ESL's Extreme Masters Quake Live World Tour is Quake Lives largest and most prestigious event world-wide. With professional players coming out of the woodwork from all over the globe, competition is fierce. Sebastian 'Spart1e' Siira, Pierre-Emeric 'l1nkje' Portier and Kevin 'strenx' Baeza are a...

ESL's Extreme Masters Quake Live World Tour is Quake Lives largest and most prestigious event world-wide. With professional players coming out of the woodwork from all over the globe, competition is fierce. Sebastian 'Spart1e' Siira, Pierre-Emeric 'l1nkje' Portier and Kevin 'strenx' Baeza are a few of these world-class athletes. Hailing from France and Sweden, these three Quake Live stars are in the heart of Quake Live territory, Europe.

Europe is exactly where these three set of on their travels to Germany, with the Extreme Masters (EM) European Championship. This online qualifier brought out the best of the best in Europe's Quake Live talent, just to see who would advance to the 16 man EM EU Championship Finals, to see who will attend the Global Finals in Hannover Germany.



pictureSebastian's road to Hannover started on December 6th, 2009 where Sebastian had to play his first match in the IEM EU Championship tournament against, Polish Quake Live player, Bogdan 'bodzo' Mazur in a best of 3 format. The match did not last long as Sebastian took the first two maps, dm6(4:1) and t7(8:4), to make it a decisive 2-0 victory, gaining himself 3 points.

Sebastian's next opponent, Dutch Quake Live player, Jeffrey 'draven' Debipersad put up a lot more of a fight than Bogdan did. The first map was t7 and Sebastian came out of the gate strong with a 12:5 finish over Jeffrey, however Jeffrey had other plans for map2, ztn, as he closed the door on Sebastian with a narrow score of 3:2 to tie up the match. It all came down to dm6, game 3 of the series. Sebastian having already defeated Bogdan on this map 3 days earlier must have been feeling confident going into the last map. Jeffrey fought hard, but not quite hard enough as Sebastian took him down 12:7 to claim an additional 3 points and put himself in the lead with two wins and zero losses leaving everyone else in his group behind with at least 1 loss.

Group E
#PlayerWLDPts
1. Spart1e3009
2. draven2106
3. pulseh1203
4. bodzo0300
Day 3 comes and goes with little notice as Sebastian rolls over UK based Hamid 'pulseh' Alnasser with scores of 16:1(t7) and 12:4(dm6) to claim 3 more points and solidify his 1st place position. With all 3 play-days behind him, Sebastian swept his group not losing a single match, and only dropping 1 map the entire time. Winning his group, Sebastian earned himself a spot at the IEM European Championship Finals in Cologne Germany.


One month later and Sebastian is heading to Cologne Germany to face off against the best of the best of European Quake Live players. Quake Live started on Thursday, Counterstrike 1.6 finishing the days prior to Quake Live where fellow teammates FnaticMSI.CS took 2nd place and a ticket to the Global Finals in March.

Sebastian's group was a tough one with Polish superstar Maciej 'av3k' Krzykowski and old-school professional Gareth 'GaRpY' Marshall in the mix it was anyone’s game to make it out of the group. Sebastian first set out to play local German Quake Live player, Benjamin 'calipt' Jakob where Sebastian wasted no time and sent Benjamin packing after only 2 maps, t7(9:4) and dm13(16:2) to pick up his first 3 points of the Group Stage.

Group A
#PlayerWLDPts
1. Calipt2106
2. av3k2106
3. Spart1e2106
4. GaRpY0300
Next up was Gareth who put up more of a fight taking the 2nd map (dm13, 5:3) after losing 13:7 on dm6. It came down to the wire with a 3rd map, t9, where Sebastian narrowly defeated Gareth 6:5 to gain yet another 3 points, pushing him to the front of the group with one more match than the rest.


Sebastian's came to an end during his 3rd and final match however, Sebastian was to finally play the Polish superstar, Maciej. It only last 2 maps as Maciej made quick work of the Swede forcing a 3 way tie for the front of the group. After a heart breaking decision, it all came down to the map difference of the top 3 players, and sadly, Sebastian was the odd man out. This devastating moment stopped Sebastian dead in his tracks on his way to Hannover to compete with the very best from around the globe. Hopefully 2010 brings Sebastian some good luck and a lot of top placings.



picturePierre-Emeric ‘l1nkje’ Portier had much the same start to his journey as his teammate Sebastian did. Pre-qualifying for ESL’s IEM European Championship tournament, he did not have to participate in the qualifier cups in order to participate in the tournament. Pierre started with an easy group with only one other big name alongside him, and fortunately for Pierre, he knew this person as his TDM teammate, Alessandro ‘Stermy’ Avallone. Two other lesser-known players rounded out Pierre’s group in the form of Indian Quake Live player, Ciaran ‘kRonic’ Rodgers and Swedish Quake Live player, Tomas ‘doj’ Jonson.

