The voice of MugNMouse'sMichael

By: Billy "ExpliSit`1" Blumenthal Posted 2009-05-21 01:48:22 CDT

Thank you for taking the time to talk with us at LGN. First off can you please
introduce yourself for our readers?

Oh Yes, Hi I'm Mike aka Nethervoid from Mug N Mouse, the strategy caller and in
game leader.

Thank you, if you wouldn't mind can you please give us a brief history, of both
yourself and your team?

I've actually been playing the game for the least amount of time compared to the
rest of the guys on the team. I started out in cal season 8, progressed from open to
intermediate to main, and played CEVO-main last season with Zebra Cakes. Ethan
(Nukem) and Amir approached me about putting together a team for this upcoming
season and I jumped at the opportunity. We were fortunate enough to have the Mug
N Mouse organization pick us up.

You say you put your team together just for this season, have you played with any
of these guys before?

Yes we've all played together for about a year on and off, while Nukem would be on
to play often he wasn't able to commit to a full season until now due to IRL
constraints, so when he said he was available to put in the required time we joined
CEVO. Several of the guys on our team have played together before, amir and
nukem have been on many teams together in the past along with teky and caber.

Most teams seem to come and go quickly, what has kept you guys together for this
long?

Well, we LIKE each other; we aren't just a group of people thrown together trying to
win matches. Nukem has stated several times that the main reason he plays is
because it's FUN playing with us, we try to keep a very positive attitude on the team
at all times. A lot of teams I've seen, constantly bicker with each other and use a lot
of negative motivation, I try to avoid that at all times on mug n mouse. So we all
show up for practice and try to have fun, it's still a game no matter how serious
many people take it. I've seen lot's of teams fall apart because they lose site of the
fact that it's supposed to be FUN. So while we try and take a professional work ethic
when it comes to improving, we try to never lose sight of that.

That’s great to hear you guys still enjoy the game, you said Mug N Mouse
approached you, why did you decide to play for them? Were there any other teams
you were interested in?

Mug N Mouse is one of the most well respected organizations across many gaming
platforms not just CSS, when they said they were interested in us we jumped at the
opportunity. We talked to other sponsors and many of them came no where near the
level of organization that MNM has. We spoke to many potential sponsors but MNM
was by far the best. A lot of their other teams have experienced a lot of success and
to be successful yourself it's often a good idea to surround yourself with other
successful people.

That is a wonderful philosophy and so true. What are you guys bringing to MNM
(other than winning matches) and what are they doing for you?

Well, we try our hardest to work hard and live up to the considerable MNM
reputation and handle ourselves well not just in matches but in the community as
well. All of our guys are older and subsequently mature compared to the average
CSS player. So we try to keep everything as professional as possible. We've only
been with the organization for a short time but MNM has provided everything we've
asked for and has handled any server trouble we may have had right away instead
of putting it off for weeks like others sponsors sometimes will. Also they have
someone available close to 24/7 to handle any concerns we may have.

What leagues are you looking forward to playing, or are already playing in? Why did
you choose them, or did you have a choice?

We're currently in CEVO because that's where we determined the highest level of
competition to be, we considered joining ESEA but determined that since the two
leagues run congruently we decided that 4 matches a week would be too much, so
for this season we're focusing fully on CEVO-main.
What do you think of E-sports and the E-sports community right now?

I think E-sports in general is becoming more and more mainstream in society which
is explaining its growing popularity. I've been playing games for a long time, I can
remember back in 1998 I used to play this online multiplayer game called subspace
it was owned by Sony at the time and I can remember that even during its peak it
would only have several thousand players. Now you can look at the popularity of
halo and wow and CSS and they have hundreds of thousands of accounts, that
change over only a 10 year period is incredibly substantial.

So where do you see E-sports going in the future? Do you see it fading away, or
growing?

I believe it will still continue to grow for many years. I don't think you'll ever see the
popularity that you'll see in Korea but the market should continue to expand for a
while. I mean look at the last HALO release, how many hundreds of thousands of
people were sitting outside a GameStop at midnight waiting for the release. I
haven't seen any real signs of that fading, it's going to continue to grow fo the near
future, the CGS was the first attempt to bring gaming to more of a national
spotlight, it had problems and failed but I would be surprised if it is the only
attempt. The gaming community age and disposable income levels are always
going to be target markets for someone.

What do you think can be done to improve the future of E-sports?

Well immediately the biggest problem at least in the CSS community is the recent
rise of hacking and the various programs for it and how common it's become which
places the different leagues in somewhat of a catch 22. Say organner comes out
with a new cheat; the only way for CEVO/ESEA to really combat that is to go and PAY
organner FOR the cheat so they can learn how to fix it and as it it's becoming a self
perpetuating cycle. Look at last season with variance just to name one example.

Aside from the obvious, who is your favorite team, and favorite gamer?

Right now, EGE (x3o), they play the game the right way their small game is
incredible and they use teamwork to win instead of just having 5 frag stars playing.
Favorite player would probably be Juan (3D, Pandemic) due to the analytical
approach he takes to the game.

What other games do you enjoy playing (PC or Console)?

I'm not actively playing any other games atm but my other favorite gaming genre is
action RPGs, I like any game that has a definite skill curve. I play poker for a living
online so I'm at my pc a lot between that and source so I try to get away from it as
much as possible when I'm not working or playing CSS.

What do you enjoy doing when not at your computer, hobbies or sports?

I do I lift weights regularly; I play golf and softball in the summer. In the winter I'm in
a bowling league I played baseball for a few years in college and I watch all major
sports, GO CAVS, lol

Now here’s a question that’s often debated, do you (as a pro) ever play in public
servers (Pub)?

Haha yeah sometimes, I DM for warm-up and will play random pubs with some of
my irl friend occasionally. Dunno, I think it's kinda silly that some players will refuse
to play in a pub for 10 seconds because of their image or something.

Do you think pubbing "hurts" your abilities?

Well, I think it would if you pubbed for 6 hours a day since the skill sets required to
succeed in pubs is so far removed from those required for leagues and scrims. I'm
probably not going to suicide flash to gain breach in a site or sit there and focus on
holding map control in mid in a pub lol

What advise would you give to newer/younger players or amateurs who strive "to
make it"?
That teamwork and game sense are more important that your shot at higher levels,
at a main+ level everyone can shoot, the players that are in demand play smart
and work positionally better than others.

Thank you again for agreeing to do this interview with MyLGN.com, is there any
"shout-outs" you'd like to give or anything you'd like added in your article?

Yes I'd like to give a shout out to all my teammates and friends in the community
and to nukem for helping everyone on the team improve.

Thank you very much for taking the time to talk with me Nethervoid, Good luck on
your matches in the future!

http://www.mylgn.com/content.php?postid=167