Thorin's thoughts on why Cooller, legendary Quake dueller, would be the biggest star in esports if Quake was the number one game.

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Vo0 on his runner-up finish at QuakeCon, Quake Champions and being a pro at 32

QuakeCon 2017’s annual duel championship saw the return to competition for many of Quake’s past greats. Of all the veterans, however, the one whose ID shone the brightest throughout the main event was Sander “Vo0” Kaasjager’s, the runner-up whose only losses came at the hand of the 19-years old Belarusian phenom and an eventual champion, clawz. At the age of 32, regular people may think of cutting back on gaming, both as a recreational and and a competitive activity, due to either real life obligations or other interests. Vo0 isn’t one of those people. For him -- the best Painkiller player in the world, back in the distant 2004 and 2005 -- the release of Quake Champions and the increased prize pools presented a perfect opportunity to get back into the active side of competition and once again feel the thrills of high-stakes on-stage play.

Several weeks after his second place finish, we had the opportunity to catch up with him and ask some questions regarding QuakeCon, Quake Champions and what does being a professional gamer at 32 mean for one’s life.

You can read the interview on Inven Global, but here's a short excerpt.

In the two European qualifiers, you actually got to play several players from the CIS region's second tier whom we get to see only online, most of the time. How did they compare to the players you got to meet in the group stage and the earlier rounds of the playoffs at QuakeCon?

I did play a lot against some CIS players, and they are quite good. Comparing online results to LAN results is challenging, however, because some people are more comfortable at home than they are at an event. My group consisted of whaz, Steej and clawz. Whaz was at least as good as these CIS players, but I think Steej had some trouble adapting to my style. He did not handle my Anarki well on Corrupted Keep and Sorlag on Blood Run too well. The Australian scene is quite small compared to the European scene so we get to play many more playstyles.

In general, I think the scene in Europe is incredibly competitive. I predicted that the EU Regional qualifier would probably be tougher than the actual event itself, which is (for me anyway) kind of what happened.

If you want to keep tabs on all my future content you can do so by following me on twitter at @RadoNonfire. Hope you enjoy and feel welcome to let me know your thoughts on the interview!

Hey folks, got out a short piece on Quake Champions out. Hope you enjoy and I'd happy to hear your thoughts on it.

You can find the full write-up on the following link: http://www.esportsheaven.com/articles/view/6147

Here's also the first paragraph if you're not sure it's worth your click.
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RadoN’s thousand is a series of articles in which I share my take on an esports topic of my choosing in about a thousand words. This entry focuses on id Software’s latest title, Quake Champions.

This year's QuakeCon was the first not to feature Quake Live since its introduction in 2008. Initially developed as a web-based game, despite the multitude of adjustments, was an obvious remake of id software's 1999 hit, Quake 3 Arena. In that way, QL is the perfect representation of what the series had been throughout its iterations, until recently. It utilized the free to play monetization model that had been growing in popularity and a web-based client making the game easy to access from anywhere across the globe. Yet, despite the considerable amount of fine-tuning from the developers' side, most casual fans viewed it as a modernized remake of an older game. Excluding the additions of Railgun and crouch slide, Quake had remained a very similar game throughout its five prior iterations for the vast majority of gamers.

This legacy has come to an end with...
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edit: I removed the cover picture as I couldn't find a way to make it smaller.

Last week Nikita "clawz" Marchinsky walked the ‘royal road’ at QuakeCon 2017 as he lifted the trophy, both the duel and the Sacrifice tournaments, in his first attendance of the annual event. This was the first time Quake Champions, the latest iteration of id’s 90s hit FPS, was played on a big. Over the course of the three-days long event, the 19-years old Belarusian won matches over a number of players, including legendary names Cooller and Vo0, losing only two maps in the process. Several days after the dust has settled, Inven Global had the opportunity to ask the young phenom a number of questions in regards to the event, his past and future. Here is an excerpt:

How much time did you actually spend in practice and preparation? Please describe what does your preparation consist of.

Me and my team were spending around 5 hours each day on playing sacrifice. Basically, we were only playing scrims, improving our team and personal skills. For duel, I almost didn’t practice, only played a few games before the UK LAN (the European QuakeCon qualifier) against top tier players, and before QuakeCon I, played few games against Xron to feel the flow. So, for duel, I just analyzed how it works and was mostly preparing mentally.

