There is actually loads of phenomenal Red Alert content out there. I'm going to provide a short list of some valuable pages scattered around the Internet to make it easier for casual players to find:
There are many many more websites and video sites out there. However these are 5 of the best and should hopefully be very useful for aspiring players and pros alike looking to expand their knowledge or interest in the game.
Ehy has achieved mythical legend status in Red Alert. Seen as some sort of Michael Jordan-esque GOAT. Was he really the goliath and behemoth everyone says he was? The answer is a combination of yes and no. I'll try to explain and offer my honest perspective on this much debated topic. I've been around on-and-off for the last decade in Red Alert online competitive play and have faced all of the top dogs so I feel like I can offer some valuable insight on this topic for the history archives. Here's my 2 cents...
Ehy dominated a time in Red Alert (approx 2009-2015) when there wasn't much competition in terms of 1v1 play. The narrative is true that his top potential opponents of the time such as NastyNate and At0m1 actively avoided him (Basically they knew he had surpassed them and didn't want it proven - this is the truth. Trust me). Ehy was left playing players such as Robskate, Smash, Yuzgen, Katsh and myself. He definitely had a huge edge on us at that time. It has become apparent however that he was privy to certain advantages that no one else knew. The most notable of these was GQ. Players have studied his historical games and notice that he was actively using the powerful GQ concept. This is how he was able to defeat pretty much everyone (including NastyNate in 2v2s) with relative ease in tank fights.
I would say that his skills in terms of building (especially soviet 10+ cy play on P4) were on another level to everyone else past or present. In terms of that side of the game he would still remain above everyone. However I think were he playing in the current era the gap in 1v1 play would not be so dramatic. The competition has caught up somewhat. You have players such as Ford, Beast, Faust, Jacob and others who are now really very good. Players like myself and Robskate are playing at a higher level than we were in the doldrums of Ehy's peak 2012-2013 era. I do however feel that Ehy was definitely stronger than all of these guys. I played against every top player in the last decade 100s of games and I can say with 99% certainty that Ehy was better than them all. He just had a more hungry "need to win" psyche. He took defeat as a personal insult and he was savage in his search for revenge or retribution. I think he had a more killer instinct. It was extremely hard to win games against Ehy. These other guys I mentioned, while phenomenal players, just lack a little bit of that viper demon that Ehy had. I think it's possible to get wins far more often against these guys than it was against Ehy. Ehy was a different beast. I am sure fellow players such as Robskate and RC1985 would agree with me on this consensus as they played against them all as well. He didn't just want to win a series. He wanted to dominate. He wanted the opponents' blood and to not have a single loss on his resume.
A side note on Milo - Milo was obviously old and past prime when he returned in Summer 2020. He showed he was still a match for anyone on a tanking game, however the best version of Milo I played was not on the same level of Ehy. Ehy was far superior at defending rushes than Milo ever was. Lordy/Croboy type light tank rushes just simply wouldn't work against Ehy - on the other hand, Milo probably had an overall losing record on maps such as P4 and Money Map 2. Additionally, I can say with absolute confidence that Ehy would annihilate Milo in a soviet 1v1 scenario or in 2v2 format. All round peak Ehy was a far stronger player than peak Milo as he was more accomplished in more aspects of the game. Sure in straight up tanking Milo maybe even had an edge, but Ehy was ticking more boxes. I love Milo to bits and he is a legend of the game but this is my honest opinion.
There is one major edge Ehy had over everyone else which is often overlooked - mistake mitigation. Ehy simply made far fewer mistakes than other players. He was more robotic and game theory optimal play. Ford for example has a tendency to sometimes goof play, Jacob can do bad build orders on certain maps. Beast sometimes neglects production and Faust is liable to getting cheesed or rushed from time to time. These are all aspects which Ehy obsessively worked at in his game to iron out. He trained hard and desired to play mistake free Red Alert. You could describe him as the Novak Djokovic of Red Alert. Winning with consistency and no unforced errors. It is hard to recall Ehy having any real weaknesses as he had perfected every detail of his game. This is the major reason I place him above the rest of my opponents. I hope this makes sense.
The scary thing is we maybe never really saw peak Ehy, as he would often troll in games (especially 2v2s - which would annoy his partners! I had a few angry run ins with him). He also did not have someone really unlocking the best in him in an intense 1v1 rivalry as he dominated most of his 1v1 match ups. Imagine a world where we got to see Ehy vs Ford or Ehy vs Faust for example. You would get to see Ehy in his final form. I would absolutely bet on Ehy to win either matchup.
So yes, Ehy really does deserve the plaudits for his play in Red Alert. He stepped up to the plate and dominated his era of the game. I wasn't the biggest fan of him personality wise and we often clashed but I realise in hindsight he was just extremely competitive and I have nothing but respect for his play. His legend will live on through all ages for as long as this classic game survives. We hold out hope that one day he will return to CnCNet and put the new kids on the block in their place!
