Shane "rapha" Hendrixson is a resident of Rockford, Illinois, and in early 2008 was very much on the outside of the international Quake 3 scene looking in. Around a year and a half later and he has racked up some impressive victories (ESWC Masters Athens, Quakecon 2009 and Gamescom) on his way to becoming the player many would consider the best Quake Live player in the world. Only days away from another huge test in the form of the highly competitive field at the Global Challenge Dubai rapha talked to SK-gaming about some of the significant names in the field he may face, his destiny as a Quake player and even offered insight on legends like Cooller and fox.

Let's begin with your group for the Global Challenge Dubai.

The most obvious immediate point of interest is the swapping of Cooller for Jibo with the former having become team-mates with fox in Mouz now. They are two players who have been considered on the same skill level for the past couple of years it would seem so what do you think of the move in terms of your preference or wish to play either at that phase of the event?

To be honest I'm just glad that the switch was done, it was the principle of the matter to follow the rules and make sure fox and Cooller were seperated, and as you said they have both been very close in terms of skill in the recent 1-2 years. I can't say anything about Cooller at the moment because I have not played him in a tournament, I've only played jibo so I can't draw any conclusions on who I'd rather play. So as far as right now is concerned, I'm fine with playing jibo :)

How familiar are you with Jibo's game and Quake 3 history? A common generalization about Quake Live seems to be that it favours more aggressive players, due to the timelimit and weapon tweaks, so do you think this affects a player like Jibo?

Jibo is a very high skilled opponent. To me it seems very difficult to attack him at times, he is very good at playing defensive. As of right now I don't think his shape is the best but if he keeps on practicing I think he could do very well in Quake Live. The 10 minutes just makes the first kill all that much more important because there's 5 less minutes to make up for that. The idea that it plays more towards aggressive players is that since it's only 10 mins, sometimes you have to take chances earlier on then you would like to. So no his style isn't affected I guess, unless he has an absolutely terrible start.

You've made mention in the past of always having close or difficult games against fox. Having played him at Gamescom to go along with your previous history how good do you see this current fox is in comparison to the fox who has been on the fringe of winning a big tournament seemingly forever? Beyond playing you is he a player you consider a favourite to make the top 3?

It will all come down to how well he can manage himself. If he can stay focused and not let the little things get to him late in tournaments he could very well place top 3. When he is playing his A game he is one of the best players out there, especially in group stages. For some reason he always starts off so strong and this will be the 3rd time I've had to play him in a group stage match. Hopefully 3rd time will be the charm for me this time around :D As for his shape now, I can't comment because I haven't seen him play since Gamescom.

Can you identify anything about his style or approach against you which neutralizes an aspect of your game or aids such parity in your matchups?

I don't know what it is to be exact, because he tends to play slow and calculated. Tries to play very smart, but there are other players who play like this and I have no problem with them whatsoever. I think maybe it's that in key fights he almost always hits the shot that he needs to keep himself alive, stay in the game or even hit that shot that takes over control. To beat him you have to play at your best.

With your group, and the whole tournament, stacked l1nkin is naturally going to be singled out as the weakest of the bunch due to the dueling pedigree of everyone else. He is clearly a fantastic CTF player but what do you know about him as a dueler and what insight can you offer on his play?

To me he is such a streaky dueler. In a best-of-3 format he can't be taken lightly because he can sometimes play an amazing game and if it happens to be against you, lookout! But for example if he made it to the playoffs I don't think he would do well because as I said he is a streaky player, he wouldn't play his best on enough maps when it comes to best-of-5.

Cooller has been at least half out of shape for the past couple of years and seemingly only capable of winning a great map here or there in comparison to his form of old. What is your take on the current iteration of Cooller? Is he ready to reclimb the mountain and become one of that very small but elite handful of players again do you think? Do you feel as though he is a player who could rediscover the drive which once made him close to unbeatable?

I think he just needs the right motivation again to start putting in the time and effort needed to be at the top , he just needs something to play for. Maybe it's more $, maybe it's something else. There's no doubt that he could do it again, it's just a matter of whether he be willing to do it :) because knowing him, he hates losing.

What do you think it is about those players who get into those dominating periods of competitive play where they are seemingly unbeatable, or a step ahead of everyone else, yet over time lose that sheen which often doesn't return? One can chart a lineage of ZeRo4, Cooller, Cypher and pencil you in as next in line perhaps, so how aware are you of that overarching destiny element to your career? Are you able to look back at times when you were seemingly unbeatable or do you find yourself thinking of moments a map or game would have gone differently had you made a step in the other direction or missed a rail?

I think those players do a good job of setting goals and just pursuing it until they've got a result nothing less of what they set out to. Some after they've reached their initial goals seem to damper off a bit. I dunno, maybe they feel they've accomplished what is necessary for them. I've noticed this and I'm trying to continue to set new goals for myself to keep it fresh so that I don't slack off so to say. The best players are those who manage to take ahold of the situation and not let go until the result they want, is in there grasp. Of course you can always say 'oh if this would have happened if only he didn't hit that wall', the thing is what happened is what happened and you can't change that.

