MLG: Return of the Legit!

You read it right folks, we have just confirmed that if Legit can land a spot on a Top 7 team he will be competing in DC.

Now checking out these teams here, he has a lot of options. He would fit really well on Carbon i believe, while Walshy and SK are solid players they are not play makers!

Insider sits down with Buk57

Alright, in a continuation of our Pre-Raleigh interviews, i managed to sit down with the man from Power, Buk57! Fresh off their win in the ECL! Here he is!

Apollo: Alright, so the ECL just recently had its first event.  What was it like to play close to home in a major event instead of flying over here to the US.

BuK57: Yeah, it was the first event of many I hope! It was actually kind of strange to have an event in the UK seeing as the last one we attended was back in November 09! But it was really good to see the European turn out and see what all the new players had to offer. Events in the UK/EU haven’t really excited us before ECL, mainly because of we’ve became so used to attending MLG events which overshadow most of the events here. ECL was different though, definately the best and most proffessionally ran event I’ve attended in Europe.

Apollo: So, how does it feel to win the first major European event?  Also to beat out Fnatic who turned alot of heads over here in the US.

BuK57: It feels great, it was an event where we had to show we were the best in Europe again. After making a team change dropping Baxter and picking up MVP. Also some people were doubting us to be the best so it was nice to prove them people wrong. Beating Fnatic, well to be hones they were our only competition for the event. Especially with them coming off a good finish at MLG Columbus, and me and my brother missing that event for exams. In theory they should have had the advantage, as well as a 6 Team pre-lan that Fnatic hosted which we were banned from attending! So yeah it felt really good beating our ex teammate Baxter and Fnatic possibly the most confident team in Europe and to show we’re still #1.

Apollo: So, you haven’t competed in an MLG event in a while is that correct?

BuK57; Yes, our last event as a full team was Orlando in April so we’ve not been to one in 3months. But we now hold 13th seed for Raleigh thanks to MVP and Reaction teaming with ZooWuu and Fearris for Columbus and Fearris stepping down from the team to give MVP captaincy and us the locked pro seed for this event.

Apollo: So how do you guys feel going in with 13th seed right after coming off a huge win in the ECL?

BuK57: We’re feeling really confident about Raleigh as the 13th seed, and the 1st place finish at ECL. Especially with out bracket which seems to be making it very possible for us to break Top 12 and maybe even further. Although our online practice is limited due to EU teams basically giving up on halo 3 now because of no more events before Reach is released so there’s no EU teams to practice against, and practice across an ocean isn’t always the best!

Apollo: Speaking of Reach, since Raleigh is more or less the last Major Halo 3 event because most teams will be playing Reach.  Are you and your team going to continue in Halo 3.  Or will you be making the switch and playing Reach if you attend more MLG events.

BuK57: We’re going to be playing Halo 3 at DC definitely, trying desperately to get that last place in the Top 8 Championships. But after that our team will be moving over to Reach. Hopefully for Reach we can start off strong with a Top 16 seed and work our way into the higher placements throughout next season. Instead of having to start off like we did in halo 3 with a huge seed disadvantage to the teams who have been competing all season.

Apollo: So, you guys were the first whole European team to come over and compete in a MLG event.  How far do you guys think you have come since then, and how has MLG changed in your eyes.

BuK57:Yeah, last year we were the first full European team to attend an MLG event for Halo 3. I think we’ve improved so much since then and also became more professional in the way we act around the community and with other players. Back then when we were playing we were unknown except for being good online! Now we are placing highly at MLG events and now even being seeded next to players who we used to look up to when we played. So we’ve came a long way since our first event in Anaheim.

MLG has changed in my eyes to become more of a social experience now as well for me and my team, we’ve met people we would have never met outside of gaming and halo and its just amazing to meet thousands of people that all share the same interests in gaming as you.

Also MLG has changed for the international side of it, there has been players from the UK, Sweden, Netherlands, and Australia attend events now, its just a sign that MLG is growing and more and more people are getting involved in it.

Apollo: So, back to ECL here for a few moments.  I managed to check out some of the footage on the live stream and saw a good number of pictures from the event.  How did the first ECL event go?  What did you like about it?  Hate about it?

BuK57: It went great, biggest EU event for console games so far. Things i liked about it were, they provided Astro equipment for each station like at MLG events, the mainstage looked great and there was a large audience area to spectate it. And also the prize money was good! Hate? I didn’t really hate anything, the only thing which annoyed me was the scheduling which sometimes caused delays and we had to play one match quite late at night after MVP and BUK 20 had gone back to the hotel already, so we had to call them and get them to come back and play!

Apollo: Sounds like a fun time Hahaha, so is there anything you would have changed for the event?

BuK57: I’d say that there shouldn’t been more games on main stage if it was possible, and maybe get people to save the later games in the tournament on memory cards to upload after the event for VoD like MLG do. Other than that nothing really that I’d like to change.

Apollo: So with Raleigh coming up next weekend, do you have any pre-event lans planned?

BuK57: We don’t have any pre-event LANs scheduled no. We tried to organize some with other Pro teams but some of their players couldn’t make it. And like i said Halo 3 teams in Europe now have given up! And just concentrating on Reach, so we’re going into the event without a LAN, however we’re going to try and fit in some series in the Pro Lounge on the Friday of the event.

