Several days ago we talked to Rudolf "THE TACTICAL" Fischer about the upcoming Dead or Alive 4 tournament on SEC this year. Please find a small interview how he is going to defend his title. Enjoy.

1. Hi Rudolf. So you are the current champion of the SEC and a known figure in the DoA community, so of course you will take part in the Samsung Euro Championship 2008. How are you feeling?

Hi, I of course feel honored, getting to represent Germany at the SEC and having the chance at defending my title. It’s really a great feeling for me, because I wasn’t really sure whether or not Dead or Alive 4 would be feature as a competition title again or not. So I’m obviously proud to be there and will give my best.

2. What are your expectations going into the tournament?

Seeing as I want to defend my title, the expectations are very high. My goal is to repeat what I did last year or at least finish with any medal at all.

3. Let’s say you don’t manage to defend your title, how would that affect your plans for the rest of the year?

Hmmm, that’s hard to say. I usually only play Dead or Alive, but right now I’m playing other games as well. So for me that would mean playing Dead or Alive exclusively and focusing on the next upcoming event. I would be still be satisfied with a 2nd place, because I think that’s still a completely acceptable achievement. Well, I guess I would probably visit a few more LAN-Events, because they’re just a great way to train offline, but even if my attempt at keeping my title should fail, my plans for this year are mostly done and I don’t think too much will change about those ( laughs ).

4. This isn’t your first CeBIT. Do you as a player experience any part of the expo at all during your stay or do you try to avoid the long trips through crowded halls?

Well, you don’t really play all day during the CeBIT and you’re definitely there for several days. So you have enough free time to yourself to go check everything out. So personally I will go and take a look at the different halls and booths, because this kind of trade show is interesting to me.

5. Is it special to you to represent Germany IN Germany during a World Cyber Games event?

For soccer fans or sport fans in general, a world championship in your home country is always special. I like to share their opinion. You don’t often get the chance to advertise eSports in Germany or support the public image that it has, so this is a huge opportunity and something very special at the same time. I think that the German team has a great chance at achieving something here. It’s always difficult to play in a different country, where you just don’t feel at home, or even worse, just don’t feel content. So you really start to hope for support from the local community, because it can be decisive if people start cheering for you or if you get to have your friends or your family behind you, that makes you feel safer and supported. This chance won’t come again too soon so it’s really extraordinary.

6. This year, the WCG Grand Finals will be held in Cologne, Germany. If nothing goes wrong, you should be there as well, like in the passed years. Is that an additional motivator or is it all “business as usual” to you?

For me personally it’s a reason to train even more, because I want to achieve the best results and this might the last WCG in Germany that I take part in. Maybe I’ll never get to experience this again, so my inner fire is raging more than ever!

7. How often or long do you train in this hot phase right before an important event?

Depending on the circumstances, at least 2 hours per day, because in Dead or Alive it’s crucial that you find your personal routine and train it regularily. You need to quickly analyze and understand your opponent and know when to do what. When do I counter? At what point should I use a certain move? It always looks so easy, but there is a huge amount of training involved, sadly only very few people can see that.

8. Last year, during our last interview (http://www.wcg-europe.com/content676.htm ) we discussed the Xbox community, on a scale from 1 to 10, you gave it an 8. What would you say today? Has anything changed within the last 6 months?

Let me put it this way, I would say the community is on its’ way to a 9. Of course these kind of things don’t happen that fast and you can only take small steps, but the important thing is, it’s getting better. New and talented clans were created and are getting more and more successful, and slowly but surely you can see results in the shape of acceptable sponsors for some clans. You can also see changes if you look at LAN-Events. Last year there were 2 notable events, but this year there are looking to be 4. Of course they can’t be compared to a “PC-LAN”, because there are worlds separating those communities. But still, for a lot of gamers these are great events where they can compete with each other and show off their skills. The number of Xbox-gamers is really on the rise thanks to titles like Call of Duty 4 or Halo 3.

9. What are your personal goals for 2008?

To sum it up: Defend my title at the SEC, win the German national finals, exceed my performance at the WCG last year and repeat my performance at two other major global events last year.

10. eSport has been a much discussed term for years now. What does eSport mean to you?

Well, for me eSport has become my job. It means competing with other players that are on the same level that I’m at, on a tournament scale. It’s about giving it your best and showing what you have to offer. But it’s also a lot about just getting along with your competitors and always staying fair.

11. How important is the audience to you as a player, having taken part in several major events for the passed 2 years?

The show and the audience have become very important to me. Gaming itself becomes a whole new world of fun if you’re being cheered for and there are a lot of people watching. At first it’s actually more difficult, but after you get used to it, it’s actually a lot more fun. Personally I wouldn’t ever want to miss the audience and that incredible feeling I had playing on some of the passed events.

Thanks a lot for the interview. We’ll see you at CeBIT.

I want to thank you too and send kind regards to the WCG-Team, hopefully the CeBIT will be another successful event, see ya!