Meet the team - NKT

The defending champions,NKT, have officially confirmed their entry for this competition.

 

The formidable team comprised of six elite players: XigN , Xerolte , icyvl0ne , cool4st , Derek , and Fr0k.

Today, we sincerely invite the players to chat with us.

 

• Do you have a nickname among your friends or your CS community, and why do they call you by that nickname?

 

XigN:

I don't have any nickname except XigN, people just call me xign(same pronunciation with sign)

 

Xerolte:

A lot of people started to call me xeegii last few months.
 

icyvl0ne:

I don’t even know, everyone usually calls me Danya or Danek, because it’s a short form of my name

 

cool4st :

Most people call me Sodoo or Coolee.

 

Derek:

Some of my friends and other people who watch my games call me "GODerek", which is actually my ESEA name. I based it on the other name Dazed sometimes uses which is "GODazed" and I just thought it looked cool so I just copied it and applied it to my name hahaha.

 

Fr0k:

Recently they started calling me Uzbek Boombl4.

 

 

• Talk about your gaming background, when did you start playing CS, and what drew you to competitive gaming.

 

XigN:

My friend introduced cs1.6. That's the start. After that I was really into csgo and I kept trying to become a good player and I joined MVP.

Xerolte:

I was just a casual gamer before quarantine and during Covid i discovered CS:GO and started grinding.

 

icyvl0ne :

I started playing at the end of 2019, the beginning of the 20th year, I was always a big fan of CS because of the atmosphere of big tournaments, I watched a lot of movies since 1.6 and probably the most interesting game for me, I started with computer clubs in 1.6 when I was a child, I couldn’t switch to cs go earlier because I worked as a photographer

 

cool4st:

I've been playing professionally from 2018 and casually from 2017. One of the biggest reasons why I started playing is just that I love Esports in general and I've been better at the game than the people I was surrounded with.

 

Derek:

I started playing FPS games when I was around 8 or 9 years old. I first started with Special Force and then War Rock and just continued from there. Around 2015, my friends and I discovered CS:GO and started playing it non-stop. I was already competitive even as a kid, and when I learned about professional play and that there are local tournaments in my area, that lit the fire in me to try to be the best player in my city, which then translated to trying to be the best player in the Philippines.

 

Fr0k:

I started playing computer games since childhood and I liked it. someone showed me counter strike 1.6 and I started playing it. LANs brought me into competitive cs, I liked the atmosphere and moments of victory.

 

 

• Tell us about your experiences traveling to tournaments, favorite events, and memorable moments from competitions.

 

XigN : CAS2018, because I won the tournament, and the hotel was very good, the hotel name was Shanghai Shangri La hotel. The other reason is I love Shanghai, a beautiful city.

Xerolte:

I've been to only 1 LAN tournament so I'll say it's XSE Pro League.

 

icyvl0ne :

I didn’t have many of them, but they were all very memorable, for example, when we won the IESF tournament in Saudi Arabia, then there was Romania where we took top 4 unfortunately, but the after-party, all these moments, the flights were very interesting and the very moment when we won the Asian title on stage.

 

cool4st :

I've never been to any LAN tournaments overseas. And my most memorable moment would be winning the MESA Nomadic Masters in which I was standing-in for NKT.

 

Derek:

One of the most memorable events I played in was eXTREMELAND 2019. My first international LAN event was the regional finals in Singapore, and the first time I played a Tier 1 Asian event was the Asia finals in Shanghai.

 

Fr0k:

Every time we flew to tournaments it was exciting. My favorite tournament is the IESF World Championship 2023, despite the loss there it was very cool. The most memorable moment so far is the victory at the IESF Asian Championship.

• What’s your favorite CS map and preferred in-game role. How do you adapt their playstyle based on the map or their role?

 

XigN:

I guess Overpass, because I have the best position on the map. and I don't care about any role now, I can play any role, I have confidence. I just watch demo and try to learn from good players, and tried to play a lot for adapt that position

Xerolte:

Nuke would be my most favorite CS map. I think I prefer being a dynamic rifler.
 

icyvl0ne :

I am not sure… it's maybe Mirage/Ancient or sometimes i love playing Anubis, prefer my roles on t side - it's like a entry fragger, sometimes i can take a lurk pos, on CT side prefer is like a rotation player, in CS community it's called "star positions."

 

cool4st:

My favorite role is AWP. And my favorite maps are Anubis, Ancient and Mirage.

Derek:

My favorite map is the old Inferno, and my preferred role is Support and site Anchor on CT. I think playstyle and roles are not a big deal just because of how the game is where you have to constantly switch from being aggressive or passive depending on the situation, and also be prepared to do different roles throughout a game.

 

Fr0k:

My favorite map is de train. I like riflers they have more mobility in action.I watch demos and analyze some things and try to remake them for myself.

 

• What’s your training routine? How do the team coordinate with each other, and what strategies do they use to improve teamwork?

Practice hours are usually between 13:00 - 17:00 and 18:00 - 21:00, we mostly focus on scrims. We are just trying to understand each other, and we believe our teammates' ideas.

 

Hi, guys we wanna say thank you and love you all, who cheerings us. we will try our best, so please keep cheering us, and pray for us haha. for aspiring esports players, If you keep grinding hard your skills, and learning the game from pro players. one day you will reach your goal, so don't give up. Thank you all!