TEK9 sits down with the up and coming CoD4 Swedish powerhouse 
Roe "froz" Langaas to talk about his performance at SEC, his struggle against accusations from the competitive community, his current team Pandorum and their plans for the coming year.
Additionally Roe gives us an insight into his views on the CoD4 community in comparison to the others he has experienced, as well as playing down the rumors of a possible move to H2k in the near future.
Thanks for joining me froz. To begin, could you tell our fellow TEK9ers a little bit about yourself and your gaming history?
Yo, I'm Roe, better known as froz in the CoD4 scene. My gaming career began in Battlefield Vietnam about five years ago. After that I moved on to Crysis, Crysis Wars and later on CoD5 where I was one of very few competitive players. I stopped playing the game when it failed massively and moved on to CoD4 around July of last year where I was mixing almost until Christmas. Then I joined Pandorum, my first ever CoD4 team. Since I joined we've changed a couple of players and improved a lot, which lead to us being accepted into preinvite a couple of months a go. I guess thats pretty much it - we'll carry on working hard as a team and we aim to reach the very top of the scene in the future.
You have just returned home from the Steelseries eSports Challenge, I hope your trip went smoothly. Were you impressed with the setup at SEC?
Well, for me its hard to say since this was my first LAN ever and I can't compare it to any other setup. However, overall, I think it was very well ran even though there were a few delays during the first day which was a hindrance for the teams playing in the morning, which included my team/mix 4D. Throughout the day it improved and affairs were going much more smoothly, even though the power went off a few times and the loud music from the stage was kind of distracting. Nevertheless it was a well arranged LAN in my opinion. The admins were doing a great job instructing and helping with the computer set-ups which ensured it ran smoothly once it started.
SEC was, of course, your first major CoD4 LAN, and indeed, your first LAN ever! Clearly, as a player under great scrutiny in the competitive scene, you had a point to prove at this event. Were you feeling the pressure?
I can't really say I felt any particular pressure even though I knew I would have to play well. This was not only my first LAN but also the first time I would play CoD4 away from my own computer and I think our bootcamp the day before the actual event helped a lot. Of course I was a bit nervous playing with people watching and expecting very much from me individually, irregardless of my circumstances. However during our second game against eSuba I just dropped everything and enjoyed the experience of playing good teams at LAN!
To attend your first major LAN with a mix team, considering the circumstances, shows you have a lot of faith in your ability to perform under pressure. When the community is as insular as it is at the moment, and as paranoid as some of the top players are about hackers and cheating, it was a big decision to make. At any moment were you worried that you would under perform at SEC, and consequently, face the competitive community yell "Onliner!" and "hacker!" once again?
Well, first of all I didn't go to SEC with the intention of proving anything to anyone. I went there because I thought it would be a great experience personally (which it was) and a good first LAN to attend instead of going directly into TEX in a few months with a lot more pressure resting on my shoulders. I spoke to Jamie the day they were searching for a 5th. In the end, they couldn't find a better option and I was in, merely 6 days before the LAN!
It was pretty amusing at the beginning when good players started to accuse me of hacking, and ironically, I had never played with or against the majority of them! It started to get serious when teams started to blacklist us in preinvite and due to this, I felt it was best for both me, and my team Pandorum, that I went to LAN and tried to prove myself as a player.
Evidently, you highlighted your ability to perform as an individual at SEC. You played extremely well in the three games, facing eSuba and H2k in the process. How does it feel to have put the rumors about your authenticity as a CoD4 player to rest?
I can't say I played extremely well but overall my performances were solid, hehe. After the games I was more focused on the team's performance than how I had played as an individual, although looking back at it now I must have been pretty happy with my own performance as well! At the moment I feel confident in mine and Pandorum's future in the game and hope that people will now stop accusing me which, of course, became rather frustrating in the last few months.
Although you, in most peoples eyes, have proven your skills at SEC with your very astute performances in the mere 3 games you played, there could still be members of the community who may doubt your credentials. What would you like to say to them?
