The Rise of the Cool, Calm and Collected Player: Quinn

Quinn "Quinn" Callahan, also known as CCnc, has been in the limelight recently. Lately, he has dominated pubs and pro matches. Although he has been in the professional Dota 2 scene for quite some time, his ascend to the spotlight came after he joined his current team Gaimin Gladiators. With Gaimin Gladiators, Quinn has finally won his first-ever Valve title.

A Brief Backstory

Quinn has been in the professional Dota 2 scene since 2012, but in 2017 he gained a reputation when he joined the team founded by Peter "ppd" Dager, The Dire. Shortly after, the team got picked up by Optic Gaming. After a roster shuffle in 2018, the team found its footing. Quinn played a crucial part in Optic’s success. At that time, he was known for playing Queen of Pain and Puck, dominating his lane match-ups. Quinn made it to The International stage at TI8. Unfortunately, his team got eliminated early by Virtus Pro. He made it to The International stage again the following year with Newbee, and his team got eliminated again, only securing a 9th-12th finish. Quinn hits 12K MMr in 2021.

Cool, Calm and Collected 

Apart from being a dominant midlane player, there are other things Quinn is known for - his eloquent and creative trash-talking in pubs. Many crowned him the best trash-talker in Dota 2 due to his effectiveness in constructing neologism. He once flamed a player so hard that the particular player stepped up their game. In the past, he is also known for throwing a tantrum.

Despite his questionable behaviour in the past, Quinn has proved he got what it takes to become one of the best players. When he first joined Gaimin Gladiators, he met criticism for abandoning his region. Despite that, he rose above the noise and helped Gaimin Gladiators become The Lima Major champions.

In midlane, his playstyle is bold and brilliant. He would always think a step or two ahead of his opponent, and there is nothing that his opponent could get without a trade favouring Quinn during the laning stage. Quinn always perfectly thinks about his moves for the midgame before making them. He can perfectly control the crowd with his hero in the late game.

Lastly, Quinn is unforgiving. He will destroy anyone who trash-talked against him both in-game and after the game. TSM’s coach David "MoonMeander" Tan, found out about this the hard way. Currently, Quinn is competing in DreamLeague Season 19. Gaimin Gladiators are one of the favourites to win the tournament. He is the first American player to win a Valve Major as he won The Lima Major with Gaimin Gladaitors.  After DreamLeague, the team has a seat in the upcoming Berlin Major. He also sometimes streams on his Twitch channel.