This is an interview session with some side commentary. It is a thought-provoking and intricate session with teo teammates, not a biographical recap of the usual "Hi! Introduce yourself for those who don't know you..." questions you might usually come across.

Q. What are you most looking forward to at the upcoming Dice National Cup Event in 2011?

CONZ: Ahh.. finally playing in another nationals again... it feels like it's been a while since the last one. Beedee's hard work was definitely inspiring and has made me take this next event even more serious than last time. He's done such great things for the community and I know he won't disappoint. It will be great to see everybody's faces again and especially be involved in some intense Counter-Strike. <3 the shiz.

Sommi: Beedee doesn't get enough appreciation from the community. And the guy can aim pretty well too!

Q. What do you think seperates the high-tier teams from the mid-tier teams in the current evolution of Counter-Strike in Australia?

CONZ: Well to be honest, every national tournament is very interesting. The lead-up to this would have been dull had it not been for teams still be able to be part of the scene thanks to CG. Usually, you see a lot of teams practicing when it comes to a national... but I'm not sure just how many teams I've seen practicing. EXILE5 have been online most nights and have seen teams who aren't playing in the national keen-up more than teams qualified!

The gap between the higher and the middle teams this nationals will probably be on either side of the extreme. It's either going to be very tight or I expect most favourites to win all their matches 16-4 to 16-7... but I won't put it past another upset just like every national. I wonder which top team it's going to be this time? Everybody knows that experience plays a big role in toppling another team. I've seen many mid-tier teams be about two or three rounds away from victory but fail to snatch those final few rounds just because they lack experience.

Sommi: I have a strange feeling this national tournament is going to be extremely tight... probably because everybody is expecting themselves to be the only team 'ready' and 'prepared'.

Q. In your opinion, what's it going to take for an Australian team to break the top 5 barrier in an international tournament?

CONZ: Obviously this is a very tough question for me to answer because I have never had the previlege of playing Counter-Strike overseas. I don't know exactly what it will take besides the normal things like dedication and team-work. I don't think my opinion really counts more than any other Joe Blow but if I would have to pick two things it would be a combination of good strategy and confidence in your team.

It's really hard for Aussie teams to get into the mindset that we can topple Euro teams. If you analyse international games, and most European matches, you'll see that most of them support each other in-game. It's just a high level of play that needs to invade Australia one way or another so that we can catch this habit. They've just grown up in this sense of environment.. being a team-player that is.

GazR was right, unfortunately. If you look at Sweden there are so many good teams, but in Australia we can only be as good as the teams next to us. If we ever have the ability to break the international scene, it's probably going to be a mental-game more than a strategy game first because we definitely have the aim capability.

Sommi: We are seperated from the rest of the world... then again we have great Cricketers and Swimmers so why does Counter-Strike have to be any different?

Q. How has IPGN impacted Australian Counter-Strike?

CONZ: IPGN is a great idea, but it's not good for developing players. When you are not in that team environment and you build your hours of gameplay in the hope of improving your rank and inflicting DPR, then I don't think (in my opinion) you are playing the game how it's meant to be played. But if people are playing for the intention of a casual game then it's a great service.

I give a lot of props to the people behind the scenes at IPGN because the system is awesome. For myself, I don't enjoy it as much just because I take the game a bit too seriously :P I expect too much from the younger newbies. I'm very team-oriented player and when only one of your four fellow teammates have a microphone then it can get really frustrating.

Sommi: IPGN is an amazing service... so props to the creators of it. It's the life support of a dying game. I think it's better we keep casual gamers playing than have no games at all.

Q. Does Australia really need more than two nationals a year at this current moment?

CONZ: It definitely needs more than two nationals a year, in my opinion, but there isn't much we can do right now. Things are at a slow and steady decline and even though I had to admit it, but CS: Promod is the only thing that can really save our community. If Promod is a success then we can look forward to a new influx of players which would boost the community and without a doubt create more tournaments to play.

The fact of the m atter is that Counter-Strike 1.6 is an old game, and the new kids don't want to see blocky models running around on their screens. CS was an old game five years ago... but five years we still had four international $50,000 tournaments around the world and many players were still around in Australia. many players have simply grown up and left, with no new young players to replace them... but that's just life and the way it goes.

Sommi: Quake had a promod developed and from what I can remember reading, it helped keep the community alive by another two or three years. This would be great for both 1.6 and Source communities if it's pulled off right.

Q. Does Australia have it's own 'Style' of play compared to the Europeans and Americans?

CONZ: If I had to give you a one-word answer for this, I would say 'RAMBO'. The style of play relies more on personal skill and achievements and less on team-work. Sure, some teams can do this and their individuality can complement each other but it's nowhere neat what the Europeans do!. So it's not a very good style at all. I'll watch an Aussie-player demo and day-dream until it's finished... whilst I will watch a European-team demo and hope it never ends :P

I think we've got a long way to go.

Sommi: I think this 'Rambo' style of play became the evolution of Counter-Strike in 2006-2007 when f0rest became famous and fnatic thrived. No team has been able to demonstrate the level of team-work that we see in European teams unfortunately.

Q. Which characteristic, do you think, is going to be most crucial for the winning team in the Dice Nationals Grand Final?

CONZ: "A team of champions"... :P

I think the most crucial characteristic is confidence. I'm all about confidence because it makes you play your game. A lot of people are confident in their bedrooms playing Counter-Strike through a monitor, but the entire atomosphere changes when the even-level playing ground in the cafe is used... and it's a live event with all the noise and energy levels running through the team because their tournament progression depends on every single round they play together!

Before this concludes I'd just like to give a big shout-out to Western Digital for all the support they've been given EXILE5. And I'd also like to thank St3r and Krml for all the help they give us! Without them we wouldn't be attending and they work very hard behind the scene.

Sommi: A champion team is always going to beat a team of champions. And, of course, the winning team on Sunday is going to need big biceps.