Intro
What is your Gamertag?
NicmeistaR
What team are you representing?
South Africa
Short Bio
Tell us about yourself?
Hello everyone, I am Nicolaas “NicmeisteR” Nel. I am obsessed with the Halo franchise and I have been playing it for the past decade. I’m also a total weeb and I love watching anime when I’m not gaming. My profession is being a Full Stack Software Engineer, so my life consists of writing code and finding more ways to connect the community. I’m also a streamer over on twitch, designer, and achievement hunter!
What made you want to start competing in Halo?
This is actually a funny story. I used to be a super casual player that just played the game for fun (back then rubberbanding was the norm) and I mostly played Halo for the campaign. Then one day I saw HaloCommunity dot com do a tournament that was open to all regions and at this point I thought I was pretty good at the game. I mean, non of my IRL friends could beat me so of course I'll do good in a tournament but I had no one to team with. Windows Phone had this thing where you could see nearby players via GPS so I went through everyone’s achievements to see if they played Halo and found another local player (Alphose) and we went and played the tournament and got destroyed. Then I was like wow, I actually suck, so I started actively trying to get better at the game and just never stopped. My IRL friends and I lived off doing LAN parties and this just helped spark up that urge to compete. We did a decent amount of Halo 4 tournaments locally, which I got a few 2nd place placements. Back then PGL was still a thing and beyond so I entered quite a few American tournaments (I wasn't allowed to technically). Out of all the games, Halo 5 was the one I took the most serious to try and compete in. I've always wanted to go pro but it's not something viable with my connection and the fact that HCS was excluding South Africa out of all their tournaments made it really hard to compete, but due to the amazing guys at Europa Halo, I finally had a chance to continue competing. Other than that, I started Halo South Africa and hosted quite a few local tournaments although our player base took massive hits the more HCS excluded us, making it near impossible to compete locally and the skill gap between teams didn't help. My main goal has always been to be the best South African Halo player but along the road players like Elite Vortex made me realize that's such a low goal. I want to be the best Halo player in the World!
Nations Cup
How does it feel to be representing a nation in a Halo tournament?
Honestly? Insane. In all of my years playing Halo I never thought that I would get the opportunity to represent the nation.
Teams were announced on Twitter a week before the tournament. Do you feel your team has had adequate time to prepare?
I have a long history with most of my teammates. Plain Filth and I have been playing since Reach. I competed with S1L3N7ASSASS1N1 for most of Halo 5. We do have a newcomer that I saw potential in and took under my wing that's been doing great so far and that's EoG Wolf. I think we have had enough time to prepare!
What is the biggest challenge you see ahead of you in this tournament?
Connection, but other than that I would say just game knowledge as we definitely don't have the same amount of experience compared to the Europeans.
Who are you most excited to play against and why?
Tough one, but definitely all of my European friends which is most of the people playing!
Who on your team is grabbing the Sniper? Rockets?
I'm definitely grabbing sniper, with either wolf or plain filth with S1L3N7ASSASS1N1 grabbing rockets!
Who is your playmaker?
That would be me, mainly because I have the most experience playing against international players.
Final Slayer Game is tied 49-49, What is the play?
4 Man camp in a corner. Jokes aside, we play it slow and steady and teamshot our way to victory or win accidentally with a random grenade that kills a teammate too.
What would it mean to win the Nations Cup to you and your team?
It would be a massive win for South African Halo. Most international players look down on us do to our inexperience and connection. It feels like we are representing the best the country has to offer and we want to make a name for ourselves!
Rapid Fire
Favorite Halo game?
Halo 3 Campaign, Halo 5 Multiplayer.
Favorite competitive Halo map?
The Pit
Favorite competitive Halo game mode?
CTF
Favorite competitive Halo weapon?
Sniper/Sword
If HCS Pro Talk were to visit your home country, where is one place we’d have to eat?
Tough one. Visit me so I can cook you some native Afrikaans dishes. Braaivleis, Poitjie and lots more.
What is one thing you need to have in Halo Infinite?
Support for South African Halo from 343. We want to compete too!
Closing
Make sure to follow NicmeistaR on Twitter @NicmeistaR and tune into the Europa Halo Nations Cup on Sunday, July 26th over on Twitch!
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