Interview With CS:GO eSports Team, HellRaisers

ROG sponsors HellRaisers, a top 10 (worldwide) CS:GO eSports team, and the Russian ROG team dropped by for a quick chat with these gaming stars.

Hey guys, we want to chat about everything! Let`s start with the first question - how are you?

- (ANGE1): Hello everyone! Ask about the latest results! In general, we are fine.

Competitive gaming is definitely a sport and you are, by definition, athletes. Are you into traditional sports too?

- (AdreN): Of course, our team is no stranger to other sports. Almost every one of us watches football (soccer), and occasionally we even go out to play together, however, this happens very rarely given that each of our players live in different cities and countries. For example, I live in Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan, ANGE1 lives in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, markeloff lives in Dnepropetrovsk - a large Ukrainian city, kUcheR live in Sevastopol in the Crimea, dosia from Ufa - Russian city. And besides football… some of us go to the gym too.

How did it all begin: How was HellRaisers born?

- (Markeloff): If we talk about the tag itself, it is originated back in 2008. Back then we used this team tag more as friends than a professional team. If we talk about current HellRaisers, after the disintegration of Astana Dragons we were without «a home» during those 3 months, yet we felt that we still can play and had considerable motivation, but ultimately we needed support. Then we approached ASUS Russia for support, which kick started this all. We revived the tag, because no new name felt as ‘right’ as the "Hellraiser" tag, so to some extent we have made a comeback.

What is your impression of ASUS hardware and sponsorship?

KUcheR): We were particularly pleased when, before going to the EMS One Katowice ASUS called to tell us they'd support us, as before this the cooperation was under discussion. But cooperation with ASUS is not only to support our project, but also in joint collaboration: tweaking and designing products for gamers. We're more about the Republic of Gamers products than ASUS though.

How important are gaming accessories for CS: GO players? What do you use personally?

- (Dosia): Gaming accessories are extremely important for CS: GO players, I would say even more important than the game strategy or MOBA players. We play on ASUS Echelon Mech keyboards and use ASUS ROG Orion Pro headsets. The keyboard has become a pleasant surprise for us. It can easily compete with (more established) competitors like SteelSeries or Razer. The headphones are also quite good, although I feel some things need to be tweaked. As for the mouse and mouse pads - ASUS has some amazing solutions that are ideal for office and home usage, and even for amateur gamers. Unfortunately, we think ROG’s mice are not good enough yet for professional gamers, although knowing I clearly believe that it is only a matter of time. By the way our team will be involved in the improvement of future devices, and who knows, maybe someday will joint line of products from ROG and HellRaisers! - (ANGE1): Some of us use ASUS gaming monitors at home, such as VG248QE. What more do you need than 144Hz to satisfy the needs of gamers? Oh yeah, my family uses the ASUS GX800. It’s used for everyday needs. With this mouse I even won the 1x1 tournament on CS: GO in one of the StarLadder finals!

Since the Starladder tournament, we would like to know your opinion on two recent events – one at the EMS One Katowice and another at Starladder.

- (ANGE1): We went particularly prepared in Katowice, after a 3-month decline. I consider we held our own against Titan and Virtus.pro to get a worthy result (5-8 place – approx.) Although, obviously, we’d very much like to do better. Most importantly, we get auto-quota for the next tournament on CS: GO, with a 250k prize. This tournament is our next target. When and where exactly is not yet known, but it will be definitely this year. As for the online part of Starladder – we failed unfortunately. We are keenly aware that we had a 90% chance to get into the finals; it has been our goal number one right after Katowice, and we did everything possible. However, something went wrong in a couple of key games, which caused a snowball effect. In any case, what’s done is done and we will make every effort not to fall into such a situation in the future.

Where will we see you in the future? What tournaments are you going to visit?

- (AdreN): Honestly after the defeat in the online portion Starladder we took a short pause, in order to clear our heads and devote time to family and friends. We’re back now and hungry for victory at the next online tournament: we will visit DreamHack Summer and will play in many online tournaments.

What are your plans besides visiting tournaments?

- (ANGE1): We’ve got many plans! One priority is to start selling HellRaisers branded clothing in the CIS region, as many our fans have asked about it. In addition, we are doing our website, which is in an early stage of development. We have plans for lots of interesting things, but we should wait a bit to kick off all of them. If we talk about long term strategic plans, we look forward to the developing cooperation with ASUS and improving products for gamers. In the short term we will have some contests on our social network pages.

Thanks for your time! Any messages for your fans and  those who play CS:GO?.

- (AdreN): Thank you all for your support! There are difficulties we need to face, and we are used to facing them now. - (Dosia): Thanks ASUS and Republic of Gamers for the support, even during difficult times together. - (KUcheR): Thanks to everyone who is a fan of us in spite of all political situation in the CIS region. Every player on my team - individuality, we are all different, but we are together for the wins despite the odds. - (Markeloff): Thanks to everyone who continues to believe in us. We will not let you down! - (ANGE1): Guys, the key components of the team's success is based on several factors such that few people think of. One such part is the support of the fans. It does not always go smoothly, but we clearly believe that in 2014 we will be able to regain its former glory. Thank you!