The 6th edition of the ESWC. In order to attend to the final in California, all champions will have to qualify through ESWC national selections from January to June 2008.
can someone tell me how USA have got 5 players attending? i can understand the 2 who qualified from the nationals and 1 from masters but how come chance and czm got a direct invite? is it just because its being held in USA?
maybe to add to the excitement factor? i think eswc actually cares about spectators watching their events and running entertaining tournaments unlike other organizations that i won't mention. and i think a good way to do that is to bring in all the top names, and czm & chance are definitely some of them. i personally think anyone who's worthy of keeping up with the competition should be able to attend, no matter where they're from, just to keep it exciting.
im not complaining i just wondered, the more players the better... just they have never done it before. kinda makes the qualifiers a bit of a sham if players who dont qualify will get a direct invite anyways
I guess they use the players to fill empty spots, which they have done before. Only this time they do it a little earlier, which is good imo cause it raises the quality of the replacements.
For instance UEFA and the hosting countries also cared about the number of fans coming to see EURO 2008, but still nobody gave a wild card to English team, which did not qualify.
to also be fair some states are allmost empty (only very few inhabitants). And also in your theory china should get half of the spots! because they simply have half of the world population.
Not being too specific with which countries were included, but a quick google search shows that there was a pop. of 300m in '07 for USA, and 728m for europe in '05.
Just sayin'.
seems like this years eswc finals will be the best and highest skilled tournament in the history of q3 with all those ppl attending and practicing hard for it. I couldn't think of a better way to end the era of q3 (and beginning of quakelive :p)
I hope they will have CRT monitors so nothing lowers the skill and that there are good admins and a proper coverage such a playerlist deserves! (tho im worried about that cause its in america =/)
i believe jibo has smth to say about that, and if cooller gets in form again he too, maybe even zero4 now that he got some international practice. And you can never count out fox!
At the time when ESWC 2003 was hosted the current Quake3 international champions were LeXeR (Quakecon 2002) and uNkind (WCG).
I think the biggest evidence to suggest that it wasn't just between cooller and zero4 is that group stage two finished 1.Lexer 2. Cooller and 1. Fazz 2. Zero4.
Cooller, ZeRo4, Fazz, Fox, z4muz, cha0 and prozac were all underdogs wanting to claim or reclaim the top spot.
At the time when ESWC 2003 was hosted the current Quake3 international champions were LeXeR (Quakecon 2002) and uNkind (WCG).
one of them (unkind) didnt even attend eswc2003 due to infamous russian visa problems. so lets say lexer is left. then again, cooller didnt attend that quakecon. or any of the swedes. it was lexer vs americans basically, in quakecon's "good old" BO1 to that. not so solid proof of anything.
I think the biggest evidence to suggest that it wasn't just between cooller and zero4 is that group stage two finished 1.Lexer 2. Cooller and 1. Fazz 2. Zero4.
Well yeah, ZeRo4 lost 1 match to fazz, Cooller lost 2 matches as i recall, 1 to LeXeR, 1 to Socrates, but still, those aren't the matches that decide anything. when it came to semifinals it was totally different story.
Cooller, ZeRo4, Fazz, Fox, z4muz, cha0 and prozac were all underdogs wanting to claim or reclaim the top spot.
i dont know about you, but i didnt see anyone in the finals except ZeRo4 and Cooller from the beginning of the tournament. Fazz, Fox, Z4muz, Cha0ticz, those are/were all *good* players, but it takes some more than that to win a major tournament. They never did.
recent masters tournament looked easy for cypher, but this time i doubt it would be anything like that. kinda agree with the predictions, although i would switch cooller's and fox' place. cooller was rusty and obviously lacked practice, and still managed to fuck many players in the brain with ninjastyle and mapcontrol. he will be better in san jose, for sure. and in-form cooller is not below top3.
I agree on cooller but I've no idea how he's treating this tournament, if he takes it seriously enough and gets in good shape then he's Top3 for sure (I can only see Cypher and av3k being capable of beating him). He showed glimpses of genius at GameGune so here's hoping.
As for the ESWC 2003 stuff, it was a three way battle at least between Cooller, LeXeR and ZeRo4 withFazz and Fox probably as outsiders. If only uNkind had got the visa...
I think it's all relative. Because I think the game has definitely developed since 2003. Watching old demos from back then, people lean more towards RL skill and controlling items. Now you see players like Cypher who not only have a killer RL and item-timing, but they have beastly LG and RG as well as superior weapon use and positioning.
Everyone's game is ratcheted up so far at this point that I think it comes down to those with the most big LAN experience who can handle the pressure.
What would make you think such results aren't possible this year? Just look at all the potential winners: czm, cooller, fox, jibo, noctis, avek, cypher, killsen, zero4. And then I'm still omitting some names. I do agree, it will be hard to top ESWC '03, but I can see it happen anyway =)
So far only out of czm, cooller, noctis, killsen, zero4 none have shown potential to win (yet). Fox and Jibo are close but have both played inconsistently. av3k has a chance and Cypher is in prime position.
At ESWC 2003, the five players I listed all stood (As the results show) a pretty even chance of winning.
It's certainly capable of providing results like that but it all depends whether czm, cooller, noctis, killsen, zero4, vo0 etc can really step up to the level shown by the others (Maybe less true in the case of noctis who has shown he is quite capable).
Quakelive will make it even more interesting, since
LG is still easy to use(less lg damage, no cripple) *cypher style* Rockets are back in style HARDCORE (faster RL, more splash damage) *unkind style*
Rail is really easy to hit (80 damage, unlagged gameplay type rail) *z4muz style*
In the middle we have fixed shotgun(accurate) / plasma (same) / mg (less damage) / gauntlet (same)/ grenade (same)
All with OSP jump height and cpma 'accurate' strafing.
Quite rofl that everyone thinks its osp jump height even tho its 1:1 cpma vq3 movement jump height (syncerror said so). Just shows that ppl are stupid.
if you mean im stupid, i didn't say the jump height is all that defines movement, i also didn't say that ql movement is the same as cpma vq3 movement cause it still feels a bit more random too me.
he said
All with OSP jump height and cpma 'accurate' strafing.
And i just said that the jump height (and stepup height) is the same as in cpma.
From what I played him when he was down under (I think in New Zealand) I wasn't too impressed...although it was a 20 ping vs 50 ping situation about 3 years ago or so....I'd say he's probably awesome now though!
Get a loan! This is a once in a lifetime experience! When else would you be able to travel half way around the world to meet up with other great players and have a bunch of good memories???
the missing canadian is Bono, he is a "professional" +backer and has pissed me like nobody in zillion practice matches we have played before all this eswc hype, only recently he tries +forward sometimes
Since Cypher was beaten by K1llmaster on the online tournament it would be nice to see him there to. Also missing Toxic. With those two that would be almost an all-star list.
Also I hope for a great coverage as like it was on QuakeCon.
I asked that in other topic, but repeat the question here ones again: Anybody considers Hunter as a potential contender? I remember Chip (also ukrainian) finished third at WCG 2003 absolutely unexpected, correct me if I'm mistaken...
P.S. Cypher will be first, anyway. Go-go Cooller!
Only because Hunter is from the same country as someone (chip) who managed to surprise us 5 years ago doesn't really justify a consideration as "potential contender"
Not all but like most, yeah. So Nike failed to advance from the hardest group in his first international tournament? In the future I still wouldn't write him off based on that, but hopefully he'll eventually show what he's got.
I don't think Hunter can be considered a TOP contender, but he's a very dangerous player all right, and it's best for the top players not to underestimate him. As of late, he did 'quite' ok in the ukraine qualifier , which he won, but only because Alf gave forfeit in the final. Hunter looked ok in those few demos, but not really spectacular (like when he took 3rd place on ASUS Spring '07). He's a heavy rail-based player, and in these shaftwh0ring times, I don't see him get really far. On the other hand, he does have quite some experience, so we'll just have to wait & see. I'm not really sure what to expect from him.
Was it anywhere in the rules that they had a few spots to just assign to ppl ?
Now I don't realy know, but tbh they should announce stuff like this before the qualifiers :)
'Like we have a total of 32 spots, countries can buy spots and the rest will be assigned' that would make things a lot clearer.
its not eswc anymore its some tourneys where anyone can go, isnt it ?
how many US players in here? we didnt have so many french players and ESWC was still host in france.. and who the hell is toxter? if you want some german, get diablo, wrath or someone at least.. known?
oh, stop bitching, french guy. all i hear is BLABLA BLEH BLEH BLAH.
why should one send someone "known" when he's totally shit (wrath)?
also i didn't know strenx before. did i rant about how shit he is, 'cause i don't know him?
I think I remember a certain Masters tournament... Tell me, how many French attended? Were they all masters or maybe even not as good as the 2(!) Americans who got the extra tickets.
Ah, the French organization showing favoritism towards U.S. players clearly. CZM and chance are nobodies, I'd rather see less players in the tournament than let them play, and allow this bias to continue.
Libya, officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, is a country in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west.
