Today I had the privilege of talking Linus “b0bbzki” Lundqvist. The Swedish player recently signed for international team Entropy Gaming where he plays as a rifler. Entropy recently played in the ECS Qualifiers; losing in the Grand Final to Team X.
Linus stood in at this event, and after the event, he was signed permanently. I spoke to him about the recent big changes in the CS:GO scene, how the Swedish scene is developing and a bit about himself too.
First of all, let’s talk about the recent change to coaching which Valve announced a few days ago. Valve essentially limited coaches to only being able to talk during half time and during one of four 30 second timeouts a team can take. Obviously, this new rule breaks teams with a coach acting as an IGL. What do you personally think about the decision?
Well about this coaching thing, obviously it’s just ridiculous since a lot of teams depend on the coach for coach calling, to motivate and cheer them up and etc. So I just think it’s a bad thing.
From one big piece of news to the other, the Godsent and Fnatic trade. Obviously, this has completely shook up the Swedish scene and the entire world’s scene, what do you think about the change? Do you agree with others in saying that Fnatic pulled the short straw?
About Godsent and Fnatic changing and trading players with each other, I really don’t think either of the teams pulled the short straw. All of these players are playing in these teams for a reason, all of the players have quite a high potential, so I don’t see any of the teams pulling a short straw right now.
Let’s talk about Swedish CS a bit more. The scene is ever growing and is the best country for Counter Strike in the world, you have Ninjas in Pyjamas, Fnatic, Godsent, players like Olofmeister, Get_Right, Maikelele and yourself, how does it feel to be involved in such a big scene?
The Swedish scene is growing a lot and fast too, and I’m very glad to be apart of it of course.
“If you are playing to break through, go and try to play a lot of the upcoming qualifiers, if you want to break through you need to get your name out there in the scene.”
Did you find it hard to break through as it is such a big scene or was it easy for you to break through? How long did it take?
Well, it wasn’t easy to “break through.” I started playing CS:GO about a year ago and I never had any connections or anything, I began right from the bottom. It took around 1 year until I found a team which i played in called “Exertus Esports.” That’s where it all started.
From a viewer’s point of view, obviously as more competition comes in it gets more exciting, and the Swedish scene is always getting more exciting, for example, Maikelele’s new team is sure to make an impact, but from a player’s point of view, how do you feel about new teams coming in and adding more competition?
About the new teams coming in and adding more competition is just fun. To see more teams evolve and get better is a really funny thing to watch so I think more competition is better; it really helps the scene grow.
Onto Counter Strike as a whole now, do you think CS:GO would benefit with a The Invitational type tournament, or do you think the 3 major tournaments per year format is better?
I think the 3 major tournaments per year format is a lot better than the one tournament per year format, I’m not sure why, though.
“Everything was just perfect, every game we were unstoppable and just shut down every single enemy team every single game.”
Valve have made some bold decisions recently regarding gambling and coaching. Do you think Counter Strike is heading in the right direction?
About Valve banning betting, in my opinion, it’s a good thing, but it will probably make that the scene lose a lot of viewers, we might see lower stats for tournaments, etc. But with the coaching thing, i have no idea what they are thinking about. It should stay the same.
Now a bit about yourself, you recently moved to Entropy a few days ago. Was there any big reason behind that move or did you just see the opportunity and take it?
I was standing in for Entropy Gaming in the ECS Qualifier and made it to Grand finals. I just felt that everything was perfect with them, and after the qualifier, they asked me if I wanted to tryout with them. I tried out and they contacted me saying they had decided that I should join and I did.
You recently competed in the ECS Qualifiers, tell us a bit more about that.
In the ECS Qualifiers everything was just perfect, every game we were unstoppable and just shut down every single enemy team every single game except the final against Team X. It just simply felt great.
Of course, it’s one thing to be featured on HLTV, but to top the rating chart with a 1.53 rating like you have, it must feel amazing. How do you feel about that?
Haha, I had my ups and downs for a while, but now it feels like I really am back on top of my game in the best form ever in-game.
Finally, what can you say to help people trying to break through onto the professional scene?
If you are playing to break through, go and try to play a lot of the upcoming qualifiers, if you want to break through you need to get your name out there in the scene 🙂
Thanks for your time Linus. Any last things to say? Any shoutouts?
Thank you too! Thanks for the interview! I want to make a shoutout to Entropy Gaming, and my homeboy Anando!
