Maciek “av3k” Krzykowski

WCG Seed : 5
Total Q4 Prize Money : $7,470
GGL Q4 World Ranking : 14
GGL 1v1 World Ranking : 14

Q4 Results to date :

2006 Digital Life : 2nd
2006 Quakecon : 4th
2006 The Gathering (Norway) : 1st
2006 Netgamez (Netherlands) : 1st

Seeded 5th for the WCG event and some might ask why the hell this is the case for a 15 year old who has attended only 4 tournaments in his life.

The main reason comes from the fact that, like cooller a few years ago, there is no doubt of this Polish boy’s superstar status in Quake 4. The very fact that despite his lowly ranking and lack of major tournaments he was voted into the WCG finals says a lot about the excitement that he has brought to the community.

He can play a bit to, just in case you were starting to think it was just hype surrounding this young man. His defeat of Fatal1ty at Quakecon visibly left the American watchers stunned. I even overheard one guy ask “who the f*** is this little sh** beating Fatal1ty”.

He was close to Ztrider at that event too, narrowly missing out on 3rd and then he went one better this last weekend by taking 2nd place, again defeating Fatal1ty (not once, but twice) at Digital Life. Whilst he may have lost to Toxic in the final, he showed enough to convince everyone that he has what it takes to compete at the very highest level and most certainly at the WCG Finals.

Like Cypher, he has issues with his age and sometimes visa issues too, but that is perhaps why he will want to try harder than ever before at WCG to succeed. If it doesn’t work out for him, he has time on his side and he is showing a “wise head on young shoulders” approach to his games that suggests, he knows his time will come anyway.

His ongoing frustration at not being able to attend major events such as Kode 5, CPL or WSVG will be put behind him when he competes for possibly the biggest prize in gaming at the World Cyber Games.

As for his form, there is nothing wrong with how he is playing right now despite his parents insistence on making sure he completes his school work before playing and of course the ridiculous state of his internet connection, making even online practice a real chore.

He comes into this tournament as a genuine contender and despite the players in his group he will have no worries about qualifying (he rarely worries about other players). If he can gain the upper hand or get close to Toxic in his group game, he could well have the confidence and poise to go on and win the WCG. It is almost unthinkable that a 15 year old could take the big prize, but right now, it is not impossible.

Prediction : Should be able to get through his group, certainly on recent form anyway. A top 4 place should be his absolute minimum goal, but don’t count him out of winning the whole thing either.