AlekS: "We've been stressed all event, I wanted to let the emotions out"
The finals of the Fragdelphia x Tap 2 tournament got very heated, but at the end of the series it was Fisher Tsunami who got the last laugh against timbermen.
Swedish product and IGL for the team Alexander "AlekS" Andersson ended up taking the tournament MVP honors, and after the victory over timbermen, he spoke to Dust2.us’ Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore about the trash talk during the grand finals and the upwards trajectory of this Fisher Tsunami roster.
The full interview can be found below on YouTube, with key snippets underneath.
Now that the smoke is cleared, how do you feel about the win over timbermen?
It feels amazing. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, since I knew they had some stand-ins, but I knew they were still ranked in the top 80. So I knew these people know how to play the game. And I haven't been in a top 80 team for a good bit. They played really good CS.
The shit-talking reached a new level today. What was it like being in that storm?
I think it’s fun and all for everyone else, but I think as a player it ruins the esports integrity slightly. You can’t do your calls right, people are going to attack your personality. It’s all fun and games to a certain point, but after that I think it goes over the top and ruins the experience a bit. I didn’t scream anything until the very last round when we won. I don’t really regret that; that’s the time when you can show happiness and emotions. We’ve been stressed all event, I wanted to let those emotions out.
Did you have to reel some of your teammates back in?
I can’t really speak too much for my other players. They did get a bit fired up, and that can make it hard for us but it can also make it hard for them. I’ll have to look at it after the event to see if this is something we want. Some rounds I had to calm them down, if we have an important buy and I need to make the comms and we’re non-stop screaming. We’ll discuss for the next event how much is too much and how much it helps us.
Overall this is an incredible run for the Fisher College project that only formed two months ago. How do you feel about the team’s progress?
I’ll be completely honest about what happened. We got Milan "CrePoW" Libbrecht, a super good player who brought a whole dynamic to the team and helps us a lot. We got Tommy "corn" Eckhart who was willing to take all the super bad positions on maps. We played for a couple weeks, I slacked a lot with my IGLing, I got called out for it, then we all took a huge step up. I think we’re on a good road here.
Do you think the team is ready to be an ECL or Advanced team?
I think everyone just needs to look at who we played and who we beat now, right? We beat ECL teams all the time. That’s my answer.
You emerged as the MVP of this event, ending the event with a 1.26 rating. How are you feeling about your own individual skill right now?
I think it’s dropped off a bit; I still have the experience to rely on, but I don’t think I’m as good individually. I think for this event I would give MVPs to all my teammates, but if I had to pick one if would probably be CrePoW. I think just looking at the final series is unfair; we did this as a team, right? I’m doing my very best to help people perform better, that’s my main focus. I still think I have a far way to go to get back to my level.
Both AlekS and CrePoW finished the event with a 1.26 player rating, though AlekS rounded out the event with a 1.31 rating in the finals against timbermen.