myMYM.com sit down with EG newest player  Ediz 'goodfornothing' Basol, who sheds some light on EG's recent roster change,  Matt 'Warden' Dickens' retirement, their performances at DreamHack Winter 2009 and Arbalet Cup Europe and the North American Counter-Strike scene as a whole.

Hello, Ediz 'goodfornothing' Basol. Congratulations for joining Evil Geniuses. Firstly, I'm curious about your nickname. What does it mean and how does it come?

My nick comes from my highschool punk band. we were named Good For Nothing and when I started playing counter-strike I thought it might be a good way to promote our band if I fragged some people in pubs :D

How does it feel to be one of the members of the best team in North America?

It's always a good feeling, but I'm more driven to become a top team in the world. I don't think being a top team in North America is as impressive as it used to be.

When did the organization approach you and tell you that you would be a part of the team?

I'm friends with the players so they are the ones who brought it up to me first. I think they had started to mention it about a month or so before WCG China.

What do you think of Matt 'Warden' Dickens' retirement? Were you shocked at the begining? Have you ever thought that you would be the player to fill his shoes?

I was a bit surprised to hear of his retirement. EG was doing well in North America and pretty well abroad so I thought he'd stick around to see it through. As far as their selection of me, maybe I was expecting that they would look for more of a pure fragger rather than a strat caller like myself, but I do feel like I'm a good fit for this team.

What should you do in order to prove that you are the best fit following Warden's departure?

I'm just trying to make the team better. I'm trying not to get caught up with getting more kills than Matt did or even comparing myself to him as a player. I'm just focused on winning with this team. I have been trying to build my own role on this team and not try to simply mimic everything warden did because it is hard to play well if you aren't comfortable with your what you're doing in game.

According to the rumors, Travis 'tuBBy' Bechtol should have been the fifth player. So why did the organization pick you up in the end instead of tuBBy? What are the differences between him and you?

I'm not sure what they talked about before approaching me, but if I had to guess, it might have been an issue of experience. He hasn't been to many big tournaments, and I've been playing internationally for more than a couple of years now. I think Travis is a good player, but maybe they thought it would have been kind of a risk. I had to go through some of these same dilemnas when trying to find new players for Turmoil. On the other hand, maybe they just thought that I'm really good at counter-strike!

Is there anything new you will bring to the team compared with tuBBy and Warden?

I think my experience calling strats for Turmoil gives me experience with a different playstyle and thought process. We have been taking some of the better ideas that we had with my old team and have started incorporating them into this team in order to give ourselves some more depth as far as strategies and setups. It's hard for me to say what kind of players those two were since I have never played on the same team as them, but I think of myself as the type of player who can really support teammates well and make them play better.

Do you feel more pressure playing with former compLexity star players from now on? What do you want to learn from them?

I really don't feel any pressure at all. Both fr0d and storm (I'm assuming those are the players you are referring to) are great team players. They aren't the type of players that are going to be staring over your shoulder or anything, they just thrive on being team players and really want everyone to work together. I stopped being star struck years ago, it's impossible to be a top player if you're afraid of the so-called "star players." I also have learned from them already. They all have experience with what it takes to win these big tournaments and the teamwork and dedication it requires.

It means that you have more chances to show up at international events by joining Evil Geniuses. Do you think you are good enough to compete at an international level considering your lack of experience than your teammates?

I've been all around the world at big events, ever since the departure of these guys to CGS, so I don't feel like I'm really behind at all as far as experience. I think they all have respect for what I've accomplished as well and don't feel like I'm the inexperienced new player either. So to answer your question, I think I am definitely good enough :)

Speaking of international events, Evil Geniuses were eliminated in Quarter Finals at DreamHack Winter 2009 following a 2:1 defeat to the eventual champions MeetYourMakers. Despite winning the first map de_train, you lost the last two maps in a row by big margins. What happened in the matches?

Those were definitely both dissapointing losses. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong considering the margins of those losses. All I can say is that we only had about 3 days of practice as a full team going into that event. MYM is a team that can really create a lot of chaos with their aggressive CT sides and great aim, so they were really able to get us disorganized and pick us apart. It was definitely a good learning experience and hopefully we can end up with a better result at Arbalet.

Which team do you like to face the most at Arbalet and which team do you like to face the least and why?

The team list here is really impressive so I don't think there is a team we'd like to face most or least. I also don't think we really have any rivals here. I'd say we definitely just want to make a statement here, so we want to face off against all of the top teams. I'm not saying we're going to win, but we came to compete and are here to play the best teams in the world.

Despite having the former coL star players as well as Tomi 'lurppis' Kovanen for calling strats, Evil Geniuses' only victory was achieved at GameGune Mexico 2009, where we saw no European contenders. So do you think the North American Counter-Strike scene will catch up with teams from Europe and Asia? If so, how long will it take?

I can't say that we are really even that far behind. I feel like North American teams (I suppose mainly coL and ourselves) have proven that they are better than a lot of European and Asian teams. We are never bombing out of group stage or really early in these tournaments. The last hurdle is being able to put up some wins against the big name teams like SK, Fnatic, and Again. Hopefully that day is coming soon, because I feel like the first tournament win is the hardest to get, after that we will definitely be playing with more confidence.

How far will this lineup go at international events?

Probably Asia, even though it is really far away. But seriously, we aren't in this to be a mediocre team. We are not going to be happy with coming close or barely losing. I suppose Arbalet will be a good measuring stick of how we match up and if we can be succesfull internationally.

Despite advancing to the playoffs as number one team in Group B, you lost to underdog coldfrag in an unexpected fashion. What happened in that match and what have you learned after the match. Given another chance, do you think you can beat them?

I think we are the better team and given another chance we should win most of the time, but Coldfrag played the better match. We had a terrible CT side, pretty much letting them pick us apart, and dug ourselves too big of a hole to come out of on our T side. We just seemed a bit flat and uncoordinated in our defense and have definitely talked about it and corrected our mistakes. Sometimes, simply forgetting to flash certain spots of rushes or push up into the right setups can cost you huge rounds, and I think we definitely had some of those mistakes. It can be good to learn early like that and correct those mistakes before getting into the playoff portion of a tournament believing you're good to go on a certain map.

Thanks for the interview, the last words are yours.

Wish us luck and thank you to Intel, Steelseries, Peregrine, Kingston HyperX, MSI, and NFO!

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