The latest addition to the FnaticMSI Quake Live team, Kevin "strenx" Beaza, has been in a great shape lately, winning many online tournaments. The Frenchman won the Excello Cup two times, the first edition of the Zotac QL Cup and was king of ESL's King of the Hill competition. In an interview...
The latest addition to the FnaticMSI Quake Live team, Kevin "strenx" Beaza, has been in a great shape lately, winning many online tournaments. The Frenchman won the Excello Cup two times, the first edition of the Zotac QL Cup and was king of ESL's King of the Hill competition.
In an interview by Cameron "fams" Carson and Danijel "StreeT" Remus, you can read about Kevin's real life, his personality, gaming career, the Quake Live scene and his plans for future.
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If you could please start off by introducing yourself.
Hello, my name is Kevin Baeza, I'm 18 years old, and my game is Quake 3/Live.I started Quake when I was 13. I started to play serious in duel in the year 2007-2008, especially with Spartie in Quake 3. I improved a lot thanks to him, and I think I'm improving more and more.
What is it like being so young yet so successful/talented?
It's like a big advantage because when you are young, you have time for everything, no problems, no work days, everything is nice, and when you play good enough, you can travel in all over the world, without any problems. The only thing you can do is enjoy.
For those who do not know, what did you do before QL came into existence? What is your E-Sports history like?
Before QL, I played Quake III Arena for some years, I played duel and I attended some LANs. Dreamhack Winter for example, which I finished second at. I won ESWC France twice, in 2008 and 2009, and I did some online cups, but these aren't very important.
What are your hopes for your QL/E-Sports career, what do you want to accomplish in this?
I would to accomplish a lot of things. I would to be top 3 at each tournament. I'm doing and I will train for every important tournament. I want to be the best, and I think it is the hope of everybody when they play games or sports.
What factors influenced your decision to join FnaticMSI?
FnaticMSI got like the best team in each game; Quake Live, Counter-Strike, etc. I know the players (from the QL team) and playing with them is an honour, so when I had the opportunity to join, I directly joined without any hesitation. When I got asked, I said: Wooow! I will join, it's so nice!
What do you hope to get out of being in FnaticMSI?
I hope I will attend in each important tournaments if my skill is good enough for it. And I hope I will drink with all the staff, and we will dance, meet girls in all the countries, listen to nice music. ;)
Obviously QL is still in the beta stages, what changes do you still want to see be implemented into the game itself?
At the moment the game is OK. I don't feel anything needs to be changed at the moment.
What changes do you wish to see in terms of the platform/support for the game –ladders, LAN, increased servers, tournaments, etc.-?
Quake live has improved a lot, so we can't expect more than now. Everything is perfect!
Who in your opinion is the strongest QL player thus far?
Everybody got a strong qualities. There isn't a best player, they are all strong in their domains. But at all the LANs, we can say it's rapha right now. But maybe it will be changed, who knows?
What does your practice schedule/regime look like? How often do you practice, who do you practice with, how do you practice?
It depends on the tournaments, if a tournament is announced, I will train a lot, especially with Spartie. Otherwise, I just play a little bit to keep up my skill.
Out of all of the different modes, CTF, Duel, CA, TDM- of the game, which would you say is your favourite to play?
TDM, I like to rush quad, and I like to play with 3 players, it's nice, if you have a bad game, you have your friends. They help you, and you can comeback.
The standard modes are being left behind a bit by some players and being swapped for 2v2 and the ESL TV King of the Hill show added to this. Do you like this development and do you think this is a good mode to see at LAN?
I think the 2v2 will never appear on LAN, the 4v4 will stay anyway, and I think it's better than 2v2. I don't like 2v2, it's not bad, but if it doesn't come, it's not a disappointment.
What would you say the most important skill is to have to be good at QL?
In my humble opinion, the aim > brain. If you have 40% brain and 60% aim, you can be the best. If you have 60% brain, 40% aim, it's more difficult because through your skill, you can lose because you lost important situations.
People often say you are only good on dm6. Do you agree? If yes, have you been practicing other maps? If no, why do you think people say this?
People who say I'm only good on dm6 might be right and might be wrong. I'm not bad on the other maps, it's just that my skill is A LOT different on dm6 than any of the others map. I rarely lose on dm6, but if they think I'm only good on dm6, just see Dreamhack, I lost all my games on dm6 and won hub3aeroq3 and pro-nodm9. We will see ;).
Which scene do you think is stronger in terms of skill level and development –tournaments, ladders, cups, general support and amount of players, etc.- either NA or EU?
