Name: Jonas Alsaker Vikan  
Date of Birth: 27 - 10 - 1981
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Maritial Status: Living with my girlfriend Marthe
Occupation: Student
Food Preference: Kimchi!  
Favorite Song: Hymne til de mørke soverom - Åge Aleksandersen
Favorite Movie: Too many to mention!
Motto: Nobody cares about how many times you get knocked down, what counts is if you get back up.

Gaming Related:

First Game: Eh...Wonderboy on Commodore 64!
Played CS since: 2001 
Favorite Weapon: Colt
Favorite Player: Potti
Favorite Clan: Catch Gamer and MIBR

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Hello, Bsl! Why don't you start with introducing yourself and tell us a bit about your gaming career.

- Hi danes! My name is Jonas Alsaker Vikan and in Denmark I'm known as the boogeyman because of my role in one of the many SoA affairs! I've played on an international level now for 4 years and I've seen action in Meredia/Spacebar, MIBR, SoA, NoA, TAG and Catch Gamer.

How did you get involved with Counter-Strike?

- One of my best friends, yuPstEr, introduced me to it during our last 6 months at high school, around beta 5.2. After we graduated I went into military service for one year and when I got out I started playing it more consistently, around
version 1.0 I think.

What is your role in the team, and do you prefer a certain role ingame?

- I'm the captain which means I make most of the tactical decisions in-game and its a role I've grown comfortable with over the years. It takes a lot of focus but I've never been one to care about being TEH STAR, as long as the TEAM can win a round I'm happy.

bsl and Cazzidy

You recently lost a player by the name of DaY, who joined up with 4Kings later. It seems some people have different opinions on what really happened. Care to explain, is there any bad blood between Catch and Day?

- This is ancient history now as he was benched in September 2005, he didn't like that so he broke his contract. I don't think there's any point wasting energy on childish stuff like that so I have no hard feelings towards Thomas, he gave his best for nearly a year and contributed to the teams success when he was a starter.

Later you picked up two players from your biggest rival in Norway, Team9. Why did you choose to bring in REAL and oops in to the team, and how did you come in contact with them?

- We've known these players for a long time and followed their progress closely. The whole world saw, through their performances, how good they got during the last six months of 2005 and that's why we approached them about joining the Catch Gamer family.

I'm sure you have had plenty of time to practice together, how are your feelings, are things going the way they should?

- This is a very, very capable team that I have every faith in. I'm sure we will do well in 2006.

There is a reasonable sum of money to cash in on at the SHG Open event in Denmark, how come you guys decided not to attend?
(NOTE: The interview was conducted before the SHG Open)

- There are several reasons, we have a "full" schedule with WEG, CPL etc - not to mention that we need to participate at norwegian BYOC events to participate in our community. That's our first priority when it comes to these BYOC tournaments thus making SHG lose out, I'm sure it will be a great event though and wish everybody there good luck!

Describe a normal week for Bsl, what do you do on your spare time and how much do you practice?

- A normal week for me consists of practice with the team from Sunday/Monday to Thursday from around 17-2230, that's a lot of hours we put in. Usually I try to get my ass up to the university in the mornings and stay there to study untill 14-15ish. The spare time I have I spend with my girlfriend Marthe and my friends. Pretty normal/boring stuff huh ?

bsl from the block

How do people react when you meet them for the first time and reveal that you are a professional gamer?

- I don't consider myself a professional gamer as I don't make a living from it, Fatal1ty is a professional gamer. At best I'm semi-pro, but people usually react when they hear I travel all over the world so much. Most think it's interesting and ask questions, it's hard to fathom that it's possible I guess ;-)

Should professional gamers get some sort of special threatement from School in order to practice/prepare for a big event, like some young like athletes get?

- Yes. This is something we've had to combat with Catch as we have had several players attending school in our starting 5, and at least in Norway there's a paragraph in the law that regulates absence if you are an athlete or involved in something artistic. Unfortunatly many schools don't see gaming as a sport which causes some discussion. Stupid really, if a 17 year old is good at football in Norway and he gets to play 2nd division with the senior team at his club it means he will travel around in the part of the country he's from. This is no problem for the schools, but when "our" 17 year old needs to travel to China or Brazil for an event they start an argument. Like I said; stupid.

How does the future for Team Catch-Gamer look, which events will you try to attend in 2006?

- The future is bright and shiny! We attended 10(!!) events in 2005 and aim to keep up this rate of activity by attending as many CPL WT stops as we can as well as WEG seasons and ESWC/WCG if we qualify.

You are considered a veteran in the Counter-Strike Scene, with many years of professional gaming, but who is the best player you have ever played with over the years?

- Thus far the best individually skilled player I have played with is Juzam, the most tournament focused and consistent is Naikon and the best teammate is juve9le - hows that? Hehe

If you would be able to change something in the CS Scene, what would it be and why?

- I have nothing I want to change - it's perfect ! ;+]

It is known that the Swedish Counter-Strike Scene is few steps ahead of the Norwegian one. Why is that?

- There are more geeks in Sweden! They have a better esport culture, the players and teams become serious with their dedication earlier than in Norway.

You have been known to travel a lot the past years, what has been the most memorable place/event?

- It was an insane feeling to know that there were millions of people watching you on television during WEG! Also all of the trips to Brazil has been great, we had a great time in Singapore as well at WCG, too bad they used Source and bad computers or it would've been the best event I've attended I think.

bsl with Zevy and Juzam in the background

Ever thought about what you are going to do after your professional gaming career ends?

- I have my academic endeavours which I hope will be a larger part of my life when I'm done with gaming. I am also considering a future in gaming, my years and experiences have served as a first class education to that end. We'll see how it all falls into place.

Before we end this, could you describe each of your teammates?

- juve9le - strong rifles, his level of play is extremely high when he's on. Very fast and he has very good pistols too. He's a very nice and fun guy to be around and we've been "together" over a year now - one of the founding members of Catch Gamer.

- Naikon - people say ahl is the most consistent player in the world but my money is on Naikon. Very competitive and he'll always give his best at events, funny guy too with some very bad jokes.

- oops - one of the new guys. He exploded in 2005 and he's one of the most skilled players I've seen if not the most skilled. A very complete player who can do everything. He's also a nice kid that meshes very good with the rest of the guys.

- REAL - also new to the team - it will be exciting to see how we'll do with these two additions. REAL is extremely young and extremely talented. He does a lot of crazy stuff and takes the new-school style of play to new heights! He's intelligent both in and out of the game for his age too, which is good! :;;)

Thank you for your time, the final word is yours!

- Thanks to my danish fans(I know there's at least 1 or 2!), thanks to catchgamer.no for everything they are doing for gaming and shoutouts to my loveable teammates!

The interview was written by Andreas 'Njord' Steiro.