Season 13: Premiership Interviews #6 KnOxXx

Admirable: Bonsoir ETF2L! This is Admirable here burning the midnight oil for a late-night edition of our Season 13 interview series where I try to start fights with the Premier Divisions finest players. In this, our sixth instalment, I have managed to lure Epsilon eSport’s French medic mastermind, KnOxXx. Hello Jean-Louis! How are you?

KnOxXx: Hello! What’s up guy. I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m a bit tired because it’s midnight, but I’m still there, I’m still there on…

A: I do apologise, but you know I’ve left it all to the last minute; I need to get this done before the season ends!

K: I understand that’s why, but yeah it’s normal because the season is going to end soon in one week now I think? Next playoff it’s uh this week and then our playoff final, it’s the next week…

A: Yeah, but before we get into that tradition dictates that I must ask you what hats and miscellaneous items have you been wearing for Season 13?

K: Ah I think my classic hat, it’s one of the first, it’s Tyrolean I think? I dunno in English really what is that, but it’s a white hat. Then yeah I have a lot of hat, I don’t care about hat, about this stuff I’m not interested really. I just play with some fucking hat who I drop with some luck or who I craft, but yeah it’s not really important for me! Hahaha!

A: Yeah that’s what I thought, that question was a bit of a disaster. Wow, but eh… in Season 13 we have seen you wearing the medic uniform for the best team in Europe and people might remember that you played a lot of medic for French teams in the past, but you joined Epsilon as a soldier. Do you have any desire to return to the rocket launcher? Do you think you could teach Mike and GeaR a thing or two?

K: I think I can’t teach GeaR or Mike about aim. Mike is a beast, GeaR is a beast too. Maybe Mike got the better aim in Europe, it’s my opinion, but GeaR has the best timing, he’s the best roamer because he doesn’t take any heal, has really good timing and stays alive. But yeah about your question for the medic and solly… uhm I’m enjoying to play medic, remember I didn’t play medic… yeah I play medic with French team, but when I play medic seriously with a  good team it was with idk? not with a French team, so…

A: I count them as a French team!

K: Yeah they have some French guys but…  I think medic is my main class… it’s my main class, finally. I played solly because we changed and my aim was correct as solly and I could support the team with my leads and my comms, my calls etc. and it was enough, maybe my aim was not like Mike aim or GeaR aim, but it was enough. I think at the last of season, last of Epsilon… when we played with the old lineup when I played solly I think I finally played better than at the beginning of Epsilon.

A: Yeah definitely! So ah… do you think you are a good medic? Surely anyone could medic in Epsilon eSports with the strength of the five other players? What do you think you bring to the team?

K: Ahaha! It’s true! It’s true I think every medic could play in that team and just heal and make his job. I think uhm… some people could have said “Yeah KnOxXx, anyone (that we said exactly) any medic could play on the Epsilon team and rape everyone anyway” and I am not agreed about that, because some nights I didn’t talk, I am quiet and I didn’t call anything and I didn’t manage to make some movements in the game etc. and at this moment we didn’t beat them, we didn’t beat anyone. Yeah, I think you can remember in some PCW we don’t beat five nil everyone, sometimes it’s close or sometimes we lose against some teams in PCW.  But yeah uhm… I think it’s just because of numlocked; numlocked has a strong lead, a strong game sense. So he could lead the game without any calls… I think he don’t need more calls, but when we recruit him we decide to say “Yeah it’s me, I’m gonna lead the game, not you Seb”, but I dunno because actually I’m leading and talk a lot and make some tactics, some decisions about our game style too. I think it’s not maybe my medic play who makes the difference, but my vision of the game and tactics in general about this new team.

A: Yeah I think that’s very true. Eh… sort of lucking beyond Epsilon then, I think you are in a unique position having ascended beyond the rest of your countrymen on the competitive ladder; you are the most successful French TF2 player in the modern era. What is your current assessment of the French TF2 scene? What did you think of Punchline’s performance this season?

K: Uhm I think French people came up with Punchline and some other guys, uh actually care about this team, PyRo|GEN, they play well… really well! Some old player already played by the past with for example Pikalash, Gladia and payard, etc. and I think French people didn’t make the difference about the rest of the players in Europe, like Swedish players or English players; I don’t know already, I don’t know why French are not at the top. They could be, they could be at the top. Some players are famous already, like tek, for me, tek is the best roamer of this season… one of this best, but I can’t say the best because you asked me a question about Punchline… Punchline have some good players, but they lost their motivation I think and they lost at the moment maybe I think it’s all about the game sense. Some players… all of the players at Punchline have a skill, ready skill, but they didn’t manage to… I dunno, they didn’t play enough I think. They didn’t play enough and they didn’t play with a good demo, for me, too… because when they played with Flinn, Flinn was good but not enough compared to kaidus or numlocked. So I think French people didn’t manage to go to the top because they are whining, have some drama all the time, team splits and when we tried to make a huge team with the best players of France it was a fail all the time, so I think Punchline was the only team who make something in Prem.

