There are few players in the history of TF2 to have garnered the reputation of Starkie. He is not like b4nny or KnOxXx, leaders and veteran winners who have been getting prolific results throughout the game’s history, yet he will still go down as one of the best players – certainly in the history of Europe – thanks to his dominance of the continental scene for over a year now. This may be known as the ‘worst and most lacking’ period TF2 has ever had, but Starkie plays like a superstar of any era, often head and shoulders above his competition, pulling out spy and sniper plays to compliment his status as the best scout in the world, a title surely uncontested since the quitting of Clockwork. Although his reputation as a champion only really began with [b][R]eason Gaming[/b] (now called [b]Se7en[/b]), he has been around the top of the scene for around 4 or 5 years now, and this article will detail his time in TF2, from the lower circles of Premiership right up until his final LAN, Rewind 2017.

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Starkie’s first foray into Premiership was Season 13 of ETF2L with the team [b]Damage Control[/b], and after an unsuccessful season garnering only one win, Stark immediately went down a couple divisions to div 2 (now mid/high), with a squad that was to make it to Premiership with Stark only three seasons later in season 16 – [b]REVERTO[/b]. This lineup was stronger, with Stark making up the soldier duo alongside Rising, and this team managed to gain an upset win over [b]Team CoolerMaster[/b] (who would go on to make playoffs) and also besting a fairly strong Frenchie team, and [b]Lowpander.[/b] Stark actually started playing scout midway through that season, and put in some very solid numbers on both roles. Clearly, even at this early stage, Starkie was already showing his prestige at playing multiple classes.

However, just before that season, he had attended i49 with the team [b]d-d-did I stutter?[/b] in the invite bracket, and had put in a decent performance on roamer. That was his first LAN on an invite level team, and although they came 7th in that invite bracket, they were only eliminated thanks to a very good [b]Immunity[/b] team.

From here, Stark spent a season on the beloved aidsbrit lineup of [b]AYOGURL[/b] before joining his first top tier roster, coming runner up in season 18 with [b]Awsomniac[/b], featuring such talent as Zebbosai, Kaidus and Mirelin. It had been a long time coming for his first prem playoffs, and it was to be immediately followed by insomnia 52, where [b]Awsomniac[/b] were left unable to compete with the world’s best, being beaten in the upper bracket by [b]Classic Mixup[/b] before losing a 2-1 series to [b]Immunity[/b], Stark’s second LAN outing in a row by the Australians.

Another year went by, without any notable results for Starkie (except for another 2nd place with [b]ze knutsson rollerbladers[/b], but then came [b]Tony’s Tigers[/b], led by a transformed Stark who seemed to have developed some interest in cereal box characters. They came a disappointing third in ETF2L, disappointing considering their utterly stacked roster, which would prove to be an all-time historic EU lineup: Starkie, Flippy, Zebbosai, Tek, Ryb and Bulle.

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Everything after season 21 is what I see as the meat of this piece: the glory days of Starkie. It began at i55, where the very same roster, having picked up sponsor [b]nerdRage[/b], stormed through the tournament and into the upper bracket final against [b]froyotech[/b] without much trouble. [b]froyotech[/b] still had 5 of the 6 who had attended and dominated i52 to such a degree they were seen as the best lineup of all time, and at this LAN, b4nny put in one of the all time great tournament performances from the pocket role, doing over 300 dpm average, having the best k/d and most airshots at the LAN also. He was being backed by some other superstars in their own rights, most notably clockwork, Stark’s scout rival on the flank and historically god-tier fragger. But [b]nR[/b] looked unfazed, winning the upper bracket final 2-1, featuring some insanely high-level TF2 and what I believe to be the most re-watchable game of all time. Everyone stepped up and had their time to shine, from Flippy’s incredible sniper highlights, blaze and clockwork’s coordinated attacks onto Bulle, Zebbosai’s unreal solo bombs that dropped shade multiple times, and probably most memorable of all, the Starkie spy play on snakewater. [b]nR[/b] didn’t seem to have any concept of pressure or choke factor, they appeared to have set up an incredible grand final. However, they failed to deliver in the final, losing 3-1 on maps including a 5-0 routing on snakewater, a map they’d looked so strong on previously. Although the team was ultimately unable to deliver, Stark again displayed versatility, switching off to roamer on sunshine in the grand final, and giving an all around star performance and impressing everyone from rivals to spectators. He looked ready to join a top team, and join a top team he did.

[b][R]eason Gaming[/b], led by the veteran demoman Kaidus, recruited Starkie on scout for season 22 of ETF2L, where they looked to best a reform of [b]Epsilon eSports[/b], featuring all the biggest names of the EU scene at the time, including Stark’s ex-teammates Flippy and Tek, with Bulle also playing for them later in the season. However, Kaidus’ much younger yet more disciplined side bested them, with Stark as their playmaker, looking for openings and getting the majority of the key picks that rewarded [R]eason’s efficient, controlling playstyle which stifled opponents and let Stark get to work on the flank. He duly received both player of the season and scout of the season awards, and then stomped all opposition at DreamHack Winter 2015, swapping out scout for roamer with Zebbosai at their lesuire, such was their lack of equal opponents.

2016 was Starkie’s year, and it was the most dominant individual year from a player we’ve ever seen. Three prem titles, each time winning player of the season and the scout of the season awards, even playing pocket for a while on the team after Kaidus’ retirement left them without a maincaller, such was how integral he was to the team’s structure. He was a part of the ‘LAN that never ended’ at DreamHack Summer, tying 2-2 on maps in the final with long-time rivals [b]Full Tilt[/b] before running out of time for the game before the fifth and final map (FailFish).

However, his biggest victory with the team (at the time under the sponsor [b]Crowns eSports Club[/b]) came at insomnia 58, where he claimed his only international title, beating [b]Full Tilt[/b] in the final. He was named by analyst CommanderX as the second best player at the event (behind the god that is Michael “Mike” Adams), and finally had accrued the reward a talent of his calibre deserved; to be world champion.

His final LAN (split from i58 by yet another ETF2L victory) was Rewind, finishing second with a fairly new roster behind a strong, well-assembled [b]froyotech[/b] lineup. It may not have been the finish he’d been expecting, but it left Stark with five LAN grand finals in just over a year, unmatched by any player in that time period.

In summary, I believe Starkie’s rise to the top shows that hard work over a long period can get results, but also what a mercurial talent he has for the game, as well as the ability to spot openings most other players simply can’t. He is in my opinion a top 5 EU player of all time (ranked 4th in the ETF2L medal tables), and can stand next to the god tier players from any era. He will be greatly missed.