Earlier this week I sat down with Team Infused, who are about to embark on a trip to Providence, where they will be playing in Major League Gaming's Call of Duty: Black Ops National Finals. Team members XLNC, Jake and Flux took time out to give us their perspective of EGL London, MLG and Modern Warfare 3. Evening boys, so for those who are not too familiar, please introduce yourselves. XLNC: I'm Nick Ward, 21, and I live in sunny Scotland. Currently studying accountancy and working as groundskeeper Wullie at a local surgery. If I'm not on the 360, I'll either be out with mates, watching football, playing football or winning millions of Scottish pounds at the bookies. I most definitely just c+p'd that from one of my many previous interviews. Flux: Hi I'm Ryan Oldfield and I'm currently studying a degree in Economics at the University of Loughborough. I'm 19 years old and am originally from Southend-On-Sea, Essex. My interests include pretty much any sport, movies and obviously competitive gaming. Jake: My names Jake Dalton, I'm 16 from Portsmouth and currently at college doing A levels in History, Physics, Maths and Chemistry. My interests include football and gaming. So, let us clear this up. You did not have the greatest time as a team in terms of placements at EGL London. Is there a specific reason for why you did not achieve what you had been predicted? Jake: The event was shambles, we never really seemed to be able to get into gear and then there were just connection issues which made some messed up stuff happen. Also the fact that certain individuals bummed the game to oblivion whereas we didn't put as much practice in as we should have. Cough fnatic. Flux: We only practised against the top teams and were pretty much beating all of them in map counts (online). At the event we didn't really play any teams that we considered 'contenders' and it was probably their playstyles that just threw us off. I think we had the attitude that we could just brush aside these teams with pure slaying power; but it just didn't happen. I still maintain we could have beaten any team at the event; it's just the nature of blackops and in my opinion it's ability to produce random results. XLNC: Jake pretty much covered it. I think alot of the established top teams went into EGL4 with minimal practice including the likes of us, apeX and Mythix which the end result clearly showed. I think we had our fair share of bad luck too which resulted in game changers. We definitely got complacement in what turned out to be crucial moments such as being 5-1 up against Fariko on S&D, only to lose 6-5 and then proceeding to lose the game 3-2 overall and pick ourselves up a very nice 9th-12th place finish. Jake: Although we lost 3-0 to Imperial.2 it was a really close match that only went there way because of bad luck. I think if we had won that game we could've easily gone on to win the event. infused @ EGL London MLG Providence, your next event, is fast approaching. How are you guys dealing with finding time to practice as a team for this? XLNC: Long story short, it's been beyond dire. I didn't think the release of MW3 would create that much of an impact on the practice schedules of the teams attending providence, but i've clearly been proven wrong. It's been literally impossible to find a scrim against a US team of a decent standard. Any scrims that we have been able to find have not been beneficial in the slightest. Our best practice has genuinely came from a EU GB team. Jake: The release of MW3 has made it hard to get any scrims, we played a bit before and we've got our strats down pretty much but we just need an opportunity to put these into practice. As well as making sure Nick/Tom stay on top of using a PS3 control. You must be excited as MLG virgins? XLNC: Well there's definitely a funny side to it all as i've been trying to attend an MLG event for the past 4 years, and after winning numerous events it's never came close to materializing. Now that I obtained my worst placement ever (9th-12th) i'm finally being sent, to the nationals too which makes it all the better. All I can say is a massive thanks to Andy/Oli for believing in us and making it all happen. It's definitely a leap of faith on their behalf after our EGL4 result. Flux: The MLG events look incredible judging from the live streams I've watched in the past. Especially with this being nationals I'm buzzing to see the venue, the atmosphere and the general whole experience. Jake: MLG is my bday weekend so not especially but yeh it's a sick event and I’m lucky to have such an opportunity. After coming off the back of EGL, are you looking to improve on your not so