Interview with DIG CS:GO Fe player, Rain
We talked with Rain during their preparation for Copenhagen Games after winning the title of World Champions at IEM Challenge 2018.
Team Dignitas just won Intel Challenge 2018 at IEM Katowice, granting them the title of World Champions. We caught up with Amanda “Rain” Smith to ask some questions regarding their performance in Katowice and attitude towards the next events.
You just won Intel Challenge 2018 at IEM Katowice. You are now World Champions! How does it feel?
Rain: It feels good to bring home a win for Team Dignitas. It was also a great feeling to end RES Gaming’s IEM win streak!
Although you were very dominant in the Grand Final, the team had a slower start in the group stage. Did that affect the team’s confidence and morale for the remainder of the tournament?
Rain: I don’t think it had an effect on our confidence. Our team as a whole knows that sometimes we get off to a slow start and I think now we’re a lot more mentally strong than we used to be. We’re able to go down 1-7, for example, and bring it back to win a map.
With the group stage successfully completed, you were matched up against RES Gaming in the Semifinals, meaning that one of the two favourite teams to win the tournament would go home with a 3rd/4th placement. What were your personal thoughts prior to the match?
Rain: I was very confident going into that match knowing that they just switched a player out a month previous before. They had little practice. Our team has been playing so well online and scrimming high ranked teams. I felt very confident playing against RES Gaming.
Now that you’re World Champions, do you feel that the team’s mentality changed towards the future?
Rain: I feel like we’ve always had the same mentality - winning is always the goal. But now I feel like we’ve finally confirmed what we always believed we could do.
How important was the work done by Xp3 (the team’s coach) during the event?
Rain: During the event, we reviewed the other teams that we were playing against and talked about a game plan. During the game, he reminds us of all the key points that we talked about prior to each map.
Now that the dust surrounding the tournament win is settling down, what are the team’s next big goals to achieve?
Rain: Our next priority is focusing on completing our ESEA season. We’ve already made the playoffs and will accept nothing short of advancing to the ESEA-Main division. By end of 2018, we’re aiming for the Mountain Dew League but we know we have a lot of work ahead of us to make that possible.
How has the team been preparing for Copenhagen Games?
Rain: Preparing for Copenhagen Games was more difficult than preparing for IEM Katowice. Goosebreeder and I were in China for a week for WESG. Upon returning home from China, we only had three days to prepare for IEM. We also needed to complete our ESEA season after having to postpone several matches due to IEM, so our practice was limited. That being said, we feel well-prepared on our entire map pool so we didn’t stress about the lack of bootcamp time because we’re already well-prepared.
You will now be considered favourites to win most tournaments you attend in the future. Will you change anything about the way you’re currently practicing to live up to those expectations?
Rain: The way we’re practicing now is an improvement from the past. We feel what is working now and found a good balance between team play, individual practice and proper rest.
We wish you the best of luck at Copenhagen Games! Any last words for our readers?
Rain: Thanks to our sponsors, Team Dignitas and our HBSE family for the continued support and training opportunities.
Team Dignitas will be present in the Copenhagen Games taking place from 29th to 31st of March, battling it out for the $25,000 prize pool.
I want to thank Amanda for taking her time during these busy times to answer my questions. Don’t forget to stay tuned on her social media:
