Wild Fire Interview: Two Brothers Who Became German Champions

Hey Manuel (mnL) and Benjamin (qk-Mantis), how have you been since playing the EPS Finals in Cologne?

Manuel: Hey, we're fine so far. Somewhat exhausted still from the EPS weekend, which is understandable. We've taken a week break from the game to relax, and we are fine otherwise!

Benjamin: We're actually quite ok despite some players having minor illnesses and coughing all over the place! Other than that all is going great.

Let's start off with the EPS win you secured a few weeks ago. During the online qualifiers for the LAN finals the team was rather inconsistent, and even added a new fifth in the middle of the season. What were the factors which led to your inconsistency, and why was a replacement of players necessary?

Benjamin: Well, there's 5 cups in which you can qualify yourself, and after really shoddy preparations we were knocked out of the first cup in the very first round. Ultimately we just played abysmal, and that for multiple weeks leading up to the cups. In addition to that our fifth, Gerdes, simply didn't show the kind of performance we were expecting of him. Part of that was nervousness, but because he couldn't overcome those nerves we were left with very little choice but to replace him to stand a chance of improving our results.

Manuel: Because we couldn't quite get the results we wanted with the line-up we had replacing Gerdes was something that had been lingering in our minds for quite a while. The final nail in the coffin was when Patrick "Kraeuterhumpen" Jacobi lost his team. We saw the opportunity of picking up a great AWPer and took the initiative in getting him in our line-up.

Despite the up and down online performance you were supreme in the LAN finals of EPS, losing just a map to Alternate while clean-sweeping mousesports. Firstly, had you expected this kind of resurgence, especially against well-drilled teams such as Mouz and ATN, and secondly what factors caused this sudden peak in performance for you guys?

Manuel: We knew that EPS Finals were coming our way and if anything we knew it was going to be very challenging. But we also knew that beating Mousesports and Alternate was far from impossible for us. I think offline we're simply a little bit stronger than online too, because we've been friends for a long time. We went in with a common goal and kept out heads high, and delivered when we got to the LAN.

Benjamin: We didn't expect it, but we surely knew we could upset that day! We've got some very experienced players in our team, I was with n!faculty, Manuel was with Alternate and Kraeuterhumpen with mTw, so we definitely knew from past experience that anything is in the realm of possibility.

When we got there Alternate and Mousesports put up some good fights, and especially the game against Alternate was special for us, playing against some of our long standing teammates. For me playing against Asmo, who I'd been in a team with for years and still consider one of my closest friends, was a very special experience. We played through the tournament very calmly knowing that we're in the underdog position anyways. This was a very liberating position, and we all had a great day.

That the team is successful counts of course, but it's yet more interesting that the both of you are brothers playing in the same professional squad. I can't quite recall if such a situation has ever occurred before in a professional CS team. How did you both get into the game and who taught who how to play?

Manuel: Being the older brother I rolled into the game through a friends at work, and played it mainly casually for a while. It took a few years before I eventually got into an EPS team and I stayed in the pro scene ever since. I learned almost everything in my time in EPS.

Benjamin: At that time I was only 14 but we still joined a FunClan together and just played a lot and learned a lot by playing often. After a while we started an Amateur team called CFD (Club of fragging poets in English), and after a few successful seasons in the B-league of Germany we started getting noticed by pro teams. We split ways into different teams but played together to get there.

I knew previously you had the wish of playing together in a professional team but never happened until now. How was it to be opponents for the longest time in your professional careers, but equally also brothers and friends? Did it ever cause any problematic or funny situations having to compete?

Benjamin: Yeah definitely! We played in directly competing teams (Alternate and n!faculty) for many years. We were real rivals but ultimately all 10 players in both teams were friends also. Regardless of the outcome, after the events we'd always go out partying together. I recall a rather amusing situation, back when both of us still lived with our parents, we'd have adjoining rooms and insults would be flying through the walls. At least until the door would fly open and my mother would be standing there. :D

It was really fun, but we always said that the game will remain just a game, and that our family bond would never be affected by it at any point. There's more important things in life that gaming, and family is definitely one of them.

