Unfortunately, I had prior obligations to CGS, otherwise I may have applied and perhaps attended the Masters. I honestly wasn't sure what to expect from this tournament. It had been so long since a large international event that the only real glimpse of play I had was from Russia. They obviously have their Asus Cup's quite a bit and because of that I've seen many demos from Nike, Cooller, Makaveli, etc.

I also managed to see some cup demos from Cypher, k1llsen, and a few other players online. It is extremely hard to judge a player from an online match, besides perhaps some tactical elements. Cypher however, definitely lived up to the hype.

I managed to hang out with av3k during QuakeCon and he is a very cool kid, I am happy for him that he did so well at this event, and at the same time partly surprised. I realize he is a highly skilled gamer, but I didn't expect him to be this good in Q3. Props to him for picking up his game to this point, however I think if he wants to improve he definitely needs to work on his brain game a little bit. A few silly mistakes here and there cost him, and COULD have cost him some very important frags.

I have mixed emotions about this tournament, because while the super aggressive fast paced game is extremely polished from Cypher and av3k, I also see players like Fox and Jibo, who play slower and smarter, and slightly more strategic. This is the beauty of Q3.... so many styles, none necessarily "correct."

I'm proud of my fellow American John "Zero4" Hill. He hadn't played much Q3 in years and over the last couple months he's managed to elevate his game and I can promise all of you that the finals in San Jose, he will be a legitimate contender to win the whole event, hopefully along with me :) Did I mention he uses an EverGlide.com DKT Keyboard??? Holla!

I feel bad for Chance, because he actually is very good and I know on a different day he may have won a couple of those sets. Chance is like trapped in between Cypher and Jibo where he can't decide if he wants to play out of his mind, or tactical. I hope a few more Q3 tournaments pop up that Chance can play in, because he is actually very good.

I'm not sure what to say about Rapha, he is an amazing Q3 player. I wasn't there, but from the demos I watched.... seemed lost. So many times av3k caught him with his back turned, in what I thought, were some pretty obvious situations. I don't know if it was nerves, or just that big of a clash of styles, but Rapha is another player I think will be extremely good at the finals. I realize I predicted him to maybe win the Masters and I was wrong, but I assure you rapha will bring a different, more polished game to the finals in San Jose.

With all that, I'm off to watch some demos. The beauty of not attending ESWC Masters, and the upcoming GameGune, is that I get a library of demos to study... :)

Check out my keyboard, it pwnz... www.everglide.com