Interview with ConMan

America put a man on the moon. Sauerbraten put a man in QuakeCon. Here’s his interview.

Last sunday, you became runner-up in the first SDoS insta event. A lot of people who are rather new to sauer don’t even know you though.
Can you briefly give us an introduction to who ConMan is?

I started playing Sauer around 2006, after I built my first computer. I had never played any computer games before, but I wanted to test out my build with a game, so I searched for free games for Linux and found Sauer. I got hooked quickly, and after joining {QS}, started learning to play FFA duel, which became my favorite mode.
I was trained in FFA by {QS}clocker, and competed multiple times in PSL, both with {QS} and a variety of mixed teams for team modes, and in duel modes.
In around 2009, I migrated exclusively to Quake Live, but even since then I’ve tried to show up to play whenever I manage to hear of a Sauer tournament.

For the past couple of years you’ve been taken up with QuakeLive.
This summer you even travelled to QuakeCon with your team 4saken.
What was it like playing on a big lan?

Playing at QuakeCon was great; I have been there twice now (although only officially competing in 2013 when a clan arena tourney was offered). Quake has an extremely high level of competitive play, so my team and I knew all along weren’t playing to win, so we just had fun making it as far as possible. That being said, it was a lot of fun being able to compete in an event as large as QuakeCon, and we had some great matches, and even managed to upset a couple of very good teams. It was also really cool to be streamed live for one of our matches, and to be casted by some very prolific Quake casters.

In SDoS insta last sunday you ranked 2nd after losing the grandfinal to bounty (apollon). 

Many people have been wondering how you can be that good without actually having played Sauer for quite a while.
Do you think your experience from QuakeLive profits you for Sauer?

I think my more “classical” (for lack of a better word) play style makes it easier for me to quickly return to Sauer without losing too much of my game. A lot of very good Sauer players today have a very aim-heavy style, and relying so heavily on aim makes it difficult to maintain their skill level while taking time off from playing. Because I rely so little on my aim, it is no problem for me to come back to Sauer with slightly worse aim, because I am just used to playing around that weakness.

You’re as oldschool as it gets.
What are your all-time favorite moments of this game? 

There are so many great moments, even from many years ago. The one that sticks out most in my mind would be losing by a single frag to w00p|majikal in the PSL FFA championship, because I didn’t realize that time was running out, even though I had full map control for the last minute or more on douze. A more recent one would be the SDMC tourney, where I got to team up with blahville for 2v2 teamplay after being away from the game for a while.

In the history of Sauer, who do you think are the 4 best players you have ever come across?

It’s difficult to list a top 4, because there are just so many great players that are hard to compare across such a long time span. I think {QS}Khane would certainly be on that list for his domination of FFA duel in the early days of PSL, and because of his training of many other great players. I know w00p|tenshi would be on my list as well, for his top-notch play across all modes of Sauer throughout the years. I’d say sexy1|sp4nk and {QS}clocker as well. I could probably name 20 other players that would fit right in on this list, but these four I personally knew well over an extended period of time.

Anything you want to add?

It’s great to see that after all this time, the Sauer community is still active and that there are still a lot of people that care about the game a lot and are working to keep it fun and exciting. It’s certainly one of the best gaming communities I’ve been involved with, as a whole.

ConMan at QuakeCon: