The truth about SpawN - Part 5*

- Written by chaOz (translated by heki)

 

 

"Who the fuck is SpawN?"

 

At the Krangparty LAN, Firat from  Lehnitz.Speedlink chose to wear the infamous "Who the fuck is"-t-shirt with "SpawN" added to it. An act that kind of rubbed SpawN the wrong way, and the rest of SK.swe for that matter. SpawN had always been popular on the swedish scene, well-liked by teammates and fans, and he always gladly showed up to different kinds of events. Naturally he was much respected for his skills in Counter-Strike as well. But this turned out to be one of the few times that SpawN found reason to show some temper. Apparently, SpawN and fisker had approached Lehnitz.Speedlink's table, talked to Firat and then pushed him off his chair. The police was called and SpawN and fisker returned to the hotel to avoid further confrontations. Later, Firat tried to explain that he got the t-shirt from Inferno-Online, the cafe known to be the place where SK-teams had been practicing for years. A couple of days later, Firat commented on this happening on the turkish site, GameCity-Türkiye:

citationstegn

It was only meant as a joke, and the t-shirt actually came from SK themselves (it's one of their sponsors who's printing the shirts). SpawN being somewhat intoxicated of course contributed to him getting pissed off. I can apologize for the t-shirt since it obviously was provoking, but i'm not going to defend SpawNs childish behaviour.

Firat - June 2006

 

Unfortunately, the story does not clarify whether or not SpawN really was intoxicated at the time.

Ironically though, Lehnitz.Speedlink met SK.swe in the final, and one might think that the confrontation between the two teams was still messing with the minds of the SK players, as Lehnitz managed to beat SK.swe with the score 7 - 16. A disappointing result, but perhaps in a sense quite indicative of the condition that the team was in.

 

SK.swe had run an intense program since their victory at CPL Winter 2005. As a natural course of action from such an achievement, expectations to the team rose immensely. The players knew very well how difficult it was to remain on top, and as a result they started off 2006 in a very serious manner. But the most important thing for the team was to have fun while playing, and everybody knows that if you play too hard, you'll eventually drain the game of fun. This applies to SpawN aswell.

 

On July the 31st 2006, SpawN decided not to renew his contract with SK. At the same time, ahl was given the opportunity to play with  mousesports for the upcoming CPL Summer along with his old buddy  elemeNt. This meant that SK.swe was two players short, and as ahl went inactive following his return from Dallas, Snajdan and the young talent of Jimmy 'allen' Allén were offered the chance to join, and with the release of SpawN, HeatoN didn't hesitate to air his opinion about the changes in SK. Following statement was published on NiP's website:

citationstegn

I think they will have it really tough losing SpawN since he is one of the absolute best players in the world and he himself can turn around many games for them in the last tournaments but they have also brought snajdan back which I think is great for them, he is really skilled and seems to be fitting in to the team really good, and about their last player.. lets just say no comments on him!

HeatoN - July 2006

 

 

HeatoN had only kind words in store for SpawN, and it wasn't going to be long until the two of them were reunited.

 

 

Back in the pyjamas

 

We've reached August 2006, and Fragbite had just published their Swedish rankings. SpawN was crowned the best allround-player, and despite numerous upcoming offers from various teams, SpawN chose to join NiP as a stand-in. He commented on this decision on NiP's website and later the GGL:

citationstegn

I've always looked up to HeatoN and Potti, as many others. I've met all the others at different lans and I've played NationsCup and CB with most of them but still I don't know them all too well. I'm looking forward to getting to know them better though. Replacing Heaton ain't easy, you [have] got a lot of responsibility. This dude is a fuckin' CS king, and that honestly means a lot for me, you know. And I hope I'm doing my job as a stand-in for him.