This post is extremely important. It will not be based on the 5 best players of all time - which is not only subjective and basically impossible. Instead, it will be based on the 5 players who are most pivotal in shaping the game's history. Such things are considered high priority in this list: map making, knowledge spreading, video creation, and outstanding achievements. It is extremely difficult to narrow this down to just 5 players. I would first like to give some honourable mentions:
Robskate - a 25 year veteran who has the most longevity of any pro at the top of the game. His sharing of knowledge on standard maps has been extremely important to the development of legions of top players, and without Robskate's presence the game would have been in a far worse state. It's very likely that players such as Ehy and Ford would never have reached their potential without Robskate as a regular frequent opponent.
Defmike - A very important map maker who has befriended 100s of players throughout his tenure playing Red Alert. Many players will have fond memories of interacting with this top bloke.
RC1985 - The most popular Red Alert YouTube channel in history, with 5 million views+. He narrowly missed out due to some on the list having a more tangible offering.
At0m1 - A Q expert and the first person to create videos on Veoh. Also founder of TA clan and author of a very popular mid 2010s blog which you should check out http://ratimes.weebly.com/ He narrowly misses out as his coach is on the list and offered an even greater contribution (read on for more).
ORA-boy - 22 years a member and subsequent leader of the greatest
clan in Red Alert history. His ability to keep a team happy and keep a
machine well oiled should be commended. A true legend of the game.
Iran/Lovehandles/hifi/Myg/Tore etc. Hugely important in saving the game from terminal death during the late 2000s.
Ehy - One of the first major successful YouTube channels like At0m1. His videos have inspired 100s of players (myself included). He is also remembered as the dominant player of the CnCnet era and one of the greatest players of all time.
So without further ado here is what I consider to be the Mount Rushmore of Red Alert:
5. Ford - A YouTuber/Twitcher who offered the single most important discovery in the modern era of the game. Also one of the top 10 players in the game's history. This Canadian is a real inspiration to all autistic people the world over and is an ambassador for the Canadian Autism Society. Ford unleashed the potential of aggressive GQ which completely changed the game dynamics of tank battles. He also probably possesses the single best map knowledge of any player in the history of the game. He knows every statistic inside out and he is truly a Professor of Red Alert. Check out his blog for more info https://c9andrewford.blogspot.com/
4. FunkyFr3sh - Probably the single most important person in terms of the success of the Red Alert side of things on CnCNet. A strong player in his own right, he is best known for helping to design and oversee the implementation of CnCNet5. The modern game literally would not exist without his input and help (along with others such as Iran). He truly deserves legend status in the game at this point and is often taken for granted (on occasions by myself as well which I regret). He deserves the utmost respect of every player on CnCNet and I don't think he gets the credit he deserves. Every player who plays daily for free on CnCNet does so because of Funky's endless hours of hard work - don't forget that!
3. Faramir - A forgotten legend of the game. His name lives on in maps such as WIDE OPEN (by Faramir), and his map creation contribution is 2nd only to the 1st ranked player on this list. Modern players can thank Faramir's genius for such maps as the gargantuan V3 RIBBON ISLE. He wasn't known as the strongest player in the world but that isn't really important. Faramir literally shaped the way the game is played today. Without his contributions to the community it is very likely that competitive custom game Red Alert would have died out years ago. 10s of thousands if not millions of games have been played on his maps throughout the years.
2. Milo234 - An absolute legend who literally wrote the Red Alert Bible in 2006 which you should read here https://funkyfr3sh.cnc-comm.com/milo/ra.html Every single top player of the last 15 years of Red Alert has been inspired by this man's literature. This guide is the single best way to elevate your game to the next level and has been an inspiration to players from Ehy to At0m1 and Ford. It also inspired my own personal play. Milo returned in summer 2020 and still competed at a high level, winning the ladder 1 month and showing that even as a family man approaching 40 he was still one of the strongest tankers in the history of the game. He also created many famous and important Q themed maps such as Q 10 v 10. Milo's lasting legacy with the guide, and his efforts to keep the competitive scene alive during a life-support existence for the game during the mid-2000s are a hugely important arc in the game's history.
1. Niklas - Words such as "legend" and "genius" don't do this man justice. Referenced by Robskate as probably the best player he ever faced, Niklas's name lives on in the modern era through the hugely important milestone map called 4c Niklas. Every top pro has played this map 100s of times 1v1 and 2v2. Other maps such as NSC Niklas were also made by this legend - his contribution to the custom map scene would later inspire people to create maps such as HJK6 and P4. Niklas was one of the game's first real true super-pros (along with such names as Nike1). His contribution to the early days of the game in establishing build orders (the same build orders Robskate uses 25 years later on Path!) and his implementation and discovery of the importance of Q, Bookmarks etc were revolutionary in Red Alert. Niklas's contributions to the game inspired every legend and player who came after him and that is why I awarded him the title of the most important player in the game's history. After all, there's only 2 maps on the current CnCNet ladder which feature the names of LEGENDARY players in the game so you know he is in good company.
