Conquerors of Vietnam: 1st.VN

Fact Sheet

Team name: 1st.VN
Date formed: early of 2003
Nationality: Vietnamese

Team members:

Hoang Vu Thanh "LockE"
Le Xuan Ho "Robocop"
Nguyen Quoc Hung "Grr"
Mai Trung Tu "FM"
Pham Duy Minh Tuan "Rld"

Team Line-up History

In 2003-2006 (Lara – LockE – robocop – Npigchu – grr)
For WCG Asian 2006 (Lara – Locke – robocop – Kenshin – Xuka)
2007 - 2008 (Lara – Locke – Robocop – rld – grr)
01/2009 – 04/2009: (LockE – Robocop – rld – Grr – Kenshin)
04/2009 ongoing (Locke – Robocop – rld – grr- FMM)

Competition Honours:

2005 VN 1st @ Netchua-online tournament in HaNoi
2006 VN 1st @ Elive - spring
2006 VN 1st @ Netchua gamecup HaNoi
2006 VN 1st @ Computer expo gamecup HCMC
2006 SG 7-8th @ WCG Asian Singapore
2006 VN 1st @ 1st TTB Champion League HCMC
2006 VN 1st @ 2nd TTB Champion League HCMC
2006 VN 1st @ 1st VESC HCMC qualifier
2006 VN 1st @ 1st VESC Grand Final
2007 VN 1st @ Bkit Open HCMC
2007 VN 1st @ 3rd TTB CL HCMC
2007 MY 9-12 @ Asian Cyber Cup Malaysia
2007 VN 1st @ ICC Canon Cup HaNoi
2007 VN 1st @ VESC 2007 HCMC qualifier
2007 VN 1st @ VESC 2007 Grand Final
2008 VN 1st @ ELS summer
2008 VN 1st @ VEN ELS autumn
2008 VN 1st @ WCG HCMC qualifier
2008 VN 1st @ WCG Grand Final
2009 VN 5th-8th Kode5 SEA Final

The birth

1st.VN was formed by a group of friends over 6 years ago, in early 2003. Kylin, Lara and LockE were fascinated with the world of competitive CS and wanted to bring that spirit to Vietnam. Appropriately, they chose the name 1st.VN to symbolise themselves as not only the first competitive CS team in Vietnam, but also the best.

First foray

After almost a year of training, they grew tired of waiting for the community to step up. The de_ maps that were normally played for 5v5 competitions were not very popular, so they hosted a competition throughout Ho Chi Minh City in 2004 to spread the professional style of playing and ended up winning it. Despite the low-key event, they still felt happy about the result. However those days are a distant memory, even failing to remember who their opponents were at the time. The win spurred them on, but they had to wait a long time before another competition came about in 2005, Netchua-online tournament in Hanoi. Despite the long competitive hiatus they won that competition.

"The common interest of every member of the team is CS and we all agreed to keep playing at the professional level"

The leap into competitive gaming

2006 proved to be much more active as they competed and won 7 events locally. Ironically, it wasn't all these wins that were the highlight of that year. They were chosen to represent Vietnam in the WCG Asian Championships held in Singapore. 2 years of winning every tournament that they participated in, one would assume that they felt calm and confident. However, that couldn't be further from the truth as, while excited, they were very nervous. They didn't fare too well as they gained only one win in the group stages, against India, and was defeated by New Zealand, Australia and Singapore. This would act as a reality check for the team that has dominated their native soil. They realised that their standard was still some ways behind their international counter parts.

"There was no weak link, and the only thing that we lacked back then was international experience which we had a chance to make up since 2006 till now"

They gained their first sponsorship from Vinagames when they had to fly to Hanoi to attend a CS event boasting the biggest prize money at the time. Their defeat at the AC championships did not phase them one bit as they proved their championship mettle by placing 1st in that competition.

Training Methods

The team would train 3-5 days a week, and up to 3 hours per training session. Like all competitive teams, they would step up their training hours as events came up. Team work came by playing with each other as much as possible, and discussing the mistakes; be it misunderstanding, or miscommunication. Like most other teams, they would train in deathmatch servers to practice their aim and have attained the ability to keep calm and focussed after attending so many events. The team consistently set the goal for each competition they attend with the aim of winning it, and require no special mental training as each member is experienced in competitive play. As most gamers, they survive their staple break-diet like soft drinks and snack bars when they're taking a break from training.

