grubby who always performs well and seems to solve every tough situation in-game.
“
We lack the really top-notch players that can compete with the very best like back in the days with MaDFrog, HeMaN and SuRvivoR.
”I ask him to state his view on the current state of WarCraft 3 and Sweden as of today. He says right away that we are much worse than before. That we lack the really top-notch players that can compete with the very best like back in the days with MaDFrog, HeMaN and SuRvivoR.- The tournament scene is very bad in Sweden right now, we barely have a community anymore. There's a lot of tournaments and such in Germany and the rest of Europe, but Sweden is really dead, sadly. We asked what is needed in the Swedish scene more than just more tournaments.
- We need players who can compete with the top-notch players, like Grubby and so. I believe SaSe is the one who is closest in being one of those, but he is still a few steps behind.
As the final question, I asked what he thought of GosuGamers. He said that he is quite new to our site, after DreamHack Summer 2006 he has been online at our site a couple of times. He thinks that GosuGamers is a good site with dedicated administrators, but that we lack the fanbase that is needed.
- Something special is needed, like interviews and such to draw the users to the site. GosuBet is a good feature.
When the interview was over, Anty went back to his computer to play more WarCraft 3 to prepare for tomorrow's event. I wish Anty the best of luck in the tournament tomorrow, and his upcoming career with fnatic. If you want to see more of Anty, come to Gamers Paradise in Stockholm tomorrow, where he will play in the Swedish KODE5 qualifier.