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned for more and don't forget to follow!
Welcome to today's history corner story-time with Uncle Crushy.
Most modern players on CnCNet are only familiar with the lobby we have today which was designed by FunkyFr3sh, Iran and others. The modern lobby is vastly superior to what we had before and features game room names, friends list etc. The old lobby was very basic, here is a reminder of what it looked like:
Regardless, the old lobby had some very nostalgic times. There were many well documented players playing in those days (late 2000s to 2013) such as Ehy, Robskate and NastyNate. There wasn't really much of a clan element and I would say in general the old lobby had a less toxic atmosphere. People just played games - there were very few players playing in those days and so everyone kind of knew everyone.
Some players who modern pros may not heard of included:
DizzyMan - An American best known for being a strong tanker and good builder on maps like P4 and HJK6, he was pretty strong player even by today's standards. I believe he retired from the game around 2014. He was a member of MAN clan. There are several videos of his play on YouTube for example:
Cousinsmash - He was a very strong tanker who was capable of beating anyone in a 1v1 and performed very well in tournaments. He was active in the MPlayer days in early 2000s (forget his old username) and returned to CnCNet, playing from around 2012-2015. He was very influential in my own personal development to becoming "pro" as I sparred with him lots and lots of games on several maps playing 1v1 (mostly P4 and Path Beyond). Playing against smash was how I learned shifting and Q while I was a nubenator.He is best known for winning a strong Union Break 2v2 tournament in 2014 where he partnered Ehy to defeat some very strong teams such as At0m1 & Turret, Nate & Yuzgen:
NaughtyLove - This guy was really talented. He didn't play for long at all maybe 1-2 years around 2012-2013. He was 2nd ranked place on the very old IGL Red Alert ladder around 2013, behind Ehy. Naughty (aka Matt) was a really nice and helpful guy who was a pleasure to ask questions of when I was starting out. I believe he encountered some real life problems which is why his Red Alert career was short but very successful. He was particularly skilled in Q Master and this first person video shows this:
I don't want to flood the page with more videos so I picked these 3 players as the stand outs. If you ever see some random new player come along and feel like their play is very strong, it could be one of these guys hiding! Some other notable names include Danco-Cro (A croatian co-op map fan who had a very distinctive rocketmen defensive build on Ribbon Isle which stumped many a tanker!), Ifuc (A grenadier wizard who was very strong on 4c Niklas and P4 maps) and many many more players. I'll probably do another article with some more videos on this era of CnCNet with some more rare video footage in future! This was a great and happy era of Red Alert history, even if it wasn't the most busy in terms of player footfall.
Stay tuned for more Red Alert History Corner with Uncle Crushy! Thanks for reading and don't forget to follow!
TA clan was formed 7.5 years ago on CnCNet. The original idea came from an old player called ORA-Myth (real name Eric). Myth had returned to Red Alert after a 10+ year absence and played for a couple of weeks on the then-new CnCNet 5 lobby. Myth had only been back playing for a couple of weeks when he approached At0m1 about forming a tanker clan, as he noticed that most players were just building on P4 in random 2v2 P4 games (such players as Col0, Danco-Cro, ANT etc). There were very few decent players at that time and most of them were just builders on P4. Myth wanted tankers to have some sort of elite status and so thought a new clan was a good idea.
CnCNet bot shows us the exact time when TA clan was formed, as Myth left shortly after TA clan was formed. TA clan was formed a couple of weeks within Myth's return. At0m1 liked this idea as perhaps the best tanker active at that time. He knew I was a young and up and coming player who had learned to Q, so he approached me about joining this newly formed clan. Therefore I was the 3rd official member. We agreed on a name between us and At0m1 decided that "Tankers Alliance" was an appropriate name. Hence that is how the name TA was chosen.
*Note* Over many years, people have speculated that the real meaning behind TA was "Team Atomi" as he had been spotted joking about this on multiple occasions*
Myth left very abruptly after the clan was formed as he decided he just didn't have the passion or time for Red Alert as he had done when he was a teenager playing on MPlayer. As a result, At0m1 and myself were left as the only 2 TA members so recruitment began.
The following players were recruited to make up the new clan: [Turret-TA], [Jayman-TA], [Dak-TA], [Kody-TA]. At some point some other players such as [Funky-TA] joined as well.