"It is difficult to be a competitive gamer. We have to keep playing to maintain our skills levels, watch demos to keep up with the playing style of other teams and learn from world-class teams like mTw, SK, fnatic. "

Present

Recently, their journey got a lot more exciting. After the WCG Asian Championship in 2006, they were hell bent on trying to prove themselves on the international level. Lacking competition locally, with only ProA (the best CS team from Hanoi) proving the only competitor, they desperately needed a challenge. Beating ProA 2-1 in the 2008 Vietnam WCG National Finals, 1st.VN booked their ticket to Cologne. In the recent KODE5 SEA Finals, they lost narrowly to Chinese powerhouse wNv 13 - 16 in the group stages.

No one can doubt the influence that 1st.VN has on the Vietnamese CS community. Not only were they the forefathers of the competitive scene, they're also the country's flag bearer. Make no mistakes about it, the community is what it is today because 1st.VN stepped up when no one else wanted to and shaped it. As such, no one can contest their place in Vietnamese gaming history as the best Vietnam has to offer.

Rapture Gaming sat with one of the founding members Hoang Vu Thanh "LockE" and asked him some personal questions relating to his life, and 1st.VN

Could you please introduce yourself to the audience?

My name is Hoang Vu Thanh aka “LockE” of team 1st.VN. I’m 24 years old and have been playing CS ever since the beta version came out. My main occupation is software consultant and CS has been my biggest hobby.

Other than training, do your do other activities together? (like sports etc)

Sometimes, we hang out and have some drinks during the weekend. We used to player soccer but they got tired of it and quit.

How many people are there in your family?

There’re 4: my parents, a younger sister and I.

Do they support your gaming habits?

They didn’t support it while I was at high school because they think it takes too much of my time. But lately, they tend to be more open about it.

Have you found it difficult being a competitive gamer?

It is difficult to be a competitive gamer. We have to keep playing to maintain our skills levels, watch demos to keep up with the playing style of other teams and learn from world-class teams like mTw, SK, fnatic.

If you had more free time, what would be some of the things you’d do?

I would like to spend more time with my friends and have some fun.

Lets imagine if you had never picked up gaming, what would you see yourself doing now?

I’ve never thought about it before but I guess it’s not going to happen to me. I’ve been playing electronic games ever since I was 5 years old.

When did you first start gaming?

The first game I played was when I was 5 years old with my dad. But the first computer game I play was Dune2. I started playing CS when it was still a beta version back in 1998.

Which console (if it was console) did you first play on?

I really don’t remember what it was called but as I’ve mentioned before, it was around 1990 when I first started playing an electronic game.

What was your favourite game on that console, and describe your most memorable experience

I remember playing tanks shooting with my dad on that console. It was just for fun, nothing special stands out.

Who introduced you to (RTS/FPS/MMO)? Or did you come across it on your own?

It was a junior high friend who introduced me to Counterstrike. So every time we finished school, we took off to have fun at a computer LAN (what you call internet café now but back then there was no internet, just LAN)

Which (RTS/FPS/MMO) game did you play first?

I first started Starcraft and played it for a while. Then Counterstrike beta came out and totally caught my attention.

Did you have a mentor who taught you most of your tricks, or did you develop them yourself?

A friend of mine who introduced me to CS also taught me a few tricks back then in beta version. Most of them cannot be used in today competition though.

How did you come up with your nickname? Is there a story behind it?

It was from a comic book I really liked when I first started playing Counterstrike.

Do you have a special routine that you go through before every match?

We tend to have warmup as much as possible before every match. I’m not sure if that’s a special routine but it’s what we do.

What advice would you give to players out there who want to achieve the same level of skill as you?

Some people play a lot but doesn’t improve that much or that fast. The trick is to learn from your mistakes and never repeat them again ever. If you can learn from other player’s mistakes, you’d improve even faster.

Did the team try to play any other FPS games? If no why and if yes which are the games?

