"I have a lot to work on. I didn't really give my best performance last year, so I’m hoping to turn it around now."

Coming across as one of the stand-out names within the Halo community, Nick "BesT MaN" Johnson appears to be an outstanding figure from console's side of eSports. The gaming veteran has had a magnificent career so far, fulfilled with plenty of delightful memories gained throughout almost half a decade of experience. However, Nick is not only limited on performance frames, as he appears to be one of the Major League Gaming's delegates. The American legend was amiable enough to have a chat, (which, for the record, turned out to be more of a large conversation), where he shared his views on his beloved discipline, as well as a giveaway of a more in-dept description of himself. Warning! You might want to prepare a cup of tea along with some toasts, as this (hopefully) pleasant read will require a certain portion of your time.

Well; hello there! It's a pleasure to finally get in touch with you. How are you doing on this fine day?

I am doing great on this fine Monday. Sorry to not make this happen sooner!

Don't worry, haha. You've been amongst the best Halo gamers for several years now. We've seen you representing world's most notable gaming teams, and widely renown sponsors. How did you get to this point?

Well, the road has been somewhat long to get to this point. I started back in 2005 playing Halo casually. I didn't even have an Xbox until I got one with Halo. Xbox Live is a hell of a place; I just kept meeting more and more people. Luckily, I met people I went to High School with through Halo and they were pretty known in the beginning. They were CrossHair, Redd Dot, Tmackn, Stince, and they knew "Xena" (she was the female halo player in the world). I would say that was my lucky break, because from there I went on to meet all the Maryland kids, which consisted of Thor, Mack, Vash, Burns, Defy - all players who were on top teams while I was on the come up. I just kept playing, getting on different teams and placing well each event. I guess it was a mixture of knowing the right people to get on good teams and working hard each event; getting top 24 - 20 - 16 - 12, and then eventually my first top eight from 2006-2008. My breakthrough was probably in 2009 when I got on the team "Classic". I placed my highest at 4th and I think that's when I really got considered as a "top" player. I was considered underrated throughout the pros and eventually, that Classic team went on to get 2nd and National Championships, which rallied in my first big check at $15,000. 2011 brought me my first major sponsor. I had joined Triggers Down and they had The Hot Pockets sponsorship. It was a big deal at the time because it was a MLG sponsor. I went on placing top 3 the rest of the year with a 4th at the Championships.

Do you believe your "luck" would've been the same if it wasn't your entourage? Would you ever have set your sights to this level without them?

I have thought about that and I would have to say probably not. In halo it seems you have to catch some lucky break. It was always the same top players back then, never really shuffled in and out like it does now. I don't believe I would have had the same drive to reach the level that I'm at now if I didn't meet those people who introduced to me to MLG. I went to Philly 2005 with TMackn, Bazooka, Hitman - all of them went to my HS. Ever since I went to that one event. I wanted to become better and be at the top. Without them I would have never had the luck nor the experience of going to an event back then.

So your interest in gaming is basically a result of your friend's support?

I guess you can say that. That and Halo 2 was probably the most fun I have ever had in my life.

Why Halo, though, and not any other popular title at the time?

At the time, I didn't really know any other competitive gaming. I got sucked right into Halo 2. I'm not too sure what was popular in 2005, but Halo had tournaments and that was mind blowing enough to think of. So that's what intrigued me.

How did your family support the idea of you competing in a video-game at first, and what's their regard now?

They were cool with it back then, I started when I was 16 so I was still in High School. I didn't really have to get a job. Then, as I got older, they started to try and tell me to stop playing until I brought home more and more cash. They are still supportive of it now but as I’m getting older I’m looking at other ventures now.

Ventures such as?

Just a job opportunity that would require me to move to California. I would still do gaming, of course, but just looking at long term here.

Are you intrigued by any other activities besides gaming-related ones?

Of course! I love watching sports. It is a serious hobby of mine. I have always thought about being a writer of some sort for basketball. I guess that was dreams of mine when I was younger.

From my point of view, Halo is considered to be one of the dominant eSports titles in the world of consoles. Do you have anything to say about this statement?

In the past years - yes. In 2011 - no. We saw a lot rapid decline in overall attendance at events and viewership online. Bungie took a big risk trying to appeal to a wider audience and it kind of hurt the competitive scene with Bloom and Sprint implemented in the gameplay. It led to more randomness and kind of a turn off.

