After a short break we are now back for a new installment of X3O’s Behind the Gamer interview series. Here at X3O, we’re trying our best to provide more in depth coverage of the professional gamers playing under the organization. Through this series, you will get to know all of the gamers within X3O. Please click the “Behind the Gamer” tag at the top of this post to read interviews that were

For the fifth installment, we will be chatting with Dan “mehLer” Mehler. Playing an integral part in X3O’s 9th place finish at last months ESWC, you will get to know him, as a person, his thoughts on the “controversy” that occurred in San Jose.

As always, could you please give is a brief introduction of yourself?

My name is Dan Mehler and I currently playing Counter-Strike 1.6 for x3o. I've played CS for about 8 years now, starting in beta 7, and I've played competitively for 6+ of them.

When you aren’t on CS or the computer, what do you enjoy doing?

I'm either working, sleeping or out with friends.

This is a question I have to ask you. Some time ago, I came across a picture of your at-home computer set up, has it changed at all to be more “comfortable”?

It is comfortable, what are you talking about? ;D No it hasn't changed.

X3O defeated a definitive top 3 team in the world this past ESWC, mTw. How happy were you when you beat the tournament favorite? You also made quick work of the tournaments #2 finisher, eSTRO. Why was that match so easy for X3O?

It was definitely exciting beating mTw, but having our tournament fate rest in the hands of two other teams was far from comforting. I guess the only people we can blame are ourselves. We actually beat and knocked out estro from eswc in 2007, on the same map, but it wasn't as easy as it looked. Everyone was hitting their shots and most mid-round situations went in our favor because of smart play and good teamwork. They're obviously a very talented bunch of guys and seeing them get second was no surprise.

The fate of X3O at ESWC 2008 came down to a small rule which ultimately boiled down to one thing; MYM.PGS had to beat mTw (in the 2nd group stage) for you guys to advance to the brackets. What were you thinking before they played their match? How did you feel when the eventual champions were beaten by the team you had just overcome?

The eswc tie-breaker rule was unusual, but it makes alot of sense at the same time. Like I said, it wasn't fun having our fate in someone else's hands, and we were obviously thinking "go mym" in the beginning of the match. Seeing mTw beat MYM wasn’t surprising, once a team gets to a certain level in professional CS, the "any given sunday" rule always applies… meaning anyone can beat anyone.

The WCG USA Finals and the Extreme Masters LA Global Challenge are coming up in just a few weeks. Since both of these events are going to be a component of this years E for All Expo – which one are you most looking forward to?

It's hard to say because getting to chance to play the international teams is obviously much more rare and always a lot of fun. But at the same time, getting to see the teams and players at WCG, that we always see online is great too. I can't really pick one or the other, so I'll just take this opportunity to be thankful that these two events will be run at the same time, and hopefully everything goes smoothly.

Do you prefer having two separate events being hosted at the same time and the same location? Or would you rather extend your travel schedule and have them isolated from each other?

I love to travel, so it's hard to say. And I've yet to be at two events at the same time i believe... so I'll let you know how it goes.

You are the only east coast player on the team. Do the time zone differences and ping issues cause big problems for you? Or have you gotten use to it all by now?

It's been a long time since I've consistently played on an east coast server. It's actually somewhat funny to me when east coast players complain about texas servers, I guess i've just gotten used to them over time. The time zone difference isn't really a big deal, we usually start playing when I get out of work and play into the night.

What do you think about all of the recent roster changes within EG and MoB? Do you think these changes have helped the teams, or do you think a consistent roster (as seen in X3O), is a better way to go?

I'd almost always opt for a consistent roster... and while recruiting new and better talent should always be welcome... you can't expect results and chemistry without putting time and effort into everything and everyone.

Sitting at 18-2-0 in CEVO-Professional, are you starting to worry that the North-American talent pool may not be good enough to test X3O, allowing them to improve for international competitions?

Not at all. Teams seem to get lackadaisical with online CS, but the effort is there. Thats why it's so important for organizations like WCG to keep those tournaments flowing.

Lastly, the North-American community seems to be responding very positively to X3O’s success in ESWC. Even with your 9th place finish, players are beginning to see X3O as a top international team. Do you expect to win an international tournament this year? Or are you expectations more modest?

We always go into tournaments looking for the W, but at the same time we realize our international experience is limited. Any international team we beat, we don't look at as an upset, we just know that all 5 of us has to be on the top of his game to do so.