SpawN - August/October 2006

 

Ninjas in Pyjamas

• Abdisamad 'SpawN' Mohamed
• Robert 'RobbaN' Dahlström
• Dennis 'walle' Wallenberg
• Marcus 'zet' Sundström
• Oskar 'ins' Holm
• Emil 'HeatoN' Christensen (inactive)
• Tommy 'Potti' Ingemarsson (inactive)

 

HeatoN was unable to play two upcoming online matches against mousesports and  Pentagram G-Shock in the NGL league due to personal reasons, which granted SpawN the chance to prove his worth. And so he did. Both teams were destroyed and SpawN had proven to be the right replacement for HeatoN. This successful lineup was also used for the next coming matches, and NiP tore apart any opposition. No matter who they faced, they were dominated, and NiP won the NGL final against  fnatic with the score of 16 - 4. Soon after, Sweden had reached the final in the ENC where they defeated Norway in overtime. Fantastic times for SpawN who, once again, had found success.

 

 

 

 

The timing couldn't be better for a match against his former teammates in SK.swe. At the upcoming WCG qualifier, there was a good chance of meeting them in the final, and sure enough, that's how it played out. SK.swe generally had had great success with Goodfella on the roster, though the mood in the team was clearly affected by the absence of SpawN and ambitious attitude of vilden. Nevertheless, the team scored good results, hence the expectations about a very exciting and even match. SK.swe won the first map where especially allen displayed amazing play, but the ninjas turned things around, and the next two maps were won with the scores of 16 - 7 and 16 - 14. NiP had secured the swedish spot for the WCG, an event that meant a lot to SpawN, since it was the first major event he attended with SK.swe back in 2003.

 

We are now in september 2006, and the WCG was going to be held the following month. The expectations to the team were high. SpawN had seriously blended in well with the team and they had shown some of the greatest play ever seen in the history of CS. Having beat fnatic nine times in a row is highly indicative of just what the team was capable of. In the groupstage, the first team in line for NiP was  Team NoA on de_inferno. NoA came off strong and especially  Brian 'hpx' Christensen caused some heavy damage, and ultimately NoA proved to be too strong for NiP and they lost with the score of 9 - 16. NiP placed 2nd in their group, however, and advanced to the brackets. The ninjas were about to show that a rough start wasn't going to knock them out, when they subsequently destroyed  Evil Geniuses, Team3D and  hoorai, which placed them in the final, where they encountered the guys responsible for eliminating teams like NoA;  Pentagram G-Shock. The stage was set up outdoors with lots of spectators present, which greatly added to the atmosphere of a regular sportsevent. Immense cheering was present as NiP prevailed on the first map de_nuke with the score 16 - 11. But NiP had trouble closing the game.  Lukasz 'LUq' Wnek and  Filip 'Neo' Kubski lead their polish pals back into the game and won de_inferno with 12 - 16 and finally de_train with 4 - 16. This final went down in history as one of the best played matches of 2006, naturally due to the outstanding condition of both teams. So close, yet SpawN had to settle for 2nd place.

 

Even though the team was disappointed with the 2nd place, SpawN was just proud and happy to have placed top3. As he said after the match; sometimes you just lose. However, it's hard to say if the defeat had a bigger impact than he would like to admit. Nevertheless, SpawN started to do more independent stuff by himself and less stuff with the team. SpawN had become one of the largest brands on the scene. He introduced his own hardwaredesign, and was invited to alot of public events. But SpawN's motivation for the game was fading, and whilst fnatic was entering a period of greatness, the opposite applied to NiP.

 

 

Home, sweet home

 

SpawN had already said after the WCG that if NiP didn't exist, he'd wanna be in SK. And that's where he went. In the beginning of 2007, SpawN was picked up by SK together with RobbaN. SpawN's main reasoning for the switch to SK was that SK had given him the impression that they'd be alot more resourceful to the CS-team, along with the fact that NiP had become pretty much completely inactive at this time. Furthermore, SpawN missed playing in Inferno-Online, the internet-cafe SK teams used to practice in. A rumor said that SK had enticed SpawN and RobbaN solely by offering them a higher salary, but SpawN was quick to deny this in an interview with Fragbite:

citationstegn

It has increased with 1000 SEK so NO we didn't leave NiP because we got to low salary. I've noticed that many people have talked about this. For those of you who think that I make 20 000 SEK a month, what are you thinking with? Do you really think I would still live in Rågsved? Nah, I'm just messing with you... I'm pretty poor but I get around.