Pierre’s first match was on December 6th against the Swedish player, Tomas. Tomas came right out of the gate to surprise everyone by taking Pierre out on the first map, dm6, with an astounding score of 8:0. Pierre was not phased however as he fought back valiantly against Tomas narrowly defeating him on the second map, dm13, with a score of 7:5. The final map of the series was t9 where Pierre exacted his final bit of revenge for the first games blowout of 8:0; Pierre managed to crush Tomas 14:7 to finish the series.

After just claiming 3 points, Pierre was up against his hardest challenge in the group, his TDM teammate Alessandro. Alessandro being an experienced dueller and overall pro-gamer has considerable experience over Pierre, who’s main focus was TDM. It only took two maps, dm6 19-2 and ztn 11-9, for the TDM all-star, Pierre, to fall victim to his own teammate and be pushed down to 2nd in the group.

Group G
#PlayerWLDPts
1. Stermy3009
2. l1nkje2106
3. kRoNic1203
4. doj0300
Next up was Ciaran who had just defeated Tomas with an overall score of 2-1. The first map was t9 where Pierre seemed to have a difficult time, only beating Ciaran by the skin on his teeth with a final score of 10:9. The next map was dm6; a map Pierre was having a lot of trouble with against his previous competitors. Once again, dm6 seemed to seal the deal on Pierre as it sent the pair into a third and final map, t7. It all came down to this moment; everyone was watching to see if Pierre would make it through his group, or if he would be sent back to the sidelines to watch his teammates in the EU Championship Finals in Cologne. The third map was anything but close, as all of his losses on dm6 seemed to light a fire under Pierre, he demolished Ciaran with a score of 13-0 to solidify his 2nd place position, and a ticket to Cologne a month later.


One month later Pierre found himself in a heap of trouble as he was placed in a very tough group. Local favourite Marcel ‘k1llsen’ Paul and Belarusian superstar Alexey ‘Cypher’ Yanushevsky were in attendance, as was UK based Quake Live player, Dan ‘zsx’ Sanders. Things did not start-off well for Pierre as his first match was against Alexey. It was over quick as Alexey finished off Pierre in two quick and decisive maps, t9 15:6 and dm13 10:4, to send Pierre to his next opponent without any points to his name.

Next up was the local favourite, Marcel, who similar plans as Alexey. The first map was ztn, which did not go over very well for Pierre as he was sent into the second map after only taking two frags on Marcel. The second map was not quite so fast paced as the scores stayed in the single digits; however, Marcel was still the clear victor as he defeated Pierre with a score of 5:1 on dm13.

Group G
#PlayerWLDPts
1. k1llsen3009
2. Cypher2106
3. l1nkje1203
4. zsx0300
Pierre was now tied with Dan and fighting for 3rd place. Pierre’s bad luck seemed to continue as the first map, dm13, went the same direction as when he had played Marcel. However, Pierre was hungry for a win and 3rd place in his group. The second map was t7 and Pierre wanted it badly. It finished close, but this time Pierre was on top with 11 frags to Dan’s 9. Moving into a third map, t9, Pierre had finally found his rhythm and went to town on Dan as he racked up 20 frags to send Dan down into last place without a single win. Sadly, Pierre was unable to make it to the playoffs and earn himself a ticket to the Global Finals in Hannover in March; however, he was able to gain a taste for duelling on a top level, competing against the likes of Alexey and K1llsen, who are seasoned veterans in the world of professional Quake Duelling.

Sebastian and Pierre had a short-lived journey to Hannover, as they were sent home before seeing the screaming throng of E-Sports fans. However, their younger teammate, Kevin ‘strenx’ Baeza was able to take a different path to Hannover, which has not ended yet. It is over for two FnaticMSI.QL players, but one is yet remaining. What can Kevin make of his trip to Hannover in March? Will he make it out of his group? Will he take home gold? Stay tuned to find out the answer to these questions in Part 2 of: “EM: Road to Hannover”.