With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres (700,000 sq mi), 90% of which is desert, Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa by area, and the 17th largest in the world. The capital, Tripoli, is home to 1.7 million of Libya's 5.7 million people.
That was correct since he reached the GrandFinals at that time and there were 2 slots for Canada. When Griffin reached GF he already had the spot :-) while bono was fighting somewhere deep in the LB. All and all Grandfinal was just a formality in this event.
Nicky good job, u're very fast updater ... But I understand, you must update quickly when this site accidentaly works :-D
Germany had 2 q3 slots from beginning.
actually it was slain3 who placed 2nd at eswc germany national final and should go to san jose. but like in other countrys, 2nd place had to pay the trip at their own and thats why slain3 cancelled. I had 3rd place but cant go due to personal reasons, so toxter had to jump in, because he was the 4th player who was, at least, registered for german naitonal final and he is able to go to USA at his own costs.
I guess it makes sense in a way to fill out the field with people that they think have just a better chance logistically of getting to San Jose. Other than that I see no reason why he should be there. You would think he would fade into obscurity with cl0ck.
organizer of libya told me the reason the qualifier was eventually cancelled was that this time of the year its just a little too hot to play quake. I can imagine!
av3k - Defending Champion (Q4)
cooller - 2nd ESWC Russia (+Defending Q3 Champion)
cypher - ESWC Masters Champion
czm - Proven top player
fox - Proven top player
jibo - Proven top player
noctis - Proven he's on the same level as these guys
zero4 - Proven top player
arrw - Showed promise at EWSC SE and Masters
griffin - ESWC CA Champion and showed promise at Masters
k1llsen - ESWC DE Champion
if-22 - ESWC NL Champion
matr0x - ESWC PL Champion
nike - ESWC RU Champion
rapha - ESWC USA Champion
vo0 - Proving he can match other Middle-Top players
chance - Experienced
destrukt - 2nd ESWC USA
hunter - ESWC UA Champion (I believe due to FF win)
impulse - ESWC BE Champion
krysa - ESWC CZ/SK Champion
linkin - ESWC FR Champion (Not sure which way around this was)
strenx - ESWC FR Champion (Not sure which way around this was)
zik - 2nd ESWC PL
ali N.A.B - Egypt
bono - 2nd ESWC CA (I've no idea about this guy honestly)
ddk - ESWC UK Champion
spammah - ESWC UAE Champion
toxter - Germany
xgo - Slovenia
Well, assuming it's a choice between Griffin, Matrox, Impulse, Hunter, Krysa and Strenx (winners of their national qualifiers), I think Griffin/Matrox have the greater overall q3 achievements. It is a close call though.
If I remember correctly, don't they usually have 4 high, 4 mid, 4 low, rest unseeded or 8 high, 8 low, rest unseeded? Either way we probably agree completely :)
If the former:
High: Cypher, Av3k, Jibo, Cooller
Mid: Czm, Zero4, Fox, Noctis
Low: Nike, Griffin, Vo0, Matrox
If the latter:
High: cypher, av3k, jibo, cooller, zero4, czm, noctis, fox
Cooller/Fox depends on your seeding method. If you heavily weight the previous 6 months, for example, then yes, Fox > cooller. But considering Quake 3 is only just reviving now, I think previous years (where potentials were realised to a greater extent) are just as important. This is why I went for the equal weighting method, and in that case Cooller has to be top seeded, being the most successful ESWC quake player of all time.
ArrW did not win a qualifier, Nike and Matrox did (aside from that, they're pretty much equal in achievements).
Fox and Cooller are so different players it's impossible to compare them. Fox will be top4 for sure but he won't win. I mean, what was the last time he WON anything big? He's got serious mental problems imo and with attidute he's shown so far he WON"T win. He's still most technically perfect player in the world atm, without that he's just as bad as matr0x.
And you're idiot judging nike by performance in ONE tournament. Arrw hasn't won ANYTHING yet and you rank him above eswc russia/asus winner?
well, apart from av3k, cypher, jibo and fox there are other players who can make it into top4:
1. cooller when he gets back to shape. still most talented q3 player, his game is not about reflexes and such so he can't "burn out" like others with age.
2. strenx if he starts practicing again. strongest shaft in the tournament, in cpma vq3 that's pretty much enough.
3. arrw if he gets some brain. best aimer in the tournament and with cpma vq3 being SO much about aim he got another chance to shine. learn some fucking maths dude and do some running to refresh your mind and loose some weight along the way :]]]
4. nike if gamegune was just a mistake. he still holds eswc russia and asus winner titles so unlike idiot americans, his fame is not based just upon online bullshit matches against other idiot americans.