A: I’ll just jump in there and I’ll ask do you think that Pognon is a better choice than Flinn for Punchline?

K: Yeah! I’m sure, because he plays a lot, train a lot, it’s a new vision and I think his aim is better, maybe not his game sense; he doesn’t have enough experience in Prem, he played only in Div 1 I think… or Div 2. He trained a lot, played a lot at MGE and some shitty DM, so yeah normally Pognon is not uh… he could be a really good player, but uh I dunno… I dunno why Punchline failed this season, they should be at top four for me or top five; top five, top four. Normally it’s at the same level as Crack Clan or TLR… the old TLR haha…

A: The next fixture of the Season 13 playoffs sees Crack Clan take on your closest rivals BFF. The winner will face you in the Grand Final. Who is your money on? Who do you think will win? Which team would you prefer to face?

K: Uhm between BFF and Crack Clan? Mmm I dunno. I dunno because I could say “yeah I prefer Crack Clan because we already play them and it’s more easier to play against Crack Clan than play against BFF for sure… for us”, but that could be a bad final.  I think if we played against BFF it could be a really great final with some pressure. I think BFF got a better lineup and for me they are going to win, but it’s not sure because their game style and team play is so bad; they make a lot of mistakes. That’s why they are losing. Cookye is carrying like hell and that didn’t make the difference because they make the wrong move all the time. They can’t make some points because cookye can carry sometimes, but sometimes if they can’t go to the last and fail at last, that change all the game… it’s really bad… but uhm I prefer BFF because for the competitive… for the pressure, for the show. I prefer BFF.

A: OK. OK. Do you care to make any prediction on scores? The maps are Gullywash, Badlands and potentially Granary decider…

K: Ha! It was your Gullywash! Gullywash: it’s the worst map of BFF, they didn’t know how to play this. So, for me, it’s gonna be like 4-2 or like a two point difference for Crack Clan on Gullywash… then they gonna get raped on Badlands, for me. For the decider, I dunno… gonna be… gonna be BFF but really tight, really close, for me… BFF, like one point or two point difference.

A: Yeah I’m do my best to upset you, but uh… we just saw Classic Mixup taking a very convincing win at ESEA’s LAN Finals in Dallas this weekend after a perfect season. Epsilon are in the same situation right now, currently unbeaten in Season 13; your team is head and shoulders above the competition. Is this one-team dominance healthy for the competitive community or is it a symptom of a dying scene?

K: What? Haha! Sorry?

A: Is it healthy for the scene? Is it a good thing that one team is so much better than everyone else?

K: Ah, no. No, no, I was wrong about this team, for me. I don’t wanna say that I don’t like this team or it was a bad choice, etc. or not. I see my choice, but it’s really bad when one team dominate all the scene because there are no… I dunno… people are tired, people are bored about our games. It’s not really fun for people to watch a game when everyone knows what we gonna do… I don’t wanna say “Yeah we gonna rape everyone during this final”… it’s bad… but I think if we rape a team in the final it’s gonna be really bad for the scene of TF2. My first objective of this team was only for playing against Americans, I just said “Yeah OK we gonna pick best players in Europe” or we gonna try. “OK Who is the best demo?” Numlocked. Kaidus. For me they are both equal. “OK let’s pick Seb. Let’s pick the best solly”, for me it’s Mike “Let’s pick Mike”… I didn’t… it was just for play against American, and beat American for the next LAN, and I think all the team is really motivated for playing against American and maybe we are going to try and play the next season of ESEA.

A: Ooh!

K: Yeah, yeah, we had some idea to play this season but it was gonna be very hard with the schedule… during the night or during the morning, it’s really hard… and about the server… maybe we can try to find a good server, east coast server? Could be great, I dunno… but it’s bad for the community and bad for the team to have a team really better than… yeah.

A: Yeah OK. Well you mentioned there your sort of decision making process in picking your new team after i46, but if I asked you now, if you had to pick a team from the current European scene to take on Epsilon, excluding your own players obviously, which six would you pick? Who are the six best, to you, outside of Epsilon?

K: Except Epsilon, who are the best players? Uh good question! Haha! Let me check a bit, if I remember… for me as scout it’s cookye, sure ah… yeah it’s cookye as best scout and for the second yeah I think the best is… yeah it’s bybben and cookye, really the best duo of scouts. Then the demo it’s kaidus and uh… kaidus or uhm I dunno, I’m not sure about kaidus. I dunno… Kaidus or Retsh0ck; I think they are both equal. As medic… you Admirable, I think? I think it’s you at this moment…

A: Ahaha!

K: Yeah! You did a great game! I saw your official, last official [vs TLR]. You did a great game, really! So… and about the solly I think minimoose. I really like this pocket, he plays well, and for the roamer I dunno, really tek, for me it’s tek. So minimoose, tek, bybben cookye, with you as medic, with maybe Retsh0ck or kaidus. It could be the best team really, without any player of Epsilon.

