Earlier in the week I interviewed Helz of 3DMAX. Today I am bringing you LUK3 and his team, FirstFrag.

FirstFrag is almost universally seen as Europe's number one team and favourite for this league and it's no surprise why. With a strong series of results during the many night-cups in September and early October they faced many of the teams now seen in the Premier Division and have beaten all of them.

Having lost out to 3DMAX in the semi-finals of the Spring League this time round they will be looking for a better result, but in their way are five more of Europe's best.

First's progress has started well with two wins already over Enmity and Phenix and are living uo to expectations. I caught up with LUK3 to talk about his team and the Autumn League.

Your line up currently consists of some of Europe's finest players, all of whom have represented their country in DoDS. With this star quality, you must be confident going into this league?

The lineup we currently have in FirstFrag is there for all to see and you can make of it what you will, as the team leader I am fortunate enough to have 6 quality players at my disposal. Don’t get me wrong we are a very strong team and the confidence is there but we won’t look past any opponent regardless of their background.

Could you introduce us to the players in your team?

Jo3y – Joey is a quality rifle and he is one of these players who has raw talent, he has great aim, his reactions are superb and he has brilliant game sense. What I like about Joey is that no matter the level he is at he always wants to improve and he has his own unique way of doing it. Joey is a very determined player and has put up with me shit for years, what a guy.

zibu – zibu is an amazing rifle, I remember playing against this guy when I was sniping and he would be constantly dinking my head before I had peaked the corner. On top of that he has such a great personality, zibu has a very laid back approach and he is currently tutoring me on reducing my rage(:D). He also has some crazy French friends we share a mumble with in sv_pure and pompom who are both fucking hilarious!

Riot – riot is quite obviously the German in our team, we don’t understand a word he is saying a lot of the time but when he is fully active and concentrating he is possibly one of the strongest rifles Germany have had. Riot has a very good attitude, he is always positive and constantly seeks ways of improving himself and most importantly the team.

Phn – For me Dave is a cross between being a right dopey, scruffy, stinky fucker and one of the funniest people I have met online. Not only does this dickhead have a great personality but he isn’t a bad player either! Dave works really hard for the team and voluntarily (forced) to go all of the routes the other rifles in our team don’t want to take and he does it without complaint. Without Dave in FirstFrag it wouldn’t quite be the same!

Tepa – My heavy partner, his play style is a lot more fluent than my own, he is very aggressive and a good character to have in our team. Tepa is a really under-rated player, he is a good partner for me because I am able to be quite passive and pick up frags to exploit gaps within the other teams game plan and it appears to work quite well.

zg – There is no doubt in my mind that Saku is one of the best snipers to grace the game, he has unmatchable game sense and lightning quick reactions which make him a nightmare to play against for any opponent. Since Saku has joined our team he has made a huge impact and he really has become an integral part of our team.

LUK3^ - (written by Joey) Our devout leader, goes without saying his talent and previous clan history this guy has torn players apart for dod centuries, Sure he can be hot headed at times but it gets the guys in gear as we need motivation to bust out the >10 cap wins. He's a very smart player and racks up the additional kills and never fails a clutch moment. I've played with Luke in previous teams before and it’s always been a pleasure as we share common interests. Not only is Luke capable of picking up any weapon and dropping consistent 30+ but he can pick up any players and turn them into a top 10 eu team within a matter of weeks. Probably our strongest asset in FF. .

There are plenty of decent teams around in Europe, and a lot of them in your group. Which of them do you feel holds the greatest threat to you?

I believe no team is stronger than any other it all comes down to circumstance and in most cases that is individual performances, team play and map selections. However, if I had to choose a team it would most likely be 3DMAX because I feel they have a little more experience and the desire to win in their ranks unlike some of the other teams in our group.

Your first match is now under your belt, it looked like an impressive win for you. How did it go?

No disrespect to any of the Enmity because I have got some good friend there but it was very comfortable for us. Initially I had anticipated a closer encounter due to a few friendly rivalries but the nerves soon went when we started sinking those caps and taking a 13-0 win. We seemed to outmatch them both individually and collectively on both maps and I think it was a good performance from us and Enmity shouldn’t be too disheartened in defeat.

After Enmity you have, this week, played Phenix, one of the more surprising qualifiers to Premier. This match also ended in success. How do you see Phenix shaping up as a team?

For me Phenix being in premier isn’t a surprise, we have played them on several occasions and they have always been a tough opponent. They seem to work together well as a unit and all of them are very talented players. I hope this season they manage to gain some experience and most importantly stick together, if they manage that I can see only good things to come for them. I would like to add that Phenix is a good bunch of guys, they have respect and have shown a little sportsmanship and for that I respect them.

Many thanks to LUK3, and jo3y, for taking the time to answer the questions. We are all looking forward to many great matches from them during the rest of the group stage and onwards.