Manuel: We never really had any problems because we played against each other, rather it was comical to play each other. The joy that either side had after winning, and then seeing the other brother being sad after their loss. I remember once, a teammate of my brother came over for an EPS match, and I ended up facing him in a 1v1 during the match. He sat in another room but after I won the clutch he loudly screamed "YOU SON OF A B^(!#$" through the house. My mother was sitting in the living room... :D

So how is it now to play together on a professional team? Name the pro's and the con's of competing together as much as you are?

Manuel: It goes without saying that we know each other inside out, knowing thought processes and opinions. So far we've not really had much trouble yet, we don't really argue often over stuff!

Benjamin: Well a definite 'pro' is that we don't have to play against each other anymore. I'm very competitive by nature and I want to win regardless of who my opponent is, but beating my brother at various events and seeing him downbeat because of it wasn't nice. But that's how eSports is.

I too can't think of any real problems in-game, we don't really flame at all. The only thing I could imagine is that among brothers you could act differently than two strangers would, but we try to be fair and normal towards every situation, as well as being able to see each other's points in the team.

You both have longstanding careers in the German scene, and you've both attended multiple international tournaments during those careers. I'd say that right now the German scene, internationally, is probably at its weakest state since the start of CS:GO. What do you think about that and why do you think so?

Benjamin: I think the German scene gets underestimated a bit. Us, Alternate and Mousesports trying to pave a way to change that though. Ultimately a lot of players in Germany combine their careers in gaming with real-life jobs, meaning that often times members are changed out because of other commitments. I hope that the current line-ups can stay together, and make the German scene stronger and more consistent.

Manuel: I agree with Benjamin. We have quite a few good teams in Germany, and I think that last weekend we showed that we can be among the top tier of those teams. If teams like Alternate, Mouz, us and Planetkey Dynamics train smartly and efficiently I don't see why they couldn't all become very strong teams.

In 1.6 and CS:S it was very possibly to just play EPS in German and neglect the international scene. However, with the arrival of CS:GO majors it seems as though the EPS is kind of slimming down in terms of international acclaim. What do you think is best for the German scene, more focus on EPS or on international competition?

Manuel: I can't say that I personally mind the EPS getting slightly smaller, as ESL does many other great tournaments for CS:GO which give other possibilities. I'd rather be among the international elite though, and I'm happy that there's a lot of chances to compete internationally nowadays.

Benjamin: Tough question.. I think that EPS is definitely still worth our while in Germany, even if it isn't as big and prestigious as in other years. It was very well attended last finals though with fans, and ultimately who wouldn't want to be able to call himself the Champions of Germany.

However it goes without saying that the main focus should be on international competition. We played at Copenhagen Games earlier this year as a relatively young team and gathered the first offline experience for our team. That helped us a lot to compete in our national scene, especially nky, who no-one had even heard of because this season started. Gathering that experience is important to progress.

How would you see a comparison with the English scene, where players complain that the lack of upcoming talent means there's not enough choice to make actual top-end teams? Teams like Playing-Ducks often try to take in new talent but they too don't make it very far usually.

Benjamin: Obviously the future lies in the new, young players in the scene. Without new players the scene will simply die out some time, like in any sport with no new competitors. I think it's really cool that teams like Playing Ducks allow for those players to compete at the highest level and prove themselves, and we did the same by taking on nky, who was an unknown rookie before he joined our ranks. To me he's the best young talent around right now so you have to be smart and lucky in picking out your rookies too!

Manuel: It's quite hard to find the right talented players, after all they don't randomly grow on trees with a "talent" sign around their necks.. They have to show up somewhere, either through mixes or something like that, which is really tough to do as an unknown player. I have respect for teams that pick up new talent such as Playing Ducks, and of course our own choice didn't work out all too badly either. I think nky will get a lot more acclaim internationally soon enough.

Being the EPS champions, what is the next move for the team? Where can we expect you next and where will fans be able to follow you?

Manuel: We're looking to attend another international event, although we're not sure yet which that will be. You'll be able to see us in July for sure though, when the new EPS Season gets underway, and where we will obviously defend our title. I'm hoping that with this first trophy in the cupboard we'll be able to get into some leagues and qualifiers to prove ourselves on other stages too.

Benjamin: We'll be in the DreamHack qualifiers as we're definitely looking to be at DreamHack Summer, and if we can get into some online leagues and tournaments we'll definitely take those challenges as well!

picture credit: Team Wild Fire Facebook, Manuel Oberlein, Benjamin Oberlein, ESL.