Catching Up With Phoenix

Posted by: bootman

bootman: Hi Michelle. First off how have you been since the end of the season, and what have you been up to since getting back from Los Angeles?

Phoenix: Hey Boot :) Well, I went home for about a month to get a new computer made and practice for the Pro-Am. H2O Evil (Kenny) and NinjaCW (Chris) came to join me and we lanned for a few weeks, which was a lot of fun. Now I'm in back at the Dojo/Tom Brady's house in Virginia with Chris training in several different games. I like to keep busy ^_^.

bootman: As some may know, prior to the CGS season and even the 2008 combine, you were away from home bootcamping with some of your closest DoA pals. How excited were your friends and family once you returned home?

Phoenix: Well, my mom and my brother were happy to see me and it was nice to be home again with them for a while, but my family and my friends are pretty used to me being away and on the move, and so am I. I get antsy if I stay at home too long, haha.

bootman: Now, word on the street is that you’ve picked up a little game called Counter-Strike: Source. What interested you about the game that made you decide to give it a shot?

Phoenix: Hm, well the fact that it's such a big part of CGS got me interested initially in it. The points from CS:S are so important and can really make or break a match, so I wanted to learn more about it. Plus the fact that I love first person shooters ^_^. It's actually a lot easier for me to understand strategy and tactics in shooters then it was for me to learn how to play fighters lol.

bootman: Going off of the previous question, are there any other first person shooters that you enjoy playing on the PC or console?

Phoenix: I'm a big Halo fan :P but I haven't really played any other shooters. It was pretty awkward at first because I've never played a PC shooter before, and learning to not move while shooting was a hard habit to break.

bootman: Tell the people a little bit about your team. Who’s on your starting roster and what’s everyone’s role on the team? (AWPer, rifler, strat caller, etc…).

Phoenix: The team name is DGF Inc (Don't Give a F*** Incorporated) which is the best name ever, btw. Our starting players are NinjaCW (rifle and master strat caller), Sackamonjaro (rifle and master meat shield), H2O Evil (rifle and master baiter), and myself (AWP and master rager). The rest of our roster includes Comebackdan and CaliJared from CGS, as well as Switch-blade and MeowN.

bootman: How has Pro-Am been going for your team so far? And how do you guys prepare for a match?

Phoenix: Lol we've been off to a rocky start, but we're doing better than we previously thought we would. We've played two matches so far and lost them both. The first match we were rolled but the second match was very close, so we have hope that at some point we might actually win a match :D Although we did go into this as a joke and thought that we wouldn't even get a round on the worst team, we've gotten caught up in the competition and really give our all every game. We've all improved a lot and most of us have been training just as hard for this as we do for the games we're known for :)

bootman: As most know after seeing your team’s lineup, does your team look to outside sources for advice and help learning the game? Your franchise’s Source team did win the individual World Finals right?

Phoenix: That they did :D Someone on our team has gotten help at one point or another from Eileen (who started out as a CS player), Paradox, Clown, Brawwrski, Rebound, Moe, and several others who aren't CGS players. We've been really lucky to have so many great players take the time to show us the ropes ^_^

bootman: What about your good buddy Bobby “weenus” Hicks? Has his new Counter-Strike: Source series helped you out at all?

Phoenix: Actually, yes. I don't know about everyone else, but I've read them all so far and they've never failed to teach me something new :)

bootman: Let’s get back to some normal questions that inquiring minds want to know. After bootcamping for so long, then going to L.A. for the season, were you at all drained from training so much?

Phoenix: I'm not sure. I might have been, but I think I was only drained from training so much in DoA exclusively. As soon as I had something new to train in I was good to go with all the energy and enthusiasm/obsession I always have when training ^_^

bootman: Since returning home are there any games besides Counter-Strike: Source that you’ve picked up playing to take a break from Dead or Alive 4?

Phoenix: I'm ashamed to say that I picked up Warhammer yesterday. I swore to myself I'd never get it because I figured it's just a fad game that I'll get sick of in a couple weeks, but all my friends are on it so I couldn't resist >_< I fell to the powers of peer pressure lol. I've also picked up Soul Calibur 4 like many of my DoA friends, but that's more training so I'm not sure if I'd call that a break, haha.

bootman: Alright Michelle, I’d like to thank you for taking some time and answering these questions for all the fans out there. Do you have any last words for the people out there?

Phoenix: Thanks Boot ^_^ All I gotta say is keep an eye on DGF cause we're gonna rock some skulls! ...maybe :P