From 1.6 to Call of Duty and back to CS: Source and an unlikely CGS Draft - This is David Olander-Persson's story

We all came from somewhere. «olander» came from CS: 1.6 through Call of Duty and back to CS: Source. In this photo he is playing with «vizzion» from Stockholm Magnetik as part of Volt Gaming during SHG Open in Copenhagen in 2007. Photo: David Olander-Persson

Name:
David Olander-Persson

Position:
Counter-Strike: Source player

About the author
David Olander-Persson is the captain of the Berlin CS:Source team. The twenty two year old live in Sweden where he studies information technology in addition to being a professional gamer.

Why did I choose to play computer games so much – and why did it never get boring?

Everything started when I got my first PC, a 133 MHz Pentium that my mom and dad bought in the summer of 1995. I was hooked from the beginning and played mostly Doom and Quake it but I also tried StarCraft. My next PC was a monster:

It was a Pentium II 450 MHz and I tried Counter-Strike on it for the first time. Me and some people gathered at a friend’s house to play - we were like 10-15 people there having fun playing Counter-Strike and StarCraft all night long. During that time I did not have a broadband connection at my house so I used to go online and play on the Geekboys and MAFIA servers with a modem. When this thing called «broadband» arrived I had to get it. Unfortunately I had to get a wireless version as we could not get ADSL. It really sucked; the ping was good but it had a lot of packet loss when it rained.

I still played as much as I could and lagged around on different servers.

My first actual team was RAZZIA and I played with NightMan from Stockholm Magnetik at one time. Later on when it became a little more serious I hooked up with a local clan called «Spankers». The team was compiled of people close to where I lived and we had great fun and we were decent too without getting involved in LAN play. My next team was one of my greatest teams I have ever played in. It was called «Rounders» and I played with «IsKall» who later went on to win CPL Dallas with «EYEBALLERS».

At this time I realized I wanted to go to events more and more. I was only 15 years old but I was getting serious – I enjoyed playing at LAN tournaments and wanted to make some money from playing. The next step was competition in Växjö, Sweden called NordicLAN with «grillen», «korre», «durst» and «k0z». «grillen» and «k0z» was the co-founders of the old clan «SUMO» that gave «2 easy», who had stars like «fisker» and «brunk», a run for their money at one of the Rendevouz LAN’s a few months earlier. It was time to prove that I could play with them. I had a really good tournament and we won it all. I still have the demos from that tournament and remember some of the sick shots I did.

After that tourney «grillen» and «k0z» asked me if I was interested in starting «SUMO» again - and I sure was. We decided who we wanted for the team. The final line up was «k0z», «grillen», «olander», «blixth» and «KixeR». Our problem was that «blixth» could not play that much and since our goal was CPL Denmark, in October 2003, we decided to bring in «Telsek» - an old-school player from the legendary team «Nordic Division».




We did what we could with only a few weeks of preparation but the event was awful. The only thing that was up to par was the computers. The chairs were too low, the tablecloth moved when you moved your mouse, the air condition in the venue made it very cold and it was hard to perform. I would have wanted to play with gloves on if I could.

Despite these problems we did OK I guess, finishing in 16th place out of 64 teams. We lost to «JohnnyR’s» AWP in a 16-10 defeat against the Germans in «Mousesports».

After I got back from CPL Denmark our team split up. Some people lost motivation but I kept on playing for a while before I got tired of the game. I wanted something new.

Then «iNFiNITY» from the Swedish team «A-laget» asked me if I wanted to play «Call of Duty» with him, «Les Seules» star «Queen» and some other players. I went down to the store and bought the game the next day. And I loved it!
«A-laget» was ranked as one of the two best teams in Europe at the time and we fought Finnish «BamseCo» for the number 1 spot. We had some great matches.

A few months later «A-laget» split up because «iNFiNITY» had too much work to play on. Me and «zEm», who is playing «Call of Duty 4» for «Fnatic» these days, formed a new team called «Team Epitaph. » It was a really good team with «Dark», «vanillah», «okla», «flowster» and «zEm» - we got to go to «SmauILP» in Italy and finished fifth. I guess we could have won but it was our first event together.




This team also split up and I joined «Dignitas» with «zEm», «vanillah», «OmegaN», «Tobban» and «LinQan.» We had loads of fun together and after we won «Optihack» in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2005 I decided to quit gaming and go to college instead.

The college thing did not last very long. After one year Jonas Nordqvist told me to try Counter-Strike: Source. I had introduced him to CS and he returned that favor.

I played Source for a while but my computer could not handle it – and I did not like the game because of that and it was in its early releases so it was unbalanced and had a lot of bugs in it too. I took a break for some months and when I came back it had grown into a much better game.

Little did I know that my first Source team was populated with CGS players to be. We played under the American organization zEx and our lineup was «Nordqvist», «Fifflaren», «majk», «vizzion» and myself.» We went to Finland for «Assembly» in 2006 and finished second after a great run through the lower bracket. Insignia Cadre beat us on the second map by 16 to 14 and we had some disputes in the wake of the tournament that lead to «majk» and «Fifflaren’s» departure.

This next period saw us flip-flopping between different organizations, we brought on «maths» and«tyron» to play for «Volt Gaming» as we won «SHGOpen» in Denmark in 2007. After that we went to France to play «LAN-79» for «Dignitas.» Ironically we lost to «majk», «Fifflaren», «ferus», «HaZ» and «haunted» - twice. I did not mind that much though, I was satisfied with how I had played.




As the prospect of CGS came up I found myself back with «majk» and «Fifflaren» again. We joined «NoA» and they were nice enough to send us to the Combine – that was something no other organization was willing to do and I will be forever grateful to them for that – especially to the head manager Martin «guddo» Cording. He is on my top 3 list of funny people and manage the Danish 1.6 team that play for the German organization «mTw».

The Combine and Draft is history and here we are today. I am really eager to get re-drafted – the best thing I have ever won was the CGS European Final in Birmingham. The only thing there is to do now is play, play, play and play to improve.


My name is David Olander-Persson and I am going to win the CGS World Final this season – what about you?