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Interview with DIG CS:GO player, Voltage
Logan "Voltage" Long got recently promoted to ESL Pro League and is now playing under the Team Dignitas banner. Along with some new and old teammates, he is now facing the biggest challenges of his still brief CS:GO career. Voltage took the time to answer some questions about his promotion to the professional ranks, his daily practice routines, and how the team is facing the string of bad results they're currently in.
Hi Logan, hope you are doing well. Let's start by talking about your fast ascension to ESL Pro League. You recently won Mountain Dew League, after winning ESEA Main Divison just a few months before. How does it feel climbing up the ranks so fast until you eventually became professional?
Voltage: It's definitely a wonderful feeling being able to climb the ranks so quickly. I feel like it's very common that people play 4 or 5 seasons of MDL before they manage to make Pro League or even get picked up by a pro team. I think it's very important for people to understand the gap between mid-top pro league. A big fear everyone has in MDL is definitely that they won't get into pro, especially since the new rules have been implemented where you must be 16 or older to be in MDL. The older you are, the more you worry about college and possibly not being able to make it in CSGO.
What are the major differences you're noticing in EPL comparing to MDL?
Voltage: Being in pro has been a big eye-opening experience because it gets to the point where it doesn't matter how good you are individually, the way the top teams use their nades and are able to exploit your positioning, it's very hard to adapt to and learn how to counter them. That is why players like Fallen and Guardian are so good, because they know how to exploit teams with the AWP and really open up the round.
What does your personal practice and warm up routine consist of?
Voltage: My personal routine consists of exactly 1,000 kills in Aim_Botz as soon as I get home from school, alternating between rifles, pistols and the AWP. One major thing that has helped me is definitely working on what I think is weak. For example, recently I have been working on my spray in Aim_Botz because I feel that it is lacking in comparison to my bursting or tapping.
What about the team practices - how are they going?
Voltage: The team practices have been going pretty well, it's definitely hard knowing if your ideas work because something can work 100 times in scrims but fail completely in a match because of how the game plays, and with the time gap between games it's pretty difficult to know if your setups or strats end up working or not.
What evolution and progress are you seeing in the team after these first few weeks as professional players?
Voltage: I can definitely see everyone's confidence improving a lot, especially grim. Coming into pro league, I think we were all pretty nervous except for Mitch due to his pro league experience that has really shown during his time with us. Another thing I see improving is decision making and learning to adapt to what the other team is doing, which is definitely needed in pro league.
You're now playing against some players that you've probably grown up admiring. How does it feel and how much of a challenge it is to you?
Voltage: It's definitely very difficult to play against a player you used to admire and be confident because even though you might be a better player than they currently are, you still got a lot of what you do from them and you have to respect that. I do think that when you get into a match, you cannot idolize anyone on the other team or you've lost before the game even started because you're going to be afraid or simply chalk up dying to "well they're just better", which might not have been the case in that situation.
Now that you're playing at this level, the pressure you must feel is now higher than ever. How intimidating is it for you personally?
Voltage: The pressure isn't too much for me really since most of our games so far have been ones where people kind of expect us to lose, but we have been putting up pretty good numbers against teams like Liquid and NRG who have been looking very strong. I do think a little bit of pressure is a good thing because it makes you want to perform at your highest skill level and minimize mistakes.
You're not having the ideal start in EPL (with 6 losses in the 6 matches at the moment of writing this interview). How is the atmosphere and confidence in the team?
Voltage: I know the confidence of our team is dwindling because of our rough start, but at the same time we realize that the teams we're playing are way more experienced and have been in the league way longer than we have. I know we're still confident that we can pick up a few wins and definitely upset some teams that will not put work into us because they think it's going to be a steamroll.
Do you feel confident that you will be able to turn this bad moment around?
Voltage: I feel very confident that we can turn this around with whoever we decide to pick up because our options, although small, are definitely going to help us improve. Not only that, but our showing versus Liquid was very strong and instilled a lot of confidence in the team.
Are there any words you would like to say to end this interview?
Voltage: I would definitely like to thank everyone who is still supporting us and have faith in us to turn this season around. I know when we were first picked up, a lot of people were doubting the decision from the org and it was really demoralizing seeing everyone basically write us off as a waste of money/time. So I very much appreciate everyone giving us love and we hope to show you that we can turn this around. We're not giving up, and I hope you will not give up on us. Thank you.
I want to wish Voltage and his team the best of luck for the future and I'm confident they will be able to turn this around and succeed. I also want to thank him for taking his time to answer these questions.
Don't forget to check Voltage's social media and stay tuned: