The match everyone has been waiting so long to see happened twice in one weekend. Once in the group stage and once more in the grand final of Quake Live's best ever tournament, it's strange to think that Cooller and rapha hadn't crossed paths until now.

And the match lived fully up to its expectations. Overtimes, last-gasp kills and sheer brilliance from both players put on a fantastic show for Quake fans.

Shane 'rapha' Hendrixson 3-1 Anton 'Cooller' Singov (t7: 2-1, t9: 6-5, dm13: 3-4, dm6: 5-3)

As you'd expect, the first match was extremely close as both players began to understand both each other and the situation they were sitting in. The title of world champion doesn't come around often, and such prestige was reflected by the two duelers as no frags passed for a full five minutes. When the action did kick in, rapha snatched at two opportunities to pick up a kill and held out for the crucial first map win.

If anything, though, the second map held even more importance as the opportunities to either be right back in the running or in touching distance of the win were both on the table.

Cooller came out strong, nicely dodging rapha's attacks but couldn't mount a decent offense of his own which would come back to haunt him. A back and forth map throughout, Cooller's constant mega control was nullified by rapha's rockets which lead to the final moments playing into the hands of the American. A kill in the last three seconds awarded him his second map win and he moved on to match point.

But the third map was Cooller's for the taking after he opened up a quick 3-0 lead and took total control. A momentum swing, however, after rapha wasted a 200-200 stack, suddenly saw a tie game with both players vying for map control. Eventually, time ran out and the first overtime kicked in. rapha's distinct lack of mega pick ups throughout the map saw him at a disadvantage in the overtime as Cooller pushed more and more, and after a second overtime scored a frag to pull a map back.

dm6 was next up and was much more beneficial to rapha and his disciplined style of play; he could control the flow of the game a lot easier and use the lower number of items to his advantage.

But Cooller came out strong once again, taking the mega and armor to open up a one frag lead with three minutes on the clock. The anxious American fought back however, moving beautifully around the map to compromise Cooller's position and take away his momentum and, most importantly, his lead. Map control switched constantly but Cooller never capitalized when he had the advantage, making it easier for rapha to conserve and secure his lead. At 5-2 Cooller hit a frag back but it was too late for the Russian who was simply outshone by the SK Gaming player.

The win cements rapha's status as the number one Quake Live player following an incredible 2009. He will have a lot of competition coming his way attempting to take his title which now requires - at the very least - a mountain of tournament victories from the individual wanting to claim it.

IEM 4 Quake Live World Championship standings:

1st: Shane 'rapha' Hendrixson - $10,000
2nd: Anton 'Cooller' Singov - $4,000
3rd: Maciej 'av3k' Krzykowski - $1,600
4th: Alexei 'Cypher' Yanushevsky - $800