The clan enjoyed some great success in its first few years and grew to be one of the powerhouses on Red Alert. I was definitely the most active player then as [Crush-TA]. Some very nice matches and games were played, here's a rare nice victory for At0m1 and Turret of TA vs Cousinehy and Cousinsmash in their nice series from a Union Break tournament:
The TA clan was actually amazing for the competitive scene on Red Alert. I think a number of other clans were inspired to form as a result of the newly formed rivalry with TA. I would say TA was a big influence over the formation of such clans as X and C. However, TB was certainly inspired to form because of TA. Hezb was a new up and coming player who started around the same time as me and had an opposite play-style (he liked to build and I liked to tank). This is how the TB (Tesla Builders) clan were formed. Hezb and his cuzzies formed TB a few weeks after TA was formed in order to create a "Builders vs Tankers" mantra on Red Alert. Cousin clan also began a massive resurgence during this time, as Ehy and Smash proudly displayed their Cousin tags in lobby, and CousinTank (who now uses the name RustyNoob on CnCNet5) and Sucky returned to Red Alert. So overall I definitely think it is fair to say that TA was great for the game and was an important part of Red Alert history as it ensured that there was a competitive scene during a 5 year period in which the player pool was very small and limited.
There seemed to be many highs and lows in the clan's history so far. The boom years once Funky etc joined then hit a dark spot as most members such as Turret (joined the army) and Dak left Red Alert for various reasons. At some point I decided to leave around 5 years ago and would later join my colleagues in ORA:
At some point, some extremely strong new young players would join TA. These included Ford and Mclovin, 2 of the best players in the game, and Santi. Other players such as Kobra had a very brief stint in the TA clan. At some point around 2018-2019 TA was undoubtedly the absolute strongest clan on CnCNet. At0m1 was back playing QMaster with [Lordy-TA] in private rooms as well. TA had reached the pinnacle of the game and were certainly the strongest overall clan for at least a couple of years. It had come such a long way since Myth's proposition to At0m1 in 2013.
However, the old saying "all good things come to an end" seems to be potent at this present juncture. Ford has retired from the game as announced on his blog, check out his statement: https://c9andrewford.blogspot.com/2021/02/have-i-retired.html and McLovin became afflicted with depression and decided to step back from the game as well. At0m1 has also not been spotted in the lobby in a long time.
[Lordy-TA] was now the only real active TA player left on CnCNet. Desperate for a partner to play with in the event, Lordy called on old returning [Jayman-TA] to join him. Jayman had only appeared on CnCNet after an absence of several years so was clearly very rusty and not himself. The result was that TA performed horrificly in the group stage, and WP and BAT clan destroyed them. Lordy felt insecure and was humiliated by this result and felt like he had let his mentor At0m1 down so attempted to boot Jayman out of TA and replace him with another partner. The result was that TB-Kickn (a once huge rival of TA), played under Jayman's name, effectively cheating the competition.
[Lordy apologises for getting Kickn to play using Jayman's name]
After being disqualified from the event by tournament host N8Diaz, some major internal issues in TA were needing addressed.
Ultimately [Jayman-TA] would go to absent leader At0m1 and report the chaos. Jayman would make a statement saying that Lordy was the worst player he had ever seen in TA and could not believe the disrespect he received during the tournament.
<[Jayman-TA]> i cant believe this noob is in TA hes shit and he plays all day. iv not played in 3 years guys. he just does noob rush every game
It was ultimately decided that Jayman as an 8 year member and stronger player was higher up in the TA hierarchy than Lordy and so it seems the decision was made to kick Lordy out of the clan - though admittedly I don't know much about the internal workings of this decision. The result was as follows:
[Lordy leaves TA clan and joins their arch-rivals]
This was a symbolic moment for the TA Clan. As Jayman had announced that he was again taking another hiatus from the game. Lordy had been the only active TA member on CnCNet for months, so his decision to move to another clan sounds the death knell for TA. There are now no active TA members left on CnCNet for the first time in the clan's illustrious history.
This begs the question: Is this the end of TA?
Will At0m1 zippo his way onto CnCNet and recruit the next wave of CnCNet players? Will some old legends or familiar faces return?
All these questions remain to be answered... Who knows what the future holds. Sadly, however, at this point, the future does not look very bright for the greatest clan of the 2010s era of CnCNet.
Most other sports or games have a recognised World Champion. An annual event or match takes place where the World Champion is crowned. Sadly we as a Red Alert community never had the foresight to make this a reality. However, it is possible to retrospectively argue who was the strongest player for any given year. I've only played online in the CnCNet era and I think that 2010-2021 is quite an easy time-frame to deliberate on who was the most dominant player each year. For years prior to when I played, I have collated multiple opinions and answers from players who played during those eras. Some of my sources (built up over years of conversations) include; Robskate, Eve (aka Pr1de), Kobra, Milo234, Breakdown, Dragonsan, Diaz, Danco, At0m1, CousinTank, Boy and multiple online sites such as Case's Ladder. I have therefore attempted to create a cohesive list of who was the best player for each year of this historic game. Obviously this list is subjective and is just an estimation. It is not official by any means but it is a genuine non-biased attempt at documenting the history of Red Alert champions. Going forward, why don't we as a community try to have an official World Championship at some point later in 2021? I will first present my list of unofficial yearly World Champions and then argue why each year was chosen afterwards. So without further ado:
For 1996, I chose the legend known as Nike1. Multiple players from those days regale his wizardry on early Standard maps. I think this was a fairly straight forward and fair selection. Niklas was chosen as the best of 1997 because Robskate unilaterally defined him as one of the two best players he ever played. Robskate declared that Niklas and Ehy are on a different level to anyone else he has played in his 20+ year career of playing Red Alert. So by virtue of this high regard alone, Niklas certainly deserves to be called the best player in the world for the time he was most active. I value Robskate's opinion a lot so I again think this is a fair choice.
