David "daveofdefeat" Holley Interview
Hi David, thanks for taking your time to talk us.
Thank you for having me.
Firstly, give us a brief history of your Day of Defeat: Source career.
Well, after I emerged from the womb of the Goddess of War, Athena, who had been impregnated by a dictionary, I was quickly recruited by my nofriends friends to rifle for them for a time. However, I was still playing 1.3 at this point and decided to just chill out with LolK for a while. After that, nofriends tapped me up again, turned into ZeroRemorse (and 30,000 other different teams in between), won some finals and then DoD:S basically died. When it semi-restarted, I joined uR for something different/toasty. I have to say, they are without doubt the shittest kids in the world though.
You're relatively new to Team Uprising, joining only a few seasons ago, how've you found Uprising thus far?
That's a fine question, and I'm glad that you've taken the time to ask me. In between being tk'd and tk'ing people, we mostly listen to Stozz rage about how much shitter everyone else is than him (right after he dies) and generally make jokes against soft targets e.g. Chris being bald, hef being toasty and Stozz coming to Australia, on a door, from Lebanon. All in all, the clan has gotten better since we basically just recruited the entirety of *pt*/ZR, minus Uncle itchybro (who is actually in a senior citizens' home now).
You recently released a movie to the international Day of Defeat: Source scene, tell us about it.
I let the [distinctly average] frags and James's [rather outstanding] editing do the talking.
How do you predict your team will go in the upcoming Clutch Fraggers League finals series?
If no one suicides in real life up until the end of the season, I will consider that our CFL Season II campaign has been a success. Anything on top of that is gravy.
Who do you feel has performed particularly well this season for Uprising and for the teams you've faced?
Hard to really say for us, given that we don't prac/pub at all, and haven't since the end of the GA Season VI finals, some year or so ago. Chris always represents. Everyone else has been pretty up and down. We can all usually be counted on to do something useful at some point, but we usually balance that out by doing something shit i.e. losing to Exile-5.
As far as other teams go, I haven't watched any other matches in STV, so I don't really know who's playing well. Apparently, erazeR is the best heavy in DoD:S now. At least until Stozz has his say in the finals. I haven't been blown away by any of the rifles that I've played against so far. Sly is in pretty good form as a sniper; all the pub seems to be paying off.
Motivation and activity seem to be an issue for your team this season, why is this?
The community is a shambles, basically. It always has been in the past, what with there only ever being two-three decent teams in existence at a time, but it's at what can only be called a low ebb at the moment. Perhaps more accurately, it's circling the drain. As such, none of us feel that it's worth wasting the time praccing a game when we can mix it with anyone already. We've all won titles in the past, so no one feels that we have anything to prove anymore.
On paper you've got some of the best players the Australian community has seen, so why have you come up with two losses in pool play?
Our chemistry is balls, we don't have any strats and no one has any patience, apart from Stozz. Personally, I keep running into goblins because I can't be bothered waiting for people to move for ten minutes (further reading: uMc on Coire).
Previously making every 'dreamteam' list in former seasons, how has community speculation that you're a "has-been" affected you? Do you feel a need to prove yourself this finals series?
I haven't ever rated myself as a player, I just feel that, for whatever reason, the majority of people have been worse for some reason which I don't understand. I don't see myself as a has-been because I never really saw myself as anything special in the first place. There have been about three good rifles in the history of DoD:S - aRj, thom (when he was with uR) and Gardz. I don't feel that anyone else, particularly anyone else playing now, merits comparison. I certainly don't consider myself to be in their class.
Without naming names, what are your thoughts on said speculator?
All I'll say is that I'm very hurt, and will be making a forum thread later tearfully announcing my retirement from DoD:S, effective immediately. But then I'll be back for a CFL game about two days later.
You're almost certainly going to be playing Exile5 in the semi-final's of CFL. Give us an insight into how you think this game will play out, including a result?
If it's a BO3, we'll choose Harrington, they'll choose Santos (probably) and the decider map will be something unbearably shit. There won't be much camping, as there wasn't in the Lennon game, because both teams are out of prac, don't strat, and just want to push. There's a lesson to be learned for all the kids who live in corners, and uR vs. x5 will hopefully show it. As far as a result goes, we will win Harrington, they'll win Santos, and the server will crash during the decider, after which both teams will lose interest and cLag will win the final by default.
Uprising recently underwent a lineup overhaul prior to the CFL season, why was this? and how do you feel it's affected your team?
Well, uR's overall modus operandi for the past few seasons has basically been to recruit the shit out of ZR/*pt*. Pretty wise strategy now, given that uR have always struggled to get a core six in any season, let alone this season i.e. a season that no one cares about in particular. As far as the lineup itself goes, on paper it should've been more solid, but it seems that Adam "DreamTeam" Davis has gone and gotten himself jammed in Hef's toaster after Matthew invited him around to try to fix it, and Leigh "grim" Gardiner is still playing DoD:S on a pocket calculator, so we're struggling a bit. The fact that half the team doesn't know any of the calls (the new guys - Gardz, Phonetic and Gonzo - mostly) continues to make life difficult.
