After a dominant LAN win and a smooth weekend across the board in Dallas, we caught up with the man who finally made the leap no one else would—Dougski. Captain of the ship, Overlord of Bricked UP, and the one who turned talk into action. We talked about the event, the performance, and whether the community has a future… or if this was just lightning in a bottle.

Q: “Good afternoon, dougie.

After a LAN that revived the community and ultimately ran like clockwork and ended with you on top, hoisting the 1st place trophy, it’s only right we hear from the Overlord himself. How do you feel about how it all came together—both in terms of organization and the event itself? And looking ahead, is there anything you’d want to tweak or improve for the next one?”

A: “Good afternoon my son – thanks for the interview and opportunity to talk to the community and answer these questions. I think the Dallas LAN was an absolute success all around. It wildly surpassed our expectations as far as participation and lived up to the competitive hype that we were hoping for. Organizationally, there were major key players such as yourself and sh0tyz who executed their roles and responsibilities flawlessly. As far as the overall event, this community and organization is nothing without our players. We had 11 teams (almost 12) that all spent their own money to fly across the country and play CoD2. My hat is off to them.

With that said, there is always room for improvement, and the biggest thing we’ll be looking at for the next LAN is location location location. Dallas did more than suffice and GG EZ’s staff was amazing. But I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t want MORE BABY MORE. Better PC’s, a bigger city, and an overall more elite gaming experience.“

Q: “How does it feel knowing you single-handedly revived a dead community? And more importantly, how does it feel accomplishing what Caseman never could?”

A: “While I appreciate the inherent compliment, I don’t think I single handedly did anything for this community. Since we’ve been running the discord, there are so many members that run cups in both CoD2 and CoD4, and on a daily basis contribute to the overall health of this community. I’m just glad I was able to play such a big role and that you were all willing to trust my leadership. That’s the biggest compliment a guy could hope to receive – the respect and trust of his friends. Regarding Caseman – deep down I’ve always known I was smarter and better looking than him so I’m not even a little surprised that he couldn’t make this happen.“

Q: “After Bricked UP’s LAN performance, any changes on the horizon? Roster moves, play style tweaks—what’s on your mind for the upcoming season? Some people have even suggested the biggest upgrade might be replacing the worst-performing player on LAN—yourself. Any thoughts on that?”

A: “At this moment, no major changes to our roster. We worked hard, nerd’d out, and put together a roster that we are proud of. It’s working, we love playing together, and we have great chemistry. However, the best are the best because they continue to adapt, so we may make some changes in-game to certain play positions, but our overall approach will not change. Our philosophy is simple at Bricked UP: “play together, play smart, and NEVER play scared”. Also, it didn’t hurt us that we were able to cut the biggest LAN dodging, toxic snake of all time (he’s bald and has a lisp but we wont say names).

To your point on my performance. I was recently watching an interview with Derek Jeter. The interviewer asked him what his best seasons were, and he simply began to list all the seasons he won the World Series with the Yankees. My point here is that winning as a team is everything and individual performances pale in comparison to hoisting the trophy. Championships are the most coveted in this world, and that is all I cared about. Could I have played better? Absolutely. But then again, so could Harold (gotem). Bottom line upfront, I played my role, put up positive #’s, and developed a system with my AMAZING teammates to win. Nothing else matters.

With the online season coming up and real life taking ahold, I will use this interview to announce we’ve added Woody to our roster. After his falling out with Janitorz, he decided to semi retire and play the occasional EU game. His career takes precedence in the summer months but we convinced him to be our rotating 6th man. He will see plenty of playing time with our busy schedules and he is a LAN proven fragger. He fits in like a glove and we are excited to have our friend become our teammate.“

Q: “Excited to see what woody will bring to an already over performing roster. Very solid player !

On another note, pulling off a successful LAN is one thing, but keeping a scene alive is another. What’s the key to making sure this community doesn’t fade out—or worse, self-destruct like it has in the past?”

A: “This time around, it feels different. I think that we owed the community more than a discord of pugs, and we delivered. They were hungry for more, and we provided a feast. In order to keep this momentum going, my approach is simple: keep the community active with what I call “small wins”. This is our weekly night cups, the ladders, and enhancing the pug experience. While we do this, we will continue to plan bigger events like our new GOTN Season and LAN #2.

YES! For everyone who’s been asking, WE ARE PLANNING A SECOND LAN. We’re looking at a few locations in late summer / early fall. More to follow. Basically zyk, what we need to do is keep everyone playing and keep it competitive. Our current # of teams on the league is a great sign, but we can’t have another era of 3 dominant teams. Right now, we have the perfect roster balances. We’ve got elite teams, competitive teams, and new ones that get better everyday. Keep em fragging, keep em engaged.”

Q: “Riveting news and from the horse’s mouth himself, no pun intended. Any final words for the players, the community, or the haters who thought this game was dead?”

A: “To the haters – thanks for the fuel ma boys. No shit the game is “dead”. We’re here to game with our friends, and that sentiment is very much alive. Come join us or go kick rocks. To the community – thank you for everything. I love being able to hop on discord after a long day, crack a beer, and mix it up in the servers with you all. Stay patient with the admins as we continue to improve the community, we’ve got a bright future.

And lastly, to my teammates – dirty_german, myLo, 1shot, polo, woody – thanks for being the best fucking group of dudes to game with. We did it boys. Who do you think you are, I AM! Stay tucked, stay bricked, stay golden pony boy.

See you nerds at the gathering.”

There you have it folks.

Whether you see him as a savior or just the guy bold enough to take the wheel, Dougie took the risk—and it paid off. The LAN happened. People showed up. The games were cracked. And Bricked UP took the crown. Now the only question left is: can we keep the scene alive—or is this just a brief gasp before the next collapse? Either way, we’ve earned our moment in time.