All Im saying is that rapha knows best.

Go COOLLER

rapha noctis in the final!

Lethe knows!!

correct: rapha vs noctis in semifinal

depends of the groups i guess. dunno how the brackets would look like after group stage. A1 plays B2 and A2 probably vs B1, but dunno about the semis

noctis won't make it to the play offs.

"DaHanG seems to have a very methodical approach and yet will do things which can appear momentarily counter-intuitive or unorthodox" I would have use the term unchristian there, to get rapha mad :p
seems rapha is affraid of dahang

Truly mind-blowing analysis - thanks for sharing.

I had to count that some readers here are americans.
so,
Hey, Parker Barnes. This one's for you!

No need to share anymore, thanks.

<B

I knew I made the right decision when I put all my E$ on DaHang at 33 -1.

Loved that interview. Interesting questions, interesting answers. Need more like this!

where is rapha bootcamping in europe?

He's in germany.

Pretty sure it's at the SK building =D

i think its just rapha's way man,
praise them all before you ownzor them, its much funnier that way.

Cooller WILL do it again.

I am not a big duel fan, so I haven't seen all the matches from QuakeCon, but can someone explain me what makes Rapha so good?

I've heard people complaining about his style. It was boring to watch. Is it his aim or mix of good timing / tactics etc with aim?

i thought that when watching him but I just think he's just good, makes very few mistakes and executes everything really, really well.

when you watch cypher, you see crazy movement, aim and speed. avek you seem awesome timing, lots of risks and pressure. you see coollers smarts, and predicting really welljibo aim, and defensive play etc. etc.

nothing seems to stand out for rapha :\

i remember aim saying something like "quake is all about not making the mistakes".
maybe rapha rarely makes any mistakes but also never excells at anything

never excels at anything, and meanwhile is always 5steps ahead?
seriously, the strong ability to read situations and predict opponents MEANS SOMETHING

i was replying to aarons post about what the key feature for raphas play.

and at least one thing he excels at for sure, steel nerves
i mean, didn't u watch those miracle games, vs jibo and av3k etc

rapha is the best in catching his opponents off guard.

Like someone that alreday mentioned in here, Rapha is all about adapting.

I mean really, the hints are all over this thread already. He watched many demoes and learned all the different play styles of different people. So he can adapt himself mid game to his opponent's style and do the things he does to counter them, along with a tendency to not make many mistakes in the process. This is quite a deadly combo if he can remain calm enough (which apparently he can thanks to bible powers?).

I can even go as far and say that's the reason he doesnt feel comfortable with Dahang. Unpredictable moves by a player that are unorthodox to whatever style Rapha is trying to adapt to is key in defeating him. I always thought Noctis did these sort of moves mid game too so that's perhaps why he can give rapha the trouble that he did.

Overall I would say that this mindset of Rapha goes in to smarts so I guess that's what is standing out for him (unfortunate wording of 5 steps ahead imo, wide open for mockery :D). Just different than cooller but still the same category.

Wall of text ftw but I do love to analyze :)

You know the type of chicks that look pretty good and are also smart, but wont never ever surprise with something like waiting for you in a school uniform with knee socks when you come back from work? Thats rapha's playstyle. Its fine, but no jaw-dropping, no wows.

Rapha himself said he became good by downloading tons of demos and copied the strategies until he found himself a mix of styles that worked.
He reminds me of russian oldschool players, like b100.death, plus a bit of swedish apathy and calculation. He plays it very safe and adapts to his opponent rather than sets the pace of the game.
Some people find him boring because he follows the timing/items very strictly, but as for me, I like his style and the way hes outsmarting aggressive opponents.

LOL, nice metaphor! hahahah

Yeah, he's very, very much like b100.death or z4muz actually (Except death was too cautious and didn't have great aim and z4muz had amazing aim/movement).

- He doesn’t make mistakes (with exception the one on dm6 vs spartie)
- He stays calm
- He has very good rl, which is overpowered on ql
- He actually does predict his opponents. That’s why he doesn’t do crazy shots.

for me his best quality is surviving on low hp/without armor, so basically his defensive game. It's just too hard to catch him when he doesn't have control.

He never seems to make mistakes which is really impressive.
Steel nerves and a topnodge concentration. I think that's what makes him better then the others.

yomi

A common generalization about Quake Live seems to be that it favours more aggressive players, due to the timelimit and weapon tweaks

wtf?

but very informative
wonder when the interview was done cause he actually played a lot of the ppl he is talking about just now

It was conducted last night.

good questions, in fact probably one of the best interviews

miles better than the generic bullshit usually pumped out

by thorin no less!

hmmmmm sounds like dahang plays a similar style as me... that would be interresting to watch then :)

no no, you play a similar style like dahang. Not the other way around! Don't forget, he is AMERICAN!

Very interesting read, gj thorin !

"C`mon".. cmon what???? you want me to smack you behind your head son???

yeah, lame quote, especially because it was stolen from Lexer, which did not invent it, yet... originality, rapha's sin

yeah couldn't even get an original smiley

I was under the impression that the russians had no servers and as a result have had no chance at all to practise quakelive and the new maps.

So how are players like cooller going to compete wtih the rest that will no doubt choose the new maps to play against them if given the chance?

russia got servers dude

___ yesterday at 5:23 pm

can you find a less obnoxious pic with rapha?

Not that better tbh

First result on google images for "rapha quake"
http://s.sk-gaming.com/image/image/5e2be6ecd901c893x.jpg
Thats a nice one.

Another http://static.quakecon.org/files/2009/tournam..._thumb.jpg

.

Less dominating long range rg - check
Less dominating medium range lg - check
More dominating close range rl - check
More acceleration than cpma vq3 - check
5 minutes less to camp for a comeback - check

Why you dont agree?

Not that I prefer cpma, but play the game and you´ll see. Or just take someones word for it that being able to rush with LG in way more situations makes the game more agressive.

other than the first reason..it all helps +back more....honestly even lower rg damage makes a difference when you are the down player and the other guy is constantly +backing you cannot finish in 1 rail shot ..needs twice...people often survive upto 4 rails. I always felt it was easier to play aggressive in q3, in ql it just doesnot work sometimes.

Acctually read the interview cause of all the praise and I have to agree - good stuff.

.

"how exactly does weaker lg promote aggressiveness?"

It encourages using short range weapong like rl and sg. The cripple effect of vq3 made everybody run for their lives if they hadnt it. Now you can stand a chance without lg and so, you are not forced to +back so much.

QL deffiently favors less aggressive play compared to q3 cpma.

Just watch some cpma/ql demos and compare the average finishing score (taking into consideration tl10 vs tl15 ofc).