Many fans and followers of competitive gaming and eSports have all shared the dream of playing the game they love for a living. The road to becoming a professional gamer is one filled with sacrifices, hardships, dedication, and perseverance. Few who enter the professional leagues truly see success.

Some play for years, only to fall short of their ultimate goal. Those who are able to rise to stardom in the competitive gaming world are looked at as some of the legends of their respective games, quickly cementing their legacy for either a short time or a long career over various years and games. One player who saw almost instant fame in the competitive Halo world was Eric Wrona, or as many Halo fans commonly know him, Snipedown.

Snipedown has had a professional Halo career many of us can only dream of. From placing seventh at his first ever event, to being a part of some of the most memorable teams in Halo history including Triggers Down, Believe The Hype, and of course Str8 Rippin. In now his sixth season as a professional Halo player, Snipedown has seen it all – the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Through it all, Snipedown has remained one of the best examples that show how hard work and natural talent can get you a long way in the competitive gaming world. Here is a look back on his incredible ongoing career that still continues to this day.

2008

Snipedown began his career at the opener of the 2008 season in the Meadowlands of New Jersey. A part of team Ambush, Snipedown took home 7th place alongside teammates Eli, Gun Shot, and Silent. Placing top 8 in your first even sounds pretty good right? It was only the beginning of what most consider the best rookie year of any professional Halo player in history. For the second event of 2008 in San Diego, Snipedown joined twins Roy and Lunchbox as well as Mackeo on Team Instinct. Playing fearlessly throughout the entire event, Instinct took home 2nd place, falling to Str8 Rippin in the Winners Finals and Grand Finals.

Snipedown showed to everyone that it did not matter who he was playing against, no matter the team or the players. He was ready for the task at hand. He was performing beyond everyone’s expectations versus some of the best players and teams in the world, and was quickly becoming a household name in the competitive Halo and MLG worlds.

Following San Diego was MLG Orlando, and Snipedown would leave Instinct to join SK, Hysteria, and Fearitself on Triggers Down. This lineup had a lot of hype built around it going into the event, and many agreed that this young team could be the ones to take down Str8 Rippin. Sure enough, Triggers Down came into the event with a full head of steam and looked excellent throughout the entire event.

When it came time for the finals, they would have to face Str8 Rippin in what would quickly become the best match of the weekend. Str8 Rippin won the first best of five 3-2, to bring the finals to a best of 11. The games went back and forth, and finally Triggers Down would win Oddball on Guardian to take the series and the event win, the first career win for everyone on the team, including Snipedown. It took Snipedown only three events to win his first, not bad for a young high school kid from Indiana with nothing but an Xbox and a dream.

After Orlando, the most infamous team change in MLG history took place. Final Boss dropped team captain Walshy to the surprise of many, and picked up Neighbor from Str8 Rippin. Str8, in need of a new main slayer, picked up Snipedown and once again became the team to beat. Str8 Rippin dominated Toronto and Snipedown added another event win to his resume. To finish off the year, Snipedown and Str8 Rippin finished 2nd at Dallas and won the National Championship in Las Vegas.

MLG Dallas 2008: “Snipedown is on fire!”

Snipedown would also take home the honor of the Old Spice Rising Star of the year. In his first year as a professional gamer, Snipedown placed 7th in his first event and went on to not once finish out of the Top 2 for the rest of the year, earning more money in his first year than some who had been playing professionally for years before him.

2009

The 2008-2009 off-season saw even more team changes including Neighbor joining Roy, Lunchbox, and Walshy on Instinct to Ogre 2 being the only remaining member of the original Final Boss. Str8 Rippin would keep the same lineup, and they became the team everyone was looking to dethrone. The off-season for Str8 Rippin was not what many fans had hoped for, as internet problems plagued the team house and led to limited practice going into the season opener at The Meadowlands. The lack of practice showed, as Str8 Rippin would place 4th to the disappointment and surprise of many. This lackluster performance only motivated the team, and they came out swinging at Columbus and dominated the event to take back their throne atop the MLG Halo world.

