Petr1k: «I like CS:GO in its current state more than Dota 2»

We had a conversation with the analyst of SLTV studio, Alexander «Petr1k» Petrik, who shared his opinion about the technical problems on PGL Major Krakow 2017, told about current state of matters in CS:GO, and defined the teams that unpleasantly surprised him.

See also: PGL Major Krakow 2017 Report.

— Well. Now, all viewers are discussing in social networks, on Twitter, Vkontakte, on Facebook about PGL Major Krakow 2017 to have become an enough failed tournament. Do you agree with this statement or are you ready to disprove it?

I think that everything is good at the moment. Today, the third day of the tournament is run, it is not failed at all at the moment. Yes, there were technical difficulties in the first days, and PGL apologized for them. They felt very insulting about things that had happened but I think that we will be able to say that this tournament is failed or not only, according to the results of all days. For now, there are technical difficulties, no one is secured from them but I do not agree with statements of viewers, who call PGL Major Krakow 2017 the failed tournament. It is too early to make any conclusions.

— Let’s talk about these technical problems, which were at the tournament. PGL is the organizer of the tournament, which has an experience of hosting few Dota Major tournaments. Their Major tournament in Manila created a furor in olden times but various technical issues appeared at the tournament of this company and one of the matches (BIG vs Cloud) was not broadcasted to viewers, who followed events through the live broadcast. Previously, such things didn’t happen at Major tournaments. What do you think, why does such big and experienced company has technical issues of such kind?

PGL has prepared to host a CS:GO Major tournament for almost a year, they worked a lot on it and all employees of PGL are true workers. Despite this, no one is secured from unlucky days. I don’t know which kind these problems were due to which the match between BIG and Cloud9 was stopped, and why the match had to be played without a stream. As much as I know, there were some problems with the Internet but I am more than sure that PGL will fix everything, it will be fine and in future. there will be the same level of the tournament as that, which they hosted in Manila. I guess that they just were unlucky.

— Technical issues, which not only related to a broadcast, were noticed at the tournament. Players often complain about the lack of computers’ power and a low FPS. What do you think about this?

There was the moment: organizers set computers with i5 CPUs during the preparation to the tournament to allow players to train. At that moment, Twitter has started to be full-filled with negative comments like «How can this be? This is a Major tournament. Why are computers so weak? Players need to play in Full HD!» and so on. But PGL fixed everything and i7 CPUs together with the best hardware were set in training rooms and in computers, which were used for games. So this was fixed very fast but there were such other problems too as shroud had graphic drivers issues in the match between BIG and Cloud9. When he was playing without required settings, it was the fault of the player. This was not the problem of PGL that he could not adapt his PC before the game. I am more than sure that if he told about his problem, it would be fixed in 5 minutes because there were PGL employees at the Major tournament, who are experts in fixing every kind of issues.

— So not only organizers but players are to blame for such mistakes?

Organizers are not guilty at all. They gave everything and they would fix everything. Maybe, there are some mistakes but they can always be. PGL fix everything fast.

— Name your list of eight participants, who, in your opinion, will come out to the playoff and two participants, who can get to the final.

Initially, we had thought that FaZe Clan would go to the playoff but, as a result, FaZe could show nothing, they failed. Due to this, it is difficult to forecast but as I have seen at the Major tournament, SK Gaming is obviously going to the victory at this championship. They have very good chances. Virus.pro can, also, be referred to teams, which pretend to come out to the playoff as the team BIG. VP, BIG and Gambit are the triplet, which I have not expected to see at the playoff but, having seen their first matches, I have come to the conclusion that they pretend to receive a status of «the Legend». Also, I am waiting to see Natus Vincere, Astralis, G2 Esports, which should not be forgotten, and North in the top 8 teams.

— Name a participant of the tournament, who has surprised you a lot and you have not expected from him the current result.

Probably, Virtus.pro suits this description most of all. I expected that they would finish their participation in the tournament with a score 0-3 and would tumble out, and PGL Major Krakow 2017 will become the next failure for them. Guys have really prepared and they play very hard, at least, such conclusion can be done, according to the first two matches. We will see what will be in future. This is VP at the moment. Also, Gambit eSports have surprised too. I have not expected them to show what they are demonstrating there now.

— And what about FlipSid3?

FlipSid3 has won one good match against FaZe Clan. The rest matches have been played well but if they come out to the playoff, I will say the same about them.

— Who has impressed you in a bad way?

FaZe Clan, of course. I expected Vega Squadron to try to win every match but, as a result, they lost without a struggle and the last match was lost with such unpleasant comeback, they were leading the score but could not finish the game. So FaZe Clan and Vega Squadron, the teams, which have finished their participation in this Major tournament without a victory, are naturally the main disappointment. And I am upset with the team BIG, which has used a bug very roughly in the first two matches. I hope they will not use it anymore and I will adore them sometime.

— Let’s talk about the global CS:GO scene. There will be the largest, main tournament of the year in Dota 2 (The International), which sets records not only in the eSports but in lots of sports. Its prize pool amounts more than $20,000,000 at the moment. Will we see some development in CS:GO? Why does Valve organize Major tournaments in this discipline with prize pools only in the sum of $1,000,000? Why don’t they organize the fundraising with a help of a crowdfunding system?

As much as I understand, absolutely different people work on CS:GO and Dota 2. This is one company but there are different vectors of development. Some moments are similar in the disciplines: skins and other things, for example. Major tournaments can, also, say that these people adopt each other’s ideas. To tell the truth, I like the CS:GO in the present condition more than Dota 2, I don’t want CS:GO to have The International and no more other tournaments. I can only say about the development of the CS:GO scene that I hope for a smooth growth of championships’ prize pools. Initially,  the prize pool of Major tournaments had amounted $250,000, then grabs started being in the sum of $1,000,000. They will eventually grow. I don’t want tournaments with prize pools in the sum of $100,000,000, $300,000,000 to appear suddenly, I want CS:GO to develop step by step as it is developing right now. Everything is great for now. If there is The International, teams will not mention other tournaments. CS:GO is alive 24/7, 365 days per year at the moment and this is really cool. I am not a Dota 2 expert but, as for me, there are no such things in this discipline. I like the current CS:GO model most of all at the moment.