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ny, Airgun Designs, decided
to wipe the slate clean and
try something better than
a blowback system. The result? The Automag, the first
blow-forward, high pressure regulated paintball gun
that could fire faster than
anything the game had yet
seen, and do it through any
weather. Used by countless
serious players and top professional teams in the early
and mid-nineties, the Automag soldiers on today in
the hands of enthusiasts.
The first team to use compressed air in competition
also included Tom Kaye. Tom
was a great ambassador for
paintball as well.
Debra Dion Krischke
As a former NSG PR person
in the early 80s, Debra Dion
Krischke knew the game of
paintball and she especially
knew the tournament scene
and culture. Pulling that
knowledge together with her
ability to bring the industry
together made her International Amateur Open a huge
yearly event for nearly 15
years. Debra was also the
founder and is still the owner
of Three Rivers Paintball.
Oliver Lang
Oliver Lang is one of the all
time great paintball players with more professional
wins under his belt than just
about anyone in tournament
paintball. He’s played for the
Ironkids, the Ironmen and
has done two stints with Dynasty. But Oliver didn’t make
this list just on his playing
ability. He been influential is
a member of the DYE pro-
duction team for years (he is
no longer at Dye), he’s traveled the world as an ambassador of the game and he is
one of the most sponsored
players in history.
Chris LaSoya
As you have noticed there
are not many player-only names on this list but
Chris LaSoya is one of the
few exceptions. When Chris
and his Miami Effect team
left the NXL in 2004 due to
what they called “unfairly
not letting us play in other
leagues”, he forced those
in charge of tournament
leagues worldwide to take
notice. Sometimes the team,
and in this case the player,
is the star, not the league.
The NXL changed the rule in
short order. Chris won with
Effect, with Infamous, and
with Avalanche, he had a
huge gun endorsement (and
cut of each sale) and for a
decade was the face of tournament paintball.
Sergei Leontiev
When Sergei Leontiev, Russian bank owner, gathered
his camo-wearing friends
in 1996 and headed to the
paintball field near Moscow,
Russia to play some woodsball, no one would have predicted that he would turn
this group into an international professional powerhouse paintball team. But
that’s exactly what happened. Still the team’s owner
Sergei turned this team into
its own brand in paintball.
Tom Kaye
Debra Dion Krischke
Oliver Lang
Chris LaSoya
Sergei Leontiev
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