In 1998, Red Alert had the closest thing to a World Championship it has ever had. There was a Pro Gamers League event held in Seattle which was dominated by a player known as DeepBlue. You can read about this tournament here 1998 PGL RA Tournament . DeepBlue took home the $7500 first prize and with it the right to be called World Champion for 1998.
By 1999 Niklas had mostly wound up his playing in search of pastures new, a young path beyond master known as Porker was prominent around this time. Based on various accounts of his playing level and his success on historical ladder sites, I gave him the award for 1999.
The early 2000s represents the Mplayer era which was a hugely popular time for Red Alert. 10,000 players were active. Galgu and Ssanai were two active ORA clan legends of this time. Katsh asked Ford in 2018 if he was Galgu hiding since he had not faced a Germany player with the ability of Galgu for almost 20 years. That is a testament to Galgu's ability. The 2000-2002 is a rough estimate and based on accounts from multiple players. The servers were splintered and some top pros of the time never crossed paths - for example Robskate and Galgu never played each other. Robskate was dominating most of his opponents at that time but I gave the award to Galgu based on his mystique and legend and multiple accounts from other old players. That was a very competitive era of Red Alert with multiple strong players so I just made an opinion based on the rough time frames of Galgu and Ssanai's Red Alert careers. This could be wrong. 2000 was definitely the hardest year to choose and there were multiple candidates. 2001 was a year dominated by JJFjr as robskate recalls, so I gave him the title for that particular year.
By 2003, Gamespy was left as the place to play Red Alert after MPlayer's demise. The game was on its last legs however a few super strong players still hovered around such as Aloli, Eve and others. Fallenangels was the best of these as Eve informed me. Eve said Fallenangels retired from the game shortly after the demise of Mplayer in 2002, so I gave Fallenangels the award for 2003. Kobra also remembered how strong Fallenangels was by recalling a tournament defeat to him in his player focus .
2003 and 2004 were probably dying years for Red Alert but I've given 2003 to Fallenangels by default as he was the last true superpro before this
dark era for Red Alert.
By 2004, Eve said there were virtually no players left on Gamespy, as the true competitive era had died with Mplayer's demise. He is certain he was the best player left at this time as he was young and at his peak. DragonSan confirms this. There was also a very small player pool left so his opinion is probably quite accurate so I've given Eve the award for 2004. With a lack of players left, Eve himself would soon retire after 2004, not returning until CnCNet in 2019 and reemerging as a force in the game under the names Pr1de and Uchicha.
2005, Milo takes the crown. Players had migrated to Kali by this point and the game was on its knees. Milo was the best player by default as the only real true pro left standing. Many young players were trained by him during this era like Yoda training a young skywalker. Milo dominated everyone. By 2006, an old superpro legend called JJfjr appeared out of retirement and was able to defeat Milo 8-1 in head to head 1v1s (as referenced in Milo's famous self-written Red Alert guide. )Therefore I think 2006 is a pretty fair and easy choice to award the crown to JJfjr (the only player to regain the title).
By 2007, Milo was winding down his play and focusing on his college education more. A lack of competition was a pivotal factor in him winding down his play as well. Meanwhile on Tunngle there were some signs of potential life in the game. Then rookie players such as Yuzgen and Danco-cro were getting beaten up on by a legend known as Herm. Herm famously was able to 2v1 players on Tunngle and is remembered fondly by Dizzyman and others. I think it's pretty fair to award the 2007 title to this still-active legend (who now plays under the name RushyBoo).
Throughout 2008 and 2009, At0m1 and NastyNate were sparring with each other and quickly ascending in the game. At0m1 often told me how the best player during this era was a legend known as Fattynoob. He was the only one that was always maybe 1 step ahead of himself and NastyNate. He spoke very highly of Fattynoob's play on the Kali servers of 2008-2009 so I think it is definitely fair to award Fattynoob the title for these years.
