Thanks to Andy Arato for many of the images included in this article.

Few pro-gamers have been able to remain competitive at the highest level of the game for the past five years and Heaton is one of the few survivors of the pre-CPL era. Not only a survivor from the by-gone era, but he is its most recognized survivor, a legend who has found success with c9, team9, NiP, SK.Sca, SK.swe and now back to NiP.

Now at 21 years of age he is entering a phase where not only can he (legally) drink at CPL World Championship events, he must either decide to commit his future to eSports or join many former team mates in the worldly rat race. Heaton is certainly not alone in the current generations of pro-gamers advancing into their twenties most of Team3D, SK-Gaming and many other familiar names are facing similar decisions. Yet as denoted by his reputation and fan base it befalls him to dictate the actions of others.

Heaton: The Legend

For the best part of four years HeatoN was the most revered CS gamer in the world. He was the Fatal1ty of Counter-Strike, the player at LAN events everyone wanted to get a photo of. Thousands of wannabes copied his gaming setup and hundreds impersonated him on servers around the world. His legendary status spread deep into the far recesses of gaming. Arguably he is the most successful CS player of all time, sure Potti and other SK/NiP team mates have their share of fame, but only the same sort of fame that Rodman and Pippen experienced in relation to Michael Jordan.

Anyone that began gaming, or more specifically Counter-Strike, in the version 1.0 to 1.5 eras would have developed their skills in this game with HeatoN as a solid reference point. He was the focus player which every budding CPL player aspired to be. HeatoN may not have thought up the smoke/flash gimmick, but his usage of it on nuke against element (then of GameOnline) at CPL 2002 led to its universal adoption.