GeT_RiGhT: "Time to win a major"

The Swedish giants gave a poor account of themselves at the event in London as they were eliminated in the quarter-finals following a 0-2 defeat against dignitas, returning home with a disappointing record of two victories and four defeats.

NiP have been practicing hard in the last few days as they crave for a major title, with pretty much everyone HLTV.org has interviewed so far expecting them to be in top form in Cologne.

In this interview, Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund acknowledges that attending G3 was "a mistake" after coming off a vacation period. The Swedish talent also discusses NiP's preparation for ESL One Cologne and the two new maps, among other topics.

How have you prepared for ESL One Cologne so far? Do you have a bootcamp planned for the final days leading up to the event? Do you feel adequately prepared?

Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund: ​We've been playing a lot online, since our results from G3 weren't that successful in our own eyes. We've been having "online bootcamp" as well, a 4-5 days bootcamp in Stockholm for getting ourselves in shape. I think we're feeling alright at this moment, as for every single day we're playing. We're getting much better than we were before the G3 event. I think we shouldn't have attended the UK tournament, mostly because of our long vacation we had before that... But, the lesson is learned. Now more focus on the ESL One tournament!

After a long hiatus from international competition, G3 took place last weekend. What do you make of the results? Were you surprised by anyone? What comes to mind when thinking about the event?

Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund: Like I was answering above, I think we shouldn't have attended it at all. Since we had around 3 weeks of vacation - and just a few days before, we started to play again since we really needed this break that we had. For surprises was more to LC (Norwegian team) and maybe mousesports.. I always had high hopes for them and they always somehow disappointed me (no offense), but now there back with the Finnish player allu, in my opinion.

At ESL One you’ve been placed in group A together with Wolf, HellRaisers and Epsilon. Can you go through each team one at a time, and tell us what you think about them, and your chances against them?

Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund: Going through our group, it's going to be hard. Since we just lost against Epsilon (14-16) at G3 and we've always had problems against HR somehow... coming back to 1.6 days, if you ask me. Last but not least, Wolf - I have no idea how this team will play, since they haven't attended a international tournament before. We'll see when we go live against them! About qualifying for the playoffs, I think it's going to be hard - mostly because it's bo1, but also because of  the new maps in the pool. Even though I'm really open to the new maps, I do think they need some tweaks to get a bit better.

What are your expectations going into the event? I realize everyone will say they are in it to win it regardless of stature, but would you be happy with a quarter-finals exit? Top four? A spot in the grand finals?

Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund: We're going step by step, first qualifying for the playoffs, so we can rely more on the bo3 system than bo1. If we do so, we're aiming for the number one spot. I think it's time for us to clinch on those majors... Even though it's going to be really tough with so many good teams attending. We will just go for the first step and hopefully we can play good there and pass the group stage. We'll see on Thursday/Friday!

Do you have a clause in your contracts regarding the sticker money that will be coming in from ESL One? Is that something you had added later on specifically with Cologne in mind, or did it exist in the first place?

Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund: I'm sorry to say, but we're not giving out details regarding our contracts, s so I cannot really go into what's it saying about this.

It’s now been weeks since ESL announced the new map pool, featuring de_cobblestone and de_overpass. Now that you’ve had a chance to practice them, what do you think about them? What do you think about the new map veto system? Do you think these changes will work for or against you?

Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund: I think the biggest change was that they removed train, since it was one of our favourite maps in the game and now it's gone from the map pool... But for the newer ones, cobble / overpass - I think the change is awesome! I really like cobble since I played it a lot in 1.6 on a ladder for Swedes (r60) and it was a hell of a lot of fun to play on that map back then - and with the changes to it I think it's just really good. Overpass is a good map, needs a bit of adjustment... But I think the map itself is fun. It's going to be fun to see how many games we will be having this map in the group stage or playoffs.

At both of the previous majors we saw a new team win a title (fnatic, Virtus.pro), propelled by new players rising to stardom (flusha, schneider, byali, Snax). Do you expect another new team to rise up this time and if so, who could it be?

Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund: I'm not sure, I think everyone is just hungry for the title and being the champions of Cologne. I think that London Conspiracy can surprise a lot of teams and that everyone else will be fully prepared for anything. But I haven't really focused on this like I have previously for tournaments. I've been only focusing on my team and myself, since I've been very disappointed with myself for a while now.

You’ve now had two weak results in a row at ESEA and G3. To what do you account the drop in your performance? Is it you struggling for some reason, and if so, do you know why? Or are other teams simply getting better, and now you have to play catch up?

Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund: I think every team has been stepping up a lot and I think it's just good for the scene, even though I don't want teams to beat my team. I think it's good that every team has a chance to win a [major] tournament. About our performance, I think a lot of bad planning and other things have been "in the way" of us actually doing what we should have been doing from the beginning - Focusing on playing. But it's nothing that I'm worried about, I believe in my team and I know that my mates have my back on this.

How did your vacation work out for the team, aside from the G3 performance? Do you feel rejuvenated and ready to play? Do you feel you still need a longer break? How is the motivation in the team in general?

Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund: The motivation is really high, everyone is playing a lot of CS right now and just focused heavily on that, even if we should have done that before. I think the "wake up" call from G3 was something really good for us. So looking on what's been happening these past 2 tournaments, I think it's just been something good for us.

NiP have been drawn alongside Epsilon, HellRaisers and Wolf, with the Swedish giants due to take on the Indian team in the first round of matches, on Thursday, at 09:00.

Kirill "ANGE1" Karasiow: "I like the [new] maps a lot"

Nicolaj "Nico" Jensen: "Our A-game can beat anyone"

Vincent "Happy" Schopenhauer: "Tired of quarter-final exits"

Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas: "We haven't reached our peak"

Pål "Polly" Kammen: "We are here to stay"

Henrik "FeTiSh" Christensen: "There is no I in team"

Jesper "JW" Wecksell: "We can surprise a lot of teams"

iBUYPOWER: "Too many mistakes"

Spencer "Hiko" Martin: "You are in for a treat"

We are interviewing a player from each ESL One Cologne participant, and will be releasing all the interviews in the coming days, with the tournament starting on Thursday.