Who Are Some of the Best Online Players Today?

You are probably unaware of the number of Quake III Arena, Alien vs. Predator 2 or Counter Strike death-matches you played, and the number of times you felt you were dominating... that you are THE best player in the world. Other players might beat you from time to time, but that is only due to their luck, or because it just wasn't your day. Yes, yes, modesty may be a virtue, and to confirm this you frequent Q3 and CS tournaments, and local gaming centers as much as possible, but your school, your girlfriend and other duties are still there. Now fellows, bear no grudge, but you are amateurs, and me, well, even more so...

And while, we, mortals, consider gaming some sort of a hobby, there is a special brand of gamers out there, who make their living with it. It's not that they are overly rich, but they still make enough money to live comfortably, and do whatever they desire. Their greatest chance to win money are big international tournaments, best known of which are those organized by CPL. Now, for those of you who are not familiar with CPL: Cyberathlete Professional League (founded on June 26^th 1997) is the first organization in the world which established computer game tournaments with spectators, and sponsored prizes. CPL is the leading league of professional players of today, organizing events all around the globe: in America, Germany, Holland, Great Britain, Brazil, Singapore and Australia. Apart from the main tournament which attracts most attention, they also organize smaller events. The CPL tournaments are the best way to measure how good a player or clan really is. Winning a tournament like this means not only glory, but also rich prizes, sponsors, and a portal to a whole new world. Most popular games on these tournaments are Quake3, AvP2, CS and RtCW.

Who is the best player today? This question is far from simple, but if we try to find the answer judging by the amount of prizes won, it would definitely be "Fatal1ty". The guy's real name is Jonathan Wendell (born on February 26^th 1981), and is currently living in Lee's Summit, Missouri. Jonathan is currently the best paid professional player in the world. He became the CPL champion in 2000/2001 playing AvP2, and in less than two years, he made over $150,000. He started playing games fairly early, when he was only ten years old, and his favorite game was Mortal Combat. He soon became highly proficient at it, and well, pretty much invincible. He says that he was capable of playing Mortal Combat an entire day spending but one dollar for the coupon. Apart from this he also used to play football, tennis and basketball (not at the same time, of course). These other activities only sharpened his reflexes, and senses - two elements crucial in professional gaming. He first got the attention of the gaming community when he won the Quake III tournament on World Cyber Games 2000 in Sweden finishing the game with 18 - 0.

His greatest achievement was winning the CPL championship 2000-2001 in Alien vs. Predator 2 when he won $40,000. One month later, he won $11,000 on E3, and in Korea $25,000 in October, the same year.

Wendell takes gaming seriously; before he won the AvP 2 CPL tournament, he used to practice about eight hours a day. He started these preparations three weeks before the tournament, and it sure paid off. He appears on a dozen important tournaments each year, and in the last three years he won 24 competitions. I know that many of you like to play games, but would you be capable of sitting in front of your computer and playing CS, eight hours a day, for three weeks. I wouldn't bet on it...

The first result of this series of victories was the sponsorship by Razer (www.razerzone.com), a company specializing in making custom mice for gamers - their resolution varies fro 1000dpi to 2000dpi. The rumor has it that Wendell signed a three year contract with Razer for $200,000. Apart from this he also won a black-green Ford Focus with full equipment, and a metallic red Suzuki motorbike all in one year. Wendell has a good manager who likes to think in advance. They are currently working on a deal for him to play the first game that would be sold as pay-per-view. This is an interesting idea which opens a whole new chapter in professional gaming. Check out some of Wendell's results:

On bigger tournaments, it is customary for players who win prizes in money, to win about half as much value in merchandise from the sponsors. Jonathan Wendell is still reluctant to go to college, and this produced different reactions with his separated parents. His mother doesn't approve of his way of living, but his father is offering full support. Whatever the case, Jonathan says that he wants to stay a professional gamer for some more time, and then open a company that would manufacture special gamers' mouse-pads, or clothes for games.

Apart from him, there are several other players who proved their worth on international gaming tournaments: Mark Larsen (Wombat) was the champion of the 1999 CPL Quake3 tournament. He has a very aggressive style of play, and if, merely scratches you, he never gives up until you're down. In the Ground Zero/CPL finale, he won the match 12-6 in spite of his opponent's valiant attempt to control the map. The guy was born in 1984, and lives in Itasca, Illinois.

Don Hammans, nicknamed Rix, is another big name in the game. He lives in Dallas, Texas, and he won the championship in 1998. He had played a big part in founding many gamer clans. He is no longer into professional gaming.

I should also mention John Hill, better known as Zero4. He lives in San Diego California. His greatest success was achieved on Babbages CPL tournament in December 2000, when he won the official Quake3 competition and earned $25,000. He is still in the game, and a very good friend of Fatal1ty.

There, these were the champions of video gaming. There may be some better players out there, but they will first have to prove their worth on some tournament. There are tens of millions playing video games, and but a few who can actually make a living of it. So, we might as well turn our back to reality and simply go to the local gaming centre for an hour or two...

The next CPL tournament will take place in Oslo in October 2002 in CS and UT2003, supported with a 40,000€ reward fund, and then comes Paris in November 2002, in CS and UT2003, with a 30,000€ reward fund. The winter Pentium IV CPL tournament will take place in Dallas, and the reward fund will be $150,000. Entry fee is $75.

Pop by, if you can...

CPL headquarters
Cyberathlete Professional League
Post Office Box 630544
Irving, Texas 75063

CPL also has regional representatives in Cologne in Germany and in Singapore:

CPL Europe
Jülicher Strasse 17
Köln 50674

CPL Asia
11 Stamford Road #0407
Singapore 178884

CPL on-line - http://www.cyberathlete.com

And here you can download demos from various tournaments - http://www.challenge-tv.com/demos/