As I mentioned in previous article FatherRavel aka Nastynate was one of the players who started in GameSpy Arcade like me, only couple years before. Right from the start I thought he is very good, however a nub (=nubenator) can't tell a difference between a good player, a very good player and an extra pr0.
When I started some considered Ravel to be one of the best builders around. 1vs2 games were more common back then since the lack of players and Ravel did his fair share of pwning nubenators if there was extra time for it. As many still are, Ravel too was a very classic P4 builder (surely built on other maps too, but didn't play standards etc) and he inspired many new school players to build. Players such as cburr, enginuity, tabo, MisterWhite, ehy (was builder, before learned to tank) and cotambear among others looked up to him and tried to build like him. Meanwhile I was learning to tank with Milo234...
FatherRavel's avatar in GSA ---->
FatherRavel had already built himself reputation of being a strong builder, but he didn't tank , play many maps, or 1v1s. The "old school pros" didn't hold him in very high regard. Can't say that Soleman's rankings are very accurate, but in 2006 he ranked FatherRavel to be #22. Me after one year was starting to get stronger and reached #10 xD. After me gaining more and more strength and other players e.g. Romper and ehy becoming better at tanking, not to mention Milo234 and JJfjr who tank pwned everybody, Ravel could no more ignore the fact that he had to learn to tank to survive.
I don't consider myself to be extra fast learner, I believe in hard practice with some talent but Ravel sure caught on quick. Of course it helped that Ravel didn't have to start from zero, since he had already been around, but having piano player background like my old teacher Milo234 must too have helped Ravel, to be able to change from a good builder to one of the best tankers in the game in one year. I remember Ravel asking me where to click when Q'ing (made me giggle), and then less than a year later we playing him epic 1vs1 Q-master VI game where both ran out of cash and I only won cuz was able to deploy and sell cy :D.
It was in 2007 when GSA died and existing players were in Kali, when Ravel really started to play hardcore. He 1v1 vs anybody in all maps. From all existing pr0 tankers (krez, ehy, dez, mazell, romper, dizzy, fattynoob) I believe he played me the most, we mostly played Qm VI, Qm Max, P4, Hjk6, Ribbon and Path. I had little upper hand since i had been in tanking business longer but from all existing players, excluding fattynoob, he won the most games vs me. I remember epic 40min 1v1 game on p4, which started from us both heavy tanking then turned into cying, fast spaced game (not 200x v2 park war game) which looked could go either way until Ravel suddenly pulled out mammoths and pwned.
Of course pr0 games with ehy, krez, dez etc played a role in our careers but after Milo234 retired in 2007 and I started to get extra good I believe it was my and Ravel's 1vs1s that mostly made us what we are. Since in the end we were both pretty much in our prime and playing hardcore. My games with Milo234 were equally good practice, but I wasn't yet then good enough so games weren't so hardcore. I played hundred of games with all the best tankers at that time and among FattyNoob (at his peak), Ravel was the toughest, and he was also better on 2vs2 than Fatty. I can't say if we became better than JJfrj, but with Milo234 I played so much I think me, nate, fatty, ehy, and maybe someone else became better than him, at least on customs.
I went to military service in 2008 and was only able to play on weekends, it was this time Ravel also took a break. Next couple years we still played pr0 1v1s games. I was even about to move to Chile for internship, but instead I moved to Spain, since in Chile study would of been in Spanish when in Spain was in English. I quit and many of the other pr0s quit too and Ravel became less active.
Ravel played in servers after Kali and before cnc5 still showing the example for the new school, later he changed his name to NastyNate. He once said he not worth of FatherRavel name cuz not playing hardcore (pfft). Nowadays he plays more chill, he still pwns but he doesn't 1vs1 and he uses funny strategies which he many invented, but even now, a decade later his name still echoes every time you hear conversation about the "top pr0s".
Below of the page is a document, which Ravel wrote as counter for cheat accusations, after he started to get better and better.
fatherscheats.doc | |
File Size: | 40 kb |
File Type: | doc |