Dallas GM Unplugged

One of my favorite things about eSports is the honesty and accessibility of the people involved. The sport is still small enough that players, managers, and officials can generally answer fan mail, or talk candidly about the league and their teams without issuing overused platitudes like "both teams played hard".

I don't think I've seen a better example than Alex "Jax" Conroy's post-draft chat on the Dallas Venom's website. The talk lasted for about two hours, which was crazy. Most importantly, the answers are honest and funny; Jax is great in front of the camera.

I wanted to take notes on the whole thing, but then I realized it would take me about four hours to constantly go back and make sure I got quotes right, etc. I had to bow out after an hour, but it's worth the tiu. There's some great information and commentary from one of the most laid-back, personable guys I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.

It's billed as "Jax Talks Draft", but he really talks about the Combine, Draft, players, Dallas Venom, the CGS league as a whole, DirecTV, broadcasts, and direction.

To whet your appetite, here are some my notes from the first hour. This isn't even a full list; just comments that I found interesting.

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Dallas-Related Predictions

Venom's Finish: We're a playoff team, for sure, I think we're a world final team. Thought that last season, too. Prediciton for Venom: Top 2.

Dallas DoA Female Michelle "Phoenix" Pleet: Will be the first person to take down Vanessa.

"I'm going to make a bold statement right now. I think that Phoenix has a chance, a really good shot, of being the first person to take down Vanessa. And that's a bold statement, I know, you can hang me for that, but I really think Phoenix is really good, and I think she's putting in enough time."

Dallas Forza Duo of CHA0S and Muffinman: "As of now, we would beat anybody in the league in Forza."

[Note: "As of now" was important in the context -- he mentioned that the season might be completely different once all the squads have an extra two months of practice under their belts.]

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Dallas' Source Team

On de_train: "We're awful at train. I'm gonna go ahead and say we're probably the worst Train team in the league."

On de_nuke: "I'm gonna go ahead and say we're the best Nuke team in the league."

About Josh "Dominator" Sievers: "I think Dominator is a lunatic. I love him though. He's great, he's just crazy."

- [Note: Earlier, Jax talked about Dominator's love of hunting] "A little thing you don't know about Josh "Dominator" Sievers: he's known as the finisher. When he and his friends kill an animal, it's his job, I guess, to 'finish him'."

- "[In a pug], I actually out-fragged him by quite a few. When I'm in the zone, I'm in the zone. Josh is still a great player, he just couldn't keep up."

Replacing Corey "kaM" Hanes and Derek "exodus" Heidinger: "Derek and Corey are best friends, and I knew if I had to replace one of them, I'd have to replace both and open up two new spots."

- Would like to see custom maps, to see how teams adapt/learn.

- "I pug with the team sometimes when they really need to bring in the muscle."

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League Rankings

Strongest DoA Pairs: Dallas and Carolina

Top 3 in CS: coL, 3D, Dallas (no particular order)

Smallest Skill-Gap Between Starters and Taxi Players: FIFA 2008

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On Other GMs

Most Surprising Draft: Kat Hunter

Who Had the Best Draft: Dallas and New York

On Brian "dkt" Flander's Intensity: "First GM meeting, we had our jobs for like a week. [dkt asks] 'So if one of our players is sick on game-day, can I go in?' That guy is a fierce competitor, he wants to play."

- "I'd like to challenge Dolven, if he's watching right now, to a 1v1 in Source."

- Would love to see a GM challenge in CGS games.

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Jax's Gaming Prowess

- Top 3 among GMs, behind dkt and moto.

- "I'm pretty sick at Forza. I don't have the game yet, but from watching them, I think I can do it."

- [In Source]: "I'm really good at Inferno. I'm probably top 5. Nuke I'm pretty sick on CT."

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Ratings on DirecTV

- [On DirecTV's side] everyone was very happy with the number of viewers we got for DirecTV.

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More on Jax

- "I'm actually a very good dancer."

- "And I'm not gonna dance on camera. But I dunno, CGS, win a couple matches, you might see that moonwalk."