{"id":12488,"date":"2025-07-09T10:10:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T10:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/?p=12488"},"modified":"2025-07-09T13:40:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T13:40:00","slug":"exclusive-interview-with-fredrik-roej-jorgensen-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/exclusive-interview-with-fredrik-roej-jorgensen-part-2","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive Interview with Fredrik \u2018roeJ\u2019 J\u00f8rgensen \u2013 part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

In the second part of the conversation<\/a>, we go beyond just gameplay. We explore how Counter-Strike can evolve, the growing tension between Valve and the community, and what it really takes to balance pro play with streaming. From up-and-coming talent to underrated veterans, insights on other esports, and thoughts on CS2\u2019s development – here\u2019s a closer look at where the game and its players are heading.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does anything need to change on Counter-Strike going forward?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Counter-Strike<\/a> is probably one of the games that you don’t really have to do anything to it, and you can just keep it going for like almost forever. I think it’s just such a great game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I played a bunch of different games growing up and Counter-Strike is the only one where I just never got bored of it. Even though it’s such a simple game, there’s not really anything fancy happening, it\u2019s simple but there are so many levels and layers to becoming a good player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even just looking at it now if you look back just eight years it’s just the same maps it looks fairly the same the same weapons there’s nothing like big changes obviously now CS 2 was a fairly quite a big change but just in general, I think the level has just grown and the competition is just getting so much better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s new play styles and other things evolving, Counter-Strike is probably one of the few games that could just pretty much keep going, maybe get a new map here and there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously I think everyone in the community is fairly unhappy with how things are moving from Valve, but at the end of the day people love the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could get better I guess, maybe with CS2 they can make some bigger changes, but pretty much keep the game to itself and it could just go on forever almost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the crossover like between professional players and streamers?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Counter-Strike is probably one of the games in which, because of how Valve runs things, you have to be playing it all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are so many tournaments, at least if you\u2019re playing tier one, which means travelling and other things \u2013 that it makes it very hard to find time to stream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve seen some do it, m0NESY is one of them who’s probably been streaming quite a lot considering he’s playing at the highest level, so it’s definitely possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think you need to be a certain age where you can just pretty much keep going and playing the game for 16, 18 hours a day and without an issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I definitely tried to do it. I had some periods of times where I was streaming for a little bit, and I think I also tried to keep it going when I had a team, but it’s just almost impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was impossible for me at least, after a long practice day, you’re playing tournaments all the time, you’re playing the game so much and working so much. To have time to stream and be on a camera and actually entertain people it’s very tough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that’s one of the reasons why we don’t see that many pro players stream that much. The players streaming Counter-Strike that are very popular are usually retired players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who are currently the best Counter-Strike players in the world?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There’s a lot of exciting new players and I think we’re definitely seeing a shift with CS2 being more individually based.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s a lot of players who might not have that much experience, but they’re just very, very good individually and have been playing the game a ton. Those kinds of players are moving up and showing some great levels in being able to compete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think a guy like kyousuke is a great example, he played for Spirit Academy which is kind of a tier 3 team but he’s just stomping on everyone even though he hasn’t played with experienced players before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 years ago, the game was so much more fixated around the tactical side of things in executions and grenades and all that. Now you really need to have a very good aim and some good individual skill to be able to compete at the highest level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have that, it\u2019s maybe 60 or 70 percent covered and then the rest 30 percent is just about learning the game and being on a team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I definitely think we see a shift there. So, it’s super exciting because it gives room for younger players to just go very quickly from nothing to tier one Counter-Strike, which is exciting for both the fans and for players in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would your advice be to young players wanting to turn pro?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The difference that I had from other players in Denmark at that time was that I was just playing more. I was putting more time in the game. I was playing more deathmatch than everyone else. I was playing more phases than everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also think that I had some strength in being a little bit older. I had had other jobs and worked with teams that gave me good experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of my team-mates liked playing alongside me, I think some younger players maybe forget the importance of that because they have an ego or want to play their own game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They can then get a bad name in the scene and if you get a bad name in the scene \u2013 that’s gonna delay you for quite some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve had multiple times where I was looking for players in a team or like I’ve heard players go to teams where you would like to pick this guy but we heard that he’s not a nice guy to play with \u2013 you don’t pick that guy up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then he has lost his chance because he didn’t behave when he was playing on a team so I think for me I think that is my best advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do everything you can to be a good teammate even though it can be hard and even though you’re in a team you’re not happy with then you just need to still be a good guide towards your teammates because that just means a lot having people root for you and say good for you when you’re kind moving in the scene and those kind of things. That’s like the most important thing outside of obviously putting in hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there any ever celebrity crossover with Counter-Strike?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s not many pro players streaming that much because it’s hard to stream and be on the top level. It’s hard to actually see those players play consistently on streaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So most of the time you will just see ex-pro players or just content creators in general play, and it can be hard to learn from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can’t really watch that many people actually play pro games from their point of view with voice comms and those kinds of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think it was just about trying to watch as many people playing FPL, which is obviously not the best, but that’s how it is when the schedule is so hard for the pro players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are your hopes for Counter-Strike for the future?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I think the transition in Counter-Strike from CS:GO to CS2, I think that was even quite a big change with the grenades. I personally didn’t really mind it. I think it’s good to have something new and something refreshing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember back in the day before CS2 came out, everyone was like my god, this just ruined the game, the smokes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think the biggest thing that annoyed the community was that the game didn’t really feel that ready when it came out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It didn\u2019t feel as smooth playing the game and getting headshots, the movement and all those kinds of things. So, I think if they just focus on actually having the game feel nice to play, then they can pretty much do almost anything they want without doing too much touching on just the game mechanics itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think the most important thing is just when you’re playing the game it just feels nice when you’re shooting people in the head. Those kinds of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that should be their main focus, they kind of dropped a little bit in that sense. Because CS:GO was just such a great game and it felt so nice to play and move around with movement where CS2 not so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel like obviously I hope they will fix that in the long run, we’ll see. I think that’s definitely the most important thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are there any really underrated players in the game?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One guy that I think is a little bit underrated, just because Ninjas in Pyjamas<\/a> (NiP) is not performing that well, but it’s a guy like Shush, a guy that I played with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shouldn’t be in a team like that, he should be in one of the best teams in the world. There is maybe oversight there, I would love to see him go to Astralis<\/a> maybe or just a great Danish team like he was on Heroic<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m kind of sad that he got left out of Heroic when Jabbi and Stavn left. Now he’s just with NiP, which is a little bit of a weird team. I think he’s doing pretty good in NiP, but he’s definitely underrated and should be on a way better team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you list these games in terms of how hard they are?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n