Why do you believe that Bungie's actions caused a fade in Halo's impact on the gaming competitive scene?

It was their last title with Halo so they took a big risk and went for the gold. They left it in shambles and now 343 has to come back strong with Halo 4.

Thoughts on Halo 4's development so far? Is it going to change the scene's dramatic state in your opinion?

We haven't really seen anything with Halo 4 but I have hope. I think it will change the scene again. Halo never really had a down year like it did in 2011, so I hope it rebounds with Halo 4; if not this next year with Reach, so we can gain momentum going into Halo 4.

Where does that faith come from?

I believe 343 realizes that reach didn't turn out the best in the long run and the numbers are down on how many people play it now compared to the past titles. I think they will go back to a more original style of gameplay.

How would you grade yourself as a player?

I would say I’m a B right now. I have a lot to work on. I didn't really give my best performance last year, so I’m hoping to turn it around now.

Any particular ways in mind on doing so?

Just dedicating myself and putting in the time. I really slacked off last year, mainly because I didn't enjoy playing as much as I have in the past. I didn't like Reach and how it was. But with the settings being No Sprint/No Bloom this year I feel a thousand times more comfortable.

You sure have lived a lot of inspiring moments during your career. Not only you're living the dream of many - becoming a professional gamer - but you're also making part of an extremely jealousy-evoking collective. What's the best thing about all of this thus far?

I would say the best thing of this is meeting some of my good friends through this whole experience. One of my best friends is Defy and I've known him since 2006 because of Halo. So, it's been great; not only in gaming, but in life as well.

You've also participated in numerous amounts of major events. Which one brings you the best memories, and what do those memories represent to you? In other words, how do you interpret them?

Most memorable events would have to be Dallas 2008, or Orlando 2009 Championships. Dallas was significant because I was teaming with Defy, Gandhi, and Legend. We lost our very first match of the tournament and at the time it was a "Play In" tournament, meaning; only one team could get the 8th spot for the next event in Vegas Championships. So, we lost our first match and had to play through the losers all in one day. I think we won a total of of like 21 straight games and went 26-2 overall, got the eight spot and went on with the other teams in Vegas. Orlando was pretty crazy for me because, at the time, I had a really bad back, which resulted in me having to get surgery. But, at the event we ended up placing second, which was a blessing for me because of what I was going through.

That's incredibly inspiring! How do you feel after such a long run?

Good question. I'm not sure how I feel. It's been a very long run indeed. I guess I'm better than I was last year, because I enjoy the game a lot more now. I can only hope for the best this year

The fact that the gameplay has been slightly modified cannot be the only reason of your sudden change of mind. Is there any other reason as to why you enjoy it a lot more now?

As I said, the settings are a breath of fresh air from what we were playing last year. However, I had my slew of bad team changes last year as well, so it's a brand new start.

Besides making supposedly a few wrong moves concerning your decision-making previously mentioned, such as you agreeing to join those "bad" teams, is there any other regrets that you would like to share?

Well, this is regarding teams, but I turned down Instinct before last season started. As you may know or everyone else Roy and Lunchbox went on to win 3/6 including a national championship. So, that one haunts me a bit.

MLG is the main competition for every console gamer out there. If my memory serves me right, the tournament was only console-based, something that seemed to break a previously followed tradition with the recent addition of a PC title : Starcraft II. This caused indeed a fair few upsets. It turned out to be a great success for the organizers, though. However, it might have crushed the console games apart in terms of viewers count and media attention. How do you feel about this situation?

Obviously. There is no doubting what so ever that this was the best business move that MLG could have made. With PC being superior in terms of competitive gaming and skill I have no right to be upset with the choices they made. However, Halo and the players themselves made MLG and what it was before they picked it up. I believe MLG picked up SC2 at the perfect time. They tested it out in 2010 but it was not that big in the US. It only began to grow more and more along with MLG and they took advantage of that. Now, when it comes to Halo, we have nothing else to resort to, so it's ride or die with this competition. With Reach unfortunately hitting a low point last year, it would seem we are in the dying stages and we need some life. Everything compared to SC2 is nothing. Call of Duty, Gears of War, or even anything from console can't compete with this title's viewership. I just hope MLG gives us a chance to be put back on top for console shooter anyways. I think we deserve it after all those years of being the its face.

zauron

Awesome read. Great work, Alex, and thanks a lot for agreeing to do this, Nick!

good read, I didn't know too much about console gaming