insomnia40: Interview with robyYE - The Interview

Multiplay's insomnia40 LAN event is now finished. We saw some amazing games, sick clutches and epic comebacks. In the end it was Team Dignitas come out on top, despite numerous setbacks. I caught up with Robin "robyYE" Swaters for a few words after his brilliant performance in the final.

Hey Robin, thanks for joining us. So, we'll start simple. How was your journey over here?

I missed my flight to Luton, being 2 minutes to late for check in. I re-arranged a flight to stansted as I had to be in gamerbase london for a shootout so it was all good.

As you went into this event, you had made one change - Reason Gaming's Chris "Lighters" Lightburn would be playing for you. Why wasn't your normal 5th, Kevin "reflexzR" Klempera, playing?

ReflexzR couldn't get the time off work and is moving houses, that is why Lighters was mercing for us.

How has it affected your game playing with Chris?

It's definitely been effected in a positive way. Chris is an amazingly intelligent player and hopefully one day I get the chance to be in the same team as him.

With your lineup changed, you presumably would need some time to settle in. Had you practiced much prior to the event?

No, not at all.

One of the big talking points at i40 was the server issues. How did you think MPUK handled the situation regarding the delays on friday?

We didn't know what was going on. The only news we heard was from TEK-9, news which should have been from MPUK itself. Overall, they were busy trying to fix the problem, so I can understand the situation they faced.

With all your friday games cancelled and no internet to practice on, what did you do to pass the time?

Play other games, hang around with some people, go to the bar it was oke!

Early on saturday we heard that Mark "Phantasy" Pinney had left the LAN event, due to family problems. How did this affect the team mentally?

Initially we thought our chances of winning i40 were over, but were glad he was alright. After then we wanted to win this event even more.

Another hot topic was the controversial decision the tournament admins made to not allow you to use a different 5th for your games. What do you think of MPUK for not allowing you to use a mixer?

Rules are Rules, end.

Once the dust settled, you got down to business playing your group games. How did they go for you?

We played all of our groupstage games with 4 people maximum, as Blackmane had PC problems. It was okay!

Despite your depleted roster, you still finished top of your group and progressed into the playoffs. How did you prepare for the playoffs knowing you only had 4? Did you change your strats to fit 4 players?

We didn't change the strats really. Most of the time Blackmane scoped instead of me, as I can handle the smg better than him. We just had to adapt, really.


One of the closest games you played was against vital.dBGamez, where you ended up in double overtime. Why was this match so close?

It was already 4v5 by then and crossfire is such a hard map to play 4v5, that is why it was so close I think.

After you won that, you faced your eventual co-finalists watch and learn in the Upperbracket final, losing 10-13. What do you think you were doing wrong?

We didn't do anything wrong, it was just that waL were better on mp_backlot. They deserved to win that map!

Needless to say, you pulled through the lowerbracket and got to the final. What were your expectations going into it?

When we came into the final, I knew that citystreets would be a good map to pick to try and get them nervous. I think it worked overall.

There is no question that you dominated waL on the first map. After your 13-2 victory on mp_citystreets, did you think the match was over?

No, because strike is a completely different map, and it was their choice for a good reason.

You personally pulled off some sick clutches against waL, but the whole team seemed to be on fire. Do you think it's fair to say that Dignitas' clutch play won you the game?

Yes, we clutched almost every round and that is what won us the game.

In hindsight. did you honestly expect to win it after Phantasy left?

No, I thought it was over. 4v5 is so much harder, but yet we did it!

Looking back over the whole event, Were there any players that stood out for you, in either a good or bad way?

I think all of the waL players played really well, especially miNXZKA considering it was his first time on a stage with a big crowd. He sure knew how to play his game.

So, you emerged victorious and took home a reasonable amount of cash in the process. What will you do with your prizemoney?

Save it up for my new ride I suppose!

Thanks a lot for your time Robin. Any final shoutouts you would like to make?

First of all thank you for this interview, thanks for multiplay organising a good event and thanks to all of our sponsors: Intel, Scan, LG, EA Sports, Razer, Alienware, Western Digital, Bigfoot Networks and Creative.