After years of silence, one of the most recognizable Quake Live players — Kevin "strenx" Baeza — returned to the spotlight in a podcast with Av3k and cYpheR. Nearly an hour of candid conversation about childhood, his rise to the top, self-doubt, frustration with Quake Champions, and a growing love for music. Here’s the full story — from early tournaments to late-night DJ sets.
Strenx began the conversation by revealing that he had completely given up alcohol. When asked about the drink he had on camera, he replied:
I'm drinking Red Bull — the one with sugar. I stopped drinking alcohol. It's not because of the music, it's just that I'm getting older and I think alcohol is too dangerous. So I decided to stop.
He added that the stereotype of DJs drinking during their sets is false:
In reality, if you're a DJ, you have a contract and you have to be professional. It's better to stay sober — it's important for the club and the job. You can drink afterwards if you want. But the main thing is to be safe and focused.
He also recalled that music was part of his life even during his esports days:
At bootcamps, I always played piano. It helped me relax. Even when I was playing Quake, music was part of my life.
Now he records techno under the alias strenxquake and often uses Quake references in track titles:
I have a track called "Vertical Vengeance". It's a map from Quake. Because I still love the game. Quake is part of me. It's not just a game. It's still inside me.
Strenx performing a DJ set // source: instagram.com/emeute.rk
Career Beginnings and Playstyle
Strenx’s journey into gaming began incredibly early — around age two — when he discovered Bid for Power, a Dragon Ball mod for Quake III Arena. That experience led him to explore the original game. For several years, he played Instagib, where only one-shot railgun kills were allowed. Then he came CTF (Capture the Flag), where his strong aim quickly got him noticed — but not always in a good way. Due to accusations of cheating, he was banned from many servers:
I started playing duels because people thought I was cheating. I used to play CTF, but I got banned everywhere. Everyone thought I was using cheats. So duel was the only mode where I could play. And I continued — and here I am.
He became popular early on thanks to his phenomenal railgun accuracy, even though his movement was weak:
I was known as the guy with a great railgun but terrible strafing. My movement was honestly bad. I just didn’t know how to move. People watched and thought: how the hell is he hitting like that while moving so poorly?
Later he focused more on the Lightning Gun:
I started using Lightning Gun more and more. It felt like my best weapon. At first I played without much thought — just pure mechanics. Then I got more aggressive. And only later did I start using my head. That’s how I became the player I am.
During the conversation, cYpheR and Av3k discussed how strong aim can sometimes hinder player development. Strenx agreed:
It holds you back. When you’re good from the start, there’s less motivation to learn. I was winning through aim, and didn’t feel the need to change anything for a long time.
Classic Quake meme based on strenx’s childhood photo // source: esreality.com
On Style and Development
Strenx admits that early in his career, he relied heavily on aim and mechanics. But later came the realization: if you want to win consistently at a high level, it’s not enough. Strong aim can even be a crutch, preventing players from developing strategy:
When you have good aim, you don’t notice that you’re playing wrong. You just go out and shoot. It gets in the way of growth.
He pays special attention to Lightning Gun — it’s not just about aim, but position and movement:
Effective Lightning Gun isn’t just about reflexes or aim. It’s about taking the right position — one where you can deal damage safely.
One of the most interesting stories was about his old mousepad, gifted during his time in Fnatic. It was so worn that he developed a kind of “hit map”:
I knew that here — Lightning Gun worked perfectly, and there — rail was better. The mouse behaved differently depending on the area. I played by memory, feeling every millimeter.
Later in the podcast, they talked about the best aimer in Quake history. Strenx mentioned two names:
If we're talking about raw aim — that’s definitely toxjq. But if we include positioning — then it’s Cypher.
serious didn’t make it into his top because of poor positional play. When asked whether he considered himself one of the best aimers, Strenx clarified:
I wasn’t the best in straight-up aim duels. But I was one of the best in weird, tough situations — where most players miss.
