Walshy

Biography
Dave Walsh was born on June 23, 1984. He is from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

2003-04: Career beginnings
Walshy's Halo career began in early 2003, when he attended his first major Halo tournament, AGP 2, as a member of GV with Bighead, D-bo and Indoor Pool. The team finished only top 32, but Walshy turned heads with a top 8 placing in the FFA tournament. He then attended AGP 3 as a member of Psycho Soldiers with Biggy, Corrosion and DragonSpear. This time his team fared much better, finishing top 4, while Walshy won the FFA competition.

To kick off 2004, Walshy and Psycho Soldiers attended MLG Philadelphia, where they finished in the top 8. Walshy and two members then took part in the MLG Dallas 3v3 tournament, where they placed top 8 once again. Walshy then formed a new Psycho Soldiers squad consisting of himself, Csquared, Killer (not to be confused with KillerN) and Gintron. The new squad attended AGP 4, where they finished top 4 with Walshy again winning the FFA. Walshy and Gintron then left Psycho Soldiers to form Team FFA with KillerN and Zyos, a formidable squad of individually talented players, with the goal of taking down the Ogre twins and their dominant Shoot to Kill squad. Team FFA proved to be a success, defeating StK in the 4v4 events at both MLG Chicago and MLG Atlanta. However, it would be a short-lived squad, as Walshy and KillerN would then leave Team FFA to join up with Ogre1 and Ogre2, forming Team Domination. The team lived up to its name, winning MLG Seattle. Domination would take the next three MLG events off to compete in AGP. At AGP 5, Walshy swept the competitions, winning the 4v4 with Domination, the 2v2 with Ogre2, and the FFA competition. He nearly repeated the feat at AGP 6, but he and Ogre2 finished top 4 in the 2v2. Regardless, Walshy left AGP 6 having won their last four FFA tournaments. Walshy and Domination then returned to MLG for the New York National Championships, where they won the 4v4 to be crowned the first ever MLG National Champions, and Walshy won the 2v2 with Ogre1 to become the 2v2 National Champions.

2005: StK to Team 3D
In the off season between 2004 and 2005, KillerN left Domination and was replaced by Saiyan. The team then returned to the name of StK, short for Shoot to Kill. As StK, this roster won 5 Halo 2 events, four in MLG and one in AGP. StK then picked up a sponsorship from 3D, and changed its name accordingly to Team 3D. As Team 3D, they won another MLG event and a CPL event, giving Walshy a record 9 MLG events in a row, and 13 overall. Team 3D was finally defeated at MLG Philadelphia 2005, a controversial event due to the gametypes being exclusively Team Slayer, by Str8 Rippin, ending Walshy's historic streak. Though 3D lost in the Halo 2 event in Philadelphia, they also participated in the Halo: CE tournament at the same event and won.

After Philadelphia, Team 3D took the next few MLG events off and participated in two World Cyber Games 2v2 events. At the World Cyber Games USA 2005 event, Walshy teamed with Saiyan as "The Alley", where they were defeated in the finals by the Ogre twins. At the World Cyber Games Finals, Walshy and Saiyan were eliminated in the pool play round.

Following their WCG sabbatical, Team 3D returned to MLG as dominant as ever, winning the final four events of 2005, including the 2005 MLG New York National Championships, making Walshy and the Ogres back to back MLG National Halo 2 Champions.

2006: Final Boss
In 2006, Team 3D changed its name to Final Boss, and started the year off with the dominance that had become expected from them. They won the first four events of the year, putting them at a streak of eight straight event wins, but competition was forming. Str8 Rippin and the recently formed Carbon were both looking more and more like contenders with each event, and Carbon finally broke the wall with a team change, and defeated Final Boss in the finals at MLG Orlando 2006. Carbon went on to win the final three events of the year, including the 2006 MLG Las Vegas National Championships, marking the first time Walshy had lost consecutive MLG events since 2004.

2007: Addition of Strongside
After three straight losses, it was clear something had to change in Final Boss, so they made the decision to drop Saiyan in favor of Strongside. This pickup proved to be successful, as Final Boss won the first two events of 2007. They were again defeated by Carbon at MLG Dallas 2007, but came roaring back to win MLG Chicago 2007. Final Boss was again defeated, this time by Str8 Rippin, at MLG Orlando 2007, but they ended the season in prime form, defeating Carbon in the finals at the 2007 MLG Las Vegas National Championships to be crowned the final Halo 2 National Champions. After the Nationals, Final Boss attended one more MLG Halo 2 event, the MLG Canada Open, which they won.

2008: Dropped from Final Boss
Walshy's 23rd and final MLG event win came at MLG Meadowlands 2008 with the returning Final Boss roster. Despite winning the inaugural event, Final Boss struggled at the next two events, with 5th and 7th placings, and made the controversial decision to drop Walshy. Walshy then joined Instinct with Roy, Lunchbox and Soviet, and placed 2nd at the following event, defeating Final Boss in the process. Instinct then placed 5th at the next event, but took 2nd at the 2008 MLG Las Vegas National Championships.

2009: Instinct to Carbon
Walshy stayed with Instinct (which had replaced Soviet with Neighbor) for two more events, placing 2nd and 5th, before being dropped. He then joined Carbon with teammates Defy, Naded and Shockwav3, and again outplaced his old team at the next event, defeating them in the process to place 2nd at MLG Dallas 2009. Carbon closed the year out with 3rd place finishes at MLG Anaheim 2009 and the 2009 MLG Orlando National Championships, Walshy's lowest finish at a Nationals at that point.

