I messaged Kurrupt on GameBattles from H2K Gaming (#1 for Modern Warfare 2 in the EU ladder on the Xbox 360 on Gamebattles) asking if I could interview him, he kindly responded and invited me into a private free for all on Rust, where he proceeded to waste me until I was almost crying, then we went on MSN and I asked him a few questions:
David says:
Ok, so Patrick (Kurrupt) tell me a little bit about yourself
– Patrick — says:
Well my name is Patrick “KuRRupT H2k” Fransen I am a part of the Modern Warfare 2 team that plays for the organisation H2k Gaming. I am from the Netherlands and so is the rest of my team. We are active in many tournaments and are also attending lan tournaments all over europe.
David says:
So how long have you played competitively before? And where did you start? By competitively I mean “in a clan”.
– Patrick — says:
I first started playing team games on the Playstation 2 where I played the game “Socom 2″. It was a third person shooter and was for me the first online game that offered a good competative scene. There my team was decent and won a lot but we never took it to the next level such as tournaments. We kept it simple and fun. After “Socom 2″ I decided to stop playing video games because there were no games that were good/fun enough to play.
When the Xbox 360 came out I also kept it small and just played sometimes with friends. When Call of Duty 4 came out I also played it for fun but after some weeks of playing I was asked to join the first team there. At that time I was still playing more for fun and did not take it to serious but I became better and better and after a while you are in such a position that you want to win every game.
That team did not last for a long time because a part of the team did not take it serious and the other part did. So I was without a team and shortly after that I joined a team where I met Daredevil who I am still in the team with after almost 2 years. From there we just started to play more and more and became what most people call us: “GB Warriors”.
Me and Daredevil stayed in teams together and finally we were in a team that was called “NationWideLegendZ” were we won our first lan with. We dominated the Gamebattles ladder and also started to enter tournaments. After a while the team fell apart and also me and Daredevil were in seperate teams for a while. After some time me and Daredevil joined our current team “H2k Gaming”.
David says:
Ok so tell me a bit more about H2K Gaming – who is the clan leader?
– Patrick — says:
In our team we don’t have an actual leader because every member has influence in the decisions we make. If we have big decisions to make then every member can have his vote, not just one. My part in the team is that I organise everything for tournaments, manage the teams on Gamebattles and other websites and I contact the H2k Consoles manager (Rick) every week to let him know how we are going. I just make sure our team runs smoothly so that we can fully concentrate on the game. I also play of course!
David says:
Thats seems to be a very good way of doing things if you ask me – usually there is a heavy reliance on one person and it often becomes too much!
What other ladders/tournaments/leagues do you play in? Which one is the most competitive?
– Patrick — says:
We currently are competing in the ConsoleGaming 4v4 Steelseries tournament, this tournament just started and this sunday we have our first match. At the moment there are not many other tournament going on so our full concentration is on this tournament. We also have our Gamebattles team for practise but since we have reached the number one position we just kinda leave it untill the playoffs that will start at the beginning of January. In the consoleGaming 4v4 Steelseries tournament there are a lot of great teams competing such as SK Gaming, TCM, Team Infused, and many many more! I think the level of competition at this tournament is the highest one in Europe and the winners of this can be proud of themselves.
David says:
Ok so how does it work with H2K Gaming – do you get paid to play? Do you earn money based on performance? Do you have a dayjob?
– Patrick — says:
H2k Gaming offers us LAN support so that we are able to go to the LANs all over Europe. At these LANs we have money prizes and that is the only way for us to actually get money with gaming. Of course also incomes from possible online tournaments are a way to earn money. We also get some nice things in between from H2k Gaming! For example every member of our team is getting from our sponsor, SPAM Energydrink, a supply of energydrinks! At the moment I don’t have a job, I am currently studying law at the University of Amsterdam and that is enough work for me!
David says:
lol I might see if I can get some SPAM sometime…
Ok so, onto more MW2 questions. Gimme your favourite class setup: primary, secondary, equipment, special grenade, perks 1-3, deathstreak and killstreaks – the full setup!
– Patrick — says:
Well I don’t really have a favorite setup because I can work with a lot of weapons! My role in the team is mainly support and defending of objectives and I adjust my setup to the map and gametype. My main two guns are by far the FAMAS and the UMP, for me the best SMG and Assault on the game! On my FAMAS I have the holographic sight and on my UMP I use the red dot sight. When using close combat I think the red dot sight is better and for longer range the holographic sight is better so that is why I put it on my FAMAS.
