The following is a guest submitted article by Twin Galaxies community member and MGL Gamemaster Paul "OOO" Hornitzky for use by Twin Galaxies Editorial.
When you hit a brick wall, it can be really hard and difficult. And when you play all 44 games in the 5th World Championship of eSports, don't be surprised if you get the same result. Patrick Stanley from Georgia managed to outscore 87 competitors from around the world to win his 2nd World Championship of eSports last Sunday. No other gamer has achieved this amazing feat in MGL history, so it's history in the making, and an extremely brilliant effort.
When asked about his extraordinary performance, Patrick said: "I'm really happy with the result. I feel like the break between WCE4 and WCE5 was long enough that I was able to start this round fresh, so it doesn't feel like a solid block, but similar to last time, I'm pretty mentally worn out from it."
Putting this feat into perspective, to win both WCE4 and WCE5, means 472 days of intense video gaming competition over 2 years. Playing against competitors from 16 countries, including some of the best arcade gamers of all time, was a very challenging task. Those competitors included John McAllister from Seattle and Donald Hayes from New Hampshire, both world record holders on some of the most famous arcade games of all time. Patrick spoke of this competition "Both Don and John are incredible gamers. I found TG after watching King of Kong in the late 2000s. I've never really gotten into Donkey Kong, but when I started looking at the games I was more interested in, Don's name was the one repeatedly at or near the top of the scoreboards, like on Frogger, Dig Dug, Centipede, Space Invaders, he was basically the guy to beat on a majority of the games I was interested in. Around that time, John was also putting up some monster scores that were insane for the skill and endurance they required. I watched hours and hours of his Asteroids and Joust runs when he was streaming those. Basically, both have been pillars of the TG scene since I've been involved and can always be relied on for some big scores."
We can review the interesting results and statistics of WCE5, however I asked Patrick a deeper question about his mind set, what strategy does it take to be successful? "I think winning a game requires one to focus on games that play to their strengths, and approach those games with the mindset that they can win it, and then put together a plan to make that happen. One of the great things about the MGL, is the number of games played that aren't widely known classics. No one has really unpacked them and pushed the scores to the incredible heights of the blockbusters. This leaves a lot of room for anyone to pick up a game that is new to them and really dive deeply into it for a couple of weeks and put up some impressive scores. I think the trick in winning an MGL or WCE is keeping the game winning mindset in place, but recognizing when it is more beneficial to shift focus from winning a single game to spending time upping scores on the other games currently in play. It can be a delicate balance and sometimes seem counterintuitive. I think in the case of winning the WCE, it's recognizing from the beginning that it is a really long tournament and you have to be careful not to burn yourself out on a single game or set of games if you want to be able to perform well over the entire year."
Patrick finished in 2nd place 3 times and once in 4th place across the four MGL tournaments, which is an outstanding achievement. So I asked him what makes winning an MGL tournament so difficult? "There are so many factors that go into each MGL, and most are beyond a gamer's control. The game draw, the other gamers that show up, and life circumstances that pop up are all out of your hands for the most part. If those things are favorable and you have the time and willingness to put in the effort, then you have a chance, but even then it's going to be stiff competition. There are some MGLs where I've found myself grinding away on games I have no familiarity with just to try and stay in the running for the overall WCE. There are other times where I've gotten sick and it knocks out a week plus of gaming in the middle of a critical part of the tournament. Ultimately you've just got to do the best you can at a given time and let the chips fall where they will."
So how will he celebrate his World Championship win? "The family and I are leaving for a multi-week trip to Mexico at the end of January. It was planned separately from the WCE's completion, but will be a fitting end to the tournament, and a chance to relax and celebrate life. We'll be spending two weeks road tripping across the Yucatan Peninsula visiting a bunch of Mayan sites, swimming in cenotes, and hanging out on some beaches." Now that's a perfect way to celebrate your gaming season, and your life.
Patrick Stanley became the first and only gamer to win two World Championships of eSports (WCE4 and WCE5). Former world champions include Daniel Larsen from Denmark (WCE1), Chris Clemente from New Jersey (WCE2), and Jason Vasiloff from Michigan (WCE3) . For more information on this story and the full breakdown of scores, competitors and games, you can follow this link:
https://www.twingalaxies.com/ooo/wall/10299/patrick-stanley-repeats-as-world-champion-of-esports
As Gamemaster of the MGL, I wanted to invite all gamers from across the planet to play in the upcoming tournaments at Twin Galaxies. There will be plenty of thrilling and unpredictable gaming action in 2022. I also wanted to thank Jace Hall in recognition of his continued support of the video gaming community at Twin Galaxies. Insert coin, enjoy your gaming, and see you all very soon!
Author: Paul OOO Hornitzky
MGL50 - ARCADE FINALS
https://www.twingalaxies.com/ooo
