Naded

Halo 2
Naded's Halo career began at the start of the 2006 MLG season - MLG New York, where he played as a member of Storm Ventures alongside Ramby, Poon and Legit. Though none of the players on the team had achieved much success in MLG prior to the formation of the roster, Naded and his team stormed onto the scene with a 6th place finish at the kickoff event, coming all the way out of the open bracket to do so. They followed this up with four top 8 placings over the course of the regular season, finishing as high as 2nd at MLG Chicago and only finishing outside the top 8 once - at MLG Anaheim, where SV were unexpectedly upset by Triggers Down early in the winners' bracket and had the unfortunate luck of drawing the powerhouse Carbon squad early in the losers' bracket. At the MLG New York Playoffs, where the stakes and prize money were higher, SV finished 6th. They went into the MLG Las Vegas National Championships looking to upset the top teams and win big money, but ultimately fell short, losing both of their bracket matches and only defeating XiT Woundz in consolation.

Storm Ventures broke up during the 2006 offseason, with Naded and Legit joining the high-profile Str8 Rippin alongside MLG celebrities Tsquared and Foulacy. After a 5th place finish at the kickoff event in Charlotte, Naded and Legit left Str8, citing their increased expectations with a high-profile team and the disappointment of such a low finish. Naded and Legit then reunited with Ramby to form Perfect Storm alongside newcomer Xtrem1st. The new squad had a strong 3rd place finish in the Meadowlands, but followed it up with a 6th place finish at the following event in Dallas, leading to Naded leaving the team to join The Agency alongside Mackeo, Victory X and SK, replacing the departing ElamiteWarrior. With the Agency, Naded took another 3rd place finish in Chicago, but would not see anything higher as he would close the season out with 5th in Orlando and 4th at the Las Vegas National Championships. Naded attended the MLG Canadian Open 2007 as a member of The Agency as well, with Slim filling in for Mackeo. They finished 3rd.

Halo 3
Naded started Halo 3 off on a new team called Fatal Images alongside three amateur players - TiZoXiC, Severince and Wooooly. Naded managed to lead his unproven squad to an 8th place finish at the kickoff event in the Meadowlands. At the following event in San Diego, Fatal Images placed 8th once again, this time with the veteran Foulacy in place of Wooooly. After San Diego, Naded was picked up by Classic, a team looking to rebound following a disappointing placement in San Diego. Alongside Naded on Classic were Soldi3r187, AnT and Legend. Naded replaced FeaR on the roster. Unfortunately, Naded's only event with Classic was disappointing, a 10th place finish in Orlando. After Orlando, Naded replaced FeaR for the second straight event, this time joining Defy, Best Man and Gandhi on Legendz. The result in Toronto was another 10th place finish. Naded then joined the struggling former juggernaut Carbon alongside Cpt Anarchy, GH057ayame and ShockWave. They finished 7th in Dallas. The roster returned more practiced at the Las Vegas National Championships and managed to secure both Carbon and Naded's highest placings of the season - 3rd, closing an otherwise disappointing season out on a relatively high note for Naded.

The 2009 season began with Naded again forming a new team - VG The New Order - alongside Defy, Best Man and Karma. This team had documented chemistry issues and ended up finishing 9th at the season opener in the Meadowlands. Best Man and Defy then left the team, and Naded looked to try his luck at bringing another two amateur players into prominence, as he had previously done with the members of Storm Ventures, Xtrem1st, and the members of the first Fatal Images roster. Naded and Karma hosted open tryouts for the open spots on the team, eventually picking up Tens0r and Tetra Shot. This would not work out well however, as the team failed to even make it out of the open bracket in Columbus, finishing 33rd-40th. Naded then rejoined Carbon, this time alongside Shockwave, Defy and Walshy. For the remainder of the season, the new Carbon lineup became fan favorites as they took out top teams like Str8 Rippin, Final Boss and Instinct. Unfortunately, not even this roster would result in Naded's first event win, as they closed out the season with a 2nd place finish and back to back 3rd place finishes.