What were your expectations going into the IEM European finals tournament? Did you feel you had a good chance to claim one of the qualifier spots to the Global Finals in March?
I felt I had a really good chance placing good. Not only were I in a really good form, but I had also improved my gameplay a lot.

What were your training preparations like before the event?
I just played with different average/good players. By this I learned how to play vs different playing styles and learned the best from all the players I played.

pictureDo you have any specific practice partners you like to train with?
The last days before the event I played with noctis which was really good for me. Except for him I just play with any good player that is around. Strenx has always been one of my favorite practice partners, but I learned lately that I can´t just concentrate my practice with only one player, but needs different players.

How does your personal life affect your E-Sports career? Is it harder to manage things equally when leading up to a tournament?
Of course I have to do sacrifices when I also have a "2nd work" playing games. A lot of times I have to say no to my friends the days before an tournament, or have to say no to them because I am going away for an event. My boss at work is really nice and always gives me vacation when I need it. But I always take as little vacation as possible. Sometimes I even work the same day as an tournament. Which is really bad. I am always really tired going into a tournament. It is like i have to choose between sleep or playing to get into form, and I always picks playing. But it will change in the future. If I didn't have to work like I do, I would be more consistent and do better at tournaments, but E-Sport is still just a hobby.

Do your family and friends understand what is expected of you, what you have to do in order to prepare for a tournament, and what a tournament such as this means? Are they supportive?
They totally understand me. Sometimes I let them down, but I make it up to them when I am able to. I think that not a lot of people really realize how big this is and what it means to be a "Pro-Gamer". It was first when I made some good results that my friends and family really understood what I was doing, and started to support me for full. I was ashamed of telling the people at work what I was doing, but when they got to know they were all really proud of me. They even changed their mindset to it. After saying no to their kids to not play too much they was joking about it telling their kids to get good at a game and get free travels.

Many pro-gamers have to take on a second job or are in school while they compete, what is your personal situation like, and how do you make things work in that regard?
Gaming is my second job. If there would have been more tournaments gaming could become my first priority. But as I see it, a normal work is what you need for the future. Like I said in a previous question, I work full-time, and my boss is really nice to let me have vacation almost whenever I want.

What was the atmosphere at the event like, it was done in the ESL TV studio, how does that differ than a regular LAN event?
This was a really good experience. Since we were in a studio and we got to see abit how they work. The event was great. Everyone were really nice and took good care of us. It felt more professional than other tournaments I have been to.

Were there any surprises by any of the other competitors, strategy-wise? Was there anything you didn’t expect or prepare for?
Of course there were surprises. Just look at calipt, beating av3k.

pictureNow that the event is over and you are unable to go to the Global Finals, do you have any regrets? Is there anything you wish you had done different?
I wish I would have slept more before the tournament. I thought the sleep would be enough last night at the hotel, but I didn't get any good sleep there at all which made it really hard for me to stay concentrated. I also regret I picked maps myself vs the game vs av3k. I have said it before, and I say it now again, I will let someone else pick maps for me the next events. When I think about it, I know what map to pick. But still I pick the wrong map.

As many people probably know, you are quite the music Fnatic as well, always sending people the mixes, etc. You listen to. Do you listen to music to get pumped up before a game, if so, what song helps you the most?
Both me and linkin has similar music taste. I don´t download much music anymore, but me and link trades songs and always listening to it at events. But if I listen to music before my games depends on how I feel. If I am tired I really can´t listen to music. When I feel better listen to music is a good way to prepare for my game. I stay more concentrated and stays in my own world and don´t care about anything else.

You have been dubbed “Party-Spart1e” by a few of your constituents, did you do anything special after this event?
Were just normal nights out. Nothing special at all. But I think strenx should actually thank me for his 4th place at IEM EU Finals. The day before his game vs stermy he went to bed hungry. When I came home I remembered this and woke him up with a cheeseburger, made him to eat it.

Many people say that on any given day you could win a tournament, however at this event you were out in the group stage, what went wrong?
Like I mentioned earlier. Lack of sleep/concentration and a(not just one) mistake of me. I guess that it was quite the same for me as av3k when he played calipt. I felt I was in such a good form, that I underestimated my opponents. From now on I am gonna play 100% in every game:P.

What is the next event you are looking forward too?
Quakecon I guess. If it will be same like last year it will be an awesome tournament, WITH DOUBLE ELIMINATION.