We’ve never played any other FPS game as a team. I don’t know about my teammates but I myself don’t have any other preference for FPS.

What advice would you give aspiring teams who want to be at a competitive level such as your team?

Try to play as much as possible together as a team, and be creative when it comes to tactics. At competitive level, there’re only 4 maps being played over and over again since forever, so there’s not many new tactics or tricks. If you can be creative and find a new trend or new playing style for a particular map, you have an edge against other teams.

It’s quite commonly accepted that you’re the best team in the country right now, do you agree with that assessment, and how do you feel about it?

We’ve proved to the community over and over again that we’re the best team, winning each and every major tournament in the country. This has been the goal ever since our team was formed and I’m glad we’ve achieved it. I’m positive that with this current lineup, we will maintain our status as the no1 team as long as it gets (until we retire)

How do your team do player recruitment?

We have to see potential in the new players, through big tournaments or by practicing on LAN. We actually have a 2nd lineup with lots of new and young talents that I’m confident can beat any team through out Vietnam. These players are very young, and their talents were discovered through out big tournaments in Ho Chi Minh.

Can you describe your feelings when you experienced competitive gaming for the first time?

It was like dreams come true. It’s even better when we first received our sponsorship, to travel to HN for a big tournament.

Who are your sponsors now? If any.

There’s none at the moment.

Are there any reason why your team does not have a website?

We actually had a website 2-3 years back, but the work and time put in to manage the website was not worth it. So we decided to drop it.

We noticed that from 2003 to 2005 the team had only won 2 competitions. Why is it so? (lack of competition? Not winning?)

It was a lack of competition. There’re not many tournaments back then. As I’ve mentioned before, our team has won every single major tournaments there is in Vietnam. If there’s a tournament that our name is not stated as champion, it’s simply because that’s a local tournament and we didn’t attend it.

In the 2006 WCG AC tournament, we noticed a change in the line up. Why the change when from 2003 to 2006 the line up was fixed and winning?

Grr was in 12th grade back then and needed to concentrate to study for his graduation exams. So he didn’t attend that tournament.

We noticed player grr missed out WCG AC. Why is this so and did his absence affect the team?

As I’ve stated in the previous interview, Xuka was a Cal-P Player from the USA and he was a perfect fit to the team. He brought lots of experience to the team during that tournament.

Xuka was only in for 2006 WCG AC. Was he there to replace grr?

Yes. We actually knew him before he took off for oversea study. And we knew that he was very good. So that summer, he came back to visit home and he makes the perfect fit for the team.

Npigchu was excluded from 2006 onwards, why is this so?

He was not willing to improve himself together with the team, so we decided it was time to change.

Rld was constantly on the starting team from 2007 onwards, how did his recruitment came about and what is his role in the team?

He was an upcoming player from 2007 and has improved tremendously since then. He brings consistent play to the table and more towards a defense type of player.

From 2007 on we noticed a fixed team of “Locke – Robocop – rld – grr” with a rotating last. Is there a reason for this? Is it because of the player commitments? Tactical decision? Or is is because the team cannot find a last which can fit into the team?

It’s more like a decision from the last player: one’s too old to compete at this competitive level, one’s playing style does not fit with the team.

Was WCG AC the first time your team played in an overseas tournament outside vietnam?

Yes, it was the first tournament where we managed to secure a win over an Indian team, a very close one. It was great having a win in the first match of the first international tournament.

During the 2006 WCG AC, 1st.VN only won one match. Did you felt that there was a difference in standard between the regional countries?

We won the first match against an Indian team, but lost to New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia. They were too strong for us back then. And yes, I think there’s a difference in level between regional countries.

What was the reason for your team’s poor performance at 2006 WCG AC? Change of line up? Overseas pressure? Or are the regional teams simply too good? Etc. Please elaborate

That was our first international tournament. So the main reason was other regional teams were just simply too good for us.

Counter strike is an ageing game and the competitions are getting lesser. Any plans to change into other game?

Not at the moment.

Do you have a fan base of followers on your team?

We can’t really call them followers. But we actually have friends who really support us and follow us through out each and every tournament. And we really appreciate their support.

Normal 0 false false false EN-SG X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4