expected finish by placing well at MLG? Jake: Not really going to take EGL into consideration to be honest, just going to go and give it our best and see what happens. I would like to see us finishing t10 but as long as I know we genuinely did our best and there was no mess ups this time I won't be too bothered with lower. Beating atleast one pro team would be an expectation for me XLNC: I've never practiced so little for an event before with the exception of CoDXP, so many things were going on with all of us it was hard to get the four of us online at the same time. On top of that, we just generally didn't have the mindset most teams had of putting the time as we all think BO is a poor title to represent the CoD series, without including the competitive aspect Treyarch tried to cover with LAN lobbies, competitive playlist etc. In that sense, it was definitely a wake up call and we all know ourselves EGL4 was a one-off. So with that being said, that event has little relevance to me. Looking at the bigger picture, I've always wanted to do well at an MLG event so I'll at least want to achieve some level of success there whether it's placing well or beating some of the pro teams. I guess both come hand in hand though. We have recently seen the Apex COD team attend as Europeans first major contenders for Call of Duty MLG. Do you believe you can out perform their Orlando result at Providence? Jake: They were at a huge disadvantage playing on a PS3 controller, I don't think they realised how hard it would be adjusting. Also the fact that we have to play on a completely different ruleset, and being the first European team must've been a lot of pressure. We don't really suffer from these problems and I think we're genuinely just the better team anyway, so hopefully we should do better. Flux: Myself and Jake are both hugely comfortable on ps3; and from what I've seen nick/gunsh are coming to terms with the controller well (comparably with Apex). For me I just want to get out of the AM bracket safe and sound; from there we definitely have the potential to cause some damage to the pro teams. A lot will depend on search and destroy. Given that it accounts for 2/5 of the map count, I can really see it making/breaking our tournament. XLNC: It's definitely hit or miss. We'll be going into Providence with the same or even less amount of practice apeX had and alongside that I think around the time of the CoDXP qualifiers apeX were definitely the strongest team out there in terms of MLG settings. We have the advantage of 3 of our players already being accustomed to the PS3 controller though as we originated from PS3 minus Gunshy. I do think we can better their result though, as I think in terms of versatility we are stronger in that we adapt quicker to switching roles/our playstyle should our current playstyle turn out to be a disaster come Providence. Regardless of our lack of practice in S&D, S&D on Black Ops in my opinion is where individual skill can shine most, so I think that won't be too much of a worry when it comes down to playing it. Domination is primarily our biggest and most obvious concern as Americans have been playing it religiously for just under a year now. Team members Gunshy and XLNC at COD XP in LA The team consists of primarily players who have originated from PS3. Do you see this as a fairly big factor when going out playing opponents who have a wealth of experience on this platform? XLNC: The only thing that switching controllers can affect is your shot. Yeah obviously if you're not hitting your shots your at a disadvantage but aslong as you play a smart game, you shouldn't have any problems no matter whom your opposition are. This game compared to the previous cod titles definitely focuses on teamwork more, so aslong as you nail both the things I mentioned I don't think it's that important a factor no. Jake: My PS3 shot is sick **** Arguably one of Europe’s best CoD teams, representing its skill and of course infused; do you feel any source of pressure from attending MLG? XLNC: There is always that sense of pressure of having to perform when you play at a top level, no matter what you do but it's the pressure that makes the players. People automatically assume that if you are affected by pressure, you automatically choke but most top players turn that into an advantage in that they're more aware of what's going on/more focused on their game. I guess we do have some level of pressure though in that we don't want to turn this trip into a complete failure, but as infused have also mentioned in the past, this trip is to mainly just get to grips of what it's like to play at an MLG event (the