Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I'm 25 from Florida. I just got my MBA and I'll be looking for a full time gig after DreamHack.

With you likely starting a full time job after DreamHack Winter, will this be your last event potentially?
No, I will still attend Quake events for the foreseeable future.

Do you play any other games in your spare time?
I don't actually. I have played many games but never got into any of them in any significant way except quake.

DreamHack Winter is coming up in less than 10 days, how do you feel going in?
I feel very good. I haven't played top tier players except rapha a few times but he's never that impressive until days before the events when it's crunch time and he gets back in shape. So it is hard to tell exactly where I'm at but I feel like I am in better shape than I was at QuakeCon earlier this year.

What is your practice schedule like?
I play 3-4 hours/day since the event is nearing and watch a few demos if I can. Nothing special really. I try to see what the European scene is playing like, but I don't get a whole lot out of the VODs as much as demos which are more difficult to find it seems. For me, the commentary and all that is great for spectating but the VOD experience for "studying" isn't that helpful. But at this point I think we all know how everyone plays anyway for the most part, it just comes down to execution.

With how limited the practice is for North America, do you believe the European pros have a significant advantage in that regard?
It is hard to say, probably not, although I feel just 1 or 2 days of online practice matches vs. top Europeans could be helpful. It could loosen me up a bit and probably make me more adaptive to different styles. I also probably don't get to play out of control as much as if I played top Europeans all the time, and that experience may be helpful. Playing a match out of control for 7-8 minutes and finding a way to win doesn't happen much in my North American practice games which could be the key at DreamHack. But since I've been to most major tournaments and seen just about everything, I don't think it's a very big factor. It comes down to execution rather than strategy for me in my opinion.

Do you feel any added pressure because they are so few events for Quakelive?
Yes and no. Yes, because the chances to play at major events are limited, so you want to make the best of the ones that come about. No, because I think the Pro Quake community is mature and it's not life or death for most of us like it may have been several years ago.

So would you say winning the title is more important to you rather than the money?
Yes. I feel like that's how it has to be. When you prepare for an event you think about how to defeat opponents and improve your game. The money is the consequence of the success. I never find myself thinking about the prize money until the event is over and I'm owed some.

Who do you think are the players to look out for at DreamHack?
Cypher/rapha/evil are ones I think are the toughest going in.

Do you have a prediction of how you might finish at DreamHack?
I think I'll be in the top 4. That doesn't mean 4th place, could be any place in the top 4 and hopefully 1st.

What do you think of the map pool?
I think it's good. At this point any (reasonable) map pool is fine with me as long as it's announced within a month or more in advance of the event.

How do you feel about Cure and Sinister? Are you confident in your play for both maps?
Yes, I've played them both quite a lot. I feel I'll be fine on these maps and the group play warm-up will probably also be helpful (playing and watching) on these maps.

When we will you be traveling to the event?
I leave Tuesday the 26th.

Will you be able to get a bit of online practice in before the event?
No, the group play and practice lan games will be key for me to get comfortable

Do you think traveling overseas will have any impact on your performance?
It has in the past but I should have enough time and sleep to be fine.

You were recently sponsored by point gaming for DreamHack, can you tell us about them?
Point Gaming is an ambitious project coming out next year that's designed to centralize the gaming community. It is going to be a one-stop shop for purchasing games, hosting tournaments, messaging, streaming, VoIP, game server hosting, and betting on matches. You can check it out at pointgaming.com.

Will they be sponsoring you for any future events that might come up?
We'll have to wait and see.

Is Quakelive the end of your gaming career? Would you compete if there was a new game that caught on?
I'll keep playing if I enjoy Quake and there are tournaments, or another deathmatch game comes out with tournaments. Never going to stray from deathmatch in any competitive sense.

Well I appreciate you taking the time to let me interview you, best of luck to you at DreamHack. Do you have any final comments?
Thank you for the interview!

Thanks for taking time to do the interview with me.
No problem!