Full Name: Isaac Cummings-Bentley
Age: 20
Hometown: Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Student/Occupation: Pro Gamer
Game Nickname: Azael
Team: Evil Geniuses
Favored Class: Warlock
Favored Team Composition: Rogue Warlock Shaman
Battlegroup: Bloodlust
Arena Rating Team/Personal: 2510 on tournament realm on one team, 2505 on our secondary team.

Past Gaming Accomplishments:
-1st MLG San Diego
-2nd Blizzard Tournament Realm Season 1
-3rd ESL Leipzig
-3rd MLG Orlando
-3rd ESL Philidelphia
-4th Blizzard North American Regionals
-Double Qualification Blizzard Tournament Realm Season 2

Azael

How did you get into playing World of Warcraft initially, what led to playing professionally and what keeps you playing the game?

Just picked it up for fun as a hobby, but I�ve always been a competitive person, in sports, games, w/e, so as the game went on I became more serious about it, and eventually ended up playing w/ some of the games best players, and qualifying on blizzard�s first tournament realm. I keep playing the game for the friends I�ve met, and the enjoyment I get from competition, and travel w/ the tournaments.

Gaming History: the console or pc games that you've played the most or had an impact? Have you played any other games competitively?

I�ve played a ton of different games over the years, the game that I was the most into has to be Starcraft, and I played that pretty competitively, although I never attended any tournaments I was top 5 on the US East Ladder quite a while ago before it was ruined by map hacks, etc.

Outside of competitive eSports, what occupies your time. Are you a student? (major?) Any sports or hobbies?

Reading, hanging out with friends, working out, and working part time. As far as sports I haven�t really played anything organized since high school.

To what extent do your friends and family know about this aspect of your life? How have they reacted? Will they be following the competition from home?

Some of my friends know about it, most don�t, but my family pretty much all know about it now, and everyone has been supportive and encouraging, and they do their best to follow the events online.

How did you come to be a part of your team? What are the factors that make this team the best choice for you?

I was in a guild with Conrad (Zyz) years and years ago, and kept in contact with him after I rerolled to alliance and was playing my warlock, when the first tournament realm came around, I was looking for a solid third to play with and he happened to PM me on gameriot saying he was looking for a serious team, which obviously ended up working out very well. Tim on the other hand I have been playing with since season 2 5v5, where our infamous BOP NOW 5s team was the world first to hit 2700, with serennia, brazetina, kurlanz, myself and kollektiv, the glory days of wow arena. After winning MLG San Diego we were sponsored by EG with zyz and spoh, and shortly after we picked up kollektiv as our 4th, and when things didn�t work out with spoh, we moved on to playing fulltime with kollektiv. This team is the best choice for me simply because we have the best sponsor, we�re all good friends, and we all want the same things from the game. It has worked out amazingly well.

What is your usual role on the team? As of this moment, what class is your favorite to play in competition?

I play warlock, and in the past because I was the multi-class player, I was generally the one deciding what we�d play, although we all work together to decide strategies and choose our specs / comps.

How has the Wrath of the Lich King expansion and subsequent 3.1 patch changed competitive play from last year if any, in your opinion?

As with every patch, the game changes really shuffle things up, I think that this year the games are ridiculously fast paced compared to last year as damage is still somewhat out of control. 3.1 balanced things out a little, but recent patches have gone too far in my opinion, buffing some classes too much, and nerfing others too hard as well.

If the classes were to remain largely the same come time for MLG Columbus, what comps would you expect to see in heavy rotation. What comps are you anticipating to be the most challenging to take down?

Rogue Mage Priest will be extremely popular as it always is simply because it is a setup that has always worked, and always will work for tournament play. It�s very strong, and definitely a huge challenge for anyone to take down when played correctly.

What teams would you expect to pose the biggest threat to your own? Why?

It�s hard to know, any of the teams can be a big threat as our setup really doesn�t counter anything, so it can beat anything, but it can also lose to anything, meaning you always have to be on top of your game to do well with it.

For someone just starting out in WoW Arena PvP, what is the most effective piece of advice you could offer? What are the keys to success in WoW Arena?

Practice, practice, practice. There�s no better piece of advice I can give you, just try out tons of different things, find what works for you, and don�t let others tell you how to play, everyone has their own style, and you need to develop one that works for you to be successful.

GotFrag eSports

World of Warcraft: MLG Behind the Gamer - Azael

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