World's best Quake players compete at QuakeCon

The best Quake players from around the world have descended on QuakeCon this weekend to compete for up to $25,000 in Quake Live.

32 players are competing in the Quake Live 1v1 Masters tournament, including three-time QuakeCon Champion John “ZeRo4” Hill, two-time Champion Shane “Rapha” Hendrixson, along with players Sergey "Evil" Orekhov and Evil Geniuses’ Tim “DaHanG” Fogarty.

With the defending 3-time champion Alexey “Cypher” Yanushevsky not in attendance this year, Russia’s Orekhov is the tournament favorite coming off his international victory at last year’s DreamHack Winter event, making his first-ever appearance at QuakeCon. Hendrixson believes this is his chance to tie Yanushevsky and Hill with three titles.

“I think I can win another quakecon title,” Hendrixson told GameSpot before the event started. “If I'm playing my game I feel confident that I can do it again. Even though Orekhov is the favorite he's not the only one to watch out for. It's always difficult to play against someone like him who aims so solidly and also plays smart. I'm not going to worry about how he's playing or anyone else. Like always I'm just going to look at the strengths and weaknesses of who I have to play and from there just worry about myself and try to make sure I'm giving myself the best chance to win no matter who I have to play.“

Although QuakeCon has been held every year since 1996, in recent years it has been plagued by late announcements from id Software which have hurt the attendance list of top-tier players. What used to be the event that brought the best of the best from all countries in the world has had as reduced amount of interest in recent times.

“I've been there quite a few years in a row now and it's always a special event, but I am really sad to see their prize announcement so late,” Hendrixsoin said. “It really prohibits Europeans from being able to see if they even have a chance at all of judging whether it's worth it or not for them to come over and give it a shot to try and win. This hurts the overall competition and prestige of the event in concerns to the tournaments.”

Hendrixson proved his comments on the first day of QuakeCon 2013 competition, defeating Orekhov and Fogarty in succession to earn a spot in the Grand Finals on Saturday.

“The only thing I can really control is myself and how I'm playing. I try not to think too much about how good someone else is at the time. I just respect what they bring to the table and try my best to overcome it.”

Watch the competition live on Twitch and stay tuned for up to date coverage through GameSpot eSports hub