Article by Brian "Karpov" Johnson, Championship Gaming Series Global Content Manager and TheCGS.com Editor


“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” -- Henry David Thoreau

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BERLIN, Germany -- Hailing from Lviv, a small Ukrainian city deep in the heart of Eastern Europe, the billboard life of a professional gamer was a distant dream for twin brothers Rostyslav “Manyna” Nedoviz and Volodymyr “Chud1k” Nedoviz.

As staples of the European FIFA community, the two had earned reputations for being world class players. However, due to their geographic location and the general lack of profitable FIFA tournaments worldwide, neither player was able to fully take advantage of their skills -- that is prior to Championship Gaming Series’ inception.

After reading about CGS’s multi-million dollar payroll on a local website, the brothers decided to test the waters and participated in the league’s preliminary online qualifiers, where about each of them secured a first place finish. From there the two made the collective decision to embark on a journey to CGS’s live qualifiers in September in pursuit of their dreams.

Despite having initial trouble obtaining visas, and forking over more than $3,000 in travel costs, Manyna and Chud1k found themselves in Birmingham, United Kingdom vying for spots on CGS’s European teams.

“Although the trip was very expensive and we had several problems scheduling an interview with the embassy for the visas, we were confident in the opportunity in front of us,” explained R. Nedoviz. “In the end we got a bit lucky and everything worked out.”

When the FIFA twins story made its way to Berlin Allianz General Manager Jonas "bsl" Alsaker Vikan he made a point to drop what he was doing and observe one of the brothers in action.

“After seeing the first match, and I'm not sure who played, I pretty much decided ‘I'm having myself a Ukrainian twin.’ In my head they were the easy picks of the draft along with Rudolf ‘The Tactical’ Fischer,” said Vikan.

At the live qualifier Chud1k shined and managed to only drop one match in route to a first place victory in the tournament. Manyna however was only able to muster a disappointing fourth place finish.

“My brother jokingly tells me all the time that the only reason I got drafted is because he performed so well in Birmingham,” said R. Nedoviz while laughing. “However I just tell him that he got so good from playing me all these years and it evens out.”

As fate would have it, both European General Managers were impressed with the twins’ work ethics and attitudes, and as a result each of the brothers heard his name called on draft day.

“I was very surprised when I got drafted -- it was like a dream come true for me and my brother. It was a very great feeling and I want to show my gratitude to ‘bsl’ by playing well in Los Angeles,” said R. Nedoviz.

Stockholm Magnetik General Manager Emil “HeatoN” Christensen was also excited to see the twins become professional gamers.

“After watching them at the live qualifier in Birmingham, you could see that both Manyna and Chud1k were talented players. It was hard to decide which one to choose, but when both of them got drafted, it was rewarding as it gives the league an extra bit of competition,” offered Christensen. “There’s nothing better than competing against your brother to see who the best is at something.”

Less than 24 hours after the draft, the brothers that had worked so hard together perfecting their FIFA skills would be forced to play against each other in arguably the most important game of their lives: CGS’s European Championship.

Coming into the live qualifiers, Chud1k had a slight skill edge over Manyna. His ability to control the tempo of the game and play sound defense had earned him a reputation for being the better of the Nedoviz brothers. Still, Manyna’s status as the #2 Nedoviz did not shy “bsl” away from drafting him.

“Chud1k was the favorite but as they were twins I was sure he would help his brother prepare for L.A.,” said Vikan. “As it turned out Manyna came into his own… Sometimes when you put faith in people and charge them with big responsibilities they respond to it in ways you could not have imagined.”

With the odds stacked against him -- and for that matter his brother’s overwhelming record and reputation -- Manyna was able to overcome Chud1k in penalty kicks and win the game 9-8. From there Berlin went on to win the overall match 30-28. Manyna’s astonishing performance in the match earned him the tournament MVP title.

“Drafting Manyna was a long term decision that had a very unexpected short term effect as he did what no one thought he could: beat his brother, win the MVP award and the European Championship for us,” stated an elated Vikan. “Lucky me I guess, and unlucky for all the other FIFA players that will have to face him in Los Angeles.”

Despite being an integral part of Berlin’s European Championship win, Manyna remained humble about his victory.

“The MVP award was great, but I only played well in the final game against my brother and narrowly defeated him on penalty shots. I have to admit that he had a much better overall tournament then I did,” explained R. Nedoviz. “However in the game I really wanted to prove to ‘bsl’ that I deserved to be there and that worked out great.”

With their family, friends and the entire Ukrainian gaming community cheering them on, Manyna and Chud1k have been putting in overtime to try and gain an edge over the international competition. Often logging more than 20 FIFA 07 games per day each, the Nedoviz brothers have their minds set on one goal: winning the World Final.

With Manyna playing for Berlin and Chud1k playing for Stockholm, the two could feasibly play each other in the final match of the season. When asked how he felt about the possibility of a rematch with his brother, Chud1k responded with one word, “REVENGE.”



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