Naded kicked off 2010 with a new team - Heaven and Earth, alongside Clutch, Karma and KillerDrew. The new squad finished a disappointing 9th at the kickoff in Orlando, and Naded was back on Carbon shortly after, this time alongside Defy, Best Man and Walshy, as Shockwave had retired in the '09 offseason. The lack of Shockwave had an impact on Carbon's performance, as they finished 6th in Columbus. With SK in place of Best Man, Carbon finished 13th in Raleigh, and Naded and Defy left, this time returning to Str8 Rippin alongside Tsquared and GH057ayame. Str8 finished 9th in D.C. and failed to qualify for the Dallas National Championships.

Halo: Reach
As he could not compete in the Halo 3 National Championships, Naded instead competed in the Reach Exhibition for the event. He and Legit reformed Perfect Storm alongside Karma and KillerDrew. They finished 9th. For the 2011 season kickoff in Dallas, Naded and Legit joined Darkest Hour alongside Twylight and Goofy. The team finished 14th and the reformed duo left shortly after to again join Str8 Rippin, this time alongside Tsquared and Ryanoob. They took 2nd in Columbus, falling only to the "God Squad" Instinct in the finals. Despite their 2nd place finish, Tsquared and Legit decided to part ways with Naded and Ryanoob in favor of reuniting a classic Str8 Rippin lineup, leaving Naded to join Triggers Down alongside Hysteria, Amish Acorns and SK. The squad finished 15th in Anaheim. He then joined THO Evil alongside Crimsix, Twin Savior and Goofy for Raleigh, finishing 7th. His final team of the season would be fan-favorite Turning Point alongside Ninja, Mikwen and Walshy. The popular squad would take 9th in Orlando and 12th at the Providence National Championships.

For the MLG Winter Championship 2012 event, Naded once again decided to team with amateurs. Reforming Storm Ventures alongside Hoaxer, Titomatic and Kampy, he managed only a top 16 finish.

Halo 4
At the MLG Fall Championship 2012, Naded rejoined Triggers Down alongside Hysteria, Elumnite and Neighbor. They finished top 16. He attended one more Halo 4 event - AGL 8 Knoxville, where as a member of Infamous alongside Lethul, Goofy and Ryanoob, he nearly achieved his first event win, toppling the God Squad Ambush but being unable to defeat Requiem in the finals.

Halo 2: Anniversary
Naded and Goofy reunited with Legit for the first Halo 2: Anniversary event - the PAX Prime Showdown 2014, with Mikwen rounding out the VwS Gaming roster. They finished 2nd, losing only to eXcellence Gaming. VwS Gaming returned at the ESL MCC Launch Invitational, finishing 4th.

Naded went on to play for Str8 Rippin for all of HCS Season 1. Str8 placed 6th at Iron Games Columbus 2014 and UGC St. Louis 2015 with a roster of Naded, Tsquared, Str8 SicK and Prototype. Prototype was then swapped for Legit and they placed top 12 at Gamers For Giving 2015 before finishing the season with a top 6 place finish at the HCS Season 1 Finals.

On March 18, 2015, it was confirmed that Naded had left Str8 Rippin to form Team Randa with Randa, Ryanoob and ContrA. On April 17, the team was acquired by Winterfox. Winterfox placed 4th at Iron Games Atlanta 2015, losing to Cloud9 in the losers' bracket. Winterfox underwent a roster change between events, swapping out Contra for Arkanum. Despite the new roster, the team's placing did not change, and they again placed 4th at HCS Indianapolis 2015. Naded and Winterfox lost a step at the HCS Season 2 Finals, closing out their season with a top 6 finish.

Halo 5: Guardians
Naded was unofficially dropped from Winterfox when they announced a new roster without him going forward. On October 25, 2015, Naded joined a new organization, Team Allegiance, alongside eL TowN, Str8 SicK and Goofy. Early into Halo 5's lifespan, Allegiance replaced Goofy and Str8 SicK with Cratos and Suspector. The new roster dominated the Halo World Championship 2016 NA qualifier series, taking the highest seed in the NA Regional Finals. At the X Games Aspen 2016 invitational, Allegiance finished 3rd, earning Bronze Medals. At Regionals, Allegiance finished top 4, sweeping their group and defeating Noble eSports before being upset in the semifinals by Denial eSports. Regardless, Allegiance qualified for Halo World Championship 2016. At Worlds, Naded and Allegiance started off on a bad note, getting swept 3-0 by Team Liquid. They swept the remainder of their group to advance into the bracket, facing a tough first-round match against Renegades. Despite going down 2-0 in the series and 2-0 in Game 3 Coliseum CTF, Naded lead Allegiance on a comeback, helping them win three straight games to advance to the semifinals. In the semis, they faced Team eLevate, defeating them in 6 games. In the finals, Allegiance were swept 4-0 by the dominant Counter Logic Gaming squad, ending their night with a 2nd place finish. Naded was named the Mega Bloks Tournament MVP of Halo World Championship 2016, a fan-voted title.

