IEM in Chengdu, China gets closer and now myMYM.com asks fnatic's star players cArn and GeT_RiGhT to see if the team is ready for the tournament.

myMYM.com sat down with fnatic's famous duo, team leader  Patrik 'cArn' Sattermon and  Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund, who has always been considered as a feared player who is able to dominate and push a whole match all by himself.

With Intel Extreme Masters 4 Global Challenge Chengdu coming close, fnatic have been practicing for weeks in order to have a good shot at winning in China. Both Sattermon and Alesund shed light on their practicing process, preparation, fanbase in China, as well as some off topic things.

The interview was conducted by Albert 'w067000' Wang.

GeT_RiGhT, you said you were ill in one of your blogs, how are you feeling now?

GeT_RiGhT: I'm feeling much better than I did before, it was some kind of a flu. Nothing to be worried about. But I was sick for about 16 days so that kind of sucked.

With ESL Global Challenge Chengdu coming close, how is your practice going? Are you having a bootcamp or just doing it online?

GeT_RiGhT: We were doing it online only this time, Rasmus is going from Copenhagen and the rest from Stockholm, so no bootcamp for that reason. But we have played for about 2 and a half weeks now and I think we got more new things that no-one has seen before on every map and we are in a better shape, like back in EM global finals in the begining of the year.

cArn: We have been practising for the last 3 weeks online. We have put alot of effort coming up with new strategies and positions and hopefully this will be the boost we need to win in Chengdu.

fnatic have a quite large fanbase in China as far as I know and you will compete in China twice in less than two months, one is the Global Challenge Chengdu, the other is World Cyber Games 2009 Grand Finals, so are you excited about meeting your hardcore fans in Chengdu?

GeT_RiGhT: I don't know how the fanbase is there, but I have heard funny stories from cArn, dsn and f0rest about this. But we will see, it's new for me and Rasmus, so lets see what's happening!

cArn: Fnatic has been sending us to China a lot over the years and therefore we have been able to interact with our fans. This is of course very nice and hopefully we won't let anyone down!

How important are the fans to you and fnatic?

GeT_RiGhT: It means a lot! It's awesome to have fans who are passionate about something like gaming, it's not like your a big star in some sports. This is something totally different.

cArn: It's always nice to be accepted and regognized in something you put a lot of time into. I do think fans like us because we are very down to earth and answer all questions at www.fnatic.com - when we are not too busy.

How many autographs are you going to sign?

GeT_RiGhT: Oh, ok! Well I don`t know. We will see how many pads will be signed (smiles).

cArn: Haha, no idea! If any fan asks for autograph or picture we will of course do that. But please take care of GeT_RiGhT and Gux, it's their first time in China! Some hot topics here.

What do you think of zneel's situation? He had been released from SK Gaming after only one month, which seems like a similar situation as yours in early 2008.

GeT_RiGhT: Of course it's sad about what happend to him in SK. But I could see this coming, so it wasnt really a "surprise" for me. But, it's sad that he couldn't continue playing with them. He played good, from what I could see.

What about Markus 'zet' Sundstrom? He used to be a killing machine in the old Ninjas in Pyjamas and contributed a lot to SK Gaming, finishing runners-up at WCG 2008 Grand Finals, even f0rest did admit that he doesn't want to face zet in any game. What do you think were the reasons leading to his departure? Did CSS affects his 1.6 skills in a negative way somehow?

GeT_RiGhT: I think zet is still a good player, but hes not at his highest level. But I think he must to search for it, so he can be as good as he was before. But we will see, he could be better with MYM players than SK.

cArn: When zet was competing in CS: Source and in the CGS, the 1.6 scene continued to evolve into a more tactical and movement based game. When he got back to it almost 1 year (or so) after, the rest of us who still played 1.6 were ahead of him and unfortunately for him he never really caught up.

OK, let's move back to fnatic. Rasmus 'Gux' Staring joined the team only a little bit after you, and he has always been the first one to attack a bombsite which is seriously a tough job. Being the key element of fnatic's successes in the first half of 2009, he has been in really good shape in his role. However, it seems that he is not catching up people's eyes as much as you do. Rasmus has somehow been out of the spotlight. What's your opinion on it?

GeT_RiGhT: I think it's sad that he hasn't earned that respect that he should. He's an awesome player, he does more things for the team that people don't really see.

cArn: In any given sport players will get more or less attention. Having GeT_RiGhT and f0rest beside him, who together are somewhat of the superstars of today's Counter-Strike will leave him a bit hidden in the shadows.
But honestely, I dont think this is something he cares about. In our team we are setting up goals together, we win matches together, we lose matches together - its not a one man's show.

cArn, the in-game leader of Fnatic, has stated more than once that 2009 might be his last year as a professional gamer. If so who is qualified to take over such an important role in your mind?

GeT_RiGhT: Let's see after the year is over.

cArn: I did say that 2009 could be my last year. I have been playing for Fnatic for 4 long years and I have been having so much fun, it's hard to describe.
In early 2009 I set up a final goal that when I quit playing I want my team to be the best in the world, if we continue in the same manner as we have so far there is a great chance that we will write ourselves into the history books as the best team ever, something I would be very proud of.
What I'm trying to say is that it's difficult for me, being 24 years old and finding new challenges and goals in Counter-strike, I have been into this scene very long time, and for that im very grateful, but everything has an end. And regarding replacements, we haven't decided anything yet, we are just focusing on IEM and WCG.

