The opinions expressed in this article are those of the person being interviewed and are not necessarily those of the Los Angeles compLexity or its parent companies.

Syndicate Interview Series: Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert

For the next installment of the Syndicate Interview Series we sat down with Evil Genius Jodan "n0thing" Gilbert. Jordan discusses 1.6, CS:S, sports and life in general. Enjoy the interview!

First off, thanks very much for taking the time for the Syndicate Interview Series. Let’s start off at the beginning. You began playing Counter-Strike at a pretty young age. Tell us the story of your early days. How did your parents react to so much CS? Were you taken seriously by teams at first?

I started playing when I was about 8.5-9 years old. My older brother was the first one who showed me the game and I got hooked on it right away. At first I just ran around pubbing trying to out aim everyone and got pretty successful at that fast. Then he introduced the competitive side of it to me and all the leagues and teams that take it seriously. His alias used to be LegioN and he played for some old school teams like $iK and x|s, and use to travel to little local tournaments around the west coast which is what really got me interested. When I was 10, he finally let me play for his team at a local LAN league in San Diego when one of his teammates got sick, and that’s where It all began :D, as far as my parents’ concern for me and CS, I know they have and still support me playing competitively because I balance my priorities pretty well and the future only looks bright.

Please give us a list of teams you’ve played with for those who aren’t familiar with your career. Prior to EG, what was your favorite team to play with?

Teams that might ring a bell: ParadisePings, Formula1, Grid05, excello, Turmoil, iDemise, Check-Six, x3o, eMg (now EG). My Favorite team prior to EG was Grid05, we were all similar in age and good friends who enjoyed playing together which is just a taste of how EG is right now ;)

Counter-Strike has continually undergone changes in how the game is played over the years. What are the biggest trends you’ve seen since 2005? Do you think the global teams are stronger now, or were the giants of yesterday true masters of the game?

I think the style of play from the current top teams is much faster paced. Timing, teamwork, and adjusting to scenarios are the keys now rather than executing proper strategies. So with that said, I think the competition is better now and any team ranked top 10 can win a tournament at any point if they prepare properly and play well.

When you were climbing the ranks of North American 1.6 who were your favorite players? Who did you look up to? What was your favorite professional team?

When I was younger I liked watching European teams such as SK and fnatic a little more than the U.S teams, because their style of play was always similar to how I like to play.

Have you ever considered switching to CS:S to collect the CGS paycheck and play with many of the old school stars? What are your opinions of CS:S?

I mean, the money has crossed my mind a few times, but I strongly believe that this is only be the beginning of 1.6. People might think I’m crazy because on paper it could look about dead in the states, but I think the fact that new teams like us came up, it’s sort of like a new generation to this 10 year old game, which shows it’s not going to die anytime soon. Besides that there are new tournaments coming out every couple of months or new leagues so I actually think it’s getting bigger than it was before. I still think that the opportunity the CGS has brought to gamers is cool and I appreciate how they are trying to show people how fun/interesting the competitive scene actually is, but I really do believe 1.6 would only make things better.

What are your thoughts about CGS as a whole? MLG?

Well, CGS is definitely a step in the right direction for competitive gaming as a whole, but I think they’ve made some bad decisions on the format of the league, and some of the choices/rules for their games played. Now, MLG seems to have a pretty good grasp on delivering a nice stage for the gamers. The only problem I seem to find with them is that they kind of force every top player into contract with them, and although I’m sure a lot of the Halo players strive to be a part of MLG, I don’t think doing that would be good in the long run for other games they use in their circuit.

How many more years do you think 1.6 will be played competitively? Do you think the game will be around for a long time or is it on the end of its life span?

I think we’ll be able to tell within 2 years if it’s going downhill or not. Like I stated before it seems like it went into a slump then came right back up and now is better than it ever was so I can’t say anything negative at this point :)

What games do you like to play besides 1.6?

I just play stuff that I find interesting at the time, played Tf2 for a bit, and other FPS games, but I don’t really like playing MMO’s.

Outside of gaming, what do you like to do (hobbies, etc)? Do you play any sports in school?

I play Ice Hockey, and lately we’ve been traveling a lot so while I’m at home I usually just hang out with friends and family.

Tell us about playing for EG. What was it like when Alex Garfield approached you to play for the powerhouse organization? What’s it like playing with this squad and working for Alex?

Well when he approached us, it was great to finally get the opportunity to play for an organization that can provide us with everything we need. And as far Alex and the squad, Alex has treated us great and the squad is simply amazing ;).

Speaking about Alex, what are your thoughts on CSPromod? Have you spent much time playing it? Do you think it will eventually bridge the gap between 1.6 and CS:S?

Promod is pretty cool, I’ve played a few 10 mans on it, but other than that I still have yet to play a “full” version of the game so I can’t really judge it. It seems like a cool idea to have the 1.6 gameplay with the source graphics but overall I can’t really judge yet if it would be quality enough to bridge the gap.

What are your thoughts of compLexity’s return to 1.6 action? Do you think the old dogs can pull some upsets or has CS:S ruined their 1.6 skills for good?

compLexity’s return to 1.6 is definitely good for the cs community in the states because it gives teams more motivation and good competition. I think the guys definitely have the individual experience they need to be able to dominate, but from there it’s all about the team as a whole :)

This weekend you guys travel to Spain for GameGune. What are your expectations for the event? Who do you think will be the toughest team to beat?

ESWC Masters was definitely a reality check for us. We had a long discussion about our goals as a team and reevaluated what went wrong and fixed a lot of our problems and now we are once again on the same page and ready to show each other and everyone else what we’re capable of. As far as expectations for this event, we really want to take this one. I think teams like mibr, roccat, x3o and mouz all have the experience to win and could be tough to play against, but I personally have a good feeling about this tournament and the way we have been preparing is very different from before.

Team EG has always been a great squad but hasn’t quite grabbed the global title it’s searching for. Do you think the team can step up in the next 12 months and win a major event?

For sure! We’ll be able to tell a lot sooner than that :D

Your movie “n0thing but Headshots” has become one of the biggest hits of 2008. How did it feel to have your greatest hits watched by so many people? What were your favorite CS movies over the years?

It feels great that a lot of people enjoyed my movie and I’ve been receiving a lot of positive feedback and that’s all I really wanted to accomplish in my first movie. I also want to give a big thanks to John “highfive” Blake for putting in so much time and effort. Some of my favorite CS movies include HellRaiserz, Eve, some of maul’s movies, and probably Jaegarn X.

Cake or pie?

Cake, pie is too plain...

Thanks very much for the interview. Are there any final comments you’d like to give your fans? Shoutouts?

Thanks to all my fans and all the Tteam EG fans, we appreciate your support! Thanks also to our sponsors: Intel, Razer, Kingston, Killer, and Stoked. And a shoutout to gambleit! And most importantly my boys in EG!

You can watch Jordan's movie "n0thing but Headshots" HERE.

Read more about EG at myEG.net .

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