Nathan 'Zelli0n' Bonello of Iconic Cinco - Interview

Following our recap article regarding the MCS#4 CS:GO Gold Tournament, which we strongly recommend reading here, we successfully reached out to the unforetold winners of Iconic Cinco through one of their players, Nathan "Zelli0n" Bonello.  Strong with an electrifying degree of enthusiasm, Nathan contently complied to an interview, which should let us learn more about the structure of Iconic Cinco and insight into their victory while also discovering more about the young gun in "Zelli0n". We hope you enjoy the following interview!

1.) As a new player, we’re sure that many of our readers are anxious to learn about who “Zelli0n” is and what he’s all about. Introduce yourself by describing your personal life, your career in esports and anything else you’d like to mention about yourself.

My name is Nathan Bonello, 17 years of age, having just recently finished my A levels. I'm very dedicated when it comes to gaming. It is not only a hobby, but it is also my passion. So far, this past year and a half, I've attended over 5 LAN events, all of which have been a blast. I have met loads of people from these events which made the experience that much more memorable. Luckily, in the latest event I've attended, my team and I managed to earn the 1st place trophy and be titled as champions. I'm also very passionate about video editing, especially when it comes to compiling CS:GO gameplay in my very own fragmovies. 

2.) Nathan was a fundamental part of a phenomenal victory which his team, Iconic Cinco, earned at the Malta Cyber Series #4 CS:GO Gold Tournament. When did this aptitude to compete all begin and when did you know that you wanted to take the next step forward through local competition? 

As I mentioned earlier, the past 5 LAN events were indeed fun but we never managed to place 1st, as Project Eversio were successfully dominating the local scene. Fortunately, I managed to get in contact with the European players (who are basically semi-professional players) a month before the LAN event, and we started practicing together - which eventually resulted in us winning the MCS#4 LAN. 

3.) Iconic Cinco was a name never heard of before the Malta Cyber Series #4. Despite this, the new squad blew the competition out of the water including the defending champions in Project Eversio. How did your squad prepare for the event? What were your thoughts going into the event individually and as a team? 

We, as a team, didn't manage to practice a whole lot, mostly because of the Europeans' recent arrival in Malta. They ended up getting piled with lots of work, and we didn't have a lot of time for team practice in general, but we all managed to play individually just before the LAN, and I guess it was enough practice for the victory. My thoughts going into this tournament were shifting constantly. From excitement, to fear of disappointment, and back to excitement. It was a never-ending emotional train.

4.) Nathan finds himself on the roster beside the names of "Nax", "zED", "oxley" and "KilleRa". What would you say is the main reason behind the victory, how did you manage to beat out all the other teams? Also, do you now consider yourselves the best CS:GO team in Malta? 

I think our individual skill in the game managed to get us the victory, because as I'll reiterate, we didn't have a lot of time to practice. We also had some minor communication issues which made us lose a couple of rounds which we shouldn't have lost. Even though we have won the most recent local tournament, this doesn't mean that we are 100% the best team in Malta, because in CS:GO, anything can happen. The top teams might underperform and have issues, whereas an underdog team might end up winning lots of series and managing to grab 1st place. CS:GO and esports in general is all about consistency. If you're not able to stay at the top of the top and be the best of the best, new-comers will take your spot and it will be very hard to regain it.

5.) The team, consisting of the mentioned players, is a mix of Maltese and European players. How does this effect in-game communication? Describe the dynamic of the team in and outside of competition. 

I'm not gonna lie, I thought having a mixed team would be easier than having a pure Maltese team. It was a big change from always communicating in our native language to only speaking English, in and out of game. As far as in-game communication, we understood each other pretty well, but since the European players are far more experienced than me, this led to some miscommunication. When they called out something which wasn't familiar to me I was really confused and we lost some rounds because of it. Outside of the competition communication wasn't really that bad. We didn't all know each other really well, so usually after finishing a series versus a team, we would go eat at a restaurant and talk about ourselves and the game.

6.) Although they are undoubtedly talented, Iconic Cinco wasn’t completely flawless. What do you think you’re team needs to improve upon ahead of future events in order to continue on this form? What do you think you need to improve upon as an individual? 

I think the best thing we can do to improve is to find more time to practice, go out together more often so that we know one another fairly well, and as for me I think I shouldn't give up and feel less disappointed in myself whenever I do a mistake and instead, learn and fix.