Tsquared

Biography
As a player, Tsquared is one of the most successful and recognizable in competitive Halo history, with numerous event wins including the 2008 MLG National Championships and the 2006 World Series of Video Games Finals. At the height of his career, Tsquared had one of the most lucrative contracts in Major League Gaming, and his likeness appeared on over 175,000,000 Dr Pepper bottles.

In addition to his legendary Halo career, Tsquared has also been under the spotlight in different ways, appearing in a gaming reality show in 2011 and working as a writer/producer for Newegg in 2015.

Tom Taylor was born on October 15, 1987. He is from Orlando, Florida.

Halo: CE
Tsquared's first major tournament on record was AGP 3 in 2003, where he managed a top 4 performance as a member of Florida Jackalopes (FJ) with Gintron, SoLo and Bowman. In 2004, he attended MLG Dallas with a 3v3 FJ roster of himself, Gintron and Killer. Tsquared then formed Team Squared for MLG Chicago with a roster including Legend, McGavin and Mighty. They finished in the top 5 at the event. Tsquared then joined The Dream Team with Alex, Csquared and Scythe for MLG Atlanta and finished 4th. For AGP 5, he joined No Talent alongside star players Toxin, Tupac and Zyos. They finished 2nd, falling to Domination in the finals. Tsquared and Zyos then formed YES!!! with Scythe and Slim for Tsquared's next event, MLG San Francisco, at which he would receive his first major tournament win. Tsquared then reformed No Talent with Toxin and Tupac for AGP 6, this time with Gintron as the fourth. They finished 2nd, again falling to Domination in the finals. At MLG Boston, Tsquared played on team iGameSpot with McGavin, Slim and Hugo. They finished top 5, but Tsquared won the FFA competition. Tsquared and Slim ended the 2004 season with a return to The Dream Team, this time alongside Alex and Darkman. The roster finished 4th at the MLG New York National Championships.

2005
Tsquared started his 2005 season of with a 2nd place finish at MLG D.C.. His Check Six roster for the event featured Sergio, Tupac and Zyos. After being dropped from Check Six by Zyos for "attitude problems", he struggled to find consistency in the first half of the long 2005 season, hopping between teams as each event passed. At MLG Houston, he placed 4th as a member of LeGendZ alongside Defy, Gandhi and Vash. He then joined Str8 Rippin for MLG Orlando for a 3rd place finish alongside Fonzi, Foulacy and Karma. In St. Louis, he teamed with Tupac, Vash and KillerN as Exigent for a 4th place finish. He then rejoined Str8 Rippin alongside Fonzi, Foulacy and Zyos for a 1st place finish at the all-Team Slayer MLG Philadelphia event. He also competed in the Halo: CE tournament at this event, taking a top 4 finish under the FJ name. Tsquared and the Str8 Rippin roster were then acquired by Trademark Gamers and began attending events under the TmG moniker. They repeated their Philadelphia success with another win in Las Vegas. They then competed in the VGL Orlando tournament with ShockWav3 in place of Zyos, finishing 2nd. TmG then swapped out Fonzi and ShockWav3 for Detach and Mack for a 3rd place finish at MLG Seattle. Detach and Mack then left and were replaced by Cpt Anarchy and a returning Fonzi, leading to a 2nd place finish in Los Angeles. The original TmG lineup of Tsquared, Fonzi, Foulacy and Zyos then reunited for MLG Atlanta, where they failed to win a tournament for the first time, finishing 2nd after losing to Team 3D in the finals. The team then parted ways with TrademarkGamers and Tsquared, Fonzi and Foulacy reformed Str8 Rippin with Tupac as the fourth, for a 3rd place finish at MLG Chicago. Tsquared then rejoined LeGendZ alongside Defy, Vash and Toxin for the MLG New York National Championships, leading to a top 6 finish to close out the 2005 season.

