Tom Taylor, known by the gamertag Tsquared, is a former professional gamer and captain of the team Str8 Rippin, which has had notable success in Major League Gaming (MLG), and was also the coach of Status Quo during the 2010 National Championships in Dallas where he helped them place 2nd behind Final Boss.[citation needed][2] Making him one of the only players to also coach an event.[citation needed] He signed a contract with MLG valued at approximately US$250,000[3] and earned between $120,000 and $150,000 annually in prize money and endorsement deals.[4] He founded a company called Gaming Lessons that provides tutoring for aspiring professional gamers, particularly in the Halo series.[4] Several other professional gamers from MLG have also worked as instructors at Gaming Lessons.[5] He operates a YouTube channel with over 10,000 subscribers featuring approximately 24 hours worth of content.[6]
| Tsquared | |
|---|---|
 Taylor in 2020 | |
| Personal information | |
| Name | Tom Taylor |
| Born | 1986 or 1987 (age 36–37)[1] Syracuse, New York, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| Games | Halo: Combat Evolved Halo 2 Halo 3 Halo: Reach Gears of War Battlefield 3 |
| Team history | |
| 2005–2010, 2014–2015 | Str8 Rippin |
| 2011 | Instinct |
Tsquared has appeared in MTV's documentary series True Life: I'm a Professional Gamer and on Icons,[7] and has been mentioned in various publications including The Wall Street Journal. He also appeared as part of Stuff magazine's list of 20 most influential people under the age of 30 in August 2006.[8] He appears occasionally on X-Play to provide tips for various online games.
During 2008–2009, Tsquared was featured on over 175 million Dr Pepper bottles issued across the United States as part of a promotional sponsorship for MLG.[9] He currently serves as a GameSpot ambassador.
In November 2015, Tsquared returned to competitive Halo as the leader of the revived Str8 Rippin team during Season 1 of the Halo Championship Series.
On April 3rd, 2015, Tsquared announced his retirement from competitive Halo during a livestream on Twitch.[10]
Tournament placements
edit- MLG New York Championships 2004 – 4th
- MLG New York Championships 2005 – 5 – 6th
- MLG Las Vegas Championships 2006 – 3rd
- MLG Las Vegas Championships 2007 – 3rd
- MLG Las Vegas Championships 2008 – 1st
- MLG Orlando Championships 2009 – 6th
- MLG Providence Championships 2011 – 20th
- MLG Winter Championship 2012 – 13-16th
- ESL MCC Launch Invitational 2nd
- 2015 Halo Championship Series Season 1 – 5th
Personal life
editTaylor was born and raised in Syracuse, New York then moved to Florida in 2001 to attend high school.[1] In 2009 he and Str8 Rippin moved to a gaming house in Orlando, Florida.
In 2011 Tsquared appeared on the YouTube reality television series The Controller: Battlefield 3.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b Cubbison, Brian (December 15, 2008). "Baldwinsville's Tom "Tsquared" Taylor makes hundreds of thousands of dollars playing video games". Syracuse.com. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
- ^ "Tsquared".
- ^ Surette, Tim (2006-06-21). "Gamers get $1m MLG gig". GameSpot.
- ^ a b Gameset Inverview
- ^ "Halo 3 Instructors". Gaming-Lessons.com. Archived from the original on 2007-05-07.
- ^ "TsquaredOfficial - YouTube Channel Stats :: Let's Play Index". letsplayindex.com. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
- ^ "G4 - Icons - ICONS: Tom "Tsquared" Taylor". Archived from the original on 2007-03-21. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
- ^ "Professional video gamer says it's not all fun". ZDNet. 2006-11-09. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20.
- ^ "Making money from video games". Yahoo! Games. Archived from the original on 2009-08-02.
- ^ Throop, David (April 7, 2015). "THE LEGACY OF TOM 'TSQUARED' TAYLOR". DEXERTO. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
- ^ Lish (November 15, 2011). "Tsquared's Blog: The Controller, Print Media Fame, and MLG Providence". Major League Gaming. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
External links
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