Nadeshot

Early Life and Entry into Gaming

Matthew Haag was born on August 3, 1992, to Jeff and Christina Haag and grew up with a brother, Kevin, and a sister, Sarah. He attended Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Palos Hills, Illinois, graduating in 2010. He furthered his education with a two-year business studies course at Moraine Valley Community College. Before entering competitive gaming, Haag worked at a McDonald's restaurant.

His gaming handle, Nadeshot, is derived from the 'grenade shot' tactic in the Halo series. His competitive journey began as an amateur in Halo 2 before he switched to Gears of War after receiving the game as a Christmas present. In 2007, he came within one qualifying slot of reaching MLG Chicago for Gears of War. He competed in his first professional online tournament in 2008 and made his professional debut on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare at the age of 16.

Joining OpTic and Early Competitive Struggles

Haag became a member of OpTic Gaming in June 2010. His early career was unstable. For the first Major League Gaming season on Call of Duty: Black Ops in 2011, he was dropped from the OpTic roster. He briefly returned to substitute for an ill teammate at MLG Dallas, where the team, with no practice, finished third. After not being picked up permanently, Haag played for several teams, including Team EnVyUs, where he finished eighth at MLG Anaheim and third at MLG Raleigh. He ended the Black Ops season playing for Surreal Legacy, placing seventh at MLG Orlando and 15th at the MLG Providence national championships.

Breakthrough and World Championship Victory

The 2011-2012 season marked Haag's first major breakthrough. With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's release, Activision hosted the Call of Duty XP tournament with a $1 million prize pool. With two OpTic members unavailable, Haag was picked up for the team. They advanced to the Grand Final and won the series 3-1, securing the $400,000 team prize. Haag's share was $100,000, making him a world champion.

For Call of Duty: Black Ops II, after impressing early on, Haag rejoined OpTic Gaming on a permanent basis. The team immediately found success, winning the first LAN event at UMG Chicago in a dramatic 3-2 final series. This made them the first Black Ops II champions. Later that season, OpTic, with Haag, finished third at the 2013 Call of Duty Championships, losing to the eventual winners. The team also placed third at both Gfinity 1 and MLG Anaheim, and second at the MLG Fullsail Invitational to close the season.

Rise to Captaincy and X Games Gold

The Call of Duty: Ghosts season was a defining period for Haag. After roster changes and the retirement of Will 'BigTymer' Johnson following UMG Philadelphia, Haag became the captain of OpTic Gaming. He led the team through a challenging period, qualifying for the 2014 Call of Duty World Championship via the US Regional Finals. At the World Championship, OpTic secured a top-three finish, earning $120,000 as a team, with Haag taking a $30,000 cut.

His leadership culminated at the MLG X Games Invitational in Austin, Texas. Despite entering as underdogs after a poor showing at UGC Niagara, Haag's OpTic squad won their group. They then defeated the heavily favored Evil Geniuses (formerly CompLexity) 3-1 in the semifinals. In the Grand Finals against Team Kaliber, the match went to a final, decisive round in game five. OpTic won, earning Haag an X Games gold medal and his first MLG championship. Later in 2014, he was voted by fans as the Best eSports Player at The Game Awards.

Advanced Warfare and Retirement from Play

Haag continued as captain into the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare season. He was involved early, invited by Activision to preview the game and advise developers. OpTic participated in a promotional streaming event at their team house for Sledgehammer Games. Competitively, the season started with a second-place finish at MLG Columbus, losing to FaZe Clan in the Grand Final after not dropping a map all day until that point.

The team rebounded to win UMG Orlando, overcoming an 0-2 start in pool play to beat Stunner Gaming in the finals. OpTic then dominated the online Pro League Season 1, finishing with a 38-6 record and the number one seed. In the league playoffs, they beat Rise Nation, Aware Gaming, and Team Kaliber before sweeping Denial eSports 3-0 in the grand finals to win their second consecutive event. However, after a seventh-place finish at the 2015 Call of Duty Championship tournament, Haag announced on April 4, 2015, that he was stepping down as captain and player. He stated he would focus on being a full-time content creator and co-owner of OpTic, ending his professional playing career.

Founding 100 Thieves and Business Ventures

In 2016, Matthew Haag founded 100 Thieves, a lifestyle brand and gaming organization based in Los Angeles, California. As founder and co-owner, he built it into a major multi-title esports entity. The organization fields professional teams in Apex Legends, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike 2, Rainbow Six Siege, Marvel Rivals, and Valorant, where it operates a franchise in the Valorant Americas league.

Parallel to his entrepreneurial work, Haag maintained a massive presence as a content creator. He runs a YouTube channel with over 3.2 million subscribers and more than 270 hours of content. He has been a Red Bull esports athlete and participated in the Twitch streaming program. His business dealings have included sponsorship deals with gaming hardware companies like Astro Gaming and Scuf Gaming, and he previously held an exclusivity contract to stream on MLG's MLG.tv service.