2006
Tsquared started off the 2006 season on the team that he wouldn't leave until 2011, Str8 Rippin. The initial roster of Tsquared, Defy, Fonzi and Foulacy started the season off with two straight 2nd place finishes in New York and Dallas, before a 3rd place finish in Anaheim. Defy was then replaced by Cpt Anarchy for the WSVG Dallas 2006 qualifying event, where Str8 qualified for the WSVG finals in December. Defy returned to the team for MLG, but the reunited squad finished 7th in Chicago, leading to Cpt Anarchy replacing Defy for the remainder of the season. Str8 closed out the 2006 season with three straight 3rd place finishes in Chicago, the New York Playoffs and the Las Vegas Championships, before winning the WSVG Finals to close out the year.

2007
Tsquared started off 2007 with a new Str8 Rippin roster of himself, Foulacy, Legit and Naded. They finished 5th at the opener in Charlotte, and Legit and Naded were replaced by BigTimer and Neighbor for the following event in Meadowlands, where they placed 11th, a career low for Tsquared at that point. BigTimer and Foulacy were then replaced by Havok and Mimic for another disappointing finish, this time 7th place, in Dallas. Things looked up from there however, as Havok and Mimic were then replaced by ElamiteWarrior and a returning Legit. This roster would start off with a 2nd place finish in Chicago before taking 1st place in Orlando. Despite their momentum, they were denied a national championship, finishing 3rd at the Las Vegas National Championships. They then closed out the year and Halo 2 era with a 2nd place finish at the MLG Canada Open.

2008
The late-2007 Str8 Rippin roster stuck together to start off Halo 3, finishing 5th at the Meadowlands opener. They came back strong however, winning the next event in San Diego. Despite another strong 2nd place finish in Orlando, Str8 Rippin made a roster change, swapping out Neighbor for newcomer Snipedown, who had already won an event with Triggers Down in his short time on the scene. The new Str8 Rippin roster came out hot, finishing 1st in Toronto and 2nd in Dallas before closing out the season with their first national championship at the Las Vegas National Championships, solidifying their dominance of the 2008 season. Following the victory, Tsquared was featured on 175,000,000 Dr Pepper bottles throughout the United States.

2009
Tsquared and Str8 Rippin had a rocky start to the 2009 season, with a 4th place finish in Meadowlands, but came roaring back to finish 1st in Columbus. After another 4th place finish in Dallas, they made it to the finals in Anaheim, where after an epic 11-game series, they were defeated by Triggers Down. The Str8 Rippin roster then had a team-worst 6th place finish at the Orlando National Championships.

2010
After three years teaming together, Tsquared and ElamiteWarrior parted ways after the 2009 season, and Heinz was brought in as Elamite's replacement to start off 2010. This did not improve the Str8 Rippin's fortunes, as they finished 8th at the Orlando opener. Things only got worse from there, with the team returning for a 10th place finish in Columbus, Tsquared's first finish outside of the money since Meadowlands 2007. Tsquared then completely retooled the Str8 Rippin roster, recruiting Chig, GH057ayame and Soldier187 from Classic. The new roster finished 14th in Raleigh, a new career-low for Tsquared. This lead to Defy and Naded replacing Chig and Soldier for a 9th place finish in D.C.. The effort was not enough to qualify for the Dallas National Championships. Tsquared coached Status Quo at the event instead, leading them to a successful 2nd place finish.

Halo: Reach
Tsquared started off 2011 competing on a team other than Str8 Rippin for the first time since 2006. As a member of Instinct alongside Lunchbox, Roy and Totz, Tsquared finished 6th at the Dallas opener. Tsquared then reformed Str8 Rippin for the next event in Columbus with Legit, Naded and Ryanoob. This roster placed 2nd. Despite the successful finish, Tsquared and Legit parted ways with Naded and Ryanoob after the event to reunite the 2007-08 lineup of themselves alongside ElamiteWarrior and Neighbor. This team went into Anaheim with high expectations, but placed 14th. They followed that up with an even more disappointing 20th in Raleigh, Tsquared's lowest placing ever, and the squad parted ways after this. Tsquared then teamed with Adrenaline and newcomers Merkage and TheOnlyToxic for Orlando and the Providence National Championships, placing 13th and 20th.

For the final MLG Reach event in Columbus, Tsquared teamed with Ninja and Mikwen of Turning Point fame, along with the veteran Strongside. Str8 again underperformed, placing top 16 at the event. However, the roster did stick together and won EGL 5 in Europe.