SpawN - January 2007

 

 

Meanwhile, bds talked to GotFrag about his reasoning for taking SpawN back into the team:

citationstegn

Ever since Abdi left this summer I just knew he was coming back. We were in a bad period result wise, and I do not blame him from not renewing his contract, there were never any harsh feelings between us. Now I think he has grown as a player and will be even more valuable for the team.

bds - January 2007

 

 

With the addition of SpawN and RobbaN, the SK.swe lineup looked like this:

 

SK.swe

• Christian 'vilden' Lidström
• Mattias 'Snajdan' Andersen
• Abdisamad 'SpawN' Mohamed
• Robert 'RobbaN' Dahlström
• Jimmy 'allen' Allen

 

The first major event this team attended was SHG Open 2007, held in  Copenhagen in February 2007. This event attracted teams from the whole world, which meant that SK.swe was in for a great challenge. Too great. The team performed poorly and was eliminated by  Team Logitech. Not only did the result reflect the young age of the team, but apparently the players had some internal social issues. vilden had become difficult to play with, which was dealt with when they returned from Denmark. vilden took a break and fisker was picked up. Finally, SpawN was reunited with his good friend with whom he had played with in mTw.se and SK.swe in the magical 2003. fisker wrote about his return on SK's website, and used the opportunity to explain what went wrong the last time he left SK:

citationstegn

Nothing bad about that team, we had a lot of fun, we really had! But I've always missed SpawN since I played with him almost my entire professional career.

fisker - February 2007

 

 

With fisker back in the house, they could attend the upcoming SEC qualifier, where the team had to prove that they still had the potential they had shown in the past. Whilst allen and RobbaN were the new kids on the block, there's no doubt that they did their job well. Only three teams attended this event; NiP, fnatic and SK.swe. But topclass CS was ensured, as those teams represented the best players the world had to offer at the time. HeatoN had returned to the starting five in NiP, but little did it help against SK.swe. NiP was torn apart on two maps, and SK.swe could proceed to the final where they encountered fnatic. Though fnatic were incredibly successful at the time, they just couldn't stop SK.swe, and after three maps, they had won the qualifier and thus the Swedish spot for the SEC. An incredibly important achievement for the young lineup, as Snajdan confirmed when he was interviewed by Fragbite, some time before the SEC:

citationstegn

The victory at the SEC qualifier was enormously important for us. Now we've proved to everyone who doubted us, and ourselves, that we really belong in the elite. Now we just have to build a solid ground so we can continue playing well all year.

 

Everyone in the team was enormously hungry and really wanted to win and it was evident when we played. And also that we got fisker back in the team did great. He is really great at boosting everyone and it gets so much enjoyable to play with such a funny guy like fisker. :)

Snajdan - March 2007

 

 

We're still in March 2007 and the team was hungry for more success. Once again, SpawN could find himself on a lineup oozing of self-confidence and hunger for great achievements. That was the attitude of the team when they took on the SEC, and the level of their game was set accordingly. SK.swe stormed through the brackets and made it to the upper bracket final where the norwegian team  Meet Your Makers waited. The norwegians had just sent the WCG champions Pentagram G-Shock to the lower bracket with a convincing victory, so it was estimated to be an even match. But as we know from CPL Winter 2005, as soon as SK.swe had gained momentum in these kinds of tournaments, they could be incredibly difficult to stop. SK.swe won the match with the score o 16 - 9, and the team was now ready for the grand final against Pentagram G-Shock. This was an opportunity for SpawN to get revenge for the WCG championship that Pentagram G-Shock had taken from him. And revenge he got. Pentagram G-Shock bit the dust with the score 16 - 12 in favour of SK.swe, and the young lineup could celebrate it's first triumph at a major event in 2007.

 

There was no doubt in SpawN's mind that the addition of fisker had worked wonders for the team as a whole. At this time, there was a lot of comparison going on between fisker and vilden, with the latter still benched, his future in the team seemed to hang by a thread. SpawN subsequently explained what worked with fisker and what didn't with vilden in an interview with readmore:

citationstegn

We are still in the process of building the perfect foundation for successful play. There is still a long way to go until we can call our team play perfect. We tried to play with vilden in the beginning but it didn't work out as well as we thought it would. Once fisker came into the team, the atmosphere became more friendly. In one or two month we will be the best team in the world.

