Article by Richard "Dr. Gonzo" Lewis


Has it really been so long since the team that made Reason Gaming such a success in Counter Strike: Source moved to 4kings, leaving Reason without representation in what many people feel is the flagship game for any multi-gaming organisation? Obviously it has. No time for such stupid rhetorical questions. This isn’t the Daily Mail… Although there was some hysteria surrounding the move, perhaps rightly so depending on which set of eyes you pop in to look at the situation. As the move took place it was one of the worst kept secrets in gaming, each step unfolding like reverse origami back at i30 last year, amidst hollow words such as “nothing has been confirmed as of yet” that were about as convincing as Bill Clinton’s testimony in regards to Monica Lewinski. People spat words back and forth, talked about things such as decency, propriety, loyalty and other such abstract concepts that have never really mattered in CSS as far as I could tell. The word opportunity cropped up a lot too.

This was indeed the first shockwave that made teams think twice about the various merits of having a Source team, a real swap at the top of the game with only big names involved and one that pre-dates even the wariness that teams now have in light of CGS drafts luring away players with the promise of riches and the chance to quit that pesky day job. The management at Reason had to think long and hard about their next team, even to the point of whether it was to be their last. I caught up with Dallow at the following I-series when he had recovered significantly to the point of being able to contemplate taking another team on. We had a chat over some beers and he explained why he was apprehensive about it at that time… The UK CGS combine was coming round  and he said he was never going to put himself in a position where he could get “fucked over” again. Amen to that, I raised my glass. But you could see the glint in his eye, he was interested in recruiting the best. In an alternate universe some of the former Zboard line-up is out there beating teams under the Reason name… That was not to be in this reality, but Richard “ritch” Gibbs did make the return to the fold, having been one of the original names that defected to 4kings back in the time of the Counter Strike Cold War that the awful rhetorical question alludes to.

Of course, despite their obvious good relationship, erring on the side of caution was there, with contracts being signed and a multi-national line-up brought in, making it unlikely that the entire team could be lost at any one time with the way the Championship Gaming Series drafted their teams. There must have been a few groans when the idea of individual player picks became prevalent among the future proposals. Perhaps this is reading too deeply into things and it was simply a natural progression. You can debate the merits of being a top UK team, a term that really ceases to lose any potency once you get to that “fifth best in the UK” anticlimactic announcement. Indeed, such teams rarely have the quality or calibre to make an impact at a major competition and all too often have a life expectancy shorter than that of the average pope. There is no such debate about being a top European team, making the top ten list clearly something to be proud of and new entries and new names cropping up in such a list are obviously a lot rarer. So this is what Reason have done, a huge step into the unknown and one that could have easily gone wrong.

The line-up itself consists of players from Norway, Denmark & England, not one that would necessarily gel on paper. The players hadn’t really played with each other before in any meaningful capacity so that in itself was a gamble. It was also, in some people’s opinions, a throw of the dice to work with two of the UK players that have been labelled – be it rightly or wrongly – the kiss of death for teams. No-one can doubt the talent of ritch but there are sometimes question marks over his attitude and temperament. The other player who has had a lot of teams has been George “HudzG” Hoskins, someone who seems genuinely unlucky in the way that cosmic timing seems to bring him to teams shortly before they fold. A fantastic talent also, he will be revelling in some rare security as part of this Reason line-up. And right now it is stable, perhaps against the odds, but the guys seem happy and comfortable enough, even taking the time to play around with people, trying to trick them into thinking the team has folded by staged arguments on their IRC channel and other such banter. It’s obvious the guys get along with each other and they are very aware that people are watching what and how they do, and right now they are doing well. British sides have typically struggled to make an impact at European LANs, even the might of 4kings struggling to break into the top three when the opposition became stiff. Reason have just returned from their first LAN – the SLAP tournament in Denmark – with a fourth place finish, not bad at all for a team that was having it’s first competitive outing together. The choice to go European looks to have paid off thus far and of course it has an appeal to British CSS followers that other Euro teams may not, containing two of the most talked about UK players over the last year or so. What’s their viewpoint on it all…


Right, Hudz, give me your take on SLAP and how you are feeling with your performance as a team.

SLAP LAN was a very good event overall, I remember first arriving and thinking oh dear cause the outside of the building looked not so good but soon as we entered into the LAN arena it was awesome. They had a few nice stands here and the desks were smooth and comfy to play at. As performance goes I feel we did well for how much time we had prior to the event. In real life stuff stopped us prepping as much as we had hoped but overall once we sorted out some issues we did the best we could only losing twice on de_nuke and we are looking to improve for i32 so I feel good

Do you think you have underachieved or overachieved with 4th spot at SLAP?

Well me and ritch were talking and we said only 15 people were better than us at that event. and we were underdogs so I think we have achieved but we still have so much more we can achieve like first off we will focus on polishing stuff up sorting strats and being fully prepped for i32 getting communication perfect. also i feel we proved people wrong that we will be LAN-ing and we are serious about our gaming. To finish top four in your first event as a team with still lots to learn… I feel it shows that we can only achieve more and learn from our mistakes

When you are representing Reason and playing in European competitions do you feel as if you represent the UK as well... Obviously a lot of European countries don't rate the skill level overall of the UK scene.

