This weekend at the I had the chance to interview the popular streamer and pro H1Z1 player, Casey “Flamehopper” Pitel of Counter Logic Gaming. Keep in mind that this was the morning before the big game, so some of my questions are about the upcoming match.
This must feel crazy! You’re in Vegas, the big game is tonight, are you nervous?
Things have been so busy, there hasn’t really been time to be nervous. I’m sure when I’m going upstage I’ll be kind of nervous, but every tournament I’ve done in the past, I’ve been nervous up until I start the game. Once I drop down into the match, I’m not nervous anymore. I’m just playing with my team.
So what’s your mindset going into tonight’s match?
My mindset for tonight is to focus, do what we practiced, work well as a team,and just do our best. We’re taking it very seriously, but we’re also here to have fun. To play the game we enjoy.
With so many battle royale games out there, what originally drew you to H1Z1, and what has kept you playing all this time?
I’ve stuck with H1Z1 because I haven’t found any other game that makes me feel the way I feel when I win H1Z1. I’ve played a lot of battle royale games, and I’m sure I will in the future, but I have a passion for the competitive side of H1Z1. The first time I played LAN, and the first time I won LAN, changed everything. Playing online is fun, but once you take all of that and go in person and play with high stakes, it really has a big impact.
Have you got any specific preparations in store for tonight? How does the team get prepare for such a big match?
It’s a team game, so we always want to make sure we’re good to go as a team. We always have a team meeting and a little briefing on game day to make sure we’re in a good state mentally. We’ve also been doing our best to take care of ourselves this week, since you don’t want to be tired or hungover before such a huge match.
Don’t want anyone catching con-flu here before a match.
Exactly! You want to be happy, you want to be healthy, you want to be ready to go.
When you started playing, did you ever think you’d be here?
If you told me I’d be here two years ago, I wouldn’t believe you at all! [Laughs] I started playing H1Z1 and streaming on Twitch at the same time, and I was pretty bad at the game. I was just learning it with everyone, and just having fun. I loved the game so much that I put so many hours into it, and when you put so many hours into it, you just naturally get good. So I took those hours and tried to apply them competitively, and that’s what got me where I am now.
Do you have any advice for players who want to get to where you are now? Aspiring competitive battle royale players?
Yeah absolutely. New and veteran players alike, if you want to get into the competitive scene for battle royale, there’s a lot of opportunity. The eSports scene for battle royale is getting huge, so there’s going to be a lot of opportunity for people with discipline who work hard and work well as a team. The biggest specific piece of advice I could give an individual who wants to be here is “don’t be discouraged”. You can have a bad night of games, or even a bad week of games, but if you love what you’re doing than just keep going. Don’t let a bad day get to you, and just do your best.