 

fisker has had a positive influence on the team. While vilden was playing for SK, the whole team was constantly arguing. Everybody appeared to be just mad at each other. fisker also brought a lot of energy to the team, he is like a joker. He is the kind of guy you need in a team to play successful.

SpawN - April 2007

 

 

Not only does this explain why that lineup was so special, it shows just how much the personality of a player like fisker can do for a team. Many people didn't credit fisker as much for the many victories as they would credit a player like SpawN, since in comparison, perhaps fisker's key values were more vague from a spectator's point of view, though he had in fact been at least as responsible for the team's success. As SpawN mentioned, they were trying to develop a team with the aim to become the best in the world, but this plan was temporarily spoiled, as Snajdan was having some problems at home, and had to take a break. Subsequently,  Emil 'striker' Westerburg was picked up as a temporary solution. But also RobbaN caused some trouble, as he chose to opt out of certain matches, which in turn made way for the manager  Sebastian 'gosey' Selin", who had been part of SK since forever. The next major event for the team was the ESWC qualifer, which RobbaN returned to the lineup to attend. Meanwhile, striker had been switched out with  Louis 'Red`' Nyberg. With the absence of NiP and fnatic, SK.swe were in for a pretty easy challenge, and sure enough, they won the qualifier and the ticket to the ESWC. Though the result was great, Red` was switched back out with striker for the next upcoming event; WSVG Louisville.

 

We're now in June 2007. The team found themselves in the states, hoping to refind the magic of SEC. They proved in the upper bracket that the exchange of Snajdan for striker had not made a significant difference. Not until they met  69°N-28°E, anyway, the team that turned out to be SK.swe's nemesis in that tournament. In the lower bracket final, the swedes met NiP.

• Emil 'HeatoN' Christensen
• Dennis 'walle' Wallenberg
• Jonathan 'miniw' Wallenberg
• Kristoffer 'Tentpole' Nordlund
• Johan 'face' Klasson

Though momentum had exchanged alot between the two teams, SK.swe ultimately proved to be superior, as they prevailed with the score of 16 - 8. Thus, fisker and SpawN had once again eliminated their former teammate HeatoN. NiP was placed 3rd, and SK.swe now had the chance to get revenge, as they were about to face 69°N-28°E in the grand final.

 

 

 

Coming from the lower bracket, SK.swe had to win two maps, a difficult task but not impossible. Things were looking good for SK.swe as they won the first map, however they were unable to endure the challenge to the end. The finnish warriors took home the 2nd map with the score of 4 - 16, and SK.swe had to settle for 2nd place. Still a quite impressive result, it was naturally accepted by SpawN with his somewhat relaxed attitude; "sometimes you just lose".

 

After the event, striker became a permanent addition to the lineup.

 

 

The last stage

 

Months went by, and for SpawN this meant an increase in exposure of his products, especially in Asia, where he had become a Counter-Strike idol. Towards the end of september, time had some changes in store for SK.swe. The legend fisker had finally chosen to retire from Counter-Strike. This was of course a significant loss for SpawN, since fisker was the last active player left that he had known since their time in 2003. It was alongside fisker that SpawN had reached far the most of his greatest achievements. fisker wasn't all gone though, as he would still be associated with the organization as sort of a coach. striker had also been released from the team, and all at the same time, NiP was falling apart as well. Tentpole, walle and Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund was picked up by SK, the latter as a substitute. GeT_RiGhT was regarded as a very talented player who had the potential to become a new allen, or maybe even zet, thus the acquisition of GeT_RiGhT was a deliberate strategic move by SK. bds explained this in further detail on SK's website:

 

 

 

 

citationstegn

The new player filling the spot as a substitute/trial member will be Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund who was searching for a new team after his mates left NiP yesterday. Compared to earlier six-men lineups the team will not start using a rotation but will see him as a trial member to play when someone is underperforming (or being away for another reason). This means the team will still have the starting five of the yesterday announced team adding GeT_RiGhT as a substitue/trial member filling the sixth spot.