The next three events of the 2009 season were some of the most famous in MLG history, as the Str8 Rippin vs. Triggers Down rivalry reached new heights and Snipedown was out to prove once again that he was the best player in the world. Str8 Rippin would place 4th once again in Dallas, and fans began to wonder what was wrong with a team that looked so dominant over the past year. Anaheim rolled around in November, and the finals of the event are still talked about to this day as one of if not the best ever.

MLG Anaheim 2009: Str8 Rippin vs. TD – Game 10 & 11 – Part 1

MLG Anaheim 2009: Str8 Rippin vs. TD – Game 10 & 11 – Part 2

Str8 Rippin would fall once again to Triggers Down at Anaheim, but fans were confident going into the National Championships in Orlando, the home turf for the team and an event where the team had so much success already in the past.

It all came down to one event for Snipedown and Str8 Rippin. The team had a season of ups and downs, and the eyes of the MLG world were looking at them as one of the favorites to win the event even through everything that year. The team, once again, did not perform well, and ended up placing in a disappointing 6th place. Snipedown had another successful season personally and proved that he was a force to be reckoned with. The poor placings for the season did not reflect on his individual play, and he cemented himself further as one of the best players out there. The off-season would bring about more unseen team changes, and 2010 would be another interesting year for Snipedown.

2010

Entering the season opener in Orlando, Str8 Rippin came into the event with a new lineup for the first time since acquiring Snipedown in 2008. Elamite Warrior left the team to join Instinct, and Str8 Rippin picked up the 2009 season MVP Heinz to fill their 4th spot. Some believed Elamite was the glue that held the team together and Str8 would crumble without him, while others believed Heinz was like a better version of Elamite and that Str8 would once again rise to the top with their new player.

The question marks were everywhere for this new team, but fans of Str8 Rippin held out hope with the new addition. The new team would see little success for the first 2 events of the year, placing 8th then dropping all the way to 10th at Columbus. After Columbus, Snipedown and Heinz would leave Str8 Rippin and join Demon D and Maniac on Believe The Hype.

While Snipedown continued to play well, the rest of his team, amongst more team changes, could not pick up the slack the rest of the season. Snipedown and BTH finished 2010 placing 6th, 11th, and 5th at the National Championship. He went from being on the top of the world with Str8 Rippin to placing average with BTH in what seemed like no time for everything to occur. Fans began to question if Snipedown had lost his touch, or if the possibility of retirement for the superstar was running through his head.

2011

2011 brought about a lot of changes to the Halo scene. A new game, changes and improvements to MLG events, and as always, wild team changes. Snipedown left Believe The Hype and joined Destin, Tizoxic, and Ghostayame on Dynasty. Snipedown did not see much more success on the new team to open the season, placing 8th once again. After Dallas, Dynasty dropped Ghostayame and picked up Heinz, bringing back the Snipedown and Heinz duo we first saw the year before. The team fared much better at Columbus, placing 3rd and showing fans an amazing series and Game 5 vs. Statuo Quo.

Snipedown continued to play well throughout 2011, placing 6th at Anaheim and 4th at Raleigh with Dynasty. He would change teams again, returning to Believe The Hype to team with Cloud, Maniac and Reliable. The team placed very poorly at Orlando, taking home 12th place but went home with a strong 3rd place finish at the National Championship. The year went better for Snipedown than 2010, but not by too much. He was still one of the best players in the world, but simply could not find the right team to rise back with to the top of the MLG world.

2012

2012 really turned the competitive Halo world upside down with all the changes that occurred. Halo: Reach in 2011 saw abysmal team numbers competing at events, even in the 60s for the National Championship, and decreasing viewership and population for a lack luster game. After an off-season that seemed like an eternity, MLG announced that Halo: Reach would be at the season opener in Columbus with only six weeks notice. New no bloom, no sprint settings plus remade maps from past Halo games and even more team changes would set the stage for Halo’s do or die event.

Snipedown played under the legendary team name Carbon for the event, teaming with Ryanoob, Blaze, and Assault. Streams and scrims before the event showed the team looking very good and fans were excited for this new roster consisting of veteran players and new pros who broke out into the scene in late 2010 and 2011. The event overall was an amazing one for the Halo community, but not the greatest for the team as they would place 7th-8th. Even with the immense success of the event, Halo would not return to an MLG event until later in the year at the Dallas National Championship.

