Quakecon 2009 might be the most interesting and intense Quake event ever, as there are a lot of players who could be considered as top favorites. A few previous events, such as the Clanbase 1v1 Duel cup and the ESL TV Invitational tournament showed there is no domination of one person and there are...

Quakecon 2009 might be the most interesting and intense Quake event ever, as there are a lot of players who could be considered as top favorites. A few previous events, such as the Clanbase 1v1 Duel cup and the ESL TV Invitational tournament showed there is no domination of one person and there are a lot of players who will be chasing the gold this year.

What is also very anticipated is the clash of the Europeans and Americans at Quakecon. Two different schools of Quake and two different styles will bring a lot of entertainment and once again we expect a very successful event in Dallas.

Sebastian "Spart1e" Siira is one of those people who is expecting a lot from this event and one of those who does not hide his desire to win the tournament. Therefore we have conducted this interview. Sit back and enjoy!

Fnatic.com: Who do you think your biggest competition will be at Quakecon?
Spart1e: Rapha. Really smart player thinking 5 steps ahead of his opponent. But fox will also be in really good shape, unless I play him in the final that is, hihi.

What are your thoughts on the map selections?
Crazy maplist, but oh well, if there aren't any better maps. Will be really strange with opponents picking their best map while it's such a big maplist.

Do you feel that this will be a good indicator to who is the best in the world? Or do you think there are players in EU who aren't going that could perform well?
Only player missing is noctis. But who knows? Maybe he is going after all :). But it's a matter of who practised the most I guess.

What are your thoughts on QL being 100% online, recently the ESL competition took place, do you think that these online competitions are accurate in determining who is the best?
Maybe not who is the best, but it's still pretty accurate. Depending if your practising for the cup or not.

What is your practice schedule like?
Playing as much as I can at the moment. I'm working a lot, so weekends are the only times I can really practice. But last week I got 2 hours of sleep per night just to be able to practice CTF.

Did you make any special preparations for Quakecon?
No. Just spent time on playing. Feeling it's not enough though :(.

Without being able to bootcamp a game like QL, do you think it limits the games progress in terms of skill, strategy, and overall game updates, etc.?
Nah, bootcamp is still the same as playing loads online. Just you wont be used to LAN ping.

How do you handle losing matches you think you should have won?
Usually when I lose a game it's because I'm in bad shape just for the day. I have a lot of bad days. Like, always playing shit after a workday, or Sundays(when I have been drinking). But for the QuakeCon part I guess I would get really disappointed.

When you get tired of playing, what keeps you motivated?
I still enjoy the game a lot. Competition and tournaments with money motivates me.

How does travelling affect your game-play? Do you suffer from fatigue at LAN events?
As long as I get enough of warm up and same sens, travelling doesn't affect me.

What player do you dislike/like playing against the most?
Really fun to play versus noctis since he has such a special and smart game play. But didn't play much in QuakeLive:(. Only like to play versus good players, if I don't get any challenge I get bored.

What do you think about the current state of e-sports?
Economic crisis. But QuakeLive has a lot of online tournaments at the moment that are really good for the community. I'm still waiting for other big tournaments to pop up and announce QuakeLive as their main game!

Did you prepare enough for Quakecon?
No. I'm still far away from how good I want to and could be. Hope I will be able to find the form until QuakeCon.

In the beginning of a month you won Clanbase Cup, facing bodzo in the final. You were pretty convincing in that tournament.
I had a really close semifinal against Weird. I started off with a good map control from my side. But I started to play sloppy and he got back into the game and I had to work hard for a win. In the final against bodzo I just wanted a revenge from my loss against him in Bigfoot cup. I had been warming up so my game was pretty smooth.

How do you feel about the fact that QuakeLive is dominating Quakecon this year?
Feels great. Been travelling a lot, but never been in the US. Going there and to QuakeCon to play the game you love. Can it be better?

Do you think that QuakeLive will have the same success that Quake3 had?
I really hope so. When economics are getting better hopefully there will be a lot more big tournaments. But then we will need a few more new maps.