By 2010 came the CnCNet era. A total rebirth for Red Alert and pivotal in resurrecting the game and making it what it is today. A young Finnish player called Ehy had been playing with his countryman At0m1 on Kali and was slowly but surely getting better. 2010 was a crucial point in Red Alert history, as it marks the time when Ehy reached his peak level and surpassed Fattynoob. Granted - Fattynoob had stopped playing as regularly due to a successful stint playing Final Fantasy. Regardless, Ehy would later defeat Fattynoob in an HJK tournament 1v1 and this marked his ascension to the top of the game.
[Ehy vs Fattynoob HJK Tournament final 2012]
He would not relinquish his status as the best player in the world for the remaining 6 years he would play. Ehy was clearly the absolute best player in the world from 2010 to 2016 when he retired, so awarding him the World Championship crown for this period is a no-brainer. As a result, Ehy holds the distinction of having the most longevity of any Red Alert unofficial World Champion with 7 years at the top.
By 2017 with Ehy retiring, NastyNate who had always been 2nd best was left as the default best player in the world. There were lots of strong P4 players and 1v1 players like RC1985 at this time but no-one was as well rounded as NastyNate during this time. GQ had still not been actualised and NastyNate's tanking was just overall much stronger than everyone else. He deserves to be called a World Champion and so 2017 was his year as the undisputed best player in the world and I don't think anyone would argue against this.
By 2018, a young Canadian savant had discovered a secret nuclear weapon - GQ. He perfected GQ and absolutely destroyed everyone in tank battles. He was certainly the best player in the world all-round at such a time and awarding him the title for 2018 is also an easy decision. Ford made a fatal mistake and released his secret weapon knowledge to the community and his domination would suffer a little. Throughout 2019 and 2020 I would say he was still one of the top 2 players in the world, and you could even argue for 2019 that he was still number 1, though I marginally awarded it to Bea5ty for 2019 as he had matured to his peak level by then. Certainly in 2020, however, Bea5ty deserves his place as the undisputed best player in the world. All of the current top pros generally agree with this consensus and his record in matches is the most dominant. Who will emerge to claim the title for 2021? No more speculating. Let's make an official formal World Championship a reality this year.
Thanks for reading! Thanks to all the sources for their insight! I hope you enjoyed history time with Uncle Crushy! Don't forget to follow!
Modern players think that cheating in Red Alert online play is a conspiracy theory, an urban myth. Sadly the rumours are true. In the pre-CnCNet era, cheating was rampant on places like Kali and Gamespy. It was so common that keyboard express for shifting your tanks was considered almost standard.
Some of the best players from Kali moved over to CnCNet once it became apparent that Red Alert online had a new permanent home. They brought with them an abundance of cheats. The most high profile cheater was a player called Mazell. To put it in context how this stunned the community, Mazell was described by Ehy as his only worthy opponent. Mazell was seen as an undisputed top 3 player at the time even better than At0m1 and NastyNate. He was put on a pedestal by late 00s and early 2010s players.
It was a dark day when Funkyfr3sh exposed the array of cheats that Mazell had been using for years. I remember vividly a 2v2 P4 game where it was myself and Col0 against Mazell and a complete nubenator like King Hood (no offence Hood). We lost basically 1v2. I had 25 medium German tanks and I could not stop Mazell's flame towers. They appeared on the map as fast as lightning. They produced faster than a tank coming out of my war factory. Baffled by this I knew something wasn't right. I then argued with Mazell who dismissed me as a noob so I challenged him to a 1v1. I was a cocky arrogant noob back then and wanted a chance to get a cheap croboy win and then talk smack to him. He duly obliged me. I got obliterated by him producing 38 tanks to my 26. It was a no contest.
I then whined and complained to Funky and mentioned how this guy seemed too good. I said how his flame towers were producing faster than my medium tanks. I knew it wasn't solely down to me being a bad player. I knew he was at it.
Funky uncovered that Mazell was using an autoclicker to produce his units and buildings. He literally did not even need to click the tank on sidebar, his game script would make it automatically for him. He also had a keyboard express type macro for moving his tanks automatically once produced. As for his flame towers? He could basically just hold in his F key on his keyboard and click the map to build! LOL! No wonder he seemed so fast.
Upon being 'outed', Mazell knew he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He didn't apologise or feel bad about it. He just laughed it off and said he had dozens of other games to play. His explanation was something along the lines of it being too much effort to click normally. Ehy, who was his biggest opponent had a pro attitude to the revelation and took pride in knowing he could beat Mazell anyway even though Mazell was beefed up on steroids. Other stalwart players such as NastyNate were naturally disgusted by Mazell vowing to never play with him again due to the amount of years he had cheated. Unsurprisingly, Mazell slipped off into the shadows and has never been seen since that fateful day 7 years ago. Rumour has it that he has played under a new identity but I highly doubt this. I suspect he did stick to his promise and just plays other games instead.
Mazell being busted set a precedent. Funky then established a swat team to clamp down on cheating on CnCNet. He discovered at least a dozen players who were juiced up, with cheats ranging from Mazell's Macro to the universal GPS.