Yeah sure, I personally find it more fun to compete on a European level as it’s a new challenge and if we pull it off we could go all the way. These things take time but at SLAP I felt like I was more representing Reason and the UK was a plus. The only real time I’d feel like I was representing UK would be in WCG or like CGS… Something along the lines of that, but it did a little bit.

Do you think it is quite an indictment of the UK scene, something that proves the criticism correct, that two players of your calibre had to join a European team to be able to compete at events such as these?

Not really… It’s just I’m too young for CGS, which meant everyone in the UK was interested in that so I had to look for a good team in different places and I ended up here. Personally I think having a European team is really good in some ways. For example we have a lot of flair with different styles of play in this team. Sometimes I miss achieving things just for the UK but I’m such great friends with everyone in Reason now I guess it’d feel weird to play anywhere else. We all get along so well and have a great time when we do play. I know we haven’t achieved our goals yet and that’s to be top three in Europe, so I want to stick around and make sure we do that… The UK scene has a lot of young talent coming through but its unstable as well. For example when the CGS qualifiers were happening I was in and out of teams because people changed their goals and because I was too young for CGS I couldn’t go along for that ride. I felt I was better than a substitute player without being big headed, so I had to look for a team where CGS was not the be all and end all. The one down side to being in a European team is that we cant meet up as regularly as possible for bootcamp or LANs, but hopefully all that will change soon.

ritch was one of the people who wanted to play alongside you for some time. As you're both British players who know each other quite well have you forged a special bond within the team?

ritch and I always wanted to play alongside each other right back when he was still in 4kings but a lot of stuff stopped us from doing that, mainly the age thing I already talked about, so I never really got the chance. After he left 4kings we contacted each other because I had been let down on a LAN event – The Experience in Denamrk – due to unforseen circumstances and we decided to do something. As for bonding we bonded in a special way at SLAP… But yeah. everyone speaks perfect English in the team so it’s not as if the were any big barriers in the way, so we have all bonded very well I think.

Which brings me on to you ritch… People will say your fear of flying was short lived as you return from SLAP - what do you say to that?

Errr… I guess I’d have nothing to say to those people. That situation is old news.

Do you feel that you are in a similar situation, if not better, than being in 4kings. After all, your team has proven it can mix it up with the Europeans, so you're still operating at the same level..

The situation isn’t really relevant. The main thing for me is I'm having a lot of fun, something that hasn’t always been the case in gaming. Of course the competitive element is important, but after meeting my foreign team mates and seeing Kasper’s millionaire smile It isn't as important.

Obviously Reason as an organisation are quite keen to retain the team's services and not lose another side to any future CGS drafts... With individual drafts looking likely at any future CGS event, do you have one eye on it maybe?

I’ll cross that bridge when and if I come to it… For now I’m fully focused on Reason gaming and winning as much as I can with them. It's great to be back with the Reason management and my big concern is doing well for them.


Do you also have aspirations to be drafted into the CGS, Hudz?

Personally, at the moment, I’d love to be on a salary because of certain situations I have BUT I wouldn’t change anything in Reason. Everyone is behind us and they want to push us to the limit so we can achieve our goals and there’s no point looking at CGS when i32 is round the corner. I’m fully focused on that at the moment because we want to win it. A lot of opportunities open up with gaming and maybe CGS will be replaced next year with something else. You never know what’s going to happen. Of course it is every players dream to be on television and on a salary, but I want to achieve that in the right way. Right now I feel comfortable… I can come online everyday and know my team is waiting for me to play. CGS might even open up some kind of international division, who knows? I’m just taking each day as it comes and making my team work the best I can.

So you guys are honestly looking to win the I-series? The opposition this time around sounds like it will be a lot higher than it has been for a while at a multiplay event.

Personally my goal is a top two finish and if things go really bad or we haven’t prepared enough top three is reasonable. I feel it’s within our ability to achieve this but there’s a lot of talented teams going there and its all about who comes out to play on the day and who takes the risks to win it. One persons actions can change a game for the good or can lose it for their team and i feel we’ve got a big spirit within the camp as well as that experience to make the right judgement calls during a game. I think a top three finish will show consistency and it will set us up for another competition, possibly sometime in December we will just have to wait and see what is announced with the events… If Dreamhack change to CSS or something along those lines we will be there.


Just prior to playing at SLAP one of the things that had been said from people within the Reason team was that they had not played anywhere near enough and would not be in shape to take on the top teams under LAN conditions. The fact that they managed to beat so many teams out there, and reportedly got better with each game, shows they are starting to find their form. Having seen the pictures from the competition it is also clear the team enjoyed themselves and will have enjoyed their finish even more. This could be a turning point for the team, bringing back their will to win and preventing it from fizzling out and folding, something people said was a real danger prior to the events in Denmark.

Ultimately it was a series of bold moves by the Reason management to put this team together. Some of the moves may seem unfathomable, and while it is too early to claim it entirely as a success, the signs initially are all good. Perhaps it will herald an end to some of the divides between European and UK based teams, the two scenes doing things very differently. It shows that with the right attitude and skill it is not the “oil and water” blend that it has been dubbed in the past. Of course, only a side that has some kind of longevity will have any impact on people’s collective thinking, but right now this team are giving a platform for two of Britain’s most talented players and taking them places they might never have gone. The next I-series event, on British soil, will show whether it was a fluke result or the start of something big.