Fnatic - A profesional gaming team

A lot of people from the Starcraft community will obviously know who you are, but for those who don't, can you give them a little background on yourself?

Well, my name is Duran Parsi aka Xeris. I'm 22 years old and living in Los Angeles for the most part these days - I've pretty much been playing this game since I was 10 years old and hope to be playing for another 10 years if possible.

Now you are obviously no stranger to leading teams, having been at the helm of Team-LighT for five years, but how does it feel to now have the chance to lead a team in an organisation such as FnaticMSI?

It feels pretty rewarding, like many years of hard work paying off. FnaticMSI has one of the best reputations in eSports so I'm proud to be given the opportunity to help build something special with Starcraft and Starcraft II. I'm really happy to be coming to a place that can bring the stability and support I need to do my work to the best of my abilities. I hope that this will be my home from now until the time when I leave gaming for good (who knows when that will be).

How does it feel to have lead a successful team for so long and then have to part ways with them fairly recently, and then come back to a big organisation soon after where you will have to build another team from the bottom up?

A bit strange. Ending my old team was one of the hardest decisions of my life, but I felt it was the right time, we were not able to get better and we would've had to go backwards, which is something I would never want to see happen. All good things come to an end, as they say. I am pretty excited to be able to build a new team from the bottom up, especially since SC2 is brand new it's like everyone will essentially be starting from scratch. I'm pretty excited to say the least.

The Rookie Draft system is fairly new to FnaticMSI,  have you ever used a system like this to recruit players?

I used to do recruitment tournaments with my team and they worked pretty well, for example that's how KawaiiRice joined us in 2008. I think it is a pretty good way to find strong players who are committed to joining your team.

Xeris and KawaiiRice

What are your views on the Rookie Draft? Do you think it's a good way to scout out new amateur talent?

I definitely think it's a good way to scout talent, although with the current state of BW I think it is pretty rare to find a completely new 'talent', especially since I feel pretty confident about knowing the skill level of most of the players in the scene... however it is a good way to find out who is truly dedicated to joining, I think the most dedicated people will always turn out the best even if they are not the most skilled at the start.

How much input do you have on who the final four will be or is it left down to who takes the top four spots in the draft?

I don't necessarily think just who gets top 4 will determine it, I'm going to be looking at a variety of factors in deciding who ultimately gets to join. I'm going to have a chat with all of the top 16 players, go through their replay packs and tournament games so I can get a good feel for how they play. For example, if a player gets in the top 4 from cheesing every game I don't think that would necessarily be a good fit (since cheesing all the time is a really inconsistent way to try and get wins). Also, I'm going to be looking at people who can really contribute as people outside of just logging on to play clanwars and tournaments - there will be a lot of consideration outside of the final placement.

Going back to your leadership over the years, doesn't leading a team for so long, then jumping to another organisation in a matter of months, not tire you out? Have you ever wanted to take a break from Starcraft and leading teams?

I guess so, everyone probably has moments like that... but with my old team I was such an integral part of keeping it going especially during the difficult times, I felt very responsible and couldn't have stood leaving at any point, plus there would really be nobody to take over for me. I guess after LighT had ended I would have taken a break if this FnaticMSI opportunity did not present itself, I got lucky (or unlucky maybe!?) that I was able to find a new home relatively quickly. I never get tired though I'm like an iron man rar.

Now you're by no means just a 'background man' you yourself are seen in the community as a very good Starcraft player and you have proven this in tournaments such as the Collegiate Starleague. Do you prefer the leading side over the playing side?

I would by no means say I am a top player... I guess what I would say is that compared to the average gamer, I am very good. I can't compete with top foreigners (outside of PvT on a few specific maps when I can beat B+ or A- players) and definitely not with Koreans. However in the CSL for example (University league) I was one of the top players. So overall I would kind of classify myself as one of the best of the bad players, if that makes sense. I love playing but I just don't have enough time or energy to devote myself to becoming a really top level player.

With FnaticMSI about to become the second team you have built from scratch, do you thrive off the work that brings? Seeing something come from nothing and knowing that you were the catalyst?

I didn't build LighT entirely from scratch, it was a Division 3 level team when I joined first in 2004, but over the past 5.5 years I helped it become one of the top teams. I do enjoy the challenge of building something from basically the ground up, I guess I get that trait from my dad (he does this with businesses), it is a really rewarding experience to see players that I recruited when they were little newbies become top rated players; for example when AeriALs and Shad jointed ToT I was really sad to have two of my good friends leave but I was also very proud because I knew I had put my faith in them when nobody knew who they were. Its the same thing with KawaiiRice, SchiSm and a bunch of other players that have been a part of my team. I think that the players obviously put in the most effort and maybe I've just gotten lucky, but I like to think that I at least played some role in what happened with the team and players; playing is MUCH more difficult than leading though so hats off to everyone who has been in LighT for putting in the effort to make us a top team.

Xeris and ex Team-LighT players at WCG Canada; CoolT(camera), SchiSm, Freaky, JF, Senator, Xeris, Bandit, AeriALs

Is there anyone in the community who you look up to?

I guess if I had to say I look up to somebody it would be Mondragon because he built ToT from nothing and it has been one of the most consistently good teams for almost the entire history of BW and he's been a great player forever. That amount of longevity is something I really respect. He's also a really down to earth person from my dealings with him, so he gets a lot of admiration from me.

You've played with and mentored a lot of talent in the past who we now know on the scene, such as KawaiiRice and Castro, do you keep in contact with the past Team-LighT players?