GPS gave players the allied tech centre hack at the start of every game. You can imagine how much of an advantage this was. You could see exactly what your opponent was doing without having to scout and react accordingly. It baffles me that people were able to lose with this advantage.
My paranoid badgering of Funky to investigate Mazell was the start of a domino chain of events that resulted in Funky purging all the old cheats from CnCNet. The CnCNet rules were updated to make it clear that anyone cheating would be banned. Players who had been found guilty were punished with 30 day bans and warned that a 2nd offence would result in some hard time. Funky also implemented some anti cheat detection capabilities that monitors production times as a preventative measure to deter future criminals. Funky also added the scoresheet feature so players could analyse anything suspicious in production from the game they just played - a fantastic feature which has also had the unintended impact of encouraging players to get faster.
Everyone with Pro attitude wants clean and competitive games. If you are reading this and considered cheating do not do it. You will end up like Mazell. A once thought of legend now with a tarnished reputation as the biggest cheater in red alert history.
It is also sad but true that cheating is still possible even today. Funky doesn't have all day everyday to monitor any new changes or programmes so some upstarts could be pulling the wool over our eyes. If you suspect that a new player has suddenly made an impossible dramatic improvement do not be afraid to share your concerns with some established players or admins. Preferably you would have some potential evidence rather than it just being a case of you sucking and the guy being much better than you.
Hope you enjoyed this historical anecdote.
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Red Alert 1 was released on November 22nd 1996 for PC. It is scary to think that the game we love will be 25 years old next year. I feel like we as a community should do something major to celebrate the 25 year date next year. Let's brain storm and get something huge planned. Perhaps we can set up a crowd funding page and have a massive tournament with a huge prize fund? A series of 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 tournaments perhaps? A LAN meetup in somewhere central like London or Berlin would also have been an idea if not for Covid-19.
I myself first played the game as a little kid on my dad's pc. I remember liking aftermath the most because of the cool units like the mechanic and tesla tanks, which is ironic because I now think aftermath is shit.
I didn't play online till the 2010s on CnCNet. It was the old style lobby and there were very few active players 10 or so years ago. Robskate, yuzgen, danco, grenadier and ifuc seemed to be on the most. NastyNate and Kickn were there. Players like Lauta and Hezb started around then too and it was mostly P4 and Ribbon Isle 2v2 games. Smash was an opponent who improved me the most as I used to play him lots of 1v1 and this is how I learned Q, bookmarks and shifting. I think the best way to learn is finding a sparring partner. Play lots of games 1v1 on all different map types, experiment with different strategies and see what works and doesn't work.
Anyway, everyone knows about CnCNet legends such as Ehy and At0m1, however I've often heard tales of superpros of old. We were very lucky that Blank aka Milo234 came out of retirement during covid-19 lockdown and played for 3 months. He proved he was still an incredible player and was one of the best players on Qmax and mastered the GQ side of the game . He had lots of interesting matches with Katsh, Ford and Hezb among others and even won the ladder one month. He was happy to play anyone anytime. You can find his youtube videos here https://m.youtube.com/user/432olim/videos. Milo showed that players of the past were just as capable of high level play as modern players. So who are some other legends who we would love to see return for the 25th anniversary?
NiklasThis Scandinavian legend is best known in the current era for being the namesake of the extremely popular map 4c Niklas, however 90s players would remember him as one of the absolute best players online. Robskate accentuates Niklas' greatness by describing him as the only player in Ehy's league 1v1. Robskate has played literally 100s of players in the past 24 years, everyone and anyone who was good and he considers Niklas and Ehy to be the dominant forces and better than everyone else. This respect highlights Niklas' legacy and he is the number 1 player we would like to see return for the 25 year anniversary.
JjfjrA name often mentioned in discussions of the greatest player of all time. Active from the 90s until 2006, Milo described him as his toughest ever opponent, humbly losing 8-1 in a 1v1 match. Other 90s players who have returned to online play on CnCNet such as Diaz and K0bra remember JJ's greatness.
ORA-Ssanai and ORA-Galgu2 legends of ORA-clan remembered fondly by 90s players such as Cousintank, Katsh and ORA-Boy. Ssanai was so good he supposedly GQed his tanks with 2 separate groups. These Asian legends of the game disappeared after the early 2000s and folklore has it they ventured into starcraft and other more lucrative rts online play.
Neutralman This player's grenadier use is the stuff of legend. Many current players attest to the wizardry this player could pull off with his infantry micro. If you thought you could just happily mind your own business and execute your build orders against this player you were wrong. A behemoth of 90s and early 2000s play. His return would be very welcome.
Other honourable mentions of names I've often heard: Nike1, Wegandi, Aloli, FallenAngels, MrPinky, Porker.