As mentioned earlier, you are known for partying, however does your social life when you are at home suffer at all because of work and Quake Live?
Now adays I usually have normal work times. But a few months ago I had to work really strange times. When I worked like this it was like I only had the weekends to do something. Because on normal workdays everyone I knew was either working or studying. There are also a lot to do at my work, so sometimes I just have to work overtime. About QuakeLive I miss a lot of things before tournaments. I guess if I not did play Quake I would spend more time with my friends. I don´t have that need now, but what else would I do on free time if I did not play Quake?

What is the FnaticMSI.QL team dynamic like? Do you guys have a bond of friendship style of team dynamic, or is it strictly business?
Just friendship I would say. We all like each other a lot. It is hard to not like stermy. Linkin and me have kinda same interests. Strenx is the youngster. We are all joking with each other all the time, helping, supporting each other, and doing things together. I only met Dave once, but he was the best support I could have during QuakeCon. I really look forward for some internet games that we have. Just to have some chat with each other, and have some fun.

pictureDo you have any hobbies or anything that you do in your very limited spare time?
Used to go to a gym and workout. Didnt really do it since last spring tho. But I am gonna start now when I move. Will be really busy with the new apartment next few weeks. But I will try to start going to gym again because I'm gonna live 5-10 minutes away from the gym. Most of my time goes to family/friends. When it is better weather outside we use to BBQ a lot. Travels with friends is something I always look forward to. Just get away from "real life", hang out with my friends and just do whatever depending where we are.

What was your most memorable moment from the event?
Has to be either the feeling when I realized I was out from the tournament, or when I saw how strenx played like I used to do 1-2 years ago. He is my teamm8 and he was winning matches that no one expected him to do. Was just awesome to support and cheer for him the entire tournament. His comeback at ztn vs stermy was just crazy.

Any last words for your fans?
I am sorry, I lost all my motivation for the moment. But I will be back when the time is right and hopefully do better than I did my last events. I thank you all for the support you have been giving me. A huge thanks goes out to our wonderful sponsors, MSI Notebooks, SteelSeries, Bigfoot Networks, SLAPPA and UGAME.net!
What were your expectations going into the IEM European finals tournament? Did you feel you had a good chance to claim one of the qualifier spots to the Global Finals in March?
Yeah I think so. If I had played my A-game, it would have been definitely possible. Problem is it didn’t happen, and my illness was almost the whole part of that. :(

pictureWhat were your training preparations like before the event?
I played a few games with random guys, and with my team mates, not so much though. I was more into watching demos for different strategies.

Do you have any specific practice partners you like to train with?
Hmm, not necessarily, I like to play a lot of different styles actually : ) I think I can learn more by playing with people as good as me, which makes me more confident for the future you know

How does your personal life affect your E-Sports career? Is it harder to manage things equally when leading up to a tournament?
Well, I have to make sacrifices sometimes, of course. Like everyone does I guess. I can’t see my friends every time I want to, because I have to practice, or I just wanna feel my aim. I don’t have any particular issues with my work because I can do it from home, so it’s fine. But my job is going to be more & more intense, so we’ll see in a couple of months. I wanna put my job first than Quake, that’s a real great hobby, but just a hobby. It’s for my spare time.

Do your family and friends understand what is expected of you, what you have to do in order to prepare for a tournament, and what a tournament such as this means? Are they supportive?
Yeah, they are. My mother knows the deal because of my brother AppleSeed who went to a lot of tournaments before me, so I don’t have to explain for many hours my situation you know! :)

My mom is following the tournament and our results (“our” with strenx & I, ‘cause we’re French :p). She is really understanding, especially this year when i graduated. Before that, that was kind of hard-core. She always supported me for that hobby, but i need to put more time into work. And I’m glad that she did.


Many pro-gamers have to take on a second job or are in school while they compete, what is your personal situation like, and how do you make things work in that regard?
Well, for the moment, it’s pretty calm for me, but in my kind of job, it can get pretty intense for a while. I’m in the audiovisual sector, so that’s kind of random. But you can manage it as good as any job.