In the down time between events, Snipedown would attend AGL Chicago with Carbon and place 2nd, falling to Status Quo in the grand finals of what was a great first event for the Arena Gaming League. Snipedown would also attend AGL Columbus later in the year, teaming once again with Ryanoob and Blaze plus Ninja to form team Elite 4. With the “God Squad” themselves Instinct also in attendance, fans were looking at these 2 teams to be the forces to be reckoned with.

AGL Columbus quickly became one of the best Halo events to date. It did not have the flair and hype of an MLG event, but that changed quickly as the games grew more and more intense all weekend. The Winners Finals, Losers Finals, and Grand Finals of the event were the best Halo action seen since MLG Columbus, and by the thousands fans opened up the AGL stream to watch what many Halo fans had been searching for so long: good, competitive Halo.

AGL Columbus 2012: Losers Bracket Final – Dynasty vs. Elite 4

AGL Columbus 2012: Grand Final – Elite 4 vs. Instinct – Part 1

AGL Columbus 2012: Grand Final – Elite 4 vs. Instinct – Part 2

Snipedown and Elite 4 would make it to the Grand Finals and go the distance with Instinct, to only lose an extremely close game 11. All the players on both teams played in top form, and Snipedown seemed to be in his 2008 form once again, this time in the era of no bloom and no sprint, but fell short of a tournament win. The next event would be at MLG Dallas, with Halo 4 being played before even being released to the public. A new game meant another chance for Snipedown to separate himself as a top player right off the bat.

Snipedown would join back up with his old friend Heinz for Dallas, and become part of what many considered to be a new “god squad.” Ambush entered Dallas consisting of Snipedown, Heinz, Formal, and APG. The hype was very much built around this lineup, and it was hard to bet against them. However, the 2nd place curse would once again plague Snipedown, as Ambush lost in the Grand Finals to team Warriors amongst other controversy surrounding the event.

2013

2013 would prove to be an interesting year as time went on. MLG did not pick up Halo for the 2013 season, and we had seen AGL and even UMG step up in its place to continue Halo events for the year. The community went through a lot of ups and downs in that time, but continued to be resilient in the effort of keeping Halo alive. The competitive spirit was also kept alive in many pro players and teams, despite the changes and hardships. Snipedown and Ambush were hungry for revenge going into AGL Chicago in January.

They would get their shot facing Warriors in the Winners Bracket Finals. The series was very one sided, with Ambush taking the victory 3-1 and sitting pretty with their spot in the Grand Finals. If defeating Warriors once already wasn’t enough revenge for Ambush, they had their chance to do it all over again in the finals. They would face Warriors again to bring it to a best of 11 series to decide the winner of the event. Ambush kept the momentum, and dominated 3 games in a row to take the series overall 6-1. Snipedown was back on top with Ambush, his first tournament win since MLG Columbus 2009.

Snipedown would remain on Ambush for AGL Nashville, as they were the new team to beat in the Halo world. Most agreed that Ambush would probably win Nashville easily, and they certainly lived up to the hype. Ambush dominated Nashville, and Snipedown would take home back-to-back event wins for the first time since 2008. Despite Halo not being anywhere close to what it used to be, Snipedown has kept his competitive drive going, and he looks like he has no plans on slowing down anytime soon. Snipedown would also go on to compete at the Halo 4 Global Championships in August, after winning his spot through the RTX qualifier tournaments. Although he did not take home 1st place and the $200,000 prize, competing at one of the biggest tournaments in Halo history was just another accolade to add to add to his already incredible resume.

As 2013 continued, the problems facing AGL would add up, and eventually be its ultimate end. AGL would close down as a company in October, just a week before its planned 10k event in Indianapolis. With the massive controversy already facing AGL in the previous weeks, this was the final nail in the coffin for Halo fans. The only league running any kind of tournaments was now gone and no where to be found in the weeks following. As a result, many former Halo players would make the full switch to Call of Duty. With Call of Duty: Ghosts releasing within the next few weeks alongside the upcoming MLG Columbus event, Snipedown and many other Halo players saw this as their time to break into a new game and make a statement.