A: OK. I’ll take that. I’ll take that. You sort of mentioned motivation and stuff there, I mean Epsilon are a team that are always subject of rumours when it comes to the end of a season or after LAN. The question is always whether or not Epsilon will continue to play? Do you have still the desire to play and be number one for another season? Will we see Epsilon in January for Season 14?

K: It’s a good question, because actually we have some problem… I just talked about that on your old question. People are bored to winning. It’s normal, I think it’s normal. Like F2 said “I’m tired to win as medic, I gonna play scout” Haha. That’s the problem, if you win everything, it’s easier, you don’t have any goals, you don’t have any motivation. In the team actually, some people are not motivated about playing, and me, I am not motivated, I lost a bit my motivation. Then some new game are incoming, like Natural Selection 2 for example. Yeah we gonna keep playing anyway, Epsilon is not gonna fold, but I think we gonna make some… we gonna take a break to control the team, to be sure Epsilon aren’t gonna fold we are gonna play for example only officials for the cup incoming, for both cups incoming, ESH Cup and ETF2L Cup.  We gonna do that; only play official, don’t play PCW. Really that’s the problem. Why are we gonna play PCW against some people we are gonna beat five zero, five nil. Why are we gonna do that if we are sure on official it’s gonna be the same? It’s just a loss of time. Actually some times when I had scheduled Div 1 games, like Seb said “Oh my god, it’s a loss of time. What are you doing KnOxXx?”  Haha! So yeah, that’s my answer.

A: OK, and ah… what changes would you like to see Season 14? What advice would you offer to the admin team of ETF2L?

K: What? What sorry?

A: Any changes you would like to see in the next season? Like, did you appreciate the new rules in Season 13? The demo rules and things like that?

K: I’m not agreed about the demo rules, I dunno why the demo? I think if admins need a demo they can ask the guy, but yeah I don’t agree about that I dunno why we should upload STV all the time. I think it’s a loss of time. I agree about screenshot, of course, etc. I’m interested by one thing, I think it could be a good thing for the motivation of all the scene; it’s to change unlocks. I’m really sure we need to change unlocks, we need to change a bit the game, because it’s really boring to without any all the time. So we should maybe try to play like the Americans play, and I think some people, especially sollys, could be really happy. Like GeaR said all the time “Why we don’t have our pickaxe? Fuck! It’s so shit, solly, so slow!” and it could make the difference. I think solly could be more powerful with pickaxe, yeah and maybe as medic the new uh… how is it said in English?

A: The Overdose?

K: Yeah, Overdose, that could be great, could be different, for example like a medic on middle with both scouts?

A: Oh yeah… the Quickfix!

K: Ah yeah! The Quickfix, that’s it. Could be fun.

A: OK. OK. I’m interested to hear that from the best medic in Europe. So unlocks for Season 14… ehm… where else can the fans expect find Epsilon competing over the next few months? You said you are going to play in the cups. Will you be attending the rumoured Assembly Winter tournament in Helsinki? Are there any French LANs on your radar?

K: Actually, no, because… it’s really… I can’t say a lot of things, but Epsilon are going to try to be more huge. I can’t say anything, but we have to wait because Epsilon are going to try to have more money and gonna try to recruit more teams, for more games, for new game style like MOBA for example. I think actually we don’t have any LAN, no we don’t know actually because I think we need to know about that money. That’s all the problem.

A: Wow. So no LAN support for TF2 from Epsilon? Is that what you are saying?

K: It’s not LAN support, but uh… I can’t say anything about that… it’s not that… if we have a French LAN, we gonna go on French LAN and we have the support, actually we have all the support about register support, T-Shirt support and travel support… but it could be maybe more huge… and maybe less… we’ll see!

A: OK I won’t press you any more on that! I’ll say thanks for taking the time to let me pick your brain. I’ll give you an opportunity to send some love to your sponsors and the community before wrap things up. Have you got any shoutouts?

K: Any shoutouts? Yeah! What can I say about all my team, it’s evident? So shout out to Seb… Seb, Mike who did a really good season. It was really fun to see all this team to play well together; there are no rage, no whine. We are making some fun and it’s really good to see how people who were hating everyone… I would say that’s fun to see how players who were in fights during old season play against… like Seb yeah, and Mike… they integrated to the team really well and they take some with us. So shout out to all the team and Stefan of course, wltrs and GeaR… and the new incoming players… Mitsy gonna play solly with us, like a backup… and bash who came back, as a scout backup… and shout out for all the community, all French people who are like… like Flippy, tek, payard, Pognon, etc. So thanks!

A: OK Thanks again! This has been Admirable for ETF2L. Look out for the final interview of the series with Retsh0ck of Crack Clan coming up soon to an internet near you. Peace out.