What was the atmosphere at the event like, it was done in the ESL TV studio, how does that differ than a regular LAN event?
I think it was nice, but in a studio, well I don’t know.. We were near every TV/managers guys, with cables & cameras everywhere, putting makeup.. I don’t know, it felt nice at first, but I need the real LAN thingy :D It was very professional, maybe too much.. It was really great, I’m glad that Esport can make such things happen you know. It means it’s growing so :P

Were there any surprises by any of the other competitors, strategy-wise? Was there anything you didn’t expect or prepare for?
I didn’t expect to get so sick... I couldn’t even get a decent sleep, I was tired every time :D Otherwise, gaming talk, I didn’t expect to see calipt go through, I think that Spartie deserves a spot for the world finals :(

pictureWhat was your initial feeling when you were knocked out in the group stage?
Well, knowing about my condition, I was ready to try my best, but I couldn’t focus. Every 5 mins, I was hot, then cold, then hot, then cold etc... So when I lost my 2nd game against killsen, I was like : “Ok, I wanna sleep so bad now, watching a monitor is killing me right now.” I wanted to end it so badly so I could go back to the hotel, or sleep in the studio. I was feeling really sick during those games.

What was your favourite part of the event?
Partying with my buddies, because i was sleeping all the time as I said :P (unfortunately :( ), but it felt nice to support strenx that far in the tournament. I really enjoy cheering for my mates, that’s why I don’t feel myself as a dueller now, and more about a TDM/CTF player. That’s why I need TDM/CTF LAN, to yell and support my mates!

What was your most memorable match? Could you walk us through it?
In my whole career, I think it was my ztn game against fox in ESL Dubai. I really had my aim on, had timing on all items, I had a lot of stress because I knew this time I could win (which happened).. it was a real intense game because a couple of hours ago, he beat rapha, so I was like : “Ok, I’ll try my best, this is my best shot.” And I did it. So I was very proud of myself :P

About the Cologne event, I have really NO IDEA. There were so many crazy games, i can’t even count them.. this event was sick.

Seeing how you performed now, are there any specific areas in your game play that you will focus on improving in the future?
Yeah of course. I said on fragster.de that I wanted to focus onto duelling in 2010, and that’s what I’ll do. Since I’m not a dueller, i kind of need to “restart” my game, so yeah, I’ll improve everything. I need a fresh start, a start over. Maybe I’ll have to talk with my mates and ask them what I do so wrong :)

Do you have any hobbies or anything you do in your spare time?
Sure, like everyone else I guess! Partying, listening to some music, playing some soccer/tennis, hanging out with friends etc... that kind of things! I used to go to a gym, but i had some personal/medical issues. Since I’m better now, i might go on because I really need to put myself into sport. I think when I feel very good physically, I play better, even if I played QL less than before. Feeling good, ahhh what a good feeling :P

You and Strenx are both from France, do you ever get together to bootcamp together?
Not really. Sometimes before an event, he comes to my house a day before ‘cause he’s not from Paris so it’s easier for him. So we play a few games but I’d not really use the word bootcamp :o At least we can prepare, hang out a bit, talk about games, what we should do, opponents in our groups etc.. Just trying to relax :)

pictureWhat was your most memorable moment from the event?
Meeting some QL players, and enjoying our time with them! I didn’t see every QL players, so it was a really nice moment. Meeting ZSX, Calipt & co.. was very cool :) We hung out a lot with the UK guys, and specially with Z4muz! This dude is so funny :D I really like him :p

This isn’t your first 1v1 tournament, but now that you are switching your focus to duelling do you think you will perform better in the future?
Of course! If I’m focusing and not performing well, then I’ll stop duelling for good, and keep playing when I’m very good at, which is TDM & CTF. I think when I put a lot of my time into something, I can do good, no matter what. I just need to be really serious about it.

What have you learned at this event in terms of duelling or otherwise? Many players say they love E-Sports because of traveling and the experiences you get through traveling, etc. what experiences did you gain from this event specifically?
Well, traveling around the world is very nice. Traveling with my teammates is even better because we are really getting along and it’s awesome. About duelling, yea I learned a lot, and I’m going to learn even more when I’ll start my practise!

But just by watching some games in Cologne, it helped me a lot for sure. I saw what kind of mistakes I was making, how to react in game etc... I hope I can sort it out while I play then, ‘because noticing it when you’re not playing, it’s kind of easy :)

Any last words for your fans?
First of all, I’d like to thanks my team FnaticMSI (www.fnatic.com) for their support & our sponsors: MSI Notebooks, SteelSeries, Bigfoot Networks, UGAME and SLAPPA. Then, I’d say that I’m still going to be the ninja ctf player, but I’ll definitely try to put my time more into 1v1, and who knows, maybe we’ll see a French final in an international event someday :P
Thank you for the interview :)