TEK9 QuakeLive Rankings March - Meet the Panel

Liam "crow" Crowley

A former key member of GotFrag's European coverage team, Liam Crowley has covered Quake, Counter-Strike and Call of Duty around the world at EuroCups, ESWCs, WSVGs and more.

2010 sees Liam return to the competitive gaming world after a brief hiatus, taking over QuakeLive coverage on TEK9 as the game continues to grow and grow. The 22 year old brings a wealth of experience to the site after working alongside some of the biggest names in gaming and has already become a regular contributor.

Despite currently residing in Sydney, Australia, Liam stays up-to-date with the latest Quake happenings in both Europe and North America and heads the panel as TEK9's resident expert.

"Has there ever been a more deserving number one? rapha truly silenced his critics this weekend with victories over Cooller, Cypher and av3k on his way to victory and can feel thouroughly deserving of the title of world #1. Whether this dominance can last as 2010 progresses remains to be seen but right now he's the player to beat... again.

The remaining spots aren't quite so straightforward but do closely follow the IEM results. Cooller earns second after continuing to improve his game while, in my opinion, Cypher still deserves third over av3k after winning the EU finals. fox, stermy and strenx take the next three spots in my eyes, despite failing to really impress in Hannover. The 9th and 10th spots are very much up for grabs - with Jibo and griffin earning my votes but the likes of k1llsen and calipt equally in the mix and Spart1e and noctis very much in with a chance if they can stay motivated after disappointing starts to the year."

Michal "Carmac" Blicharz

A two times esports award winner for journalism with GGL and SK, Michal Blicharz has since made the switch to tournament organisation at ESL and is now considered by many to be one of the most important figures in Quake's uncertain future.

Described in his own words as "malicious, cynical, annoying, petty, rash and impatient", Michal has somehow still managed to endear himself to a community not known for normally welcoming ex-UT players. In his role as Product Manager for ESL's Extreme Masters, the Pole has overseen QuakeLive's explosive growth and has been ever-present at the company's events across the world.

A well-known figure among the game's most biggest stars, Michal has his finger on the pulse of competitive Quake and provides a unique perspective into the world of top level play.

"The Intel Extreme Masters World Championship has to be the most correct current ranking of player strength in QuakeLive. There were no doubts that rapha deserved to win and that the top four was correct as well.  Though they were absent from the World Championship, I rate calipt and k1llsen slightly above the players outside of CeBIT's top eight."

Rod "Slasher" Breslau

An often controversial figure in the Quake scene, Rod Breslau has played the series for close to a decade now and over that time has never shied away from speaking his mind.

Formerly of GotFrag, ESReality and SK, Rod now works as a social media consultant and lines up alongside fellow esports enthusiasts Marcus "djWHEAT" Graham and Scott "SirScoots" Smith on popular gaming radio show "Live on Three", where the issues of the week are thrashed out and high profile guests are rolled out on a regular basis.

Rod's expertise on both the American and the worldwide Quake scene have cemented his place in the game's history after years of work alongside commentators, tournament organisers, admins and just about anybody who'll listen to what he has to say when it comes to Quake!

"With the Extreme Masters now over and nearly all of the top players having competed, we see a ranking that looks very much like the final results from CeBIT. rapha showed once again why he should be considered the best in the world, winning in style by defeating the next four top players in the world, a feat that has never happened before in Quake Live competition. After losing the American Championship, he came back to sweep DaHanG 3-0, including a mentally crushing last second victory on T7. Going down 0-2 to Cypher, who many thought rapha would meet in the grand final, keeping his poise and hitting clutch air rockets to get him back in while setting in quite comfortably by the final map. And finally, after losing to Cooller in the group stage, he comes through in the clutch in the closest games all year, with what is in my opinion the biggest title of his career.

With the most pressure and money on the line, Cooller's two wins over av3k, finally being able to break through that wall, push him next down the line. av3k took out Cypher in a close 3-2 set for third place, but to me Cypher was still playing at a slightly higher level, sweeping his group and causing more issues for rapha than av3k did for Cooller. DaHanG had a poor finish in his own eyes, including a loss to fox in the group stages which may have sealed his fate, but his relegation games versus rapha showed much more than fox's against av3k. Stermy and strenx weren't able to pass their groups although both had their opportunities. Chance didn't win a match, but took Cooller to the limit and performed ok in the end."

