Save the best for last they say. In terms of “best” they don’t come any better than Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel. Fatal1ty is a multiple world champion across multiple games spamming Quake 3 to Painkiller. The first professional gamer to truly tap into the esports fan base. He’s had endorsements from shoes to graphics cards. He’s played on the great wall of China, appeared on 60 Minutes, earned his own cover of Time magazine. He accomplished all of this while being a ferocious competitor, some would say ruthless. He brought a new sense of commitment to professional gaming, created a mantra by which he still lives today, practice, practice, practice. It’s hard to put into words Fatal1ty’s impact on early esports, but if there is a pro gamer godfather, it is him.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it comes to the earliest esports teams that are still around today, none have survived at the top longer than SK Gaming. Formed in 1997 by a set of gaming passionate brothers in Germany, one of which would also form, run, grow and head up ESL, one of the biggest esports tournament organizers in the world, responsible for ESL Pro League, ESL One and Intel Extreme Masters among many others. Ralf Reichert is not only one of the founders of SK and ESL but of esports itself, overseeing some of the biggest changes and the greatest growth periods of esports relatively short life span. Ralf has somehow guided ESL out of the murky waters of recession in 2008 to continue building, growing and expanding and as he’ll admit, with a touch of “right place, right time” thrown in has helped elevate esports to the brink of mainstream acceptance. But how? Let's find out.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The prodigal son returns. Likely the most apt description of Ryan Hart, fighting game legend, more recently esports broadcaster and always one of the truly great people in and around esports. He’s made more comebacks than any other player in history, set official world records, won hundreds (yes, hundreds) of tournaments and yet somehow, because we are terrible at recording and remembering history in esports, has almost been forgotten. Like Alex Valle, Ryan started out early in the nineties playing in the arcades and competing in some of the earliest esports tournaments, before they were even called that, but has somehow managed to remain at the top, feared and respected just the same, 20 years on.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When fans talk about the evolution of counter strike and the move to multi nationality teams, they think of it as a recent phenomenon. But that isn’t the case. Episode Seven features a man who formed his own teams, but then moved to Brazil to play the game. After getting the bug early, his competitive streak had taken over. It was a goal to join or build a team that could not only compete, but win. Yet this wasn’t fueled by some dollar induced haze, no, this was to win and win alone. Fame and fortune were not particular big bed fellows in the early days of Counter Strike, winning was all that mattered. Jonas has also had one of the most interesting journeys from Counter Strike player to announcer to working with ESL on event management. Oh and in between all of that becoming a world class, award winning journalist in his native Norway.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The timing of this podcast could not have been better (or worse depending your view point)considering one of the longest serving team owners in esports recently split from his beloved team. Team Dignitas were one of the early esports multi gaming organizations, founded through a mixture of fun and passion for Battlefield 1942 by Michael O’Dell. Michaels career and indeed his early years of video games follow a similar pattern to some of our other guests this season, including having to

stop following real sports due to injury, a burgeoning NFL career perhaps stopped in its tracks. All this despite hailing from the shores of England rather than New England. It was just one of many obstacles Michael has had to overcome before he sold his organization to the operating group behind Crystal Palace football club and the Philadelphia 76ers. Episode Six was recorded just before the announcement of his removal from the Dignitas brand.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever sat in front of the TV and thought “I could do a much better job than these guys!”? Well our guest went one further and wrote a whole column on why the Intel Extreme Masters could be so much better. Rather than fight him over it, ESL hired him. Michal “Carmac” Blicharz is one of the defining characters in esports that sits behind the scenes, works his magic and comes up with stadiums full of fans cheering on their favorite teams and players. Instead of sitting back and taking credit for over a decade of working on one of the most successful esports tournaments in history, he has remained humble and still as fascinating to listen to as he was when

he set out on his career in the early part of the new millennium. Smart, articulate and sometimes humorous, Michal has an uncanny knack of not only producing exceptional esports products, but finding the right team and the right people to deliver them. It can’t all be luck. Can it?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If there is one name and one face people would associate with European League of Legends on a broadcast it is likely Sjokz. Better known in her Belgian homeland as Eefje Depoortere, she has spent the better part of the last seven years as the host of the official RIOT owned and run League of Legends championship (now known as the LEC). But Eefje's journey to an award winning host didn't start with League of Legends, instead as a highly accomplished player in Unreal Tournament many

years before. Her journey through esports is both fascinating and inspiring and she shares that with us on this weeks Voice of Esports.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our third episode covers the area of team ownership and team management. Jason “1” Lake is the current CEO of Complexity Gaming, owned and run by the Dallas Cowboys group of sports teams. They have a state of the art training facility and HQ based in Dallas and are one of the biggest organizations in esports today. But it wasn’t always that way for Jason Lake. He’s had huge ups and huge downs throughout his prolific 17 years in esports. From the Playboy Mansion to “dark places” only he knows how he returned from, Jason has been at the forefront of esports and in particular team ownership since the very early days and it hasn’t always been easy. This is his story.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Two turns its attention to a scene which has often clashed with esports, indeed, sometimes even asking the question of whether the Fighting Game Community (FGC) is even part of esports.

Alex Valle is the perfect person to answer this question. The community dubbed him “Mr. Street Fighter” and when you hear his story, which began in 1992, you’ll be left with no doubt as to why. Not just one of the early esports stars, Alex has also contributed in many other ways and his passion has always shone through, whether that be during his numerous runs at EVO or through his evangelizing of his games. If you ever wanted to know what life was like in esports before the start

of the millennium, Alex is the man to tell you.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For our first episode we wanted to make sure our guest was someone special with a real pedigree in esports… A man we like to call “The King of Casters” the original OG of esports commentary, Marcus “djWHEAT” Graham. In this episode you’ll hear how Marcus was a bit of a naughty kid who turned out to be rather good at talking about esports. You’ll hear about his incredible sacrifices along the way and how the early boom or bust years of esports nearly stopped him from succeeding in the industry. You’ll also hear about some exciting plans he has for the future. All in all, it’s the perfect way to introduce you to an esports legend whether you’re new to esports or a hardcore fan.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.