The Man
For the past decade plus, I’ve been known as “Great Stalin’s Mustache!”, which I often abbreviate to gr8stalin or gr8stalin’s mustache. As the years pass I’ve noticed that more and more people tend to overreact to it.
Really early on I used to just go by my real name, “Jon”, which was ubiquitous; I was essentially John Doe on the late 90s internet. In the early 2000s, that changed to be a headcanon Clone Trooper self-insert I made up during the Star Wars prequel era.
I had a stint during Battlefield 2142 where I had an alt account called “Russian_Reaper” or something along those lines when I wanted to test different weapons or loadouts. This was as close as I came to an edgy phase; I think I riffed this from a scene in Bad Boys 2.
When I got into World in Conflict, whenever the clan I was a part of would take over a server, I noticed more often than not I’d end up on the USSR (50% chance is crazy). The movie “Anchorman” was popular with my age cohort at the time, and I thought the blooper reel where Will Ferrel was coming up with grandiose exclamations was peak humor.
1 + 1 = Great Stalin’s Mustache!
The Games
As I enter my “old man” phase of gaming, I’ve played the 1v1 triumvirate: arena shooters, real time strategy, and fighting games. I’ve been playing fps and rts games alongside the usual rpg staples since my childhood, but fighting games are pretty new (late 2019).
I like JRPGs, roguelikes (i.e., Tales of Maj’eyal), and action-adventure games (i.e., Yakuza, Dragon’s Dogma). I’m horrifically bad at platformers and shmups but I really enjoy them.
The Legend
My 6v6 Team Fortress 2 competitive history started in TWL where I was a benchwarmer with The Mathackers, mostly playing entirely separate pick-up games as learning and training. I did some benchwarming in CEVO and fooling around in UGC, but ESEA was the big leagues and where I actually did things.
- ESEA-O Seasons 7, 8 and 9: Pixel Smashers as Demoman
First foray into competitive (aka 6s) TF2 away from the pick-up game group I learned to play with. Learned a lot, made mistakes.
- ESEA-O Season 14: graveyard of im dreams/NEVER STOP GREETING as Backup (aka benchwarmer) Medic
After taking a hiatus, came back. Roster-rode with people I knew in IM, and I think I actually played a game or two for them.
- ESEA-O Season 15: The Viable Alternative as Demoman
First team after hiatus. Not meant to be.
- ESEA-O Season 18: Sock Condoms/ESEA Can’t Melt Steel Teams as Demoman
Second team after hiatus. Had a bunch of fun with them.
- ESEA-O Season 19: ESEA Can’t Melt Steel Teams as Demoman
We made playoffs! We didn’t win playoffs, unfortunately, and more veteran players considered the teams for that season’s playoffs weaker than normal, but it was a huge confidence boost for myself and the rest of the team.
- ESEA-IM Season 20: ESEA Can’t Melt Steel Teams/MAD LUGUBRIOUS as Demoman
Last season before retirement. We probably should have played in Open one more time, but we were all keen to take a shot at what life would be like in IM. It sucked for us pretty hard, but we got the experience. Unfortunately, we all decided that we’d be calling it quits with TF2 in general outside of pubbing, since our college lives were coming to a close and we’d have to start working.
That guy in the Shazbowl
During my hiatus, I represented the rag-tag group of /v/irgins (/v/ users from 4chan) in the “Shazbowl” for Tribes: Ascend as Demoman/Engineer. Had fun.