2790 Sanford "Santhrax" Kelly

Details

• Card ID:
  2790 Sanford "Santhrax" Kelly
• First Name:
  Sanford "Santhrax"
• Last Name:
  Kelly
• Tags: American Empire Arcadia Superstars Ottumwa Old School Celebrations Superstars of 2017
• Other Notes:

  During the recent Ottumwa Trading Card Ceremonies, Sanford "Santhrax" Kelly was among an elite group of video game luminaries from Empire Arcadia who were honored on trading cards for their important contributions to the global gaming culture. Their trading cards were presented by Billy MItchell and Walter Day -- along with the AWARD CERTIFICATE shown below -- on Saturday, November 11, 2017, during the Ottumwa Old School Arcade Galaxies of Gaming Festival, at the Quincy Place Mall, in Ottumwa, Iowa. To see the other trading cards unveiled during this ceremony -- or to see the long chronological history of the TRADING CARDS AWARDS TRADITION, go to this link: Chronological History of the Trading Card Awards Ceremonies

  

  Sanford is renown as one of the world's most versatile fighting game players. He has main staged as a top-8 finalist 4 times at the EVO World Fighting Game Championships. He also won the 2009 Marvel vs. Capcom 2 EVO World Championships -- against none other than Justin Wong. Sanford started playing fighting games as a Tekken player before branching out to other fighting game franchises, such as Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom. After 15 years in the Fighting Game Community, Sanford is going through a big transition that sees him growing out of his traditional role as just a competitor to become more of a mentor who helps guide the next generation of eSports players through the complex -- and sometimes confusing -- eSports industry. In an effort to equip himself with the knowledge that would help him segue to this new role, Sanford felt he had to learn more about the historic roots of eSports. Hearing about the 35th Anniversary Celebration of the 1982 Life Magazine Photo Shoot, he decided to come to Ottumwa, Iowa, with Empire Arcadia founder Isaiah TriForce Johnson, and learn more about eSports history. In Ottumwa, Sanford met with many of the 1982 pioneers who appeared in the classic photograph. It was clear to Sanford that these early adopters had helped pave the road for modern eSports. With his new found inspiration in hand, Sanford now plans to travel throughout the world to help promote eSports history. This new-found knowledge, along with competing for Empire Arcadia, will allow him to teach eSports history to the younger generations and impress upon them that their generation, too, will write the next chapter in the history of eSports. • Trading Card artwork by Caerwyn Akiwumi-Jones