For my secondary weapon I use the akimbo G18. They are amazing and a great secondary to fall back on when needed!
I guess this is just what you feel is better so it could be different for every person but this is what I use. I either use semtex or frags, and the special grenades are stuns. For perks I have Marathon Pro, Stopping Power Pro and Ninja Pro. Often in tournaments you can only use a limited amount of perks and these are the most commen perks that are allowed then. And as deathstreak I use Copycat because of the same reason, tournaments have this as only deathstreak so I only use that! And I also hate the painkiller deathstreak, I hope they remove it!
David says:
Yeah painkiller is a bitch lol – they just won’t die!!!
– Patrick — says:
It is like they award them for being bad at the game, it is pointless!
David says:
Ok so I’ve noticed you haven’t prestiged yet, understandbly you want to get to know every element of the game for your clan. Do you intend to prestige anytime soon? Or are you against the whole “prestige thing”?
– Patrick — says:
I believe that prestiging is useless because it offers you no real advantage and you have to spend hours again to get your weapons and perks back. When you have to practise a lot for matches you need to have your full setup and can not afford to have starting perks because then you are pretty much useless. So if you are just playing for fun then presige but if you want to become better with your weapons then forget about it and just leave it as it is!
David says:
Yeah that makes sense
Ok so What do you think of “kill/death” ratios? – a log of gamers are almost obsessed with theirs. What is your kill to death ratio?
– Patrick — says:
I think that you should never rate a player on his K/D ratio. This is what happens in public games and it is well known that the camping in this game is terrible so even the best players can get bad records just because they move around the map and the opponents have their crosshairs on a door. If you are obsessed by it then you should find something else to do, if I see somebody dashboarding because his score was bad then you are extremely lame. My own K/D is around the 1.80, I don’t really look often.
David says:
OK a lot of clans on Game Battles really struggle to win any matches, if you could give them one piece of advice, what would you give them? *Psycho Dave stares at the ground avoiding eye contact*
– Patrick — says:
I believe that any team can get better if they really want it. I often see teams with a lot of potential fail because they scream to each other during games or they don’t listen to each other. If you want good teamwork then you need players next to you who you like and trust and that works both ways. With good teamwork then you already have won your first round with that alone.
Respect for your other players is one thing but you also must put in a lot of effort to become better. Most of the top teams play pretty much daily in order to improve and stay ahead of the competition. One thing that I recommend is that you play practise matches against other teams instead of for example Gamebattles matches. These matches are for practise only and you can afford to loose there without it having any effect on your record or something like that. These practise matches are fun and you will learn from your mistakes so that in matches that matter it will not happen again!
What I also did was watching some video’s of other teams on Youtube, you see what they do and maybe even pick up some sweet spots that you did not know of! For example the video “Infused.SqR vs Dignitas: ShopTo CoD4 Final” (see below) was a video where I learned a lot from and using some tactics from this video also improved my own game!
David says:
So do you guys drill a lot of tactics/positions? Or do you more just rely on pure skill, teamwork and good communication?
– Patrick — says:
Well we just practise a lot and in these practise games we slowly create tactics that work for us. For our tournament match that we have sunday we just played the maps we are playing over and over again and now everyone knows where to go and what to do. By doing this we have created some tactics and found some good spots! Of course we rely on skill, teamwork and good communication but these are factors that every top team must have or else your team will never make it to the top. Communication is a big factor in winning games, if you have excellent communications then you kinda have a UAV in your headset!
David says:
lol I like that.
Ok so a lot of people play with the standard default setup and controls – what controls do you use (layout/sensitivity etc.) and what equipment/controllers/accessories do you use?
– Patrick — says:
Well I played with the standard sensitivity and button layout for a long time but I noticed that you can play better with high sensitivity because you can respond much quicker then you can with a lower sensitivity ( Offcourse sensitivity is more related to what you like, this is just what I experienced ) and I am now playing on sensitivity 5 and I like it! The button layout is also something that is different for every person. I currently play with the tactical button layout because I can do a “dropshot” then and that often gives me an advantage on the opponent. But the disadvantage of using the tactical button layout is that you can not knife a person as fast as you normally could. This is just a choise that a player has to make for his own.
