Pre-EPS UK Interview: Reason Gaming Lighters

Here we are again, back once more for the second installment of Pre-EPS interviews, but this time I'm with charasmatic Reason Gaming member, Christopher "Lighters" Lightburn.

Lighters took some time out of his schedule to speak to me about their disappointing UKeSA Grand Final and what they look to be achieving this weekend.




I'm going to jump straight in at the deep end, Lighters - UKeSA Grand Finals, what went wrong?

"I think you mean what didn't go wrong :( Let me start with the obvious, we played poor, individually and as a team. It however wasn't helped that we came off unlucky in a few consecutive rounds and these were all in vital situations such as a player creeping behind and about to take the team down and being killed etc. Other situations were us being 2 men up and still managing to lose the round due to poor communication and play, it basically all added up and despite the times we played well we just couldn't keep the momentum up which led to poor morale and ultimately our demise. No discredit to the other teams as they obviously played better than we did but the matches were there to be taken and we didn't take advantage of this. We failed to win a single map on LAN but we are going to change that in our next LAN (EPS). "

It's been almost 2 weeks since UKeSA, and although you are now playing with a stand-in (stylez), do you rate your chances any higher at the ESL Pro Series Season 2 Finals?

"We have been practising a lot to make up for our previous poor LAN performance at UKESA. We are sadly forced to use styles as D1ablo is unable to attend EPS due to other commitments. Despite styles being no D1ablo he has impressed us enough to warrant using him at LAN and we are confident enough in his ability to step up and perform when required. I think it's too hard to tell how we are going to do at LAN, we obviously want to do well and go in confidently as we are confidence players but anything can happen on the day and its all down to how we all play and adapt in a LAN environment as a team and not just styles. However we are doing our best to ensure that the event is a successful one."

Talking on stylez, why him? There is alot of clanless UK talent avalible, so what made styles stick out over the rest?

"Simply because he did well for veritas and we were impressed. He was previously on our shortlist of players to replace zenith so we had already considered him at one point. It also helps that we had played with him before and were on a good relationship with him. I don't really agree with what you said about a lot of clanless UK talent available, there is certainly a lot of up and coming players but the difference between those who are motivated and actually have the potential of competing in a top team is very big. We also had to take into consideration the play style of players and their social relationship with us as we perform better when we are having fun so it all went in his favor."

As you mentioned above, styles is ofcourse taking the place of one of the most influential SMG players in the game, Tom "D1ablo" Newman. Is not having D1ablo at the event going to be that much of a setback for the team?

"As you said D1ablo is one of the most influential players in the game and we all heavily rely upon him in our team, styles certainly has some big shoes to fill but we are all confident he will do well. It's really hard to give a solid answer of how much of a setback a change of player will cause as we have previously just had to replace zenith. The best answer I can give is it will cause a setback but we are doing our best to minimise that gap such as practising whenever possible and going over teamwork as well as developing our relationship with styles."

Moving on, you have recently added sLWx - Is he fitting in well, and was his recent addition a factor to your performance at UKeSA with your full line-up?

"He is fitting extremely well, we are all impressed by his skill of the game and have been getting along just fine with him. I also think kammyz likes having another finish player in the squad which helps team morale which is really important for a winning team. Ofcourse his recent addition was a factor of our performance at UKESA, he obviously wasn't solely responsible for the result as we all had a poor event. As I previously mentioned it came down to teamwork, playing poor and being unlucky in certain circumstances but just like with zenith we didn't start off very well but after we went to a few lans and had been together for sometime it showed as the results were fantastic, we were destroying teams and everyone was hungry for more. With slwx I think we have an opportunity to dominate the COD4 scene as we all want to win and as you all probably saw at UKESA there was certainly moments of flair when he singlehandedly won 3v1 v TCM on backlot, I believe there is plenty more to come."

How is your practice for the event going? Could you of had more or are you fully prepared to make an upset?

"Our practice over the last 2 days has been non-existent. This is because of circumstances out of our control such as internet problems etc. We have prepared enough as we can with a stand in and its all down to how well we gel in a LAN environment. We have prepared enough so that we can make an upset but it really is down to how well we perform as a team on the day and I am hoping it's going to be similar to LAN79 where we didn't play very much before the event and everyone was very motivated and eager to play which meant it was a successful event. Today is our last day of practice and we don't have 5 on so everyone's probably going to focus on whatever they feel is best for them whether this is playing pub 24/7 or chilling is their call."

For the shoutcasters this one; but who should we keep an eye on in Reason Gaming when at the EPS - who is the big fragger winning all of those clutches?

"I believe kammyz will be one of the most influential players at EPS. He always seems to step up in important matches and do some amazing things. He certainly has the ability to clutch in any situation just like all of the players in our team but we focus on letting him do all the damage as well as our smgs making them vital holes in our enemies. If kammyz is on his game he will drop 30's all day long and if he's not (which is very rare) I can definitely see slwx destroying teams by his aim and speed in the game. I believe he is one of the players who can match d1ablo very well at rushing and is a contender for #1 Attacker in Europe."

All right then, we're coming to an end now, so what's your opinion on the Final Standings? From 1st to 4th, which teams will come where?

"Final standings are already predicted as not all teams have the ability to come 1st or 2nd after losing the first match. Being confident and after the practise we have put in I believe the final standings will be Reason-Gaming, Dignitas, Dark style (TCM), Button Bashers. I think Dignitas will finish 2nd because they have been practising lately and that was one of their only weaknesses. Mick has just gotten back to the game and is only going to get stronger as they progress, the question is whether he will be good enough during the time of the event."

Thanks, Chris! Would you like to make any last shoutouts?

"Ofcourse ;) first of all thanks a lot for the interview twrs, it's always a pleasure talking to you and doing interviews, I look forward to seeing you at LAN for another interview :). I just want to say thanks to our management in Reason-Gaming and the sponsors such as razer, sapphire, western digital and multiplay who help provide lan support and make competitive gaming possible. Lastly I would like to thank the fans and competitors who help make these competitions possible because I believe the games all about the fun of the competition and being the best, GL everyone and cu@lan"

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