Dignitas wasn’t left without a CS:GO team for long, having now signed the former CPH Wolves lineup along with team captain FeTiSh shortly after their old team set sail to join Team SoloMid. We had the chance to talk to Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye about the new organisation, the offline qualifier and the ESL One Katowice 2015.
ESL: Hi, Marcus, and thank you for your time. Congratulations on being invited to the offline qualifier, and on the day you were picked up by Team Dignitas. How does the new jersey feel so far?
Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye: Thank you, ESL. The new Dignitas jersey feels perfect for achieving big things in 2015. The journey begins with performing at the ESL Katowice qualifier, which first of all we are grateful for being invited to, but we also know that it requires hard work and a lot of focused practice hours. This is our first big goal and failure is not an option, even though we’ve only been a team for a short while.
ESL: With FeTiSh, you have the former captain of Dignitas at your side. How much was he involved with the signing?
Kjaerbye: Henrik had an impact on our signing. He as well as aizy had been part of the Dignitas family recently, which made it an obvious choice for us. We know how professional Dignitas are and what they and their sponsors’ values stand for.
ESL: Just like last year, Dignitas picked up a Danish CS:GO team right on time for the next major and went all the way to the semifinal. If you could seal this deal for Katowice 2015 now, would you do it or would you rather try and aim for more?
Kjaerbye: Reaching the semifinal in our first major as a team would be perfect, and was a completely impossible dream for me individually only a year ago. The top-tier competition is really tough at this level of Counter-Strike, and we aren’t the only team who will develop in the future, so for now we would probably seal the deal and take the always-so-awesome semifinal badge!
ESL: Overall you have some big shoes to fill as your forerunners did quite a good job of making Dignitas a well-known name in CS:GO. Do you think you can follow in their footsteps?
Kjaerbye: The former Dignitas team definitely left some big shoes to fill, but that doesn’t scare us at all. I’m comfortable that we can reach a similar level with the right composure and mindset. Being in the same organization as the old team doesn’t necessarily mean we have the same objectives, but of course like all other pros our ambition is to become the world’s best team.
Source: Twitter
ESL: From a Danish perspective, you start the tournament series with three big names: Team SoloMid, Dignitas and Copenhagen Wolves. Do you think you can crack the Swedish/French domination on the highest tier?
Kjaerbye: The Danish scene has experienced a turbulent period, but I think we’re heading in the right direction in order to make it more professional. It will surely be hard to crack the French and in particular the Swedish domination because they already have two to three consistent threads to first place. However, anything can happen in CS, and I believe that Denmark can make it into the highest tier more often.
ESL: Do you think the offline qualifier is good for the teams as they get additional exposure or don’t you like all the traveling?
Kjaerbye: The new offline qualifier is a really good initiative in order to ensure the world’s best 16 teams compete at the next major. The offline qualifier prevents the possibility of a DDoS deciding who the last eight teams will be, which is promising for the future. I’m really looking forward to traveling to Poland - from my perspective, it only makes a professional gamer’s career even more exciting.
ESL: You will get to take on Titan, Epsilon, ESC and more in Poland in order to try and earn your ticket to ESL One Katowice. How hard do you think it will be to claim your spot among the top 16 in the world?
Kjaerbye: I believe our combination of skill and seeding will contribute to claiming our spot among the top 16 in the world. I’m really positive for the future with this team, and I know how big our potential is to become a top-tier team in 2015. However, it will of course still be hard to claim a spot, because everybody comes with the goal of qualifying.
ESL: Besides ESL One, what are your plans for 2015 so far? Anything you’d like to talk about?
Kjaerbye: We haven’t spoken much about what we want to participate in/what we won’t prioritize, but this week we aim to qualify for the ESL Pro League LAN finals by beating Orbit as well as practice hard for the ESL One Katowice 2015 qualifier.
ESL: The last words are yours. Anything you want to tell your friends or fans out there?
Kjaerbye: First of all, I want to give a shoutout to Dignitas and all its sponsors. I’d also like to say thank you to Xanzir, Berry, mupzG and AcilioN for giving me the chance to show off at an international level back in August. Remember to follow me and my teammates on Twitter and Facebook in order to follow our journey in 2015!
Follow ESL Counter-Strike on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date with the latest information. You can also experience the ESL One Katowice 2015 offline qualifier live this week! Find the full details on ESL-One.com and grab your ticket today to make sure you don’t miss out!