 bds - September 2007

 

With the new lineup ready, SK.swe could travel to  Los Angeles to attend an ESL Extreme Masters event, in which the two best 'non-european' teams would qualify for the Extreme Masters' 2nd season, whilst there was a great amount of prize-money to win as well. SK.swe was sent to the lowerbracket early on, as they were defeated by  Made in Brazil. SK wasn't done for, though, as they subsequently fought their way through the lower bracket until they reached the LB final, facing the other Swedish team present at the event; fnatic. But the match wasn't even close. fnatic were simply too strong, and prevailed with the score of 5 - 16. But this event had still shown that the new lineup in SK.swe could mess with the best.

 

The last major event for SK.swe in 2007 was DreamHack, which was held in the beginning of December. Finally, SK.swe could attend a major event on their home soil. Fortunately, SK.swe kicked off this tournament better than they did in Los Angeles. The team didn't have touble until they encountered  McPoker.emuLate, who turned out to be too strong for them. Nevertheless, SK.swe made it to the final where their friends Made in Brazil waited. This match definitely didn't go down in history as one of SpawN's best played matches, despite having shown excellent play throughout the tournament. The challenge was too great with an unfocused SpawN, and in the end, the Brasilians proved to be too strong, as they triumphed with the score of 11 - 16. Yet another 2nd place for SK.swe in a tournament where they had shown fluctuating performance, especially SpawN.

 

 

 

 

SpawN took a break for christmas, and it was becoming evident that the many years on the scene had started to set its marks. SpawN was the last player remaining from the big lineups of 2003 and 2005, thus he had managed to endure longer than anybody else. At the same time, he had also had to attend to an incredible amount of PR-events. It was about time to pass the torch.

 

 

SpawN: "I'll be back"

 

In February 2008, SpawN decided to retire from the lineup with SK's consent, thereby letting the young GeT_RiGhT get his chance. A rough task for a very young player, who had to fill the biggest shoes on the scene. bds commented on this decision on SK's website:

citationstegn

Christopher has been on everyone's watch list for some time now, just like Abdi in the beginning. He has the same will, dedication, enthusiasm and last, but not least, the skill to become one of the best players in the world. I am certain he will mature and shine in SK together with the highly skilled and experienced players in the team. I am very happy to welcome him to the team!

bds - February 2008

 

 

Despite having retired from the team, SpawN said that he'd be back one day, and this day came faster than anybody had imagined. GeT_RiGhT got two weeks on the team. Barely even a chance. Still the coach  Anton 'Budak' Budak decided to bench the guy to make room for SpawN's return. A decision that was met with disapproval by many people - not because of the fact that SpawN was back, but because GeT_RiGhT didn't seem to get an honest chance. But the decision was defended by walle a couple of days later, who wrote this to GotFrag:

citationstegn

We all agreed that chemistry is more important than anything and all of us were very comfortable with SpawN in the team. There's a big age difference between most of us and GeT_RiGhT compared to SpawN and we like to have fun together too and we prioritize SpawN in this sense.

 walle - March 2008

 

 

The legend carries on

 

The history-writing about SpawN goes on, as his CS-career has been recontinued, at least for the time being. At this point, SpawN has accomplished more than any other player on the scene. And with these articles, we can take a look back on the events that primarily defines the succesful eSport-idol that he has become. From the early influence of ScreaM, to the stand-in spot in the best team of 2003, on to another episode with SK.swe in 2005, where we saw him play one of his best events ever, the

CPL Winter, on to yet another successful episode with NiP, and now finally back with SK.swe. While SpawN continues his career, this will conclude the storytelling of one of the greatest players in the history of CS;

 

 

Abdisamad 'SpawN' Mohamed.

 

 

 

My thanks to Fragbite and GotFrag for the pictures and video, weenie for graphics, and heki for the translation. I also thank all the users on XplayN.com for all the kind words and support! And a special thanks to all the users who helped with the translation, or offered their help. That means a lot, so all the best to you!