2010: Struggles with Carbon
Walshy stayed on Carbon to start 2010, with Naded and the retiring Shockwav3 replaced by Best Man and Strongside. Carbon placed 11th at MLG Orlando 2010, Walshy's lowest ever placing, and 6th at MLG Columbus 2010 after replacing Strongside with Naded. They then replaced Best Man with SK for MLG Raleigh 2010, and Walshy "improved" on his personal worst with a 13th place finish. Despite replacing Defy and Naded with Chig and Soldier187, Carbon repeated their 13th placing at MLG Washington, D.C. 2010. However, despite having only one top 8 placing in 2010, Carbon managed to be one of the 8 teams to qualify for the 2010 MLG Dallas National Championships. They came out hot, taking a game from the extremely hot Final Boss squad in round 1, but still finished in 8th out of 8 teams to end Halo 3 on a low note for Walshy.

2011: Turning Point
Walshy had planned to attend MLG Dallas 2011 as a member of Carbon with LifeStyle, Russo and ScarVayne, but personal issues caused him to miss the event. Walshy returned at MLG Columbus 2011 on team Ambush with InSaiyan, Phaint and Russo, where he would place a career worst 25th. After his one event with Ambush, Walshy would form Turning Point with Mikwen, Best Man and Ninja. This team was an instant fan favorite. They started MLG Anaheim 2011 in the Open Bracket, and after fighting through the entire bracket, placed 7th. Adrenaline then replaced Best Man on Turning Point, and they placed 9th at MLG Raleigh 2011. For the final two events of 2011, Naded replaced Adrenaline, where they again placed 9th at MLG Orlando 2011, and 12th at the 2011 MLG Providence National Championships, Walshy's lowest ever placing at a Nationals. This turned out to be Walshy's final event as a competitor, as he would announce his retirement in March 2012.

Casting
Since retiring from competitive play, Walshy has become a popular caster for Halo events, as well as an occasional coach and a popular streamer, often streaming himself playing Halo: CE from the Master Chief Collection on Twitch. His first event as a caster was the MLG Winter Championship 2012. Walshy coached Str8 Rippin at the ESL MCC Launch Invitational in 2014. The 2nd place roster consisted of Roy, Ryanoob, Str8 Sick and Tsquared. In 2014, Walshy became a full-time caster for the Halo Championship Series, commentating at every event.

Trivia

 * Walshy is often referred to as Captain Clutch.
 * Walshy set the record for most consecutive MLG tournaments won (9).
 * Walshy competed in SC2 at Red Bull Battlegrounds Detroit 2014.
 * Walshy was asked to join Str8 Rippin after being dropped from Final Boss in 2008 and only declined because he had previously promised Soviet that he'd team with him.
 * Walshy had a dog named "Middy" that he named after the Halo 2 map Midship.
 * Walshy is one of the most successful Halo players ever, having won 23 MLG tournaments.

Interviews

 * David 'Walshy' Walsh Believes It's 'Almost Impossible' To Compete With StarCraft II And League Of Legends from Forbes
 * Red Bull Treats Pro Gamers Like Dave "Walshy" Walsh Like Real Athletes from Forbes
 * Interview at the ECA Booth - PAX East 2013
 * Pax 2013
 * Chat with MLG's Walshy - espn.go.com - 08/13/09
 * Timeout With Walshy - majorleaguegaming.com - 07/01/09
 * MLG Pro Sitdown: Walshy - sports.espn.go.com - 04/16/09
 * MLG Meadowlands 2009 - Walshy Interview - youtube.com - 04/05/09
 * Chat with Major League Gamer Walshy - espn.go.com - 01/16/09
 * MLG Las Vegas Championships 2008 - Walshy and Lunchbox Interview - youtube.com - 11/23/08
 * Timeout With Walshy - majorleaguegaming.com - 11/12/08
 * The Legend Continues: The Walshy Interview - majorleaguegaming.com - 09/02/08
 * MLG Toronto 2008 - Walshy and Soviet Interview - youtube.com - 08/23/08
 * Chat: MLG Roster Chaos - espn.go.com - 08/08/08
 * MLG Meadowlands 2008 - Walshy Interview - youtube.com - 04/13/08
 * Ready for the 2008 Pro Circuit: The Walshy Interview - majorleaguegaming.com - 04/10/08
 * Chat with MLG player Walshy - espn.go.com - 03/28/08 (Requires ESPN Insider subscription)
 * Ogre 2 and Walshy Talk Halo 3 Weapons and Controller Settings - majorleaguegaming.com - 12/13/07
 * Ogre 2 and Walshy Talk Communication - majorleaguegaming.com - 12/12/07
 * Ask a Pro – Walshy - majorleaguegaming.com - 06/09/07
 * Amped eSports Interview: Walshy - youtube.com - 06/07/07

Articles

 * This weekend, Walshy turns in his controller for a keyboard - dailydot.com - 08/21/14
 * Walshy Retires; Will Commentate Halo at Winter Championships - majorleaguegaming.com - 03/01/12
 * Walshy and Soviet Added to Instinct Roster - majorleaguegaming.com - 07/31/08
 * Final Boss Releases Walshy - majorleaguegaming.com - 07/23/08
 * Pro Player – Walshy - majorleaguegaming.com - 09/08/06
 * Walshy - majorleaguegaming.com - 08/09/06

Videos

 * Thoughts on Halo 5 Guardians Early Access
 * 2006 Halo 2 Montage - Editing by Peridious
 * Final Boss Halo 2 Montage
 * Halo Tips With Walshy
 * Walshy Talks Halo 4 Loadouts
 * Player Profile: Walshy