Fnatic have won almost every tournament attended since Extreme Masters III Global Finals, ESWC Asia Masters of Cheonan, KODE5 Global Finals and e-Stars King of The Game 2009 just to name a few. However, it also means that all the teams will study your tactics and demos, resulting in you a more predictable team than any others. How will you get over it?

cArn: This is something we are aware of, there are many many matches our opponent can study to understand our tactics. Me and dsn are working a lot behind the scenes to make minor changes to our game to remain unpredictable.

You lost two maps in a row to mousesports at Intel Extreme Masters Super Cup. Did they do very well research on your tactics or it is because you know each other too well? Do you practice with them regularly? Are you confident of taking revenge in Chengdu?

GeT_RiGhT: I know we could do a lot better that match and the whole team knows that. So it wasn't really something about tactics, it was just we couldn't really shoot 100% that day.

cArn: The Intel Extreme Super cup was a minor tournament, we didn't really focus as much as we needed. Mouz on the other hand played very good but they will have to climb mountains to achieve another victory in Chengdu.

Speaking of Chengdu, you have been drawn into Group A, battling against two local teams: TyLoo and SC.United. cArn said that you had underestimated 'Team East' prior to e-Stars, so are you going to prepare anything special for your opponents in the group stage? Especially for TyLoo who upset SK Gaming and mTw in South Korea?

GeT_RiGhT: I don't know really, I'm one of the players in the team that downloaded some demos before the tournament, to see their play style and how good the players really are. But I don't think we are doing something special for them, we are doing it for every team that's gonna attend.

cArn: It scares me a bit playing Chinese teams early on. Fnatic has never won anything in China, this year we will try to change that but we'd better be well prepared for the groupstage because Chinese teams play a different style than we are used to.

If you come out on top in Group A, you will face the runner-up of Group B which means SK-Gaming, WeMade FOX or k23. Which one would you like to compete against most and Why?

GeT_RiGhT: It would be cool to play against the new SK, so let's hope for that :)

cArn: The playoff will be randomized.

What are your goals at Chengdu? Who are the top 3 contenders?

GeT_RiGhT: I don't like this question, whos gonna be the top 3 teams. I can just say, let's wait till the event and see who's gonna win and that. But I'm hoping for us of course!

cArn: There are a LOT of good teams there and therefore it's difficult to make a top 3 list.
If we only survive the spicy food and keep our heads cold (with water, not beer), I think we can win it!

Quick questions:

GeT_RiGhT:
AK or M4A1: M4A1
Desert Eagle or USP: USP
Tapping, Bursting or Spraying: Why tap and burst, when you can Run n spray? :D
Coca or Pepsi: Nothing of it, rather drink water.
de_train or de_nuke: de_nuke
ALTERNATE or mousesports: mouz.
zet or f0rest: f0rest, duh? He's my teammate! :D

cArn:
AK or M4A1: AK
Desert Eagle or USP: Deagle
Tapping, Bursting or Spraying: Tapping
Coca or Pepsi: Water!
de_train or de_nuke: Train
ALTERNATE or mousesports: ALTERNATE
zet or f0rest: f0rest

Could you give us a brief description of your teammates? Both in and outside the game.

GeT_RiGhT:
Harley 'dsn' Orwall: A really good player and has an amazing AWP that can turn a match around.. I think, he drinks to much sometimes..!
Rasmus 'Gux' Staring: Rasmus, does never get angry about anything in CS and that's good. And he always has a smile on his face when you see him.
Patrik 'cArn' Sattermon: Our leader, he's old and he's awesome!
Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg: You want this guy in your team, when he's on fire, you don't want to play against him and trust me, he's almost on fire all the time! He's a MANIAC! ;D

cArn:
Harley 'dsn' Orwall: Our sniper with long experience. He loves to drink Tsingtao, maybe too much.
Rasmus 'Gux' Staring: Young aimer with fast reactions. Always being the target for my and dsn's pranks.
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund: Another youngster with impressive talent. Outside the game he is pretty calm!
Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg: The best there is. Outside the game he is a lazy slacker! :)

Last question: What do you think of the new MYM.cs? Will zet fill hibb's shoes?

cArn: I think they got huge potential to establish themselves not only as a top team in Sweden, but in Europe. Their strength is certainly their hunger since they got alot of new player′s who wants to prove themselves. I think zet will be filling Hibb′s shoes just fine, he has experience and can probably contribute new tactics.

Thank you for the interview, the last words are yours!

GeT_RiGhT: Thanks to our sponsors, Steelseries, MSI, Bigfoot, bestpoker and ugame for making everything possible for us. Our organization, the people behind the fnatic site and our beloved fans! Cya in China ;)

cArn: Mei wenti! I want to thank Fnatic and it's sponsors MSI, Steelseries, Ugame.net and Bigfoot Networks for believing in us. Also I wanna say "Da Jia hao" to our fans out there, we appreciate you!
For more information about Fnatic, feel free to visit www.fnatic.com

Image courtesy of fnatic