Europe definitely got the most support, the most tournaments, and the most cups. Quake is played a lot in North America, but I think the skill is higher in Europe, we have more top players.
Is it hard staying motivated to play and continue on in E-Sports at times with low amount of events, slow payouts, few players, few teams, etc.- ?
Yes, it is hard, but I'm motivated today, so I simply don't think about tomorrow.
Do you work or go to school outside of your E-Sports career?
I go to school at university. I can work and play at the same time so there is no problem, life is good!
Do your family and friends support your career?
Everybody know who I am and what I do online. I didn't tell it to anyone, but they saw me playing. I was surprised that they support me very well and that they are proud of me.
What sort of activities/hobbies do you enjoy outside of E-Sports?
PARTYYYY! Partying is important, if there is no party, I can't live!
How much, if at all, does physical health/training play in your E-Sports conditioning? Do you go to the gym or play any sports to stay active and healthy?
I do a little bit physical training, but I used to play football. So, it means little to me.
You are in a very good shape recently. Do you practice a lot?
I don't know if I'm in a good shape, but since 2 days, I've been practising and playing well.
Who are your casual practice partners?
Spartie is my practice partner, since the days of Quake 3 he has been and it suits me very well. We mainly play together before big events, we play and we speak about tactics.
What's your daily schedule?
It depend, sometimes 1 hour/day and the other day 5. It depend if I have other things to do. I usually wake up at 6 and then eat. I have to go to school at 8 and then I'm back home at 20:00. Practising starts at 22:00 and I go to bed around 0:00.
Being King of the Hill on ESL competition, winning Excello Cup and first Zotac QuakeLive cup must have good influence on your confidence?
No, I'm never confident, I want to play better and better, I'm never proud of myself, so I train to be better that I did at these online cup
You are making a very good intro for the Global Challenge in Dubai. How do you feel about going there as this will be first big tournament for you?
I feel a little afraid, I hope I can do some damage on this event and make a it to the top.
It is often said you can't control your nerves at LAN. Do you think it will be different this time, or do you feel this has never been the case?
I control my nerves on LAN, don't worry.
What do you think about your opponents there, who do you consider the hardest to beat?
Everybody will be hard, I will take it seriously, I know everybody plays 24/7. So I don't know how they will play at all. It will surely be hard.
What do you think about the future of Quake Live?
I hope the game will stand for a long time!
Seeing tournaments like this and big companies like ESL support community in such early stages of the games looks promising, what is your opinion?
Seeing tournament like this is motivating, a lot of players play thanks to this opportunity. We can travel all over the world. It gives some good motivation to train, there is good commentating on each tournament by 2GD and Joe. The game is nice, we can't expect it to be better!
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If you could please start off by introducing yourself.
Hello, my name is Kevin Baeza, I'm 18 years old, and my game is Quake 3/Live.I started Quake when I was 13. I started to play serious in duel in the year 2007-2008, especially with Spartie in Quake 3. I improved a lot thanks to him, and I think I'm improving more and more.
What is it like being so young yet so successful/talented?
It's like a big advantage because when you are young, you have time for everything, no problems, no work days, everything is nice, and when you play good enough, you can travel in all over the world, without any problems. The only thing you can do is enjoy.
For those who do not know, what did you do before QL came into existence? What is your E-Sports history like?
Before QL, I played Quake III Arena for some years, I played duel and I attended some LANs. Dreamhack Winter for example, which I finished second at. I won ESWC France twice, in 2008 and 2009, and I did some online cups, but these aren't very important.
What are your hopes for your QL/E-Sports career, what do you want to accomplish in this?
I would to accomplish a lot of things. I would to be top 3 at each tournament. I'm doing and I will train for every important tournament. I want to be the best, and I think it is the hope of everybody when they play games or sports.
What factors influenced your decision to join FnaticMSI?
FnaticMSI got like the best team in each game; Quake Live, Counter-Strike, etc. I know the players (from the QL team) and playing with them is an honour, so when I had the opportunity to join, I directly joined without any hesitation. When I got asked, I said: Wooow! I will join, it's so nice!
What do you hope to get out of being in FnaticMSI?
I hope I will attend in each important tournaments if my skill is good enough for it. And I hope I will drink with all the staff, and we will dance, meet girls in all the countries, listen to nice music. ;)
Obviously QL is still in the beta stages, what changes do you still want to see be implemented into the game itself?
At the moment the game is OK. I don't feel anything needs to be changed at the moment.
What changes do you wish to see in terms of the platform/support for the game –ladders, LAN, increased servers, tournaments, etc.-?
Quake live has improved a lot, so we can't expect more than now. Everything is perfect!