experience), for future purposes. Jake: Pressure if we played on mainstage maybe, otherwise no not really. Flux: I feel a lot of pressure to at least match Apex's placement of t24. With the AM bracket being bo3 we can't even afford to drop maps or we're literally 1 map from dropping into the losers bracket (thus being 1 game from elimination). From there it's just do everything we can to climb the rankings; I'd like t16 or better. Can we get a realistic team prediction for Providence? Jake: 9th XLNC: Top 12 Flux: 16th MLG Providence, expected to be the host of thousands of competitive gamers next weekend Have you guys had much time to play MW3 while juggling around with preparation for MLG, and if so what are your first impressions of the title? Jake: Yes, we can play during the day as we tend not to scrim MLG before 11pm. I myself think the game is shambles. There's 0 recoil, the maps are poor and if the type 95 doesn't get banned then it's Blackops version 2. XLNC: I've not even got myself a copy of MW3 yet, would rather just wait it out in hope that someday activision will decide to send my copy I got free at codxp. Skyrim is definitely my priority at the moment minus MLG. Flux: Game is almost identical to MW2 except the maps are far too cluttered and the type 95 is even more powerful than the famas on mw2 (particularly at close range regularly out-hipfiring SMGs). The mechanics make it better than BO in my opinion, but the maps are far worse. And lastly, what are your plans for MW3? Will we see you persist as a team for the foreseeable future and MLG 2012? XLNC: Nah, we're splitting. Lads, you're all dropped, especially you Gunsh. I do everything in this team. Only thing the rest of the guys do is play in the scrims that I find and attend the odd LAN event. Just felt like this is the moment to clear the air. Jake: LAN is what is most important though, and at the end of the day you're a connection player XLNC: I hear MW3 knives are ineffective hence rendering you ineffective on the entirety of the game. Flux: Nick's a has-been; it's likely myself Gunsh and Jake will be recruiting a new 4th in pursuit of world domination. XLNC: Your flights to MLG are infact sending you to Guantanamo Bay. Brilliant. Let’s take up no more time guys! Thanks very much for the interview and here at Decerto everyone wishes you all the best at MLG Providence. Any quick shout outs? Jake: iChozen and Stevo for getting me to where I am, FR lads and everyone at EUeSports.com XLNC: Massive shoutout to everyone at Infused, especially Andy and Oli aswell as our sponsors: Tt eSPORTS, Thermaltake, Club3D, AOC Europe, GeIL Memory, HMV Gamerbase, Multiplay UK. Wouldn't be able to do it without their support! Would also like to make a shoutout to the '2AM skype crew' who desperately insisted I give them one, Bethesda (developers of Skyrim) and KHEMISTRYYYYYYHOWMANYYS. Remember to follow infused's twitter @team_infused Flux: Shout out to infused, EueSports, and the old FR dudes You can track the teams progress throughout this weekend, commencing the 18th of November right here on Decerto, where we will be bringing you all the latest updates from across the pond @ MLG Providence! Please follow us on Twitter for the latest news, articles and media!
And lastly, what are your plans for MW3? Will we see you persist as a team for the foreseeable future and MLG 2012? XLNC: Nah, we're splitting. Lads, you're all dropped, especially you Gunsh. I do everything in this team. Only thing the rest of the guys do is play in the scrims that I find and attend the odd LAN event. Just felt like this is the moment to clear the air. Jake: LAN is what is most important though, and at the end of the day you're a connection player XLNC: I hear MW3 knives are ineffective hence rendering you ineffective on the entirety of the game. Flux: Nick's a has-been; it's likely myself Gunsh and Jake will be recruiting a new 4th in pursuit of world domination. XLNC: Your flights to MLG are infact sending you to Guantanamo Bay. ...................................... Too much banter
Allow the shoutout to iChozen lol... but not one to eMpire I am disappoint Jake! Good luck next week lads
Apparently we need to gain the approval of the banter kings to have any sort of laugh. Now that is beyond cringe. On another note, cheers for the support lads.
didn't really see the need for Jake to comment about us bumming the game. We played no more than most of the other teams attending, and seeing as I joined basically 2 and half weeks before the event we obviously had to put in a fair share of time to sort our stuff out. good luck at MLG anyway
Europe
France
United States
Germany
Australia