"I respect what fatal1ty is trying to do soo much, but I don't think it's for me."

Name: Mark "cl0ck" Lupiano
Age: 20
Location: Boston, Massachusetts USA
Current Team: Check-Six
Former Teams: Cloud 9, Meepins

Accomplishments
Quake 3
4th place CAL2 Q3CTF (ONLINE) 

1st place CAL3 Q3CTF (ONLINE) 1st place CTFx2 (ONLINE - Cloud9)
6th placeI-LAN Gaming League Winter Tournament (LAN)
9th place Rebirth 2 (ONLINE) Q3 1v1
1st place CTFx3 (ONLINE - Cloud9)
1st place Quakecon 2003 (LAN - Cloud9)
1st place Run By Gamers Q3 1v1 (ONLINE)
4th place Global Gaming League Invite (LAN) Q3
1st place Biaween 2
Top 10 Cyber X Games
Top 10 Iongamers' "Tribute to Quake" 1v1 tournament
1st Place El Nova TDM
1st Annual Tournament (with track5)
1st Place QLAN 2 Sweden (Cloud 9)
8th Place QLAN 2 Sweden Duel
2nd Place Quakecon 2004 (LAN - Cloud 9)
2nd Place GGL Americup Duel
1st Place GGL Americup 2vs2 (cl0ck + socrates)
5th Place ESWC France Duel

Doom 3
3rd Place Quakecon 2004

Quake 4
2nd Place CyberZone LAN

You have a strong past in the quake series both as a team player and as a dueler. Is 1v1 going to be your primary goal with quake 4? Will you play either team mod on the side?
In Quake 3, I made the mistake of starting off playing the team games, CTF, TDM. If I could have seen how my interest would grow in dueling, I wouldn't have done it that way. I believe one of the primary reasons I was never considered one of the best 1v1 players is because of my lack of experience. I chose not to play 1v1, but rather CTF or TDM. This resulted in me being so far behind the curve when I started playing 1v1 seriously, it was impossible to play at the level of say, ZeRo4 or czm (in america). With Q4 I will be primarily focusing on 1v1, but I am currently involved with The Peacemakers, and old Q3 CTF rival, playing Q4 CTF for fun. But I don't know how much time I will put in to that given that it is not my main focus. I will primarily be focusing on dueling.

That being said, you were known as one of the top flag runners in all of Quake 3 victories at Quakecon2k3 and QLAN2 in Sweden. With your experience in CTF, do you consider this a viable spectator sport? We've heard Angel Munoz of the CPL talk about how easy it is to follow 1v1 matches for the general public, but don't you think the same could be said for CTF as opposed to TDM or even Counter-Strike?
I believe that while 1v1 is a very basic and easy concept for people with no gaming experience to understand, I have always said that there could be nothing more basic in gaming than Capture the Flag. Everyone knows how the game is played, whether you're running in your school gym as a kid playing against the blue team, or running away from paint balls being launched at you. CTF is hands down the MOST spectator friendly mod out there. It is just a shame that larger organizations like the GGL or the CPL haven't even attempted at a CTF tournament of any sort. I believe if they did, the results would be phenomenal.

You've recently started to gather more and more interest as one of America's top hopes at the upcoming Winter CPL event next week. How do you feel about your chances?
I feel that my chances are very, very good (for once) :). Like I suspected, if I started playing 1v1 from the start of Q4, I would be able to climb to the top of the American talent pool. I feel that as of right now my chances are very good at being the highest placing American. Other players like socrates, dkt and cha0ticz also are playing very solid so it will definately be somewhat of a challenge, but I think right now I am on pace for achieving it.

You speak of the American talent pool. How much does that mean in the professional gaming world? Only 2 of the top 10 at this last year's World Tour Finals were Americans. The Europeans have also already had numerous large scale Quake 4 LAN Events. Is being the Top American enough?
Time will only tell. Unfortunately it is very hard to experience the other styles of play before CPL. Given that winter will be the first big international tournament, and that Eurocup is so fresh and im sure the top players are carefully monitoring which of their demos get out.. it is hard to get a gauge for where they are, compared to us. If history is any insight then they are probably a little further ahead of us given the density of the talent pool in Europe and the activity. Europe has always had about 2-3 times as many skilled players as America.

Speaking of the Eurocup. They are using the mod X-Battle for their competitive play. CPL has chosen Q4Max as their mod of choice. Do you consider this an advantage for the Americans?
No, not really. It is irrelevant which country uses what prior to CPL. The CPL and the Q4MAX team are working very hard to get out CPL version of Q4MAX before the event. Right now we have betas but not the hard copy. The CPL version will have significant spawn changes as well as a few physics changes. Everyone will be on the same page come the event.

Do you think it is unfair for the players for their competition mod to be receiving a huge face lift just days before the event?
Not really. Everyone will be, as I said, on the exact same page. It's not like this is the first stop of the 06' WT or anything, just testing the waters to get it right. I think a lot of players realize that. The confusing thing is why organizations like Eurocup haven't conformed to GGL/CPL's standard of Q4MAX (especially since GGL and Clanbase are now official partners).

You recently defeated one of the top PK players from last year's World Tour, Andy "Gellehsak" Ryder in the first week of the second GGL Americup. Do feel that online play is suitable for large cash tournaments?
I don't see why not. If the talent pool is there willing to compete for it, why not. The online netcode isn't too bad. It's when you start comparing it to the LAN netcode that it gets bad. But large cash tournaments give the oppertunity for younger players that may not be able to make it, or allowed, to big LAN tournaments (like the CPL). This is a great way for them to get a slice of the pie too, and build the community.

Speaking of younger players, Chance became one of your strongest rivals in Quake 3. Do think he can become a top competitor without being allowed to participate in the CPL events?
Ya chance is always a threat. He kinda reminds me of the cha0ticz/daler rivalry back in Q3. The two players were good friends but their games were always so close and nerve racking for both players. While before ESWC me and chance had our differences, meeting each other and practicing with each other a lot at the event gave us time to reflect and move on from our troubles. I consider him a pretty good friend. When we play each other our games are always pretty close, he is very smart and has very good rockets, and considering I tend to favor the lg more, that puts us in close range for him to really rip me up sometimes. I think if he can find means to make it to tour stops, he will be a great contender.