I currently have 3 headsets, 2 tritton headsets and a steelseries headset. The “soundwhoring” in Modern Warfare 2 is not as bad anymore as it was in Call of Duty 4 but it might give you the edge you need to win. I have the normal Xbox360 controller but I did try the Special Modern Warfare 2 controller but you must have small hands to use them or something because those special buttons on the back are impossible to reach if you want to have a normal grip on your controller. I also have something that is called a “KontrolFreek FPS”. This is a small extension that you place on your analog stick and that should improve your aim. I did not really notice that but it does feel great in your hands when you have them on your controller!
David says:
What advice would you give to players who aren’t in a clan but want to join one?
– Patrick — says:
Well it depends on what kind of clan you are looking for. If you want to keep it casuall then just get some friends together and play for fun! You don’t want some fanatic in the team if your just playing for fun and he keeps screaming because you are just relax and doing your thing.
If you want to have a decent team on Gamebattles then you should just look trough the top 50 and see if any teams have only 4 people and might need a extra player or maybe they even have a post in their team blast that they are recruiting! I often get messages on Gamebattles that a player wants to join the team but trust me that the top 10 teams have there roster sorted and are not looking for people. You will only get a no (if you even get a response) and it will only make you feel like some random that nobody wants.
If you are looking for the best in Europe and you want to compete with the best then I recommend that you join the Decerto community. Here all the top teams are active daily and pretty much every day teams are starting there or looking for a player. These teams are, so far I have experienced, much better then I have encountered on Gamebattles. If you just starting playing team games then I do recommend to get some experience first before going here because nobody likes being destroyed by a professional team. You can find teams to play practise matches against and find all the information about the upcoming tournaments and lans in europe! I think these are your best options when you are looking for a team.
If you have a tough time getting on a decent level then don’t give up if you really want it! I know a lot of players who had to fight for their skill and are now playing with the best. Some people are just lucky and kick ass the first time they start playing. So just think about what you want and what kind of team you want and just see what is out there!
David says:
What’s your funniest gaming moment? Do you have it on video?
– Patrick — says:
Well I don’t really have one specific moment that was the funniest gaming moment, after playing for some years you just encouter a lot of funny and weird stuff! Sometimes you hear weird things in the lobby or see funny stuff in the game. I also went to lans and a team meeting and ofcourse I had some funny moments there! On the team meeting we went paintballing and I shot my leader at that time straight on his private parts. I laughed so loud that they found me and shot me as well but that was certainly one of the best moments ever. For some reason when we were home and started a match I had to sit out. Not sure why… But this is just one of the many moments that I can recall, there are to many to mention.
David says:
lol! Nice.
Are there any matches you have on video that are your favourite and/or do you have a montage?
– Patrick — says:
Well, the video that I mentioned before is one of the best video’s I have seen so far of a match. But a lot of video that are made by infused LukeJS and infused Sowerz are top quality. I always love watching them! And I am currently takes video’s with my capture card from matches and practise games against good teams and I will make a montage from that! I hope it will be awesome!
David says:
And finally, can you draw a picture (over msn – nothing fancy) about how Painkiller makes you feel.
– Patrick — says:
Ok a little drawing
David says:
Nothing too pornographic, I don’t want to have to censor my website lol
— Patrick — writes:
Kurrupt loves Painkiller, honest!
David says:
lol nice
– Patrick — says:
Is that ok?
David says:
Thats great *backs away slowly*
Finally is there anyone you would like to give a shoutout to?
– Patrick — says:
I want to thank Rick, our personal manager, and the other members of the management of H2k that they have given us the chance in the organisation. I would also like to thank all our sponsors such as ZOWIE GEAR, SPAM Energydrinks, Azerty, Bouncer4You, gamersuniform, i3D.net, 2nd Vision and finally Thermaltake! And last but not least all the members of my team, Daredevil, KniFeR, Deadb, Divinity en Deviance, without them I would not be where I am now!
David says:
Thanks Patrick and good luck in the ConsoleGaming 4v4 Steelseries tournament
– Patrick — says:
Thank you very much!
Like this post? Why not subscribe to our RSS feed, or receive Modern Warfare Tips via email.
Psycho Dave is available to play on the Xbox 360, you can add him as a friend if you like! Psycho Dave 82
Hi there from Women Gamers in the US, liked this interview, it’s great to hear about what’s going on in the leagues in EU!
Cheers DM8X