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Fredrik “Bergie” Bergmann is the finest individual gamer that Norway has ever produced and he took the world by storm by becoming world champion in last year’s Electronic Sports World Cup Trackmania, he edged out fierce competition from the French Carl, Yoyo and the Portugese moriah to become an unsung world champion.
With ESWC right around the corner, I managed to have a chat with the defending ESWC Trackmania Champion himself in what is a rare interview.
Suromitro: So Bergie, ready to defend title?
Bergie: Yeah, I’m feeling in good shape, so hopefully it’ll go my way this time again.
Suromitro: Who do you think will be your closest competitor?
Bergie: Carl and Yoyo(France), as they were also in the final last year
Suromitro: What do you think about Nuraon(India)? Will he be able to pull off a couple of upsets?
Bergie: Highly doubt it. The others are well trained, and even though I haven’t seen much of Nuraon’s play since last year, I still don’t believe he will be able to make it far in the tournament. The only person he can beat I think is Sabre.
Suromitro: Tim Lunenberg(Netherlands) joining the dignitas team, how does it feel?
Bergie: Great! I’ve always thought he had the potential to become a great player one day, and him winning the ESWC NL qualifiers just proved that he is ready to take the next step. I don’t know what to expect of him at ESWC though, he has had some really good times and decent consistency in practice, however he does not have much LAN experience and I think that will hurt him in Paris.
Suromitro: Who do you think is the best TMNF in the world right nw?
Bergie: Frostbeule
Suromitro: What do you think about TM2 being introduced into the WCG?
Bergie: I think it sucks, simple as that. They are basically destroying the game that has been Nadeo’s flagship for over six years now, and I honestly think TM2 is a bad game.
Suromitro: Do you think that Team Acer will dominate the TMNF scene for years to come?
Bergie: That depends if the TMNF scene will last, now that Ubisoft are putting a lot of money into TM2. Acer will probably dominate as much as they did when they were in YoYoTech, but that doesn’t mean teams like Team Dignitas, MythiX and Advanced will try to stop them.
Suromitro: Is ESWC or the “erstwhile” WCG the biggest thing for TMNF?
Bergie: ESWC is definitely the biggest thing for TMNF as it has been part of the event since 2006 (when the game got released). Especially this year where no other “major” tournament has TMNF represented, and therefore it becomes even more prestigeous to win it.
Suromitro: How did you start with TMNF?
Bergie: A few of my friends tried out the game during Easter holidays in 2006 and suggested I should try it out as it was mind blowing and entertaining. I tried it and have played it consecutively since then.
Suromitro: Who do you think is your closest competitor in Norway?
Bergie: My toughest competitor in Norway is Znik (online) and OleK (at LANs). I beat them fairly comfortably every time though, however they have the potential and it is just a matter of time before they blossom.
Suromitro: Tell us about the Norway Trackmania scene.
Bergie: The Norwegian scene was pretty big a few years ago, but has decreased the last couple of years. The reason for this is that many Norwegians got bored of the same people winning over and over again, and they felt no desire to participate in Cups where they knew the winners beforehand. Also it’s kind of sad that many of the decent players won’t take the next step and try to get into the “pro-gaming” part of the game.
Suromitro: Thank you for your time Bergie and wish you good luck for ESWC!