He gave an example from T7 (Furious heights):
When your opponent is on mega and you’re below — most people don’t even try to shoot. But I could. I knew how to land Lightning Gun from there.
Av3k added that Strenx always had excellent vertical aim, and Kevin agreed:
Yeah, vertical Lightning Gun — that was my thing. Especially from unusual angles and on unstable distances.
Over time, Strenx significantly evolved his playstyle — shifting from a purely aim-focused approach to one rooted in positioning and awareness. He explains that he increasingly emphasized movement, positioning, and spatial control, especially when playing with the Lightning Gun:
Lightning Gun isn’t just about aiming. It’s how you move, how you stand. Sometimes it’s better not to shoot — but to take the right position.
One of his more unusual traits was his love for the shotgun. Strenx admits he often preferred it over the rocket launcher in close combat, because he understood its timing, its damage, and could guarantee a hit. This went against the common meta, where the rocket launcher was the go-to weapon for close-range fights.
He emphasizes how much small details mattered — the angle of his wrist, the height of his chair, the mouse’s placement on the desk. For him, all of it was part of the mechanics, even if from the outside it looked like "rituals."
Career Peak and Practice
Strenx considers 2010–2012 as his peak years, especially 2011, when he played consistently and was among the world’s top players:
2011 — yeah, that was probably my peak. I started playing more stable, more confident. It wasn’t just about aim anymore — it was about full gameplay.
A key factor was training with Cypher. Strenx recalls how their bootcamps changed his perspective:
Cypher taught me something crucial: you need to deal damage and avoid taking it. That’s the foundation. Before that, I just rushed in and shot. He calculated everything. He retreated, took cover, controlled positions. He was smart — I learned a lot from him.
He also regularly trained against Cooller, but eventually Cooller learned him too well:
Cooller figured me out. He knew how I thought. And when someone reads you — it’s hard. He started winning because he knew what I’d do. That’s frustrating, but I respect it.
That time became important not only in results but also in personal growth — watching demos, analyzing mistakes, thinking deeply about the game. All of it came after he stopped relying only on aim.
The famous post-match interview with Cooller and strenx at the IEM European Championship 4, which sparked many memes and discussions. // source: youtube.com
Zotac Cup, Tournaments and Post-2012 Break
One of the most iconic chapters in Strenx’s career was his dominance in online tournaments like Zotac Cup. He won over 50 Zotac events and around 18 G DATA tournaments — and remembers this period as the golden era of Quake Live:
When I played Zotac, I just knew I would win. It wasn’t arrogance — it was a calm certainty. I didn’t know it for a fact, but in my mind, it felt like: yeah, everything’s under control.
He emphasized that online tournaments gave him comfort, predictability, and consistency. LAN events were a different story — unfamiliar gear, odd setups, small changes that disrupted his mouse feel:
At LAN, it felt different. The mouse wasn’t the same. The surface was different. Even the chair angle changed things. I tried to recreate everything at home — same hand position, same settings — but it was never quite right.
He said he could feel completely confident online — and totally lost on LAN:
Online — you just play. Everything’s familiar, everything’s yours. But at LAN — you don’t know how your body will react, how the mouse will move, how the screen will feel. Sometimes I was perfect online, and a mess on LAN.
Several top players, including Av3k and cYpheR, mentioned they sometimes skipped Zotac Cups when they saw Strenx was signed up. Av3k joked:
If I saw Kevin on the list — I just didn’t play.
But after 2012, things started to change. Big orgs like Fnatic left Quake, tournaments dried up, and motivation faded. Strenx began stepping back — focusing on studies and trying other games like ShootMania:
I just dropped Quake Live. Not completely — more like, I stepped away. I studied, tried ShootMania. There were almost no tournaments, no motivation. Everything felt repetitive — same maps, same players. I wanted something different.
It was especially tough in France, where there wasn’t much infrastructure to support a pro gaming career:
You can’t live off this if you have one tournament a year and no sponsors. If you want to live from the game — it just doesn’t work.
Even though he occasionally showed up in brackets — like a brief prep for QuakeCon 2014 — it wasn’t with the same level of commitment.
