Interview with GeT_RiGhT

Published on WinOut.net on the 28th of June 2009.

fnatic superstar GeT_RiGht is 19 and comes from Spånga in Sweden. Earlier in his career he played with Begrip.swe, NiP and SK.swe most notably. Prior to joining fnatic his CS resume had few impressive placings but in the space of half a year with the Swedish titans he has racked up 4 major event wins. Playing in the mix team lemondogs he also just beat SK.swe at DreamHack. I asked him about his journey to the top within Sweden, his team-mates and the teams they are battling at every tournament.

As a member of

Begrip.swe you were in a team which made waves with some upsets and collectively you all seemed to be on the verge of making it to the top of the Swedish CS scene, yourself in particular as you were considered one of the stars of the team. How do you look back on that time in your career and are your good memories at all soured by knowing the disappointments you went through when you left to join NiP and rather than things continuining on to a higher level they kind of fizzled out?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: My time in Begrip was about “improving” my skill level as a player and how to become a really good player. Our team, Begrip, was when I think of it more of a surprise team that can take down a really high level team one day and another day flop with a 0-16 loss. My best memory of the team is about the friendship we had with all the players, which in other teams isn’t the same. When I left Begrip for NiP, it was a great feelin’ for me just to step up my skill level and improve even more than I did in Begrip but it was even more harder to me to leave them, because of the friendship we had in the team. I think the “great feelin'” I did have, disappeared pretty fast after the company went bankrupt and walle/tentpole joined SK.

How did you take such a big setback after being so close to achieving one of your goals only to find yourself back at the previous step? Do you feel like you were 100% ready to become a top tier player at the time or did you need more time to adjust to that level?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: I think everything that has happened with all the teams and so on was only good for me. I have grown as a player and as a human to understand things better. It looks like it was good for me to grow as a player, get hurt and so on. But back in that time I think I was more disapointed about how everything was and I was close to joining my old team EYE (Begrip as they were called after I left) beacuse of everything that happened in NiP, so I guess I wasn’t really 100% ready to become a “pro-player” at that time.

When you first joined SK bds made the statement that the starting line-up would work akin to a football team so you would be putting pressure on the players to perform else you could take their place essentially. That didn’t really seem to happen as they left you on the bench, so to speak. What did you think of that bizarre situation and do you think SK should have handled things differently and either offered you a starting spot or let you find another team?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: I think the team back then was a really good team and I don’t think it would have been good for me to just take some place and play with them. So I guess it was better for me as player to grow and to leave the team and get experience by myself and become better. I think I did grow a bit, I was most of the time in the it-cafe inferno online talking with budak a lot and knew he was behind me a lot and saw some part of me grow and get better even when I didn’t play with the team.

The MYM team you were a part of seemed like an experiment with potential thanks to its established Norwegian core and hungry young players like you and face. Did you feel like that was a team which could have done big things and how did you feel about the way that opportunity fell apart? Also how was to play with a big name player like REAL and how does he compare to some of the other great players you’ve played alongside?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: I think we had a big chance to hit the international level in tournaments, but it was sad when MYM let the team go after some disappointing results on the national level. I don’t really think it was so frustrating to go back to SK, mostly because I did know when we were at DreamHack (we were supposed to attend DHW07 with the MYM line-up) that we were going to get kicked from the organization because of the bad result and REAL being in the hospital.

REAL is a nice guy and a good player too, so it was nice to have a such a good player on the team but I don’t think he was really that good to compare with the players I’m playing with now because of different playstyles and so on.

When you got your shot in SK.swe there had to have been some pressure on you since you were replacing a legend in SpawN and SK is a team with expectations of winning major tournaments. Did you feel like the downsides of those circumstances like them being used to SpawN’s playing style or there being such a short period of adjustment time is what prevented you from being successful?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: It was kind of hard for to just jump in 2 weeks before the tournament and play really well and maybe go and win a big tournament. Even if we did have a 2 week bootcamp to fix everything it’s really hard for any team to just get one player and fix him to the team, their playstyle and just to take spawns spots and so on. I don’t really think I had a lot of pressure on me, or I didn’t really feel like that at least but it was obvious there was some kind of pressure on me.

It seems like you’re a player who needs to feel really at ease with his team-mates and his playing situation to be successful. With all the different teams you’ve been in what is about fnatic that has made this the team where you’ve blossomed as a tournament player finally?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: It’s really a big thing to play in fnatic than in another team. They have great personalities and they are open to new people in the team even when they had played with ins and archi for a long time (2 years!). I think it was good for both gux and I to join the team the same time. I think we would have had more pressure on ourselves if he joined the team alone or I had.

With your time in NiP and SK your name has always been one brought up in rumours of teams recruiting new players. Your current team-mate Gux, however, seems to have flown pretty low under the radar internationally and may have surprised some when he was announced as one of the new fnatic players. What are your thoughts on that?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: I think Rasmus is a nice guy, he has awesome skills and I thought everyone knew before of his skills. I have seen him before do stuff that I can’t even do (most of them is “rAsMustuR” as I call them :P) So I thought he had an even bigger chance than me to get into fnatic when everyone was talking about them changing the line-up.

