By RizaRose

Before Cycle 1 begins, we decided to have a little fun and ask the captains of the teams invited to Diamond Division a few questions. In a five-part series, we’ll be asking the captains about the past season, the upcoming season, their teams, and whatever else comes to mind.

Robert “Fusen” Flick is captain of Bad Monkey Gaming, the HoN Tour Season 3 World Champions. The only team to be able to win a cycle besides Sync eSports during Season 3, BMG ranked second in HoN Tour points at the end of the season. His team has not changed changed since DreamHack Summer and is made up of Simon “Baltazar’” Granath, Marcus “‘Makke” Granlund, Mattias “RootOf_z” Sander, and Samuel “Boxi” Svahn.

How are you feeling about your team and the roster changes that have gone on in the other teams?

I am feeling good about my team as always. Can’t wait for the new season, especially because it’s going to be my fourth season with Boxi - time really flies. I can’t really comment on the team changes, the teams and players know it better themselves if it is a good decision or not. Sometimes things have to change...

What do you think about the changes to HoN Tour Season 4’s format?

I love the new format, my only complaint is that the format keeps repeating. Perhaps a mixed format could have been more interesting so it doesn’t become too boring. But I love the groups and the more games played, although there could be scheduling issues.

What do you think about the new Community Funded eSports Initiative, Paragon?

I think community funding was really successful last season, and Frostburn has really stepped up this time, it’s so amazing.

Who do you think the favorite team going into Cycle 1 is?

It is hard to say because it’s hard to predict a team's chance after a roster change. I would say all DreamHack teams have a good shot, perhaps ex-Sync eSports has the best chances but I have not seen them play yet.

People were surprised by your lack of participation in Onslaught 2 - can you tell us why you decided not to participate?

We decided to take a break because people were on vacation and we didn’t want to play with ringers. Just playing without someone who I have played with forever (Boxi) is weird enough for me, but on top of that we would have needed more ringers as other people were missing also, for myself as well at one point.

You guys are the HoN Tour Season 3 World Champions - what happened at DreamHack Summer?

We changed our roster and roles and couldn’t adapt to it fully yet, but I have no shame losing against a good team like Reason - also we could have won if we just played little bit better. So its not as bad as it seems, and I had a lot of fun at the event, which is the most important thing in the end.

Are you doing anything different to prepare for competitions and matches now?

I would say BMG was always the team who prepared the most, but overall the process went downhill mainly because of motivation or time issues. Hopefully we can fix that in this new season.

Do you think your lack of participation in offseason competitions will be negative or positive for your team?

I don’t thinks it is good at all that we had a month break, and we usually do pretty bad even after a short break, but we still have few weeks left where we can scrim.

Do you see a lot of your team in person often? Some of the other teams had only gathered for the first time at DreamHack Winter.

The majority of my team is Swedish and I currently live in Hungary, though not for much longer, but yes ,I have met up them more than others. We have been to more LANs, had more and longer bootcamps, and stayed to vacation together after Thailand. I’m also visiting Boxi soon and we were talking about him maybe visiting me, and I know Root would love to as well.

How would you describe yourself and your teammates?

Root is a serious guy who can always have fun, he’s pretty smart and mature. Sometimes a bit stubborn when it comes to discussing things :P He thinks of the game in a completely different way and I don’t think anyone has had as much impact changing me as a player and drafter as him. I wouldn’t be considered a good captain if I didn’t know him.

Baltazar is easily affected by whine, flame or whatever, so I guess bit more emotional, but he’s a really kind guy, probably one of kindest I’ve ever met. He has the most common knowledge of life in general and I would trust him in real life the most (others are clueless haha). He is also open to everything and easy to talk with.

Boxi has his own personality on stream and public but he is different as a friend. He's kinda like an older brother to me, I mean always cheers me up, gives advice, we share multiple secrets, he’s helped me through very difficult times. Although he is lazy and has the worst time management ever, he is really reliable as a friend.

Makke is famous for tmm cancer but he’s mostly acting it. He is a really nice and kind person and he’s the one who actually tries to fix issues in the team whenever they crop up. Very loud and outgoing guy and he’s also pretty funny.

And me, I’m lazy in general, but when it matters I can be insanely hard working and really competitive. I come up with most strategies but I am not the most confident guy ever, so my team backing me up helps. I am really sensitive or emotional and I never hide my feelings or opinion so I do rage, whine, or get offended from time to time, but it gets quickly fixed after I usually discuss it with Boxi or team together.

Finally, shoutout to the community, my team and sponsors, Boxi and Okami and birthday shoutout to my favourite German, Fantasy!

[Rea]Imbaboy | [ex-Sync]iNsania | [BMG]Fusen | [Mint]cerenia | [coL]Formless

About The Author: RizaRose
RizaRose is a student at the University of Michigan who is currently interning with Frostburn Studios. She studies Political Science and German and has also studied Creative Writing, specializing in fiction and nonfiction. In her free time she hangs out with her sorority sisters and pesters her mother for pictures of her cat.