After taking the first part of the year off to focus on his studies, Matas “Extinct” Strumila is re-immersing himself in the world of Counter-Strike. Having announced on X that he is ready to compete again, Extinct has stood in when necessary for various roles over several competitions in Verdant’s busy May and June calendars. Even in the player break, Extinct and his teammates are not taking a step away from CS.
With Verdant still competing in the ITES Vernal event, Extinct, Tom “arTisT” Clarke and Ciarán “biscu” King took time away from their busy schedules to support the local scene and compete in QUBLAN – securing the trophy alongside Extinct‘s brother Flash and teammate John “Arracht” McGinley.
At QUBLAN, UKCSGO got his insights into the event, his 12 day stay at Project G and his future.
I’m here with Extinct, champion of QUBLAN how does it feel?
You know, lost the last one but happy to win this one with the boys, get my brother [Flash] the first LAN. Feels good.
Last year arTisT stopped you, now he helped you.
Yeah, I need to be with him. You know?
I thought the final was far higher quality than the other games.
Oh yeah, 100%. They [munchbunch] caught me completely off guard with how well they played. They played really well, even the clutches they won they played really well, aim was on point. It really surprised me how well they played.
Do you think they would be a possibility for joining one of the UK competitions. Maybe UKIC division 2?
Oh yeah, 100%. Man, they can compete. If they keep up that form and keep playing that well and continue to improve they’ll have no issue playing in the UK scene.
I noticed on Nuke you were calling on T-side a lot. Is that something that’s usually part of your game?
Yeah, Tom [arTisT] will trust my mid-round calls. I used to second-call when I was playing on the team [Verdant] so Tom will trust anything I say or any opinion I have on the round. He just lets me say anything I want.
And how do you feel about the event, the setup?
Same as last [QUB]LAN. One of the best LANs I’ve been to. Run properly. PCs are unreal. Smooth sailing. Everything is run properly.
Could you tell me from your perspective what happened in Project G? You were announced on Twitter [X] and it didn’t really happen.
Yeah, I can give a bit of insight into that. It’s just, I trialled with them, they were trying lots of players – it wasn’t just me. There was a huge number of players trialled for them. They ended up asking me if I was able to play EPL, I did say “yes.” Then I woke up the next day and I got announced. I didn’t know I was getting announced, but they announced the roster. I guess they wanted to start moving things in the right direction. So I took that as like ‘I got the spot.’
Then the next day I decided to leave the roster and play with Verdant, as a stand-in – nothing [permanent] confirmed or anything. Just they asked me to fill in the role and I said “No problem, I can stand in for these events.” And because I had to put time in for Verdant, I can’t just keep playing for Project G and wasting their time, making them wait for me or whatever. So I just told them “I’m going to step away,” and let them find someone else to find someone to play with them so they can improve and commit to full-time CS pretty much.
And when you’re with Verdant, I’ve seen you mostly stand in for Ducky, I’ve noticed it’s not necessarily a one-for-one role. How is it working out your positions when you’re standing in?
Just filling in the roles I was playing before. Ducky was in my roles, that’s pretty much it. Nothing too complicated. Just learning whatever new strats they have and that’s it. I can fit in pretty well. Been playing with the boys for years, so we have good chemistry and can bounce off each other a lot.
EDITORS NOTE: Extinct has since been confirmed for Verdant on a permanent basis.
We’re thrilled to announce the return of @ExtinctCS2 to the roster!🦖
We know how great Matas is from his time with us last year, so we’re excited to see his impact now that he’s able to focus full-time on CounterStrike having concluded his studies.
Read more below👇 pic.twitter.com/Gs34mxPBOM
— Verdant (@VerdantEC) July 6, 2024