One of the additions to the team, Leigh "Grim" Gardiner, is an old teammate of yours, how do you feel being reunited with the Day of Defeat heavy-weight?
Leigh is an amazing teammate, person and player. I have played with some absolutely fantastic rifles e.g. Yoshi, aRj, Hobsy, XeroX and Gossie, but Leigh's on a different level, no doubt because he has always been in a top-end clan. I think I've had better chemistry with some of those other players, but Leigh's overall game-sense and approach means that it makes it so unbelievably easy to play with and read him. There is no side in the history of DoD:S that couldn't have been improved by having him in one of the three rifle slots.
Arguably forming the best duo in Day of Defeat: Source rifling, how do you think you and Gardiner will fare against Exile5 standouts, IceAceComing and Chad?
As far as I understand it, Thom's been heavying this season. Chad is always formidable, and he's been getting in the hours, learning the game, this season; he is always one that will cause problems. That said, he hasn't got the same experience of some of the other more seasoned campaigners. That said though, myself and Leigh - if we are this "best duo in DoD:S rifling" - are both out of touch and practice. If the two of us were to go head-to-head with the two of them, it would be a fairly open, yet sloppy, encounter. It would also be a lot of fun. More fun than checking every single random corner, which is what I've had to do for most of this season.
Who would you regard as your 'opposite number' against Exile5 and how do you plan on shutting them down?
I guess it depends on the map. On Harrington in the old days, I was usually up against Thom in mid, though x5 have always had fairly fluid strats and you'd wind up facing more or less any one on any flank at any time. I don't think I will necessarily be tasked with shutting one player down, but I often find myself drawn into battles picking snipers and watching flanks/anals for heavies. Going head-to-head with Netch is always a challenge.
Lucien "Downcast" Norrish has stated that he's going to make an appearance in the Team Uprising versus Exile5 semi-final match, how do you feel this will impact the Exile5 side?
I should hope that he would; he was the one who really tried to drive the community on/motivate it when everyone else was giving up a couple of seasons ago. It wouldn't be a true uR vs. x5 swan-song (and I DO believe that this will be the last time that these two teams will ever meet, as I can't see there being enough interest for another CFL season) if he didn't front it. As far as his impact goes, I don't think he's played a single match for x5 this season, and with Christopher "Sheriff" Green always dependable and likely to be scoping for us, I'm not sure that he, or any other scope that they have on offer, will be able to make a massive impact.
The CFL semi-finals are a best-of-three series, what three maps are you hoping for in order of preference?
Harrington is an obvious choice. I don't much care for Lennon, but it's probably in the best interest of the team. Other than that, probably Solitude_rats.
What map are you hoping to avoid?
Honestly, I think that any encounter with x5 will be open-ended and non-campy on account of the fact that neither side is really up for playing like a bunch of colon fairies. That said, I've always had a love-hate relationship with Rails.
In terms of class groups (Rifles/Heavies/Scope), what do you think is going to be the tightest match-up?
Hard to know, really. I guess the heavy duel between Markbar and Stozz is the one that's generated the most column inches lately, mostly because Stozz is angrier about DoD:S than Hitler was about the Jews.
Assuming you manage to best Exile5 in the semi-final you'll surely be going up against SAIL champions and CFL favourites, cLag. What do you think would be the deciding factor in the hypothetical game?
Well, I think the statistics speak for themselves. Sly has played about three times more DoD:S, over the last year, as our entire roster put together. The rest of their team have similar figures of hours played, have pracced fairly exhaustively, know each other inside-out, and keep pubbing to stay in touch with the game. I honestly don't think that we have the patience to break them down, which is exactly what I felt in our season match with them on Solitude_rats. They gradually wore us down, and had specific plans to stifle us (cf. sending four to the double cap at almost all times/slowing the game down to a crawl on that flank), because they were aware that we are better at attacking than defending. If they won, it would make the most sense this season, as they are the side most deserving after the effort that they've put into the game.
Slightly off topic, how're your retirement plans going?
Hedge funds, mortgage broking, buy low sell high stocks, superannuation and hip replacements.
Delightful. No doubt you'll be exchanging stories of your Day of Defeat endeavors with old mate Itchybro in the retirement home soon enough. Thanks for your time and the interview. Any shoutouts?
To everyone who liked my movie. And also to James "dice" Circa for wasting the last half an hour of my life with this interview. Jesus Christ, I have never wanted New Zealand to sink more.
Pow, right in the feelings.
Author
NightShift 