Paul "ReDeYe" Chaloner

Considered one of the most highly respected gaming commentators around, Paul Chaloner has over eight years of experience and a CV that covers basically every gaming tournament worth knowing about.

An expert in many games, Paul's first love - other than brightly coloured cars - has always been fast-paced FPS games. In his time he's worked with GGL, iTG, the CGS and, since March 2007, the company he co-founded, QuadV. There he's commentated on games ranging from the ClanBase OpenCup to the World Cyber Games finals and everything in-between.

Paul is a keen follower of Quake's top stars, whether he's casting their matches, sharing coaching tips or simply tuning in to follow their latest results. Often opinionated... but rarely wrong.

"I’ll start this month with 5th to 10th, mainly because its easier to call than the top four. There isn’t much between Dahang and Fox as IEM showed, but the victory for the Swede puts him slightly higher this month, though there is an argument to putting Dahang above him thanks to his victory in America earlier this year.

Behind these two, strenx was underwhelming at IEM finals and Jibo was his usual average self, winning in Asia earlier in the year but failing to make much of an impression at the grand finals. Likewise, Griffin was underwhelming at the finals but at least did better than dkt or the even more lacklustre Chance. My final pick for the top ten is Z4muZ although its harder to quantify him with only the Dreamhack result to gauge him by. It’s odd, but his form in that tournament would be easy to overlook with the ton of quality matches we witnessed at the IEM global finals this weekend just gone.

So, to the top four. You could in theory put these 4 in any order, on any given day. If you were in any doubt as to that fact, you only need look at the results of the semi finals this weekend just gone. Cooller defeated his former pupil av3k in 4 maps with never more than 2 frags in any of the maps. Likewise, Rapha and Cypher played out an epic 5 mapper where the American came back from 2-0 down to win. The grand final also had plenty of things to discuss, great passages of play, some errors caused from tension, an overtime in map 3 and neither player able to win any of the first three maps by more than 1 frag.

In the end, I went with the results of the IEM finals for the top, but the top two in particular stir particular emotions in me of complete polar opposites. The Russian continues to play sexy Quake, aggressive, compulsive and dynamic, whilst rapha is more calculated, precise, complex, fast thinking and much more the strategist than his rival. The final was exactly what we expected, tight, frenetic, Cooller getting the exciting frags and Rapha playing calmly, methodically and ensuring he had tactical position over frag hunting (even if the blow of the cheeks at the end of map 2 showed he was anything but calm)."

Marcus "djWHEAT" Graham

Marcus Graham is described succinctly on his own bio as a "Video Game Host, Producer, Creative Mind, TV Show Host, Game Historian, Mainstream Enthusiast, Media Personality, Geek, and Poster Boy for Videogame Addicts".

Former lead broadcaster for the CGS and founder of Inside The Game, Marcus is, for many, the original video gaming commentator. Now famous for his Live on Three radio show, the Nebraska native has shoutcasted the best players in the world at the world's best events since 2001.

Marcus is at heart an avid Quake fan and often an outspoken voice on the results and controversies of the day alongside Rod "Slasher" Breslau on LO3.

"Let's get the bottom out of the way... While this was a tournament of champions, there were several QuakeLive players who didn't quite "flip the switch" at the IEM Finals. In fact, I was so underwhelmed with the 7-12th place play, that I've actually given the 10th spot to Quake 3's infamous UnnamedPlayer. Hopefully that will incite some change in those who are currently just below that coveted 10th ranking spot.  

rapha once again proves he's not ready to be taken out of the #1 spot and pretty much walks over the competition at IEM Finals. Is he the next Quake prodigy? Cooller earns a bump up the rankings over both Cypher and av3k by taking 2nd place at IEM, but despite av3k's 3rd place win, Cypher will rank higher until the next event... av3k just below him (and I wouldn't say there's much separating the two)! 5th-9th is where it gets a bit messy. I feel like DaHang drops a place and fox bumps one, because I was actually expecting MORE out of DaHang, but it was fox who ultimately delivered. Stermy hangs in there with some fairly consistent play, even thought many are waiting for him to break out of his shell and move up the rankings. Strenx makes all his QQ'ing come true, and doesn't perform as well as he should at the competition so he remains around the same rank. Jibo holds on for deal life... while his game may not have been there, I noticed the unforgettable Jibo smile behind Cooller during many of his games at IEM."