If people are still doubting whether I'm clean or not, I would say that its up to them to consider their reasons for doubting my authenticity. People are allowed to have their own opinions and I'm not going to take that right from them, haha! If people still think I hack I'll just let them, after all it wont help them in anyway and well, to be honest, its a compliment!
You must be thoroughly satisfied with the way the Steelseries eSports Challenge has gone for you. Particularly after the issues you have been forced to deal with and overcome prior to attending your first LAN. The event that instantly springs to mind is Pandorum's totally unjustified removal from the #cod4.preinvite channel only a few months a go. Do you feel a sense of victory and accomplishment now? How does it feel to overcome such adversity? Do you feel like justice was dealt?
Being removed from preinvite doesn't mean too much for me personally, but as a motivated team you always want to be able to get good practice and not just play random Clanbase wars all the time. Of course it feels nice to have proven myself, and it was a relief playing the games even though we didn't perform as a team. Justice has definitely been dealt so lets just hope no other players or teams will end up in the same situation as myself and Pandorum's in the future. The CoD4 community has a hard time accepting new teams and players performing well and, I hope my situation, coupled with the suspiciousness surrounding the old iNFINITY SKILLS team until they had proven themselves at CiC7, will change the attitude of many CoD players.
Did FrosteR, indeed, eat his Nike cap like he so avidly promised to if you were as good offline as you are online?
Actually, FrosteR didn't wear his legendary Nike cap to this event! Probably in fear of knowing that he would have to eat it, haha! I spoke to FrosteR while spectating one of the matches so there is no need to involve the cap anymore. We spoke about what has happened online and about the teams and matches at SEC. I guess that its all forgotten now, even though its still a nice quote to use as an in-game bind!
Since you performed so strongly in your games at SEC with 4Dead, there have been rumors that some of the top teams in the competitive scene have shown interest in adding you to their team's roster. Can we see you moving on from Pandorum in the near future?
You never know what the future will bring but I'm confident that Pandorum can become a really good team and compete at the very top of the scene, which is something we will keep on practicing for. At the moment I'm not sure if I'm ready or even good enough to play in any team better than Pandorum since I have still got a lot to learn in the game and loads of experience to gain. All we can do now is wait while myself and Pandorum keep on working with our team, and I wouldn't be suprised if we are one of the finalists in the next edition of TEX or at CC8!
Now that we have cleared that up, Pandorum are considered largely by the community as one of the best up and coming teams in Call of Duty 4. What are you plans, as a team, for the Summer? Can we see you guys attending any of the big LANs this Summer?
We will definitely be attending TEX as a team, but we also hope to attend the Summer Assembly in Finland and possibly even AEF as well. Its always hard to get the whole team together considering people are often busy with other things but hopefully you'll see us there dominating!
lol
nice i-view. hope to see pdm@aef!
edited 2010-05-03 15:55:21
id be shocked if this guy isnt gnna join a top team very soon
edited 2010-05-03 16:02:22
First thing that came to my mind: How many Nike caps do you own and how many colours? :D
I didnt go. thanks for having fun while being drunk... kk
and
Best overall: odyx/Mumma
this guy got a clue
n1 iview
gl in zeh future
froz was a beast, i'm giving him credit.. no need to be a dick about it :]
I guess then we'll hopefully throw away the 4D.froz carrier tag
sick interview as well! good job
nice interview & finally someone who speaks english properly
gl etc
xx
GJ FROZWALD <3
Also that interview is nicely done, yay for atRi <3
LOL
Anyways he's proved himself ! Good work froz!
I think he had like 14-15 frags and we only played 16 rounds so i would say thats kind of good if u r loosing 13-3 :)
ataRi <3
edited 2010-05-03 18:42:23
Keep up the solid work! :)
nice guy & iview=]
gj <3
froz du ee king<3 :D
FrosteR or i should say powergaming whines a lot.
they told onliners to infinity skills, mtw and h2k.
And every team proved them wrong. lol
i guess whos next in their onliners list :p
è gg froz
nice read