With so many veterans at the top in CS it seems as though their CS activity goes by how well they are doing placement wise, so they practice a lot when they are doing well and lose a little interest when they are underperforming. The public perception of GeT_RiGhT though is that he practices CS a lot every day. How true is that perception and do you worry about getting burned out from playing too much?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: I think that’s true, yes. But I’m not really worried about getting burned out or retiring for a long time. I will stay on the scene till it die or I’m getting tired of it… but I’m not really feeling like that right now!

Your style of play is that of the big numbers fragging aim-based player who outskills his opponent thanks to confidence in his abilities. Despite that being a style so many fans and young players try to emulate it seems like it’s taken for granted now that there is only one, two at most, of those kinds of players in any great CS team. Yet in fnatic you seem to have become vastly successful in spite of going against the grain of that common wisdom. Can you think of any other top team in CS history who were able to win major tournaments and had as many of those type of aggressive, aim-heavy players in one team? What do you think it about fnatic’s approach which allows that setup to work?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: I can’t figure out any other team that had that so I guess we are the first. It has always been said that you only need one “madfragger” max two, one sniper, two backup and one in-game [leader] so I guess we are the first one without that kind of line-up.

We have tactics of course, but I think we have only “simple” things and not really any hard ones where you need good flashes and so on. We’ve got our things and we know about the other team, what they are doin’ and we are trying to figure out what we should do to own them.

Looking at your style of play people could draw comparisons to things which reminds them of players like zet, HeatoN and f0rest for example. Have these or any other players influenced your game and if so what have you taken from their styles?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: I have always watched other players and maybe “taken” some of their playing style. I have always looked up to HeatoN, cArn, f0rest and other players. Maybe running and shooting from f0rest/zet and always that fake flash from HeatoN.

In Swedish CS it seems as though the progression cycle is kind of one way with young up and coming players being recruited while older top players seem to retire rather than try to get back to the type by joining the 3rd or 4th best team. As an insider how would you explain that situation and do you think it’s something about the Swedish mindset that causes that to be the case?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: I don’t know really, I think it is more about motivation there. Noone really wants to grab the ladder again and climb it. I think it’s in the mentality/culture, it’s better to leave on top than leave when you are going I guess.

After a sparkling 2008 and a good start in 2009 winning the EM III European finals mTw seem to have lost their way, running into fnatic early on at ESWC Chenoan and finishing 4th at Kode5. What do you think of mTw and are they still the same team from 2008 that can win major titles or have the rest of the teams figured them out now? Do you feel like their time is over?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: I don’t think their time is over, I think they are still a good team and a high level team that can win tournaments still. I don’t know why they have problems right now, or do they even have problems? I don’t know. I think every team knows what they are doing, and know what their weak spot is.

SK.swe seem to overcome their problems from earlier in the year and have been playing a lot better in terms of the recent major tournaments as victories over teams like mTw and WICKED in big matches has shown. Still they seem to have had real problems when facing your team in finals and other big matches. They have beaten you on the domestic level or in the group stage but in those big match-ups you always come out on top at the moment. What do you think of that SK team and do you feel like they are closer to fnatic’s level than the numbers have shown? With their string of 2nds do you feel like there is distance between them and the rest of the pack (WICKED and mTw) or not?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: I think they are a good team (SK) but I think there are still some metres left to be close with us. I think we’ve still got new stuff that other teams haven’t seen. I think they have something in their minds against us, we have won two finals against them. Even three if you want to say when me and Gux won against them at DreamHack Summer with lemondogs. I don’t really thinks it’s closer between them and the rest because we’ve got problems every time we meet mTw, but they can just win over them.

Fans always want to argue about who is better: f0rest or neo. It’s like kids arguing over which comic book characters would win in a fight. What similarities do you see between those two players and can you add any insight to the matter?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: f0rest can win a match for your team, neo can win a match for his team. I don’t really know anything about neo, he seems like a nice guy and good too, but I think f0rest is better than him mostly beacuse I play with f0rest and I have seen some crazy shit from him.

Does f0rest’s status as one of the great players long before you got to the top mean he’ll always have extra mystique to his game for you or do you feel like GeT_RiGhT can become the best player in the world if he practices and plays hard enough?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: Well I think I can be that good but as long as f0rest is playing I think he’s a better player then me 😛

Have this year’s results altered your perceptions of yourself as a player or did you always think of yourself as one of the best players in the world even back when you were struggling to get into a top team?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: I have been more of a real world proof guy insted of really saying that. People have come and told that and so on, after I have thought about it sometimes it becomes clear to you about it.

During fnatic’s early rise to the top dsn was known primarily as an AWP superstar but his rifle play has improved continuously over the years too. What kind of role does he play in fnatic now and do you think he should still be considered one of the elite AWPers or has his style changed thanks to the 2009 fnatic approach?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: His role is to be like “backup in-game leader” in our team from what I can see, he’s always the guy calling the strategies in the defensive play on CT side. He’s got an impressive AWP that can turn a match around, especielly on the CT side ;D but nowadays I think he has stopped using the awp a bit beacuse of our new style, but he can still buy the AWP and outaim everyone 😀

Even if you don’t win another cent this year your share of $110k+ in prize winnings is an enormous step up from the rest of your career and could well be a high mark for any year in CS. Do you take accomplishment from that money and what is your approach to dealing with those winnings?

Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund: I think more like if you win money it’s nice, but you should try to put it in to the bank and save it for harder times and take it slow. If you play Counter-Strike it can be really random, you can lose a tournament and even get bored of the game. But if you still play the game for the money I dont think you should really play the game anymore.