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Michael “michs09” LaBelle - Road to WCG 2008 Interview
Thanks to Chris Bullard who was able to sit down with Michael “michs09” LaBelle for an exclusive interview to catch-up on his success as a FIFA gamer.
For all of you who do not know him michs09 qualified for the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2 consecutive times and this time he will be representing the American flag in Cologne, Germany for the 2008 World Cyber Games.
michs09 was called up to TEAM USA to replace Juanqui after placing 2nd at the WCG USA Grand Finals, despite two months with out training Michael LaBelle had a very impressive performance at the event.
For many of you who are on the verge of giving up your FIFA careers as a pro-gamer, this interview will prove to you that hard work pays off in the end. So get comfortable and enjoy the interview. Thanks again ChrisyB.
First of all congratulations on your performance at WCG.USA, albeit not winning you have since been called up to the USA team in place of juanqui after your 2nd place performance. Losing from the Winners bracket is somewhat rare in Fifa tournaments, how was the final from your perspective?
Well my final was a learning experience, the night before I went out with Juan who was nice enough to buy all my drinks lol...So needless to say I was quite hung over in the final which contributed heavily to me not being able to close the deal, but I'm not going to take away from Juan's win he played well...but I was clearly off my game.
The US competition was pretty stacked this year, outside of the final match who was your toughest opposition?
Well I had to beat Eafra and Kreegan to get to the finals, and both of those games were pretty intense. The game with Kreegan was probably my toughest game he is a very skilled player and puts a lot of preparation into fifa making him a consistently strong player. Eafra had a fantastic year in CGS, but many people said his success was mainly towards luck with so many of his wins coming from pk's etc... So I was really looking forward to playing Eafra and proving a point.
Cologne is now 2 weeks away, how have you been preparing for the event and what are your personal expectations for the competition?
As a very confident fifa player my expectations are extremely high but I want to take each game one by one and not get too far ahead of myself. I feel if I play well you will see me in the news. ß
WCG is renowned as the hardest Fifa competition to win, with hero not involved its inevitable a new king will be crowned. In your eyes who do you think will be battling it out for the Gold medal?
Well this year the favourites are a couple of the Romanians "Ovvy", "Alex," and perhaps the recent dignitas star "Rolando". Don't forget about "Lastnight" who won SEC this year and has had strong results in lan events. So as a player those are the four players I'm keeping an eye on. It's hard to make a prediction on who will be in the final, this fifa installement has more randomness then I'm used to so I think it's whoever is mentally prepared correctly and gets some lucky bounces.
It may strike some people as a surprise that a Non-CGS player will be representing the US this year. As USA FIWC Champ and runner up in WCG.USA, in your eyes should you have been involved in last year's season?
Well I attended the combine last year, but I won the FIWC regional the weekend prior to the combine. So I was not prepared at the CGS but I attended because it was like a 2 hour drive from me. For players in the fifa community a non-CGS combine was not a surprise everyone knows who Juan and I are because we have consistently strong results online and offline. I think the CGS would be making a huge mistake by not drafting me no matter my combine performance, I told the GM's last year by the time of the CGS season I will be better than everyone but I had just finished training for FIWC and they would have to draft me off of previous accomplishments. The year before I won FIWC for America and I placed 3rd for WCG only CGS player finishing higher than me was Kreegan. So I'm sure they will take in consideration that I am going to play in multiple competitions before the combine. If they want a multi platform lan proven player who is marketable and a figure in the fifa community then I'm perfect.
What's your view on CGS as a whole and will you be attending the draft next year? If so what have you got to do between now and then in your eyes, to be on a few of the GM's radars?
I think the CGS is ideal for a student like myself who has to pay his own university. I have not decided on if I will be attending the CGS combine because I was debating taking some summer classes for university, but it's more than likely that you will see my face there as gaming is something that I have so much passion for. If I'm not on the GM's radars I would be shocked a couple of the GM's were there at the WCG National Final where I beat their players in front of them with camera's in my face and a GM staring me down, so they should know I'm not bothered by pressure. I also played some stage matches that were streamed online and can be watched on the top of the site under (Fifa TV)
FIWC is also around the corner, last year you focused on that and not so much on getting into the CGS. Will you be trying to qualify again for the FIWC Grand Finals for the 3rd consecutive time?
Well right now I'm focused mainly on WCG coming up, after that I will make a decision on whether I will be competing in FIWC this year. It's hard for me to not try to qualify for FIWC as it has played such a large role in my gaming career.
Over the years you've been to many tournaments across the world, what tournament has brought the best experience?
Both of us know the answer to that question, FIWC is the best feeling in the world to have the chance to live the dream and get to meet your heroes while competing for a huge prize. You're treated like a celebrity and the entire tournament is only for fifa, it's amazing.
What's next for Labelle after WCG, Gaming wise and Non-Gaming wise?
After WCG you will find me playing fifa 09 for sure on some platform, outside of gaming I will be focused on university. I plan on taking maximum credits so I can get out of school as quickly as possible, I want to finish my education and start trying to build connections to get that career job that makes me smile.
Posted: 31/10/2008 09:36:51
NoFx
Posted: 04/11/2008 13:57:03
You are the man, gl there
K1ck-Rolando
Posted: 02/11/2008 05:42:59
olalaa girls
ChrisyB
Posted: 31/10/2008 14:33:41
questions were easy, nice answers too.
Look forward to my interview from michs
Juanqui
Posted: 31/10/2008 11:50:48
nice internview best of luck for you in the finals my friend.i think you forgot to say that ,i played the final drunk )) so i think we both played fucked up hehe gl bro
michs09
Posted: 31/10/2008 11:33:15
yes i will have to take each game very serious and focus, my training should be able to take me out of group I hope
fifaaddict
Posted: 31/10/2008 09:48:07
one of my fav interviews of all time best of luck to you mich and bring home the gold baby yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!
i think your group shouldn't be a problem, but you never know in FIFA lol
09/02/2010 23:38h (GMT-6) Central Time
PS3
XBOX 360
questions were easy, nice answers too.
