Taking a quick peek through the tournament signup list, we can already see that each of the Quakes will be bringing it's own set of stars. Though there will definitely be no shortage of big names, the big question is "Who will do the best among all four games?". A good majority of the names seem to be known for their Quake 3 and 4, but there is a elite group that have had competitive experience in three of the four games, and look very dangerous coming into the event.

Johan "toxjq" Quick
Coming off a big win at WSVG Dallas, theres no doubt in anyones mind that Quick will be a force to be reckoned with for Quake 4, but what is in question is in the other 3 games. The last time we saw him play 1v1 Quake 3 though was at ESWC 2005, where he finished quite well among some of the strongest player ever to play the game. Though he's admitted to little dueling experience in Quakeworld, he said that he played TDM in the game for almost four years. With virtually no experience with Quake 2, I'm sure most of his practice time will be spent going over the Quake 2 maps for the tourney. Will his natural talent for dueling combined with several weeks of practicing other games be able to help him in win his second straight Quakecon title?

Mikael "PURRI" Tarvainen
Tarvainen is one of the only professional players in the field that really has a solid competitive background in three of the four games. In 2005, PURRI won the Quake 2 Retro Tourney over doze by a sizable margin, taking home $10,000. His Quake 3 and 4 skill is also very noteworthy. Just two weeks ago, Tarvainen finished fourth in the ESWC 2007 Finals, beating Dutch and French Quakers forever and falcuma in Group Play. He is an all-around solid player, and will most likely pick Quake 2 for every one of his matches, in effect giving him a 1-0 start every time. If PURRI can get some solid practice time with Quakeworld, he probably has the best chance of winning QuakeCon this year of any player in the field.

Magnus "fojji" Olsson
Olsson is another one of Sweden's top duelers. If memory servers my right, the last time we saw fojji play 1v1 Quake 3 competitively was at the 2005 ESWC where he lost to czm in the Semi-finals. Though he has proven to be very skilled at Quake 4, it's questionable how he will do in the Quakeworld and Quake 2 events, which seems to be the question for many players attending. Don't count fojji out just yet though. Olsson looks to be well-prepared for this tournament after a slightly sub-par performance at WSVG Dallas.

Tim "DaHanG" Fogarty
After finishing the best of any of the Americans at WSVG Dallas with an impressive 3rd place, and being one of the clear favorites to win the Quake 2 event, DaHanG must catch up on 8 years of Quake 3 training in about a week and a half to be able to stay in contention if he wants any kind of chance to win QuakeCon. I'm sure he will be practicing hard during this next week's bootcamp in Texas working on his Quakeworld and Quake 3 skills. Keep an eye on Fogarty as he is expected to do very well this event.

Rafik "Lost-Cauze" Bryant
Though Bryant is playing more skillfully and it seems like he has been able to control his nerves in big situations now, a problem that plagued him before this summer, he can't seem to regain that position as number one Quake 4 player in North America. Bryant has been playing at a pro level in Quake 4 for quite some time now, but he is also a very talented Quakeworld and Quake 3 player. At the 2006 Winter CPL, he placed in the 13-16th group against an extremely tough field. His experience in Quakeworld won't hurt his odds either. With some help from other players at the bootcamp, Rafik is another American that could end up finishing in the top 8.