Med ESL One Cologne runt hörnet är danska Team Dignitas ett av de starkaste lagen Europa har att erbjuda. Femman dominerade Gfinity 3 i London, där de bland annat eliminerade NiP Gaming med 2-0 i kartor, men föll i semifinal mot de framtida mästarna i Virtus.pro.

Fragbite har nu fått äran att intervjua spelaren Peter "dupreeh" Rothmann om insatsen på "G3", förändringarna som skett därefter och tankarna inför den kommande 250 000-dollarturneringen i Köln.

Hey dupreeh! ESL One Cologne is coming up! How's your general feeling about the upcoming major?

We are excited! Very indeed! Majors are always so exciting, because there are so many teams around to compete for the title, and of course because the prizepool is really big, atleast for CS:GO tournaments! In addition, ESL did a great job at Katowice, so I am looking even more forward to this one!

The map pool for ESL One Cologne is quite interesting. What do you feel about Valve demoting Train and promoting Cobblestone and Overpass? Have you practiced the "new maps"?

I think it's great that the developers take a look on Train again, because I think they can actually make it better than the current version. If it's the right timing, just before a major, I don't know.

Regarding the new maps, I think they are alright. They could probably need a tweak or two, but I think it's fun to try out new maps, learn new tactics and ways to play! Regarding practice time on the maps, thats something I am going to keep for the team and myself!

You have since the addition of aizy been playing really well but at Gfinity you were, once again, knocked out in the semi finals. What do you think is the problem for you to reach a final at a big tournament?

Since we started playing with Aizy, things have been looking pretty good, and I think we are still improving everytime we practice. We really had a strong performance at Gfinity, and I felt like it was one of the best events we played as a team, specifically taken into account that we had only played around 4-5 days prior to the event due to vacation etc.

I think our biggest problem can be ourselves. When we got the momentum, and things are working out good, we are a really great team, but when something unexpected occours, we tend to struggle. We got defeated 16-2 on Cache against Virtus Pro, being up 1-0 in maps already, and we felt that Inferno was our game, but a wrong decision, and some nice plays by them, made them come back into the game and we struggled to figure out what to do.

On the other side, we managed to bring down NiP in a BO3 at LAN, which has been a problem forever. They have knocked us out of the last three tournaments, so it's great to finally overcome them and get some confidence back! I don't think we will struggle as much against Virtus Pro as we have done with NiP, though. Virtus Pro is a great team, and it's not a shame to lose against them.

Team Dignitas under G3 med dupreeh närmast.

What does aizy provide, that cajunb lacked, and how are you a better team now than before?

I don't think Aizy brings something that cajun didnt. Both are great players. I'd say cajun has more experience and stuff, whereas Aizy doesnt. We took a chance by picking Aizy up because we saw him as a great player, and we wanted to give him a shot. So far he has done really good, so that decision is definately approved. Cajun did a lot of mid-round calls for us, and now that he's not part of the team anymore, FeTiSh can use his experience to do so, and I think that suits him well, and I think he feels he has a bigger responsibility now - he likes that.

You're in the same group as Titan, C9, as well as australian Vox Eminor. What's you general thought about the group? What do you reckon your chances to advance?

I reckon only once where we haven't topped our group at an international event, so that's what we are going to do here as well. We have always played amazing in groupstages, so that's what we will continue to do, or maybe I just jixed the hell out of ourselves. :-)

We are off against Vox Eminor in the first match, and we have no clue how they play, or what level they will show up with. The important thing here is to get a good start, and we won't underestimate anyone, you cant do that at a major.

As for C9 against Titan, that's going to be tough! I think we will advance, either as 1st or 2nd, obviously, but I don't know who's going to advance with us. If it's going to be C9, Titan or Vox, only time will tell. Truly excited atleast!

Playing against a non-european team can always be a bit tricky and it might very well come down to that game to decide your faith. Have you been studying C9 a little more and how do you feel in general facing non-european teams?

Myself along with FeTiSh has played against American teams at every major, and so far, we haven't lost to one yet, so let's hope it will continue like that! The americans probably has a different playing style, but I don't think it's something that will suprise us too much. We will focus on our game majorly, because that's what has gotten us to the semi-finals so far. If the last piece in the equation is that we have to study our opponents, then that's what we have to improve, buuut, I don't think it matters THAT much. I guess every team has an idea how their opponents play and what stuff will work against them specifically.

dupreeh i intervju med Fragbite under DreamHack Winter 2013.

Looking at the participant's list, is there any team you feel are slight favorites in this tournament?

Looking forward to see if NiP has improved their game since Gfinity, because I think they were far from satisfied with their performance there! Virtus Pro is always a contender, but I am looking forward to see LDLC after their victory at DreamHack Valencia! And of course ourselves, teehee!

If you were to reach the grand final of the event, who would you like to face and why?

Virtus Pro, just to get revenge from Gfinity! Great opponent and hopefully a match worthy of spectating!

I'd like to thank you for the interview and wish you the best of luck in Cologne!

Thanks a bunch! You are welcome! Shoutout to all my teammates, Team Dignitas and specifically ODEE for his great work, thanks to all of our sponsors Alienware, Intel, Western Digital, SCAN, 3DSystems, iiyama, be quiet!, HyperX, Twitch, Creative, Qpad and multiplay that makes things like this possible. Thanks to my family, girlfriend, friends and fans for all the support, without it things would suck! Lets go #GODIGGY

ESL One Cologne arrangeras på Gamescom i Köln, Tyskland och har 250 000 dollar, motsvarande 1,7 miljoner kronor, i prispotten. Turneringen drar igång på torsdag morgon och Fragbite kommer givetvis att vara på plats för på-plats-bevakning.

Tidigare ESL One Cologne-intervjuer:

• Xizt (NiP Gaming): "Skönt att vara lite underdogs"