Chat with MLG's Calinorth
Welcome to SportsNation! On Friday, Major League Gaming player, Alejandro Gonzalez aka Calinorth, will stop by to chat about his experience in the MLG.
Gonzalez is a member of the professional Gears of War 2 gaming team, Amazyn. "Calinorth" had a dominant performance in the recent MLG Dallas competition, helping his team win their first event Championship ever with his clutch play. Calinorth and his team currently sit as the number two seeded Gears of War team on the MLG Pro Circuit.
Send your questions now and join Calinorth Friday at 4 p.m. ET!
More MLG: ESPNVideoGames.com | Major League Gaming | SportsNation index
Buzzmaster (4:00 PM)
Calinorth is here!
jeremy (DC) [via mobile]
What advice would you give to a gamer who wants to get to the pro level?
Calinorth (4:01 PM)
Jeremy, first off, you have to put in a lot of practice and time into the game you want to become a pro at. It won't happen over night. It took me a year and a half to get to this point I am at now. A lot of dedication and work.
The Hypeman (Orange County, California)
How did you come up with the gamertag Calinorth? Who have been your biggest gaming influences throughout your career so far?
Calinorth (4:03 PM)
My orignal name used to be Alinorth. My uncle who got me into video games used to call me by my nickname. Then, my dad used to call me Oli North. I changed it to Calinorth, because if I added the C, it looks like California. But the thing is I'm from southern Califnoria, so that's where it gets mixed up.
Howard Mangus (East Chicago)
How does it feel to win an MLG event? Do you have the same drive to play now as you did before?
Calinorth (4:04 PM)
Oh man, the feeling of winning an MLG event is the best feeling ever. It's a big weight off my shoulders. To finally get first place is the best. I never had the feeling before, but it's a great feeling. I have the same drive going into the next event. I can be good and we can be really good going into the next event. If we play as hard as we did in Dallas, we can easily take Anaheim.
S-Laughter (Springville, Utah)
I had an amazyn weekend watching and rooting for you guys on VoD. What are your preparation plans for the next event?
Calinorth (4:05 PM)
Our preparation plan, I would say is to try and practice as much as we can. I'm going back to Cali, but I might move here to Indiana, that's a toss up right now. But practice as much as we can. Come up with some new tricks to put in our books. Practice and get some more chemistry.
sean (seattle)
call of duty or halo?
Calinorth (4:05 PM)
Ooooh, that's a tough one. Honestly, I would have to go with Call of Duty. I'm a big COD 2 player, I used to play it all the time. It's more fun, I think.
asakura (Naperville)
How did scrimming with unranked/AM teams help zYn prepare for Dallas? How did it help compared to playing semi-pro and pro teams?
Calinorth (4:07 PM)
The thing about playing against amateur teams is when you scrim against a lot of them, they do a lot of different things. Once we started scrimming against amateur teams, we learned how to do different things and ways they came against use. We tried different maneuvers. When we tried those things against the pro teams, they had a good effect. Practicing against a good team, as long as its a real team, is a good scrimmage.
ian (philly)
what is your favorite game
Calinorth (4:08 PM)
My other favorite game? It would have to be a mix between Left For Dead and Call of Duty V. Toss up. Killing zombies is super fun in general.
matt (boston)
dude, whats better madden or halo? or wii?
Calinorth (4:09 PM)
It's hard to say because I'm a first person shooter player. I grew up playing all kinds of shooter games. It's hard to say, because I know a lot of people who love sports games over shooter games. Myself, I would pick the shooter games over the sports games. I would get tore up over anyone who's any good at those games.
Jeff (Way)
How are you able to snipe so effectively?
Calinorth (4:11 PM)
Well, Jeff, the one thing that I learned with the sniper, you have to compensate for them moving. 80% of the shots are determined by you thinking where they are going to go and take cover and you wait. I practice against it a lot with bots. I practice hitting that sweet spot. Just practicing helps you get a lot better. It shows when playing against other people. I love that weapon and anything you love, you'll do amazing with.
Cody B. (stuckinGB) (Lakeland, FL)
Hey calinorth,How much does a good setup as in tv's, xbox's help to become a great team?
Calinorth (4:12 PM)
Well, it will help to become a better team, because you won't have any hardware difficulties. You'll feel a difference if you use an 8 milisecond TV vs. a 5ms one. Any kind of good setup will help you a lot. I never used to have that good equipment. But good equipment does come in handy.
George N. (London)
What was up with those cowboy hats I saw AmazYn wear throughout the event? Whos idea was that and can we expect to see any other wild clothing at Anaheim?
Calinorth (4:14 PM)
The cowboy hats was a big thing going into Dallas. I didn't want to do it, but we ended up doing it. Skyless couldn't come up with a cowboy hat, because he couldn't find one that fit and it was his idea. He came up with an idea for Anaheim for us to wear monocles. He seems keen on doing it. Don't be surprised if you see us wearing them.
Alex (New York)
What are some of the biggest changes you would like to see in the next Gears of War game?
Calinorth (4:15 PM)
The latest version of GoW I really like. I'm not too big a fan of rag dolls. I like the cringe. You're not flopping on the floor and helpless. I feel like the game would be more fun and strats would be better on cringe. The new update, I definitely like.
Calinorth (4:16 PM)
I want to thank everyone for supporting us. I want to thank my family for being behind me and my girlfriend, who I love so much. Thanks for all of the questions. I would love to answer any more you might have, you can reach me on my gamer tag. Thanks for giving me the time.
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