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But rapha drew inspiration from his father when he first started his career.
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He died in a motorcycle accident when rapha was 17, and his funeral was on rapha's 18th birthday. Rapha's father never saw him play Quake at its highest level. It fit my skill set with the way I thought about the game and approached it." "No other game lit the fire under me and forced me to compete at the highest level.
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I kept improving despite big breaks and played to see how far I was to the top, and it provided the drive to keep playing winning is addicting," rapha said. "I kept thinking that if I could ever get my chance to play, I would love to. Rapha felt confident he could stand with the giants one day. Rapha gravitated to the competitive drive and emotions of the players - he saw Quake as the only valve to unleash the same outpouring of passion that was displayed on the videos his father showed him. He showed teenage rapha demos of professional players like John "ZeRo4" Hill play during QuakeCon in 2000, and it was a love affair ever since. Rapha's father was the one who started the journey. "But, she saw I was doing well for myself and supported me anyway she could." "My mom told me after high school that if I could not make this work after a year that I needed to attend college, and it was the right mindset to have," rapha said. After he graduated high school, he was given a year to test the waters of high-level tournament play, and he shot up from there - a fourth-place finish at QuakeCon's 1v1 Championships and first place at QuakeCon's Capture the Flag Championship proved he belonged on the biggest stage. Despite his introduction to the franchise in 2000, he was limited to two or three play sessions a year due to his mother's priorities on studies and internet connectivity issues.
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Rapha started his competitive career in Quake in 2007 and became a professional player during Quake Live in 2008, reaching the top of the Quake Live money ladder with over $125,000 in earnings over his career. He is not the first result to a search for "rapha" on Twitter, but for Quake to break its near seven-year hiatus from the mainstream light and start its path to relevancy, it needs every bit of positive backing it can get. Rapha is neither flamboyant nor boisterous. Yet, despite this paradox, rapha symbolizes Quake's best hope for a hero. The classic game's best player is the antithesis of what Quake is known for: Rapha is patient and methodical and calm in a game where speed and lighting-quick reactions are king. But Shane "rapha" Hendrixson doesn't care about all that - he's simply happy to be playing Quake again. He is the king without a kingdom and the best player in a franchise without a wide audience. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĮlder Quake statesman 'rapha' hopes for a career resurgence
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