Make sure to read the full interview at invenglobal.com

If you want to keep tabs on all my future content you can do so by following me on twitter at @RadoNonfire. Hope you enjoy and feel welcome to let me know what you think about the interview!

QuakeCon 2017 is on our doorsteps and with it, Quake Champions' inaugural big-stage duel event. Despite missing some big names the event will be by far the most stacked lineup a the series has seen in recent years. As such, most of the matches are bound to be exciting on their own, but what makes them even better is often the storylines behind the action and smarts that take place on the server. Throughout the weekend we'll see many different narratives converge or give way to each other, but in this piece I'll examine several of the key ones, which I'll be paying the most attention to.

You can continue reading at: https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/2773/key-storyline-for-quakecon-2017s-duel-championship

A small note: unfortunately, I didn't know evil is participating in the BYOC at the time of writing so... :(

About me:
I go by the ID RadoN! I’ve been following different games within the esports industry ever since finding out about it in 2009. The titles that I follow closely for the time being are Overwatch, CS:GO and Quake, while occasionally dabbling in some other games as well. If you wish to reach out, follow future content, or simply know more about my thoughts on esports and gaming, you can find me on twitter at @RadoNonfire.

winz reminiscing about his career: 'I usually have a very good idea of where I stand individually...'

While modern-day esports fans recognize Michael "winz" Bignet as a skilled and versatile Overwatch player—who is ready to play whatever position his team needs—his career as a professional player began more than a decade ago. In the distant 2004, he was already representing ‘against All authority’, a brand veteran fans will recognize as a once staple name among the upper echelon the French esports scene.

While winz wasn’t a regular in the offline circuit at the time, he’d grow to be recognized as one of the best in the games he played. Throughout 2005, he became UT2004 world champion by winning ESWC in France, his home country. 2006 saw him earning the gold again, but this time for Quake 4 with notable wins over toxjq, now recognized as the greatest Q4 player, and Cypher, who would eventually become the best, and arguably greatest, Quake duelist to date.

After the introduction of Quake Live, winz gave up on the 1v1 mode due to a number of gameplay changes he didn’t enjoy and the continued prevalence of old maps. For several years, he wasn’t part of the highest level of offline competition, but eventually made a comeback in team modes and games, winning premier tournaments in Quake Live TDM, ShootMania, and most recently, Overwatch.

. . .

This is the second part of the interview. You can find it on Esports Heaven at the following link:
http://www.esportsheaven.com/articles/6082

If you want to keep tabs on all my future content you can do so by following me on twitter at @RadoNonfire.

Hope you enjoy and feel welcome to let me know what you think about the interview!

winz reminiscing about his career: 'I usually have a very good idea of where I stand individually...'

While modern-day esports fans recognize Michael "winz" Bignet as a skilled and versatile Overwatch player—who is ready to play whatever position his team needs—his career as a professional player began more than a decade ago. In the distant 2004, he was already representing ‘against All authority’, a brand veteran fans will recognize as a once staple name among the upper echelon the French esports scene.

While winz wasn’t a regular in the offline circuit at the time, he’d grow to be recognized as one of the best in the games he played. Throughout 2005, he became UT2004 world champion by winning ESWC in France, his home country. 2006 saw him earning the gold again, but this time for Quake 4 with notable wins over toxjq, now recognized as the greatest Q4 player, and Cypher, who would eventually become the best, and arguably greatest, Quake duelist to date.

After the introduction of Quake Live, winz gave up on the 1v1 mode due to a number of gameplay changes he didn’t enjoy and the continued prevalence of old maps. For several years, he wasn’t part of the highest level of offline competition, but eventually made a comeback in team modes and games, winning premier tournaments in Quake Live TDM, ShootMania, and most recently, Overwatch.

The interview takes a retrospective look at his career as a player.
. . .

You can find the interview itself on Esports Heaven at the following link:
http://www.esportsheaven.com/articles/6080

Make sure you don't miss part two by following us on twitter at @EsportsHeaven and @RadoNonfire.

In the article I take a look at what is for me the 5 most interesting story lines at QuakeCon 2016's duel tournament. Hope you enjoy it and feel free to let me know if you got questions or criticism.

I meant to post it on 4th, before the event but experienced some technical difficulties I couldn't fix in time since I was planning to post it just before the tournament starts. I hope it is still enjoyable read.

Link to the article on medium.com

If you are interested in my opinions regarding esports and want to keep track of future articles @RadoNonfire on twitter.