MaDFroG

Fredrik Johansson (born September 26, 1984), better known by the pseudonym MaDFroG, is a Swedish Warcraft III and StarCraft II player.

He is considered one of the best and most influential players of the Undead race. He has been successful in a wide number of tournaments and is popular for his unique and ingenious gameplay, which earned him a devoted fanbase. His excellent use of gargoyles against the night elf race is one of his most feared abilities.

Fredrik Johansson is featured in the documentary film Beyond the Game.^[1]

Stay in South Korea

The environment in Seoul, South Korea, known unofficially as the "mecca" of professional gaming, suited him well and he improved as a player. During the first part of his stay he had some success in Korean competitions, finishing third in the Kbk Jeju Tournament, but he did not feel satisfied with what he had achieved.

When his teammates returned to their respective countries by the end of 2003, Johansson remained in the country. A few months later he won the 2004 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne, picking up 25,000 USD.^[2]

This cemented his status as the strongest western player in his respective game and as one of the strongest players in South Korea. This prompted the professional Korean gaming team Sonokong/Frienz to invite him to join, which he accepted.^[3]

His new team members were some of the most recognized professional WarCraft III players of their time, and had various successes in Korean leagues such as winning OGN's SUMA pro-league and MBC Clan Team Battle.

Return to Sweden

Feeling satisfied with his results, he returned to Sweden and rejoined SK Gaming after staying in Seoul for 11 months. He would once again represent his country at the Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC) and finished second again, losing to Dae Hui Cho in the finals.

He was recognized as the greatest competitive gamer of the year 2004 by a panel of experts, and received the first of the "eSports Player of the Year" awards that have been award annually since 2004.^[4]

Afterwards his motivation for the game dropped, and he announced his retirement twice in February and October 2005 at respectively the World e-Sport Games in South Korea and after BlizzCon in the United States. Ever since he has not participated in any competitions, but he did announce his return as an amateur gamer in April 2007.

StarCraft II

Ever since the release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Johansson has been playing frequently on the European ladders and has since participated in a number of tournaments, including the Inferno Cup and played a show match against another top StarCraft II player, TheLittleOne from TeamLiquid at the 2010 European Warcraft 3 Invitational. Afterwards, he stated that he wished to play StarCraft II competitively in the future. Not long afterwards, Johansson was invited to the Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge 2010 (IEM) in Cologne, Germany putting him in direct competition with other professional players outside of Asia. Soon before the start of the tournament, Johansson signed a contract as a StarCraft II player for SK Gaming. However, his contract has not been prolonged for 2011.^[5]

Notable accomplishments

Individual

• EGG (Norway) (2004)
• Electronic Sports World Cup (2004)
• Blizzard Worldwide Invitational (2003)
• Kbk Jeju Tournament (2003)
• Electronic Sports World Cup 2003

Team

Sweden

• World Cyber Games's Nations StarCraft (2001)

SK Gaming

• Electronic Sports League's WC3L Season VIII (2005)

Sonokong/Frienz

• MBCGame's Clan Team Battle (2004)
• Ongamenet's SUMA pro-league (2004)

External links

• Interview with Madfrog 2004
• Interview with Madfrog April 2007
• MaDFroG fansite April 2007
• MadFroG leaves SK Gaming
• MaDFroG Rejoins SK Gaming
• Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson Returns To Warcraft 3

References