July 1998
LakermaN_SC - Swedish COTs Duel Champion

Tuesday, July 7, 1998
Huge Scandinavian LAN Over the Weekend:
Nezstor_COTS sends word of a big LAN that took place in Sweden over the weekend, details of which can be found at http://www.fragzone.se/cots/lan/lanweb/.

The LAN featured Quake 1-on-1's, 2-on-2's, DM-Final, Q2 1-on-1's, as well as a Starcraft match. Some nicks of Players who were there that Australians may recognise are Sniket, Sectopod, [9]Nikodemus, Mr.Kill, and Mastah_Killah. The 1-on-1 final was between Sectopod and Lakerman and the results were:

"We have seen VoLC win in StarCraft, Cataclysm in Q1-DM, LakerMan in Q1-1on1 and then Mastah^Killah and Sectopod in the Q1-2on2!"

Thursday, July 9, 1998
Lakerman:
Received some news from a couple of Swedish sources, on Lakerman, who won the 1-on-1 at the big Swedish LAN over last weekend - at http://www.fragzone.se/cots/lan/lanweb/. Apparently, Lakerman is from one of Sweden's oldest clans - the Swedish Chefs (yes, from the Muppets Show :-). He was undefeated in the playoff to reach the final, where he met Sectopod. Lakerman is not new, but he has been in the US for a while so he may have learnt some new tricks. He's known as a modem player in Sweden, so my sources were very impressed that he won a LAN over real LPB´s. On the GX MB, he's been highly praised by some Americans.

Wednesday, July 15, 1998
LakermaN - Part Deux:
Last week we heard how LakermaN_of_SC won the 1-on-1 at the big Swedish LAN COTs - http://www.fragzone.se/cots/lan/lanweb/. LakermaN is from one of Sweden's oldest clans - the Swedish Chefs (now we have the URL :-).

LakermaN was undefeated in the playoff to reach the final, where he met Sectopod. He has been in the US for a while and is known as a modem player in Sweden, so many Swedes were very impressed that he won a LAN over real LPB´s. Some demos are available at the COTS site, and at Methos.

I caught up with LakermaN and he kindly agreed to answer some questions about the tournament, Quaking in the USA compared to Sweden, and the Swedes' views on Clan 9's upcoming battle against Deathrow:

Challenge.AU:
Where did the name LakermaN come from?

LakermaN:
"When I moved to San Diego in 93 I started playing basketball and following a team called the Los Angeles Lakers. They sucked that year but I became a huge fan. I like names that have something to do with the person and since my room was full of Lakers posters and hats it was an easy choice :)".

Challenge.AU:
Who was your toughest opponent at COTS?

LakermaN:
"Well, I had 3 hard games at COTS. The first game of the playoffs against Shining One was pretty hard. I was very nervous and the fact that they decided to show the game on the big screen didn't make it any easier :). After a loss on dm4 I managed to win dm2 and dm6 pretty comfortably but it wasn't easy. Second round against Nutcase of the same clan as me turned out to be a lot harder than I first thought. I picked dm2 and after being down 5 - -1 and extremly stressed and nervous I managed to get a tie 6-6, which meant a rematch on dm2. I won the rematch 1-0 :). Dm4 was a little easier so I advanced to the semis to face Mastah Killah. Mastah must have been tired or nervous because that game was easier than I thought. Finals against Sectopod was again very hard but I got off to a good start on dm4 and managed to play a bit defensive for the last 8 minutes or so to secure the win. On dm6 I got a horrible start with him getting everything except green armor and gl but I fought back and managed to win that round too".

Challenge.AU:
How did you feel after you won?

LakermaN:
"Well, since this was my first big tournament ever and most people didn't think I had a chance of winning made it feel feel very good".

Challenge.AU:
What did you do that night?

LakermaN:
"Since I was still at the LAN I couldn't do much celebrating. I played my 2-2 with Nutcase as my partner against Mastah and Secto and we lost. I didn't care much about the loss and went to sleep uncomfortably for a few hours :)".

Challenge.AU:
What's your prediction for the coming DR vs 9 games?

LakermaN:
"It's very hard to predict but I think the games will be very close, both the QW games and the NQ games. Hopefully 9 will beat them and the spotlight will be turned to Europe for awhile :)".

Challenge.AU:
What do other Swedish Players and Clans think of Clan 9's international adventures?

LakermaN:
"Well, I think some people feel that some players sold out and switched to clan 9 just to get a chance of some fame internationally. A year ago or so each clan used to have a big name, now DOOMer and oKKun switched to 9 which resulted in TB's death and Swedish mob went from an elite clan to an average clan which was bad for the clanscene. I personally think they deserve a chance to get famous. I don't think Sweden as a quakenation would get as much attention without Clan 9".

Challenge.AU:
Are you going to stay in Sweden now or are you going back to the USA?

LakermaN:
"I'm back in Sweden for good, and I'm very happy about that :)".

Challenge.AU:
Where did you stay in the USA, and who did you play in 1-on-1's there?

LakermaN:
"I was in San francisco and I mostly played 1-1's with ppl from Clan 311, Negative Burn and FITH. At the end of my stay I practiced a lot with #1assasin and Kornelia, both from 311".

Challenge.AU:
What did you think of the standard of play in the USA compared to Sweden?