Quake Champions and Leaving the Pro Scene
At first, Strenx was excited for Quake Champions. He joined a team, played the Sacrifice mode, and streamed the game. But the disappointment hit fast — and hard:
I was hyped when it launched. I thought it would be cool. I joined Alliance, we had a team, and it looked promising. But then I saw Anarki and thought: what the hell is this?
His biggest complaint was champion imbalance — especially Anarki, who was too fast, too small, and hard to hit with low sensitivity:
I played with low sens. And against Anarki — it was impossible. He was just too small, too quick. It felt unfair.
There were also technical issues — crashes, lag, unstable client. Even playing from cyber cafés didn’t help:
One time my ping hit 900, the game crashed, and I got disqualified. It wasn’t even my fault — the game just exploded. I went to a cyber cafe hoping it would be better — nope. It kept crashing.
The Sacrifice mode — which had potential — didn’t work out either. Strenx remembered practicing with Spart1e, who often came too tired to perform:
Every time we practiced Sacrifice with Spart1e, he came exhausted. We were trying to build strats, and he was always minus 20. He’d say: "Don’t worry, I’ll be better on LAN." But it didn’t help.
This approach hurt team cohesion and created frustration:
In practice we didn’t know how to fix things. Like, "Dude, you’re minus 20 NET again. What can we even do?" We just didn’t know how to move forward.
Eventually, Strenx started openly criticizing the game — even during his livestreams:
I started a stream and said: "This game is garbage." id Software messaged me: "Kevin, please shut down the stream." I was like — why should I? I have the right to say what I think.
Av3k shared a personal reaction during the podcast:
I was angrier than ever. Not in Quake 3, not in Quake 4, not even in Quake Live — only Quake Champions. That game drove me insane.
Strenx nodded — he felt the same way.
He officially left the competitive scene in 2018, just before the launch of Quake Pro League (QPL). He said it was a mix of lost motivation, technical frustration, and emotional burnout:
I just didn’t feel like continuing. If you start the game and you’re already mad — why keep going?
The excitement was gone. Instead of adrenaline, he felt drained.
A random moment from strenx’s stream where he talks about what he dislikes in Quake Champions. // source: youtube.com
Motivation and Psychology
One of the core themes of the conversation was how people change with age. Strenx said he had become calmer — no longer the same "angry kid" — but still loved competition:
As we get older, we get calmer. I became a different person — not the same kid I used to be. But I still love competing. I’d love to come back — just for fun, just for nostalgia.
He added that his motivation now wouldn’t be trophies — but rather the joy of playing, the people, the memories:
Do I want to be back on stage? Yeah. Not for titles — but because I miss the vibe. The people. The prep. The anticipation. That feeling.
He admitted that in the past he was too focused on winning — but now, he’d want to enjoy the journey more:
Of course, I’d still play to win — it’s competition. But I’d try to enjoy it more. Because it’s not just about the final — it’s about what you live through on the way.
He also expressed a desire to be part of Quake’s future — through music:
If they make a new Quake and need music — I’d be down. Seriously. I’d love to be part of it. Not as a player — but as part of the legacy.
End of Career and Possible Return
Although strenx left the game in 2018, Quake remains a part of his identity — literally. He has a Visor tattoo and wears a necklace shaped like an Lightning Gun battery:
I have a shaft battery pendant — I wear it around my neck. And a tattoo of Visor. It’s not just about Champions. It’s about all of Quake. It’s inside me. It’s part of my DNA.
When asked about a potential return, he didn’t rule it out:
If ID Software releases a new Quake, I might come back. Just for fun, for the memories. For the atmosphere. I’d love to feel that again.
But for him, it’s no longer about trophies — it’s about the connection to the community and the past:
Even if I don’t play tournaments — I want to be part of it. Maybe I’ll help with music. Maybe I’ll just stream. But Quake — that’s forever.
Strenx showing off his Visor tattoo // source: x.com/strenxie
