Hey everyone,

I haven’t been able to blog much recently but I felt it’s been long overdue for a new blog.  A lot has been going on since the MLG Winter Championship and PAX East and it’s time to finally fill you all in. It’s been over a year now since I joined Fnatic and I’m honored to say that I will continue being a part of Fnatic. Fnatic has been unlike any organization/team I’ve ever been a part of and I’m super excited to continue to represent them for another year. Fnatic has become like a second family to me and I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for me.

With that said, a few changes have gone on with the Halo team and I. Currently, the Halo team has not made its final decision yet regarding a replacement for Str8 Sick. The online league MLG is holding for Halo will be kicking off soon I believe and it will be covered over the next three months until our next tournament in Raleigh, NC. We are making sure we only get the best for our team so we can take our team to the next level and come out and win every tournament. Losing has never been an option and never will be. Therefore, we are taking our time to make sure we only get the best on our team.

The next change, which I’m excited to talk about, is that I have joined the Fnatic content team. What that means is I’ll be able to help a lot more covering events and tournaments here in the United States which will be awesome.  You may not have seen too much from me right now but you’ll be seeing a lot more of me coming up here in the next few weeks, which is actually the next part I’m going to talk about.

A few months ago, I announced that I had been invited/accepted to E3 to represent Fnatic. Well, I’m excited to announce that I will be flying out Los Angeles, California on June 3^rd to attend E3. MLG’s CEO, Sundance DiGiovanni, tweeted out recently asking if any Halo pros will be attending E3. Come to find out, MLG will be working with 343 Industries, who are working on Halo 4, to give feedback on the game. MLG and 343 Industries want to include the Halo pros that will be attending E3 to help 343 Industries improve on Halo 4 before the final product is released. So E3 will be a very busy event for me. Not only will I be testing out Halo 4 and talking with the developers of 343 Industries and MLG. I’ll also be walking around trying out everything and networking, while covering the event for Fnatic. E3 is probably the biggest gaming expo in the world and every major developer will be there showing off their new products. I’m excited to see what will be shown off and who I’ll be able to meet while attending.

From E3, I’ll be traveling about a half hour north to attend the MLG Spring Championship in Anaheim, California. For the first time since I started competing, I will be attending an MLG event not for Halo. This will be the first ever MLG event that will not hold a Halo tournament. It’s definitely a sad thing to say because of the incredibly long run it had, dating all the way back to 2003. However, west coast events were never profitable for Halo, which is why I understand the decision made by MLG to not hold a Halo tournament at the Spring Championship. According to MLG, the next Halo tournament to be held live will be in Raleigh, North Carolina at the MLG Summer Championship. For now the Halo team will just have to resort to other tournaments and the MLG online league.

Aside from all of that, I’m still continuously working on improving in League of Legends and StarCraft 2. I’ve been improving quite well in League of Legends but I still have a lot of work to do. I’m still not entirely sure if I plan to play StarCraft 2 or League of Legends competitively but I still plan to eventually make a switch from Halo depending on the outcome of Halo 4. If Halo 4 does not revive competitive Halo then I will make a full switch over. The next few months of practicing both games will help decide which game I choose to switch over to if that time comes. I do stream both games regularly on my Own3d channel so be sure to tune in and check it out. If any of you are ever up for playing, be sure to send me a message, tweet, etc. and I’ll be sure to play with you. I’m always looking for people to play with.

Besides continuously working on improving in StarCraft 2 and League of Legend, something else has taken quite a bit of my attention this week. Diablo 3 was released the other day, and it certainly lived up to its. I played Diablo 2 for years, and I’m a huge fan of the Diablo series. I was skeptical at first but after running through and beating it the first time, I’d say they definitely did a great job on this title. I’m currently working my way through Nightmare and I’m hoping to continue on with the game until I get past all four difficulties. If anyone is ever up for playing, be sure to add me on the “Americas” server (Spikemouth#1432).

Lastly, I want to talk about a little boy that I met that reminded me of myself. So a few weeks ago I took a vacation out to Ohio. Nothing fancy, just a vacation to get away and spend time with friends. While I was there I met a little boy named Xander. When he was told that I was a professional gamer he was instantly excited and had to play against me. We sat and played Gears of War and started to talk. I could tell by the way he played that he one day could become a professional himself. He had a lot of talent for such a young age. He told me he wanted to be a professional gamer and a game developer. After talking to him for a while, I realized he reminded me of myself when I was little. After spending some time with him and his family, I showed him some of my jerseys that I’ve had over the past couple of years. I could tell he was blown away by all of it, and his parents even said that he’s my number 1 fan now.

The next day I received a call from his mother saying that Xander really wanted me to attend his baseball game. Come to find out, it was his very first little league baseball game and I thought it was awesome to be able to attend. Finally, before leaving Ohio, we all went out to dinner. After eating, I gave Xander my most recent Fnatic jersey signed by me. That moment reminded me of when I was little, when I used to be the little kid that looked up to my idol, and now I know what it feels like to be on the other side of things. Xander is an amazing kid with a lot of talent and determination. I know one day he’ll be very successful and achiever all of his dreams. I hope to one day get the chance to see him compete at a professional level at anything he does, rather it be sports, gaming, etc. Good luck Xander and I’ll be sure to stay in touch.

Well that’s what I’ve been up to for the past couple of months. To end this blog, I want to say thank you to everyone in Fnatic for allowing me to continue being a part of Fnatic. Also want to give a shout out to my teammates on the Halo team. Although things are slow right now, I can’t wait to get back into tournament mode and take home a title. Also want to say thank you to my family and friends for all of their support over the past few years. It’s their support that drives me to be my best. I also would like to thank RaidCall, MSI, SteelSeries, Eizo, DXRacer, and Slappa for your continued support. Lastly, I want to give a special thank you to all of the fans, especially Xander. With all of your support you push us to play at our best. Thank you again for all of your support and I’ll talk to all of you soon.

Cheers,

Justin

PS: Be sure to follow me on Twitter and Facebook for constant updates and to be able to talk to me

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FnaticRC_Spike

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Justin.Saboo

Also here are some interviews I did for Gamespot and Cyber Sports Network at the MLG Winter Championship. Check them out if you didn't get a chance to.