I'd like to think I keep in touch with almost everyone. For example: Louder, Machine, KawaiiRice, SchiSm, Freaky, Future, StRyKeR, Tear, Tenryu, DeA, Sun, Bandit, Gretorp, AeriALs... just to name a few, I <3 everyone a lot!

Did you ever think about asking some of them to jump into the Rookie Draft and possibly work with you again?

Ya, I pretty much told a lot of people to go play it.

Now you had some great achievements under Team-LighT but what do you see as being your realistic targets for the FnaticMSI team when you know which of the four amateur players will be joining the ranks?

t's a bit tough because of the leagues, we might be able to get a Division 1 BWCL spot, but in ICCUP and WGTCL we will have to climb from the bottom Divisions... so realistically there isn't much we can do in team leagues unless (hopefully) a SC2 league starts soon! Our goal however will be to make 1st place in any lower division and top three in any higher division of a team league we play in. Apart from that, I hope that we will have a strong presence at WCG and any other big LAN events that happen throughout 2010.

You've really done a lot for the North American Starcraft scene such as organising over ten LAN events, being one of the administrators of the oldest league in the non-Korean scene and co-founder of the Collegiate Starleague just to name a few. Now that you are part of a predominantly European organisation, do you think you would be able to do the same for the European scene or are you more just focused on the four players you will eventually be managing?

Well I've done a lot of stuff for European players, WGTCL is mostly European, I've hosted a 128 team tournament for all teams and several other tournaments like <3 Game and Nostalgia most recently that have had players throughout the foreign world (America, Europe)... it just happens that I guess I'm most known for hosting a lot of LAN events, which of course I can't do in Europe because I don't live there and it's kinda too expensive to travel to Europe just to host a tournament :P but yes I plan on still doing what I do in all aspects, I will work hard always.

Do you have any advice for the Rookie Draft players currently duking it out for the final four spots?

If you really want to be on this team, let it show. Also, it's not necessarily about the games... there are so many other factors I will be looking at, I.E. community contributions and involvement, fan base, play style, personality, communication skills, etc... I am looking not just for good players, but for good people. So yeah, train up and all that jazz. By the way, hopefully nobody forgets MSI is sponsoring a laptop to the winner, so there should be a LOT of motivation to do really well in the tournament.

You've had a chance to play the SC2 beta for a few weeks now, what are your first impressions of it so far?

Aside from the issue of micro, I absolutely love the game so far. It's different enough from BW to make it fresh and fun, but it has enough similiarities to still be 'SC'... I think Blizzard has done a great job and I'm looking forward to the final product.

What do you think so far about the balance in SC2? A lot of people so far have been complaining that everyone plays Terran and there is a small amount of Zerg.

I think overall it's pretty well balanced especially for a game in such early stages, that's a good sign. It seems true though, there are so many Terran and Protoss players and very few Zergs. I think Zerg needs an overhaul, not because it's weak but because it seems like a really boring race to play. There are only a handful of different build orders and unit combos you can make for every matchup so it's pretty meh. Terran and Protoss have so many more options and there are lots of exciting possibilities with those two races, I loev Protoss in fact!

Do you think it will be a natural progression from SC1 to SC2, or will it be more like what CS 1.6 and CS:Source are at the moment with a split community?

I think it's too early to tell. I have a feeling there will always be a SC community because of the amount of die hard SC fans, but I think in terms of a mainstream audience, SC2 will come to dominate. I just think it has all the elements of a game that can attract both hardcore gamers and casual fans. If they just improved micro in SC2 it would be a hug gigantic monstrosity of an amazing game.

Starcraft in Europe has always been naturally smaller than the Asian scene but there's a lot of hype in Europe surrounding SC2, do you think this is Europe's chance to finally build a big mainstream Starcraft community?

I think that Europe will definitely build a big mainstream SC community, as will the Americas. SC2 has all the pieces to make a really wonderful game and I really love how fast paced the games are. Average BW games are between 15-17 minutes, and many games can go on even longer... unless there are pro-gamers playing many BW games can be very boring to watch at times, especially with the skill differences between top foreigners and the mid level foreigners. However, with SC2 the games are MUCH shorter and the game is really build around aggressive play, so there is action even from the very first few minutes of every game. It will get REALLY big in Europe and North America (I hope).

In a realistic world, do you ever think that the Western World can build an eSports and SC community of that to rival Korea and how seriously they take SC?

To be honest I don't think anywhere will ever acquire the gaming culture of Korea or China. I think SC2 will be HUGE in Europe and possibly the Americas, but I can't see it ever rivalling Korea. I think it will be similar to WC3 where there are European players among the best in the world, but I think the majority of top level gamers will almost always come from Asia unless there is just some magical cultural shift outside of Asia that makes hardcore gaming much more socially accepted (I don't think it'll happen). Europeans and Americans are too cool to be professional gamers, joke!

Any last words for your fans and anyone reading?

Thanks to all my LighT family and friends and thanks to FnaticMSI for giving me this opportunity. Also i'd like to thank our sponsors here at FnaticMSI, MSI, SteelSeries, Bigfoot Networks, Slappa and UGAME, they are the reason that the orange and black is known throughout the world as being top gamers. I don't know if I have any fans, but if I do big <3's to you... I'd definitely be glad for anyone who appreciates the work I do and will keep doing. of course, I think everyone should go follow the CSL (www.cstarleague.com) because it's super awesome! and find us on Facebook! Thankyou.