After a compelling 2009 and a stunning 2010, 2011 could well be even better for Quake Live. The reason? Anton 'Cooller' Singov's first Quake Live tournament win happening at just the right time.

Cooller is one of those big four guys who rule Quake Live, but up until last week, it was different in his case. He was the only one who hadn't actually won a tournament, but was still regarded as one of the best.

This comes down to a combination of things. Take his ruthlessly brilliant personality, which is probably what he's most well known for. The way Cooller approaches things is different to many people, but it's not exactly wrong, considering it pays off in numerous ways for the Russian.

It's like a game outside of the game when someone encounters Cooller. And it does more than enough to garner respect for him as a person, let alone his reputation as a player.



Yet over 10 tournaments in 15 months, he hadn't taken the top spot once. Six podium finishes, yes, but not a single victory. Over that time, competition has continually improved and the game has evolved to a point where every match is ridiculously competitive.

On his 11th attempt, Cooller put away av3k 3-0 in a hotly-contested game to finally win a major tournament and defeat his demons. Four overtimes in one map and constant back-and-forth battles were but a few of the highlights of the whitewash final that wasn't a whitewash.

The Quake-filled weekend in November of last year is a prime example of the state that Quake Live is currently in. Two tournaments took place over four days, and to say they delivered is an understatement. Sure it was filled with controversy surrounding game throwing, but aside from that it was one of the best spectacles of Quake Live as a whole for years.

The surge came at QuakeCon 2010. After Shane 'rapha' Hendrixson had won another tournament, this time ESWC 2010, it seemed like everyone had had enough of the American's dominance. Even Alessandro 'stermy' Avallone who had relatively little involvement in the business end of Quake Live took it upon himself to knock rapha into the lower bracket of the tournament. Sebastian 'Spart1e' Siira was enjoying his own run, defeating Cooller before losing a rematch, and of course Alexei 'Cypher' Yanushevsky was making the most of no rapha in the upper bracket by storming his way to the final.

If now is the right time for Cooller to win a tournament, QuakeCon was probably the best time for him to finish as a runner up. Especially in the fashion that he did, battling over five excruciatingly awesome games with Cypher. It was arguably the greatest display anyone had seen in Quake Live, and minus the $7,000 difference between first and second, neither of them really lost that day.

Although Maciej 'av3k' Krzykowski wasn't at QuakeCon, it didn't matter. A lot changed in Dallas, and things stuck from there. The next competition, the IEM Global Challenge at gamescom, saw Marcel 'k1llsen' Paul emerge as the winner. Who'd have thought that, given not only the international talent pool but the fact that he literally came out of nowhere to do so?

SK Gaming's rapha did return to form at BEAT IT, but bombed out of DreamHack in 5-8th place courtesy of Kevin 'Strenx' Baeza. First it was k1llsen, now Strenx was having his turn at showing what he can do, as he went on to place 3rd and 4th at BEAT IT and DreamHack respectively.

Unlike k1llsen - and not to take anything away from his win - many players will say that a rise to prominence is a long time coming for Strenx. Cypher, for example, has always stressed that Strenx has potential. The aim-heavy Fnatic player has always been able put up a fight, but he lacked that high level of in-game smarts to compliment his forceful style until this past November.

Strenx turned in a great performance at the IEM V European Championship Finals, almost going the distance but for a controversy-filled game with Cooller. He also beat Cypher in the consolation game for third, but the main factor is that he had improved a lot of things going into the tournament and is now riding off the back of two impressive performances. One could easily assume that he is now within arm's reach of becoming a genuine contender for a first place finish.

Players were taking turns to do something big, and there was only one person left out of the world's elite to make his case.

The last five months have been some of the best for Quake Live. While the 2009-10 season was dominated by rapha in amazing fashion, the fact that he was heading into every tournament as the favorite was getting to a point where such consistency was becoming bizarre. Everything went up in the air following QuakeCon, and although Cypher won two of the four big events in the remainder of 2010, he hadn't been as clear cut a favorite as rapha was in his reign.

People were starting to step up their game, so to speak.

Now they're at a stage where one of the biggest tournaments of the year is just over a month away: the IEM V World Championship Finals. It was the make-or-break tournament of last year for rapha, where a win would have solidified his credentials as the world's best. That notion won't apply for anyone this year, but take this into account: a lot of people are real contenders for first place.

The IEM World Championship Finals has all the makings of being the greatest event in Quake Live's history. Couple the stage at which players are currently at and the field of competition and it's downright obvious that it's the standout event of 2011.

If Cypher had won the European Finals, he'd be the outright favorite. If av3k would have won he probably wouldn't even be the favorite; it would be between Cypher and rapha, with himself, Cooller and Strenx somewhere in the mix.

Cooller winning was the best case scenario. He's on par with Cypher and rapha for the title, but it's massively shaken everything up. Considering how close he was to winning the World Championship last year, there's a sense of urgency surrounding him to keep on winning, as well as putting that lingering memory of falling short at the last hurdle to bed.