Fatal1ty

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Johnathan Wendel (Fatal1ty)
Johnathan Wendel at the Computex 2007
Fatal1ty
Status Active
Date of birth February 26, 1981
Hometown Independence, Missouri
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
Current team Independent
League(s) Cyberathlete Professional League
World Series of Video Games(defunct)
World Cyber Games
Championship Gaming Series (defunct)
Years in playing 1999-2009 [1]
Games Quake
Quake 2
Quake 3
Aliens versus Predator 2
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Call of Duty 2
Counter-Strike Source
Unreal Tournament 2003
Doom 3
Painkiller
Quake 4
Counter-Strike
Official Website

Johnathan Wendel (born February 26, 1981 in Independence, Missouri), also known by the pseudonym Fatal1ty, is a professional electronic sports player.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Wendel has won approximately US$500,000 in cash and prizes from professional competitions, mainly in the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL). In addition to receiving numerous product partnerships with his company Fatal1ty Brand (Fatal1ty, Inc.), he has been featured in mainstream newsprint publications such as Time, The New York Times, Forbes, and the BBC World Service. He has also been featured on 60 Minutes. He has a training regimen [2] where he practices at least two hours each day, sometimes more.

Wendel has been a successful competitor in several first-person shooter games. He debuted as a professional gamer in October 1999 by placing 3rd in the Quake III Arena tournament at the CPL's FRAG 3 event. He has competed in tournaments with Counter-Strike, Call of Duty and Quake III Arena which he won with his team clan Kapitol at the first-ever CPL Teamplay World Championships (FRAG 4).[citation needed] Most of his successes have been with one-versus-one deathmatch games including Quake III Arena, Unreal Tournament 2003, and Painkiller. During his career, he has won a total of five world championship titles, including four with the Cyberathlete Professional League[3] and one with the World Cyber Games[4]

On March 13, 2003 MTV featured Wendel on the True Life series. It was filmed in Kansas City, Kansas; San Antonio, Texas; and Dallas, Texas. The episode documented his life and how he prepared for the Cyberathlete Professional League's Winter 2002 Unreal Tournament 2003. Among those featured alongside Wendel in the professional gaming industry were his friends Phil "shogun", and Brian "astro", who were also very well known in the professional gaming circuit.[5]

Wendel has started a business, Fatal1ty, Inc., selling his brand of gaming mouse pads, "FATpads". He later expanded this into other gaming equipment through a business partnership with Universal abit, Creative Labs and XFX to create motherboards, coolers, sound cards, video cards, computer mice, computer cases, headphones, power supplies, and even clothes bearing his moniker.

Wendel is the spokesman of the now defunct Championship Gaming Series and has temporarily put aside actively competing.[6]

Wendel was awarded the first Lifetime Achievement Award in the four-year history of the eSports Award. According to the Esports Award Organization, he “claims the honor for showing exceptional sportsmanship, taking part in shaping eSports into what it is today and for being the prime representative of this young sport”.

Additionally, Wendel attended the 2008 E for All[7] which prompted the organizers of Penny Arcade Expo to publish a parody of the press release stating he will not be welcomed at PAX 2008.”[8]

He's also among the latest Red (Sponsored) pro signings at the online poker site Full Tilt Poker[9].

[edit] Notable accomplishments

All winnings listed are in USD.

[edit] Aliens versus Predator 2

  • 1st CPL World Championship ($40,000, Ford Focus)

[edit] Doom 3

[edit] Painkiller

[edit] QuakeWorld

  • 6th CPL 4-Year Anniversary Event 2001 ($1,000)

[edit] Quake III Arena

  • 3rd Frag 3 1999 ($4,000)
  • 1st XSR Invitational 2000
  • 1st RazerCPL Tournament April, 2000 ($40,000)
  • 1st BattleTop Universal Challenge July 22, 2000 ($15,000)
  • 1st World Cyber Games Challenge October, 2000 ($25,000)
  • 1st CPL Australia ($10,500)
  • 3rd CPL Holland
  • 2nd QuakeCon 2001 ($10,000)
  • 2nd CPL Brazil

[edit] Quake 4

[edit] World Championships

  • CPL: 4 (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004)
  • WCG: 1 (2000)

[edit] Tumbots Global Gaming League Rankings

[edit] Promotions

  • Has consistently promoted Abit products. Abit announced in December 2008 that they're shutting down operations due to their poor product results. Wendel's product line will be discontinued as a result.
  • Has recently become a Full Tilt Poker Pro using his tag. He currently lives in Las Vegas, NV[citation needed].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Fatal1ty biography
  2. ^ Fatal1ty On Pro Video Gaming, Forbes.com, December 14, 2006
  3. ^ The CPL Announces Past 1v1 Champions, Cyberathlete Professional League, September 15, 2006
  4. ^ World Cyber Games Challenge Pro Player Index, The Challenge Network, October 6-12, 2000
  5. ^ "I'm a Gamer", True Life, MTV productions, original broadcast date 3/13/2003.
  6. ^ Championship Gaming Series: Johnathan 'Fatal1ty' Wendel, Gaming Target, June 18, 2007
  7. ^ E for All sees Fatal1ty Is A Selling Point
  8. ^ For Immediate Release
  9. ^ Fatal1ty - New FTP Pro,Two Plus Two Publishing Forum, Jan 27th, 2009
  10. ^ Fatal1ty Wins CPL Summer 2005

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal1ty"
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