To show how serious the Halo players were about competing in Call of Duty, a new team would form with a very familiar team name and very familiar faces. In late November, it was announced that Final Boss would be returning to compete in 2014. The original lineup consisted of Pistola, Royal 2, Ogre 2, and Snipedown. A few weeks later, however, Final Boss parted ways with Pistola and picked up Snakebite, who had already seen success in Call of Duty: Ghosts after placing Top 32 with Team Primal just weeks before at MLG Columbus.

2014

UMG Philly at the start of 2014 would be Final Boss’ first Call of Duty event. The team had been doing well in the weeks leading up to the event, and was a team to look out for even with their limited time playing an entirely new game. Snipedown and Final Boss would be knocked out in Losers Bracket Round 7 of UMG Philly – considered a strong start by many as they were an entirely new team with very little past Call of Duty experience. However, following UMG Philly, Final Boss would undergo another team change. With the announcement of the Call of Duty US Championship and Call of Duty World Championship set for March, teams were scrambling to find a team to lineup that could not only compete, but also meet the qualifications.

Due to age restrictions, which have plagued many players in their chances for qualifying and competing at Call of Duty Championships, Final Boss was forced to drop Royal 2 and picked up the Halo 4 Global Champion, Ace. Ace had already shown he was more than up to the task, placing well in Team Primal at MLG Columbus in 2013.

After weeks of practicing, Gamebattles, and online tournaments, Final Boss would qualify for the Call of Duty US Championship as the 16th seed. While many fans were not shocked by this result, it would be a testament to what Snipedown and the rest of Final Boss had done in their previous years. The team was achieving success in a matter of months that took some players years to achieve, with some playing for years and achieving little to nothing at all.

Final Boss would have to face the undisputed best team in the world, Complexity, in the first match of the Call of Duty US Championships. The series would be an easy 3-0 sweep for Complexity, although Snipedown and Final Boss showed signs of life throughout the series. Unfortunately, Final Boss would not be able to rebound from the loss, and would be the first team knocked out, thus not qualifying for Call of Duty Championships. In the weeks to follow, the greatest Halo player of all time, Ogre 2, would announce his retirement from competitive gaming. With this came not only the end of the career of one of the greatest competitive gamers of all time, but also the end of Final Boss in Call of Duty and more than likely competitive gaming as a whole. It was end of era, but the team went out on more than a high note.

Accomplishing in months what took some players years was nothing for Snipedown and the team to be ashamed of. It would not take Snipedown long to find another team, as he would be picked up by Call of Duty team Vanquish. Although the team did not fare well this past weekend at UGC Niagra, the quick rise Snipedown has had since competing in Call of Duty has been a testament to just how good he can be when you put an Xbox controller in his hands.

Conclusion

So, looking back on all of this, where does Snipedown rank all time in terms of “legends” of MLG? The almost instant success and fame Snipedown saw back in 2008 is something that we will probably never see again. He was a young competitive kid who loved video games, just like many people, but he was determined to show just how damn good he was. He showed no fear versus legendary teams like Final Boss and Carbon, quickly proving why you have to try and shut him down – try being the key word.

It’s safe to say Snipedown has seen it all in his six year career, from Halo’s highest points as the flagship MLG game to the downfall of Halo in 2011-2013 and to where we are now, where Halo is sadly almost non-existant. Through everything, Snipedown has remained arguably the most consistent player out there. Everyone notes him for his accuracy with whatever weapon he has in his hands, but he has also proven himself as an extremely intelligent player who improved his decision-making and route taking throughout the years and that experience has shown itself time and time again.

The name Snipedown is now historic in MLG and in Halo. Whatever Snipedown decides to do with his life down the road is his choice, but his name is cemented in Halo history as a true legend, and he is continuing to show everyone that the young teenager who came into the scene in 2008 will continue to strive to be one of the best competitive gamers out there. You may ask what the best part of all this is? Well, we all get to sit back and watch one of the best players in Halo history and in the world only continue to get better each and every day.

While it might not currently be in Halo, fans should be glad knowing that Snipedown has continued to compete in other games and not letting his passion be slowed down by the trials and tribulations Halo has gone through in the past few years. It’s a treat for fans to still be able to watch Snipedown to this day, as it is rare to find natural talent like his in any competitive gamer. Here is to six years of greatness Snipedown, and hopefully many more to come.