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Red Alert would not be Red Alert without drama and funny childish arguments. Sometimes a bit of bite in the game is what makes it extra fun and competitive. I've had my fair share of rivalries with people, for example Diga, Butcher and others but the rivalries on this list took things to another level. Get your popcorn ready because here awaits a tale of deathmatch feuds, decade long passive aggressiveness and bloodbaths!
Before I start I would like to give some honourable mentions to rivalries which didn't quite make the cut, for example: Fluffy vs Breakdown, Photon vs Gender Confusion, Philly vs Zizou, Commander vs Beast and the hundreds of other feuds.
5. Mafia vs Doc
An enjoyable feud to watch which happened when 2 prominent members of the now defunct [x] clan had a falling out. Most pleasing to me was this feud seemed to start because Mafia made a comment to Doc about losing to me. It was something along the lines of "omfg you lost to crush stfu", after he'd just lost a 2v2 match with Doc against 2 randoms such as sp0 and hank on P4. What ensued was a public breakup the likes of which has never been seen from clanmates before or since. All of this led to Doc publishing the now infamous "Mafia exposed" video on Doc's youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJDTIAWntsI A hilarious watch which I highly recommend. Get yourself some popcorn. It does however make Doc seem like a high school mean girl! Sadly Mafia no longer seems to be playing in 2020 and he hasn't really played much since this feud. I guess he kind of got fed up with Red Alert after this. Shame, he was a nice guy. Sadly I don't think this feud got the finality it deserved with a bo9 so if Mafia ever returns to CnCNet I'm sure Leigh will be lurking to get this overdue bo9 on the go.
4. H3zb vs America
A bitter feud which started with Hezb vs Robskate. Real genuine personal dislike was apparent which made it all the more enjoyable for the diva onlookers like Ford and Lordy. Naturally they tried to add fuel to the fire like all good Bo9 fans. Things escalated to another level when Robs' fellow American Stacks started stalking Hezb on twitch. In all honesty, Stacks did go too far with some of the things he was saying. Hezb frequently offered Stacks a bo9 but as yet Stacks has not stepped up to the plate. If Stacks reads this: the time for talk is over, the time for bo9 is now.
3. Ehy vs NastyNate/At0m1
While this feud was not as heated as any of the others on this list, the status of it places it this high on the list. For literally a decade NastyNate and At0m1 avoided 1v1 with Ehy and Ehy hated it. It all seems to stem from some youtube revenges back in the late 2000s. Some say Nate and At0m1 just had too big an ego to face him 1v1 and didn't want to risk losing. Anyway, there was clear evidence of passive aggressiveness when these players were involved. Fans of the game who respected and adored these players would always ask them to 1v1 and it never happened. An anti-climax. A real shame and a sad low point in RA history. For the record: Ehy probably would have won anyway, but we never got to see it so there will always be Nate fanboys who say Nate would have won.
2. RC1985 v Yuz
Oh boy this one was a banger. Funny to rail from the sidelines. These 2 guys HATED each other. Nowadays they seem to be on OK terms. Their hatred for one another resulted in RC calling out Yuz and challenging him to a "deathmatch". The first ever official Bo9 was born. Modern players think that Bo9 is a cousinleigh creation, but in fact, the original idea came from yuz and rc. The result of their dislike was a match which ended 5-4 in RC1985's favour. Yuzgen was supposed to quit RA as a result. However, due to the closeness of the scoreline, they buried the hatchet and both players continue to exist as command and conquer players. This would definitely have been number 1 on the list but RC1985 had a rivalry even more intense than Yuzgen...
1. RC1985 vs Ford
When 2 massive egos collide. This rivalry was a direct result of both wanting to be the best. That's ultimately what it boiled down to. Ford for literally years would troll the shit out of RC on all platforms. Whenever they would play each other it was intense. This rivalry peaked when Ford by chance tried the offensive GQ tactic on Qmax and conquered RC. "Every cloud has a silver lining". If the Ford-RC feud never happened then it's very possible the GQ revolution would never have happened. Ford stumbled upon it basically by accident. Ford and RC are on good terms now so maybe Ford could now be mature enough to credit RC for making him the player he is today. The reality is that RC made Ford. Their rivalry is what elevated Ford to his peak level. It spurred him on. It drove him. But boy was this rivalry intense. It made the atmosphere even more toxic on CnCNet for years. It's funny how things have changed. Ford has matured alot so credit where it is due.
The one thing all these rivalries had in common is that they ultimately were all kind of childish. It's bizarre the extent to which grown men will feud over a video game. I guess egos and human nature come into it. Thankfully I think the RA community is at the most mature point it has ever been now in 2020. There is definitely a much better atmosphere nowadays. Perhaps everyone has grown up. People have made their peace and the game is better for it. There will probably always be rivalries like these however, it's unavoidable. Let's see what the future holds... 👌
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[Lordy leaves TA clan and joins their arch-rivals]
