GGL Wire

The story of the week in Counter-Strike 1.6 was the transfer of PGS’s team into Meet Your Makers. The switch was surrounded with a lot of controversy - the champions of WCG 2006, Extreme Masters and ESWC 2007 were said to be unhappy with the organization, and PGS was said to have wanted to sell them.

The truth? Find out from the interview with the team’s player, Jakub “kuben” Gurczynski.

What really happened between the first MYM offer and now? There was an offer, then came WCG and reported problems in LA, then a bad atmosphere and disagreements with the PGS management. I heard there was also an interview that did not go through censorship, and finally PGS offered to sell you guys…

We were surprised with the MYM offer. We did not make our decision right away because every person in his or her profession strives for perfection. We also. In order to achieve it, you need better conditions, better pay and a better rapport with the organization. They promised to change all of the above, so we stayed with PGS.The atmosphere between us and the management was not such a huge problem, it was a secondary issue. After coming back from Los Angeles [where the management did not book or pay for the players hotel or food], our quiet souls already felt too hurt and at that time we knew we wanted to leave PGS as soon as we could. The organization probably guessed that we would want to resign soon, that is why they tried to sell us.

How did you react to the fact that when you came back to Poland, Filip “Ryan” Kasprowicz (the team’s manager) quit the organization and you had to deal with someone else to solve all the problems?

It was difficult to accept. We were offered meetings in the PGS office to amend the contracts and discuss the reimbursement of money that we ourselves paid for the stay in LA with. We got the money back, but the heart of the problem was elsewhere.

Do you hold it against Ryan?

Partially yes. He could have prepared us for it somehow instead of leaving all of a sudden. I am assuming that alone, he did not handle his job so well anymore. You need to be headstrong in order to survive that. Filip is like that. He did a lot of good, but there comes a time for every one of us and I think he did it at the right moment.

So how was it? Did you leave PGS or did PGS drop you?

It was done by mutual agreement of the parties. That’s it.

Are there still any debts left on either side?

You have to wait for tournament prize money for a long time. So that is still one issue left, but we hope that PGS will be considerate and won’t cause any problems.

When did there come a moment where you thought you deserved more than PGS was giving you? Both in terms of the wages and all other kinds of support?

Whether we deserved more or not, I don’t know. It’s just that other teams that played on the same level as us got wages at least two or three times larger than ours. I am not talking about greed or anything here. But we work just as you do, or your parents. We devote ourselves fully to this, so we should be making this kind of money.

Could it be said that keeping you guys was just too much for PGS?

I think you could say that. What was the size of the budget? I do not know that. During contract negotiations we were promised trips to every event. We did not get that because the budget was set a long while back, for the entire year. Tournaments of course come up often and there was no money to send us to every one.

You had a long streak of amazing wins, half a dozen of awards, and then everything falls apart like a house of cards, on all fronts. You were sent to a bootcamp in Sweden before the WCG by your team and the results were bad. Perhaps you began feeling like stars and you rested on your laurels? Maybe all this is your fault?

The fault is always on both sides. We know what we did wrong. We correct it every day. Still, we try to forget about what is behind us. A year ago we did not care who we played and what we played for. You could say we were hyped. With time, all the aspects that we’ve mentioned in this interview began to bother us.

Were there any internal problems inside the squad?

We never spoke about changes to the lineup. I think it would be a huge blow to each of us in a moment like this. We are a team made up of five different people, but we are able to win together.

How did you feel going to MYM?

There is always some of the bitter aftertaste. Most fans will remember us as PGS. Under this banner we won our biggest trophies. A few of us have played in this team since it was founded, we are sentimental towards it and we have a great respect for it. We still want to repeat our achievements, though!

What do you think of the “MYM curse?” This team had great players but never won anything.

I have to admit I never really followed MYM’s results. I was always afraid to play them because they always had very experienced players. I think we will make a sort of revolution in this organization and what is said about their CS division will change.

SK did not achieve anything after 2003 after a full year of success. Are you afraid you could burn out like they have?

It is about commitment and training. If there is the will to win, there are effects also. They will come sooner or later. If we could win WSVG London, WCG, get third at CPL Winter, A-Gaming could be third at WCG this year and emuLate was able to win it. So why couldn’t other teams that never stood out so much do the same? The attitude has changed, so have the trends. Success is up to preparation these days.

What should we wish you for 2008?

You could wish us all the best, but everything still lies in our hands, literally. We will do our best to represent Meet Your Makers well.