That's why it's so important to make the most of every single opportunity, you're never going to see it again and what's done is done. I try not to think about what the outlook of certain matches are, as far as what could happen this or that. If I dominate a player, awesome, if I barely etch out a win cool, if I have to make some miraculous comeback, I'm fine with that. To me it doesn't matter, a win is simply a win. And I sure like wins more than losses, so I take them any way I can :)

All the Quake Live tournaments so far have been filled with players who were active within Quake Live and being rated based on their play there. In this tournament we see some huge names but who have yet to prove themselves in Quake Live and who are being granted high reputations based on the similarities between Quake Live and Quake 3. How do you see this field in terms of the divide between the two games and are there any players you see as especially dangerous in light of your knowledge of both games?

Most of the players who were very good in Q3, are also extremely good in Quake Live. Cypher won Quakecon 2008 with Quake Live and placed 3rd at this year's. Spart1e, who lost to me in Athens finished 2nd again at Quakecon. Pretty much everyone that played Q3 is playing Quake Live, lol, so it's almost the same results except for maybe an upset here or there. The one player who has impressed me though is DaHanG, because he's worked very hard at building up his skill and is a force to be reckoned with at this tournament. His style is very strong against every style from what I've seen so far. He's the one I'd say you really need to look out for this tournament.

DaHanG seems to have a very methodical approach and yet will do things which can appear momentarily counter-intuitive or unorthodox but which are impressive when the outcome is seen. As someone who has played against him what do you see in his style of play when you observe it and also when you're on the end of it?

He is a player who calculates situations very well. He really likes to put constant pressure on the opponent to keep them on their toes. He also likes to try and force odd predicaments because some players just don't do so well in those situations and make a mistake when the need to make that all important correct decision in a split second. As you mentioned sometimes the things he does are very unorthodox, to me sometimes they are so risky and I ask myself why would he do that. If his plan fails so many bad things could go wrong for the next few mins but I can't really think that way when playing him because so often those unorthodox decisions do work out for him so if you're playing against him you just have to realize at least 1 time something crazy that he pulls off is going to go his way. I think it's because he's just extremely confident in what he does, in his aim, movement, timing, reading of the player. Everything he's doing he feels is the right decision, which I think helps him a lot.

The other American competing in Dubai is chance, someone else you've played against. In interviews he comes off as very confident to the extent of seeming to overestimate his ability in as much as his results don't bear out his talk. Is he someone who in practice or in terms of potential can be one of the top players or does his situation of being able to practice against you mean that when he wins the odd map or loses one 8:9 he could be apt to think 'well rapha is the best player in the world so if I only lose 8:9 then...'?

As far as chance is concerned, I'm not too sure. He is confident in himself. I think for the most part he does underform a little at tournaments but to be honest I think he's a lot like linkin atm, where he's a streaky player. Last year for example he beat ZeRo4 at Quakecon, totally unexpected, then he beats cooller at ESWC and moves on to the 2nd group stage. He has the potential to beat anyone I'd say, just he's not very consistent.

While you, Spart1e and fox are very much known quantities due to attending both Quakecon and Gamescom noctis is a player with a number of factors swirling around his game. He had the reputation amongst some quarters of being the best European player but did not attend Quakecon yet at Gamescom despite losing to you he looked impressive doing so, also beating spart1e. On paper he might sit as the best Quake Live player not called rapha but this is a stacked tournament so that will be firmly put to the test it seems. How do you see noctis right now and is your intuitive feeling that he'll be one of those names you'll meet in the last 4? Can you see any players' styles posing him problems or countering his own?

I think it will depend, assuming all of the projected players make it through to the playoffs, who he plays. Some players have a very difficult time with his style, others don't seem to. He likes to set up traps and be tricky and the way he goes about it works very well against certain players, others it does not. But even if his tricks don't work, he has very good aim and can normally recover, so even if he is having a hard time the games are very close so it could still go in his favor. I can't give any specifics though, because he hasn't played everyone. Same goes for me, I haven't played quite a few players who will be at this tournament, in a tournament atmosphere.

Keeping in mind the theme of playing legendary names and also your earlier comments about your 'get the win' approach to each map: how much satisfaction do you feel comes from your actual play in competitions versus the winning? Naturally there is money for winning but on a pure level would you rather get the best map for rapha and take an easier win against a legendary player or is there a part of you which would relish the chance to play one of the great players on their best map? Playing Cooller on ztn seems like an obvious example to use.

Hmmmm that is a very interesting question. It all depends on how I feel at the time. If I feel extremely confident, for example as you said Cooller's best map is ztn or dm13, if I really feel like I am playing extremely solid on it over another map at some tournament maybe I would play it because I'd be more comfortable on it. Most of the time this isn't the case though, and yea I'd take a win on their weakest map :P We'll see, maybe that will happen at this event, you never know :)

Final words from rapha?

I'd like to thank SK-gaming for sending me to what should be one of the best tournaments ever. And thanks to all my supporters :)

rapha's first game in Group A in Dubai will take place on the 18th of October according to the ESL site.

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