Halo 2: Anniversary
Tsquared and Str8 Rippin had a strong return to the Halo scene after a near three year absence at the ESL MCC Launch Invitational. The 2nd place roster consisted of Tsquared, Roy, Ryanoob, and Str8 Sick.

Str8 Rippin's roster going into Iron Games Columbus 2014 consisted of Tsquared, Naded, Prototype and Str8Sick. They placed 6th at the event. At UGC St. Louis 2015, the roster repeated their 6th placing. After UGC, Prototype was dropped from the team and replaced with Legit. This roster went into Gamers For Giving 2015 with little practice and placed 9-12th. They went into the season finals at PAX East 2015 as the 6th seed and ended their season placing top 6. On April 3, 2015, Tsquared announced his retirement from competitive Halo on his Twitch stream.

Halo 5: Guardians
Despite his retirement, Tsquared competed in the majority of the NA Online Qualifiers during the fight to qualify for the 2016 Halo World Championship NA Regionals. He and his various Str8 Rippin rosters were ultimately unable to qualify for Regionals. Tsquared continued to compete in Halo 5, assembling a Str8 Rippin roster consisting of himself, Chaser, Mr Blakerz and Prototype for the HCS Pro League Summer 2016 qualifier series.

After announcing his retirement, Tom worked as a writer/producer for Newegg, an online store specializing in PC accessories. In 2016, he became a full-time caster for the Halo Championship Series, often casting alongside former teammate ElamiteWarrior. Later in 2016, Tsquared helped found a new incarnation of Str8 Rippin as a full-fledged esports organization, fielding a team in the HCS Pro League. In May 2017, Tsquared joined the Str8 Rippin roster as a coach.

Trivia

 * Tsquared has the record for most MLG All-Star MVP's (3)
 * Tsquared appeared on The Controller, a reality show in which professional gamers undertook physical challenges whilst attempting to coach amateur gamers in Battlefield 3.

Interviews

 * MLG Columbus 2009 - Tsquared Interview - youtube.com - 06/07/09
 * Timeout With Tsquared - majorleaguegaming.com - 04/01/09
 * Face Time: Tom 'Tsquared' Taylor - g4tv.com - 12/19/08
 * Timeout With Tsquared - majorleaguegaming.com - 11/19/08
 * Forming a Dynasty: The Tsquared Interview - majorleaguegaming.com - 09/03/08
 * MLG Toronto 2008 - Tsquared and Snipedown Interview - youtube.com - 08/24/08
 * MLG Orlando 2008 - Tsquared Interview - youtube.com - 07/13/08
 * Chat with Major League Gamer Tsquared - espn.go.com - 6/20/08 (Requires ESPN Insider subscription)
 * MLG San Diego 2008 - Tsquared Interview - youtube.com - 06/15/08
 * MLG San Diego 2008 - Tsquared Interview - youtube.com - 06/14/08
 * MLG Meadowlands 2008 - Tsquared Interview - youtube.com - 04/12/08
 * Heading Straight into 08: Tsquared Interview - majorleaguegaming.com - 04/10/08
 * Chat with Major League Gamer Tsquared - espn.go.com - 02/01/08 (Requires ESPN Insider subscription)
 * Halo 3 multiplayer: interview with Tom “Tsquared” Taylor; don’t take my word for it, take his - mercurynews.com via archive.org - 09/24/07
 * Pro-Player Spotlight: Tsquared - majorleaguegaming.com - 02/23/05

Articles

 * Dr Pepper Unveils MLG Themed Bottle — 175,000,000 to be Sold Nationwide! - majorleaguegaming.com - 11/19/08
 * Gamer Gets Sports Star Treatment From Dr Pepper - nytimes.com - 11/18/08
 * Pro Player Profile: Tsquared - majorleaguegaming.com - 08/15/07
 * Pro Player – Tsquared - majorleaguegaming.com - 09/08/06
 * Tsquared - majorleaguegaming.com - 08/09/06
 * MLG Signs First Five Next-Level Pro Player Contracts! - majorleaguegaming.com - 06/21/06

Videos

 * MLG San Diego 2008 - Tsquared's Tips - youtube.com - 06/14/08