Who in your opinion is the strongest QL player thus far?
Everybody got a strong qualities. There isn't a best player, they are all strong in their domains. But at all the LANs, we can say it's rapha right now. But maybe it will be changed, who knows?
What does your practice schedule/regime look like? How often do you practice, who do you practice with, how do you practice?
It depends on the tournaments, if a tournament is announced, I will train a lot, especially with Spartie. Otherwise, I just play a little bit to keep up my skill.
Out of all of the different modes, CTF, Duel, CA, TDM- of the game, which would you say is your favourite to play?
TDM, I like to rush quad, and I like to play with 3 players, it's nice, if you have a bad game, you have your friends. They help you, and you can comeback.
The standard modes are being left behind a bit by some players and being swapped for 2v2 and the ESL TV King of the Hill show added to this. Do you like this development and do you think this is a good mode to see at LAN?
I think the 2v2 will never appear on LAN, the 4v4 will stay anyway, and I think it's better than 2v2. I don't like 2v2, it's not bad, but if it doesn't come, it's not a disappointment.
What would you say the most important skill is to have to be good at QL?
In my humble opinion, the aim > brain. If you have 40% brain and 60% aim, you can be the best. If you have 60% brain, 40% aim, it's more difficult because through your skill, you can lose because you lost important situations.
People often say you are only good on dm6. Do you agree? If yes, have you been practicing other maps? If no, why do you think people say this?
People who say I'm only good on dm6 might be right and might be wrong. I'm not bad on the other maps, it's just that my skill is A LOT different on dm6 than any of the others map. I rarely lose on dm6, but if they think I'm only good on dm6, just see Dreamhack, I lost all my games on dm6 and won hub3aeroq3 and pro-nodm9. We will see ;).
Which scene do you think is stronger in terms of skill level and development –tournaments, ladders, cups, general support and amount of players, etc.- either NA or EU?
Europe definitely got the most support, the most tournaments, and the most cups. Quake is played a lot in North America, but I think the skill is higher in Europe, we have more top players.
Is it hard staying motivated to play and continue on in E-Sports at times with low amount of events, slow payouts, few players, few teams, etc.- ?
Yes, it is hard, but I'm motivated today, so I simply don't think about tomorrow.
Do you work or go to school outside of your E-Sports career?
I go to school at university. I can work and play at the same time so there is no problem, life is good!
Do your family and friends support your career?
Everybody know who I am and what I do online. I didn't tell it to anyone, but they saw me playing. I was surprised that they support me very well and that they are proud of me.
What sort of activities/hobbies do you enjoy outside of E-Sports?
PARTYYYY! Partying is important, if there is no party, I can't live!
How much, if at all, does physical health/training play in your E-Sports conditioning? Do you go to the gym or play any sports to stay active and healthy?
I do a little bit physical training, but I used to play football. So, it means little to me.
You are in a very good shape recently. Do you practice a lot?
I don't know if I'm in a good shape, but since 2 days, I've been practising and playing well.
Who are your casual practice partners?
Spartie is my practice partner, since the days of Quake 3 he has been and it suits me very well. We mainly play together before big events, we play and we speak about tactics.
What's your daily schedule?
It depend, sometimes 1 hour/day and the other day 5. It depend if I have other things to do. I usually wake up at 6 and then eat. I have to go to school at 8 and then I'm back home at 20:00. Practising starts at 22:00 and I go to bed around 0:00.
Being King of the Hill on ESL competition, winning Excello Cup and first Zotac QuakeLive cup must have good influence on your confidence?
No, I'm never confident, I want to play better and better, I'm never proud of myself, so I train to be better that I did at these online cup
You are making a very good intro for the Global Challenge in Dubai. How do you feel about going there as this will be first big tournament for you?
I feel a little afraid, I hope I can do some damage on this event and make a it to the top.
It is often said you can't control your nerves at LAN. Do you think it will be different this time, or do you feel this has never been the case?
I control my nerves on LAN, don't worry.
What do you think about your opponents there, who do you consider the hardest to beat?
Everybody will be hard, I will take it seriously, I know everybody plays 24/7. So I don't know how they will play at all. It will surely be hard.
What do you think about the future of Quake Live?
I hope the game will stand for a long time!
Seeing tournaments like this and big companies like ESL support community in such early stages of the games looks promising, what is your opinion?
Seeing tournament like this is motivating, a lot of players play thanks to this opportunity. We can travel all over the world. It gives some good motivation to train, there is good commentating on each tournament by 2GD and Joe. The game is nice, we can't expect it to be better!
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