The ESWC France has two spots up for grabs to the Grand Finals in San Jose, however only the player who finishes first has all the expenses paid.

The second player must find the funds either himself or through a clan or sponsor, with Yoan 'ToD' Merlo finishing second it meant that Christophe 'Wolf' Laporte will have all expenses paid.

With the French public and media suspicious of the result, rumours began to spread that perhaps it had been pre-arranged by the two Frenchman as Wolf's Team aAa would struggle to finance him if he had finished second. "These rumours are false, ToD did not let me win ESWC France, it annoys me people say this" says Wolf.

"Especially in France they say he let me win because they do not like me much. In France we have many people who do not like the players, without a valid reason," stated Wolf.

However Wolf explains the French media had it wrong, "First of all before playing on stage he said that the boss of Mousesports was in the room. ToD could not afford to lose the game,' explains Wolf emphatically, "It was better for ToD to win because he could avoid being drawn in a group with high seeds Sky and Moon. It was in his interest to win."

However for Wolf it is more than a qualification spot, "In the French cup both of us will go to California, so it is not just about qualification but pride," explains Wolf, "I am now the French champion".

He momentarily dwelled on this information before going on to say "Being French champion means a lot to me, I really wanted to win here, and also since we're playing in Bercy, a very prestigious place, I practised a lot."

"ToD said after the match I just played better, I do not think I am as good as ToD, I want to make that clear, I just think that yesterday maybe I played better, he was not at his best, perhaps he was tired"

"We are friends, and in my opinion he knows that I prefer he plays his best and have some good games, and that I lose, instead of him just letting me win," explains Wolf, " I wouldnt want that. I would never want him to let me win, and he knows that".

"I trained specifically for ToD, and I had special strategies for him, I think that helped me to win".

Wolf's comments about the games

Game 1- Terenas Stand: Warden first, I crept lab AoW, as well as the merecenary camp then making me level 3,then expanded bottom left," said Wolf, "people should watch the replays, it was really close and sometimes I really thought I was losing the game because it was so close. I think what helped me win was he fought my level 6 warden's spirit of vengeance"

Game 2 - Echo Isles: "On Echo Isles I went for Beastmaster first" explains Wolf, "I saw an elf player do it versus WE.infi at KODE5. I think "I think its a good strategy because your opponent won't expect such a thing, and you have a good chance he won't have practised against it"

"ToD went two rax rifles and I won I think because I bought the healing scrolls from the only shop on the map, that I think was very important"

Why Beastmaster first I asked. "The summons are really useful, once you have lvl 3 you can get a level 2 hawk and you have map control' explained Wolf. And what about the choice of Naga, wouldn't a panda be perhaps a better choice "I went Naga, not Panda because I think Naga is better long game," replied Wolf, "Panda you must be very close to use your abilities as well as breakers draining your mana, so I think Naga is better".

Final Words

Wolf stressed the fact that he by no means considers himself better than his opponent and has the upmost respect for him, "I'm not saying I'm as good as ToD, I dont want to sound arrogant," said Wolf, "I'd like to say thank you to ToD infact, he is a nice guy. He taught me a lot about Warcraft3, in particular about mental strength."

"Despite the rumours, most of the people say I played great and said congratulations, I'm happy to give them some good games, and I want to thank them"

"In France people think that aAa do not have the money to send me to California, but since the CS team lost in the quarter finals we have more than six times the money required to send me to California", stated Wolf, "ToD knew this, so there was absolutely no arrangement between him and me. "