Shortly after Worlds, Naded was confirmed to have left Team Allegiance. On April 5, he announced on Twitter that he had joined OpTic Gaming alongside FlamesworD and MaNiaC. After helping OpTic qualify for the Summer 2016 season of the HCS Pro League, Naded announced that he was leaving OpTic's active roster, leaving them a player short days before the start of the season.

Naded refrained from competing until the season ended. After the season's conclusion, he immediately began searching for a new team, finding one in Luminosity Gaming alongside Eco, Danoxide and former teammate eL TowN. Luminosity had an up and down Fall Season, having impressive showings against the strongest of teams. After some struggles, they replaced Eco with Victory X. Luminosity ended up just missing out on qualifying for the Season Finals in the final week, finishing with a 6-8 record good enough for 5th place.

During the offseason, Naded formed a new team alongside Cratos, Str8 SicK and Nemassist. In a controversial "business decision", Cratos and Enigma6 manager Showtime managed to acquire Enigma6's pro seed despite only one member of the team and the manager being carried forward. On January 16, the team was signed by Pnda Gaming. The roster's first event together was UGC St. Louis 2017, where they finished in the top 12 after losses to SetToDestroyX and Luminosity Gaming. Following UGC, Pnda replaced Nemassist with Danoxide. At ME Las Vegas 2017, a rejuvenated Pnda showed up, taking out Team Allegiance in a dramatic series to qualify for Halo World Championship 2017 and ultimately finishing 4th overall after another win over Str8 Rippin followed by a loss to Team EnVyUs. On March 13, Pnda announced the release of its Halo roster. Cratos confirmed that they would be competing as Crowd Pleasers moving forward. The following day, it was announced that Crowd Pleasers would be sponsored by MoneyMatches for Worlds and attending as TMMT Crowd Pleasers. At Worlds, Crowd Pleasers were placed in a group alongside reigning champions OpTic Gaming and 2nd-ranked EU squad Supremacy. CP were able to defeat Supremacy 3-1, but were swept by OpTic for a 2nd place finish in the group. In their first match of the Championship Bracket, CP were defeated 4-3 in a very close match against Str8 Rippin. Looking to go on a Losers' Bracket run, they defeated London Conspiracy 4-1 to clinch top 8, but could not get past Team EnVyUs, who swept them 4-0 and sent them home with a top 8 finish.

The weekend after Worlds, Naded declared his free agency. The following day, he announced his new team, consisting of himself, eL ToWn, Suspector and TriPPPeY. This team did not last long however, as Naded ended up joining Evil Geniuses alongside Roy, Lunchbox and Falcated, his first time officially teaming with the Brown twins. At UMG Daytona, EG finished in the top 12. Naded announced his retirement from competitive Halo 5: Guardians the following week.

Naded returned to competing in October, forming Team VT alongside D3M0N D, Artic and Claim. The team was signed by CheckSix Gaming after a few strong Fall 2017 Open Circuit placings. At DreamHack Denver, CheckSix finished in the top sixteen after losses to Team EnVyUs and Team CryptiK.

On December 31, Naded announced his team for Halo World Championship 2018 season, consisting of himself alongside Suspector, Sabinater and Danoxide.

Trivia

 * Naded is the longest tenured current Halo pro, with his first top 8 placing occurring in April 2006.
 * Naded is one of the most popular Halo streamers featured on Twitch.
 * Among the competitive Halo community, Naded has gained the unfortunate stigma of being one of the best players who's never won a major event.
 * Naded is a father.

Interviews

 * Naded Answers Your Questions - Stride Q&A - from majorleaguegaming.com
 * Halo 4 Interview
 * MLG Pro Sitdown: Naded - sports.espn.go.com - 04/30/09

Articles

 * Naded leaves OpTiC Gaming days before HCS Pro League kicks off - espn.go.com - 05/31/16

Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b29_gMTrxWI