Jonathan Rodriguez (gamer)

Jonathan Rodriguez (born 6 November 1983), known under the pseudonym kyuubi, is one of the most successful players of the first person shooter computer game Warsow to date. Dubbed The Emperor in an overseas tournament in Japan, he is the top Warsow player in the United States.

History

Rodriguez has been actively pursuing a career in professional gaming for some time, making appearances at several World Cyber Games competitions. His first break came after placing 2nd earning him a silver medal at the World Cyber Games tournament. Once noticed, sponsorship began knocking on the door as he and 3 teammates took up a proposal to form a team called Synergy Sports from the electronic sports broadcasting company EsportsTV. Rodriguez later quit the team, responding to an online news article AbOUT "The Perils of Gaming Sponsorships" stating that he was never given anything that he (and his teammates) were promised for representing Synergy Sports, calling the entire agreement a "rollercoaster of [...]". After parting the team, Rodriguez continued playing Warsow competitively on his own, winning over 40 online tournaments and being invited to participate in the ESW Warsow tournament in Japan. Unable to allocate the funding to travel to Japan, Rodriguez was granted permission to participate in the tournament online, however the hosting server would be located in Japan, giving Rodriguez a huge disadvantage in latency time. Rodriguez agreed to the terms and participated regardless of his high ping. Despite his 300 ping, Rodriguez went undefeated throughout the tournament, defeating the Japanese champion "bluespear", shocking people around the world and was thus given the title of The Emperor. Later that year, Rodriguez participated in the ESW Finals again via the internet (with 300 ping) but was unable to claim victory as he was defeated by the 2nd place player "Fumio" and ended up taking 3rd place.