5. czm, but unlikely. he got stuck by the wall he can't break without hardcore practice. yet I bet he got billions of other fascinating things to do apart from playing 10 year old game 10h/day.
agreed with everyone except arrw & strenx. Altho both have a lot of potential and will probably do better then the masters, I can't see them improve drastically in such a short period.
I'd rather add noctis and killsen =)
BTW, anyone noticed that swedish player are liek... emo? I mean, they are all so depressed, their faces so unhappy. Fooki even during interviews looked so miserable, like a depressed man who lost faith in his abilities. Same fox. Even prozac and arrw doesn't look like happy kids playing games. I guess it is some global problem? I also wonder how you swedish guys manage to live when you got no work and you live only from gaming... And you don't win that much money apparently. Some time ago I've seen article about depression among young ppl in western europe. It claimed that there are thousands of sad, depressed young ppl studying endlessly and living quite comfortably becouse of socialistic system there. That's pretty sad tbh.
5 americans ? no fucking way this must be a joke...
It's been made clear the best duellers werent american (jibo, avek, cypher...) and there are way more better european players out there who deserve to be in that list... I mean 5 americans ???
Why did you even make US qualifiers then ?
May I call this favoritism, cheating, desperate attempt to have a bigger chance to have an american winning, or just plain dumbness ?
You could take spartie, killmaster or dno yet...
Stop cheating? You won't get any first place anyway, and Id be surprised if an american is in the top 3 :>
Name 1 fat american in this list. Rapha? CZM? Z4? Chance? Or are you just another poor, angry, worthless piece of third world shit that tells themselves things like this so that you don't just find the nearest tall building and jump from the top of it?
Or does your country have tall buildings? Or just mud huts?
edit: checked your profile, and you're from Poland.
Yep, better just kill yourself now, noone from Poland has ever mattered. You're not going to change that.
I meant in the grand scheme of the world, wasn't talking about Quake. av3k hasn't cured any diseases or invented anything that has changed the way most of the world carries out their lives.
Hmm. So rumours about American ignorance and education are more than just rumours.
Ever heard about Copernicus? You know, long hair heavymetal-like fellow who lived back in the days, when there were no USA. Or ever heard of Battle For England? Or enigma codes? etc. It's childish, but you started it man :D
And btw, ppl make fun of you (us) becouse we matter. Have you seen anyone trying to rage austrians? Or ppl from Ukraine? No. Why? Becouse they doesn't matter here.
Also notice that Poland and USA have one thing in common: whenever someone makes fun of our homeland we attack them with massive spam of rageposts. You know, just look at Frenchies. Whole internet is making fun of them, "SURRENDER FRENCHIE!", you know. And what they do? They just... surrender :DDDD
CZM is practicing to win it. He said so at the quakelive audio cast when he phoned in. And zero4 wants payback from cypher, they were talking mad shit on quakelive with each other, i hope he trains hard.
erm, did cypher take part in it or was it just zero4 acting like other americans (no hard feelings man, just facts)? i want some screens, possibly journal also on that matter. we just can't miss the drama due to lame coverage man
cypher was owning him with insults, said he started quaking just to beat zero4, then zero4 was saying he's played quake for 10 years and wont lose to a youngin, then cyper said he started playing at age 12 so he has 6 years experience to match him... etc etc for like 1 hour smack talk
that was like 3 hours of warmup they had to do because the people on stage wouldn't let them play so they were warming up for a long ass time and just started chatting so its not on any demo or anything.. This sorta thing happened before, Zero4 was making bets with cooller whether or not he would beat lexer, right on the server before a semi-final, lexer was there getting laughed at by cooller, that was comedy - only difference was we had GTV and lots of people saw that.
i've seen some of it on the 1st map of finals, but i didnt get to the start of match, cause it was like ages, so i turned it off. but the chat wasnt anything malicious, from what i've seen.
I don't really mind for czm and zero4... They really showed some good stuff and they will most likely practise a lot for this... And we all know they used to be world champions... but for the other ones...
So, if we Euros are so vastly superior, how come that z4's spot was actually decided between him and czm, cause other Europeans (arrW) didn't get as far???
i've got nothing against you, but there are few big, fat, bad blokes in Poland who wanna see you dead. dunno why really, they had red eyes, they foamed at the mouth and kept repeating "tdm", "fake", "noctis dead".
Comon Noctis! I agrree with you about the US but dont miss this great tourney pls!!! We all want to see you play! And you have a pretty good chance to finish "in the money" And also a pretty good chance to be nuked :( For me USA is just not safe enough right now. Unfortunately. :(
we missed you :(