Interview With friberg On the DignitasVIE CSGO Roster Changes
friberg talks about the departure of GeT_RiGhT and Xizt.
Adam "friberg" Friberg is one of the players from the Dignitas squad that is now looking for a fresh start after the exits from GeT_RiGhT and Xizt. We've reached out to the veteran to know what the prospects are for the next few months, why they've decided to bench the two players, and the infamous coach bug.
Hi friberg! So, GeT_RiGhT and Xizt are out. What’s next?
friberg: We have talked about what sort of players we want to find and we have talked about names and are also discussing with a few players already to see if they're able to join us. It's going to be interesting to see who we will be able to find and I'm excited about the future and hopefully we will become a lot stronger, depending on who we get.
How did the decision come to be? Why those two players?
friberg: I felt that we tried a lot of things with GeT_RiGhT and Xizt to reach the level that we wanted to be at: we tried to change IGL a bit, we tried to change positions and strategies, and everything to make it work, but unfortunately it didn't happen the way we wanted. This wasn't a player-based decision, it came from management, but I feel like a lot of players knew that something also needed to be done. Although it sucks to do roster changes, I think that people understood why they needed to happen.
Some people were saying that the changes might have come a bit early since you're playing online and not on LAN. Do you and the team share that opinion? Because you almost didn't play on LAN together...
friberg: I understand why the fans feel that way, and I also feel that if we would have gone to LAN events we would have done a lot better because we are a very experienced team, we have attended so many tournaments in the past. But I still feel that we don't know when the LAN tournaments will start again, our issues were getting pretty big and although I feel we could have done better, I don't know how much. We gave everything that we had to make it work.
What are you looking for in those new players you said you are already looking for?
friberg: What we are looking for in the new players is that they feel comfortable with the roles that we want to get. I don't feel that they are super important as they were 5 years ago, but I still feel like we need to find players who maybe like to play an anchor position on CT, for example, or that could watch our flank when we're playing T-side. Also, we don't necessarily need to get people that are super experienced, we might also be looking into a younger talent, but I guess time will tell and we will see who we might get.
Since you’re looking for new players, will you re-evaluate your tactical approach?
friberg: I feel like that since we are changing two players, we will try to adapt. When we get the new players, and when we get to play with them, we will make sure that everyone is comfortable. It's hard to say if we're going to be playing super tactical or super loose because of that, so time will tell when we start playing, but I'm confident on when we start playing.
Is there a possibility that you’ll become the new IGL, since you already were the 2nd caller?
friberg: Yes, the plan is for me to IGL in the new role. I did it back in OpTic Gaming for half a year and then I also did it a little bit in Heroic, even though it wasn't as long, so I have some sort of experience doing it but I will also have to work really hard to make it feel I'm a good IGL.
CS:GO is currently going through one of the worst dramas in history - the CS:GO coach bug that was abused by several coaches from top and tier 2-3 teams. What is your opinion on everything that is being found out?
friberg: I think it's really sad. people that will try to get an advantage, it's really sad that they will actually take it. This was a pretty huge bug, coaches basically had wallhacks and it was very easy for him to say to his team to go and attack a specific bombsite if he knew exactly where the enemies were. I get angry because I don't know if the teams that we played and lost against actually used it, if that cost us the game... it is important to get confidence during the game, and if you're losing matches that you shouldn't lose because of this bug, it will damage your team and I feel for all the teams that had to play against this and lost because of it.
That obviously puts a big asterisk in online play, but at the same time, it’s the only way we’re going to see CS:GO for the next few months. How is the team reacting to the possibility of facing someone who might abuse the bug?
friberg: Our whole team is feeling angry and let down by the scene, but I think, once again, it proves that if people can get an advantage, they will take it and do everything to win.
Any final words to close the interview?
friberg: We're going through a tough phase, but I'm really happy that we have fans cheering on and hoping that we're going to come back and we will do everything in our power to make sure we can do it once we have the full roster and are ready for tournaments, especially FLASHPOINT later on this Autumn. Thanks, everyone for supporting us!
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