ESL: Interview with KrieppeN

ESL.RO: Everybody knows you`re behind Airwalk, can you tell us anything about the teams that play for Airwalk?

AirWalk KrieppeN: Sure. Actually everything started with Airwalk Media, a community founded in 2005, and at the moment we have the best moviemakers in Romania and the best movies. Being a Counter-Strike player, I wanted to make a team with the name Airwalk, that`s how I started Airwalk Gaming. Now we have Airwalk.Cs, Airwalk.DotA and Airwalk.Babes (the girls team). We will add more games soon…

ESL.RO: From all the teams you lead, which are the most active at this moment and in what competitions?

AirWalk KrieppeN: If we are to talk strictly of ESL, I could say that the only active team is the DotA team, taking part in EPS and EMS. Also the girls team (Airwalk.Babes) is active but this one is newly formed, taking part only in one qualification: EMS Season IV CS Female. Airwalk.Cs doesn’t play in ESL for the time being.

ESL.RO: Could you tell us something about the DotA members?

AirWalk KrieppeN: The team consists of:
Mihalcea “MoD” Mihai: He is the “cappo di tutti cappi”. The manager of the team and the person who holds the team together, he`s the link between the players.
Armand “Uganda” Pittner: The “in-game” captain of the team and a very good player.
Alexandru “ComeWithMe” Craciunescu: The second player in rank, after Uganda (or that`s based on my opinion)
Cristian “Delfinu” Radulescu: He is the new guy but I can say that his place is with this team.
Costel “W1z4rd” Radulescu: From what I saw, W1z4rd is a calculated player and he communicates with the team very well.
Marcel “ThoR” Pirjol: Experienced player, he played alongside our team and it seems he gets along very well.

ESL.RO: Everybody knows that Airwalk.DotA won 2nd place at the ESL Pro Series 3. What do you think about this performance, are you happy you tooked 2nd place?

AirWalk KrieppeN: Yes of course. ESL Pro Series is the place where all the Romanian DotA teams play. 2nd place in EPS means a lot, it means 2nd place in Romania and that makes me very happy and proud of my team. If the boys will practice a lot harder I`m sure they can be number 1.

ESL.RO: What objectives would you like to reach with the teams?

AirWalk KrieppeN: The DotA team to become the best one in Romania and to take part in international competitions, the CS to become a top team in Romania, and probably for the girls to play as much as they can together at a higher level among the best teams in the world.

ESL.RO: What are the awards the Airwalk teams got and at what events?

AirWalk KrieppeN: Airwalk.CS - 12 place @ZoomLess Lan #1, 5th place @WCG PreQualifiers, 9 place @ZoomLess Land #3 and 5th palce @ACL Finals Season 5
AIrwalk.DotA- 4th place EPS 1, 2nd place EPS 3, 2nd place RCL Finals
That`s all the awards I can remember.

ESL.RO: Do you plan on gathering more teams?

AirWalk KrieppeN: Yes. Xeno is the one responsible with the recruitment part.

ESL.RO: We`ve reached the questions about gaming. What`s your opinion about the level of the national
and international gaming?

AirWalk KrieppeN: Gaming in Romania? That`s a joke. The real value is on the international level. If I think about
it all the Romanian teams want to practice with international teams, searching private mIRC channels.
The Romanian scene suffers from the same disease as in `99-2000: lack of sponsors. The same reason
comes up everytime we discuss about the Romanian gaming and what`s missing. Sponsors and they`re lack
of dedication. There are many Romanian teams that change everyday. Even TeG, the best organization in
Romania changed it`s lineup many times until it reached the one they have today. It`s pretty hard
to reach a higher level in Romania and that`s what everybody says.

ESL.RO: What do you think about the future of the gamers and of gaming in Romania?

AirWalk KrieppeN: I don`t see a bright future. The lack of sponsors is the main reason. If every pro-gamer would be
payed and would receive the newest gear, I`m sure they would reach new boundaries. But as long as this
doesn’t and won`t happen soon, I really don`t see a bright future. Maybe between Romanian players, but
between Romanian players and outside players, it`s hard.

ESL.RO: What are you thoughts about the difference between the national and international gaming level?
Besides lack of sponsors.

AirWalk KrieppeN: Well lack of sponsors offer a psychic downfall, first of all for the players. They are not motivated
and you can feel this in the way they play and think. The mentality is different from that of the
outside players. I think I said the move important downfalls. Another would be: Computer and
Internet Caffee`s price that is very high for a player that doesn`t work and they can`t sustain
themselves, they relly on they`re parents. Probably this would be the difference.

ESL.RO: We`ve reached the end of the interview. I would like to thank you for your time. Would you like to say something for the users of ESL Romania?

AirWalk KrieppeN: Yes, I would like to thank my parents for… oh wait, that wasn`t for this interview. Well, first
of all I would like to thank you (KayLoN) for this wonderful interview, then those that are part of
Airwalk (Media and Gaming), ESL Romania, AsRoma and all those who support Airwalk. And for the ESL users:
Keep ESLing !…
Thank you!

ESL.RO: Good luck with the Airwalk Teams!

Interview in Romanian can be found on ESL’s website also.