Apollo: Haha, i’m sure you guys will be able to, if worst comes to worst you could always chill in the Dr. Pepper Booth and get some games in.

BuK57: Yeah, we’re normally welcome to play on there which is nice. So we should be fine getting some last minute practice against the other teams.

Apollo: So, with coming into the event with 13th seed, is there any pro team that you do not want to play?

BuK57: Ha! I can’t say really theres a team I don’t want to play. However I’d like to avoid Status Quo, their teamwork is amazing from what i’ve heard from MVP and Reaction who played them at Columbus.
And on the otherside of that, I’m really looking forward to playing the new Str8 Rippin’.

Apollo: Haha, your not the only one.   This is going to be an interesting event for the pro teams, a lot of teams made some serious changes.   What do you think about the new Carbon?

BuK57: The new Carbon i think are going to be one of them teams who either do amazingly well or get a low top 8 finish. I’ve heard they aren’t looking as strong as the other teams but that’s just rumors. Although I’ve played the full team online on american host kind of recently and I got an Overkill vs. them! But yeah that’s online. I think they’ll either place Top 3 or a low Top 8 finish depending on how well everything goes on the day.

Apollo: Alright dude, at risk of my internet crapping out again i think we’ll call it an interview, would you like to give any shout outs before we’re done

BuK57: Yeah just shoutouts to Power Gaming, the management, Steelseries, the rest of my team of course and all of our fans. Who I hope will be supporting us next weekend at MLG Raleigh

Insider sits down with Smalls

Whats going on folks, haven’t posted one of these in a while! Well we got some huge changes coming so i figured it was about time we posted a new interview! I present, the man himself! Smalls the coach of Heaven and Earth!

Apollo: Alright so,  you first appeared on the circuit under Vanity Gaming, and helping with the 09 Columbus events manning the live stream of the event that Liquid Lightning sponsored.  How did you manage to go from camera man to Pro Coach?

Small: Working on websites like Vanity Gaming, Gaming Workshop, and Gaming-Lessons definitely opened doors of communication to some of the pros. I have worked along side Kill3n for quite some time now so that definitely influenced my choice of becoming a coach. I was a competitive player for my first few events and always had thoughts of coaching. When things with my websites kicked up I started having to sacrifice time spent on playing for the website or vice versa. I got to the point where I couldn’t continue doing both. I figured that this would be a great time to go into coaching because I wouldn’t have to keep my individual playing skill up and I could focus on my website a little more. I also knew that I would have something over a lot of other coaches because I was a player and I knew the game on that level. So one thing led to another and I started communicating with a few pro teams including Ambush. Several days later I was on the team and ready to go!

Apollo: So, after coaching Ambush for a few events, what made you make the switch to Heaven and Earth

Small: Coaching Ambush was fun and all but I did not want to stop there. I saw myself having the potential to be a top coach and I wasn’t content until I could prove that. Coaching Ambush was a great way to start coaching because it was a team I knew I was definitely good enough to keep up with them. After the event, a few roster changes took place and we picked up Poweezy and Ice Vayne as our other two players. Ice Vayne brought his coach along with him to the team because he was friends with everyone on Ambush and there was a potential sponsor involved. It was not at all an upset. No hard feelings about the team change. Ambush said I did a great job coaching and shouldn’t feel like I got dropped. Things just didn’t work out in my favor. I went teamless for awhile and talked to several teams including Warriors, Darkest Hour, and tried to get through to Heaven & Earth. I didn’t have too much luck for awhile but then one day I got offers from all three teams. I definitely wanted to go with Heaven & Earth but a big thanks to the other 2 teams for considering me as a coach.

Apollo: Speaking about top coaches, what do you think about Tom’s decision to go without Lammie?

Small: I think Lammie and Coach Tom are both great coaches. I have a lot of respect for Tom and there has to have been a reason for the change or it wouldn’t have happened. Tom takes the coach position very seriously so he definitely knows what he is doing there. I am sad to see Lammie off of Str8 because they have teamed for quite some time. Coach Tom, on the other hand, is a great coach. He is one of my biggest influences as a coach. I know Str8 will be in great hands with this switch. Much love for Lammie though!

Apollo: Speaking of Str8, what do you think about the scores of the 6 team LAN?

Small: Im actually surprised by them. I think the new Str8 line up has a lot of potential and I really want to see them succeed. I know that there is a crazy amount of skill in Halo now so losing to these teams is definitely not something to be ashamed of. I did expect to see a lot more from Str8 though. Hopefully between now and tournament time they can get things together and pull off some wins.

Apollo:One of the largest topics spinning around the MLG forums is the Str8 score of 0-22..Just on your opinion, do you think its because their not clicking or is there something missing on the team?

Small: I think it has to be both. I feel like a drastic change was good for that team as far as the roster changes go but it seems to me like something isn’t right. I haven’t had the time to really sit down and evaluate the new Str8  Rippin’s gameplay. I can’t pinpoint exactly what the problems are but anyone can see there is really something that hasn’t clicked yet. Like I said, they are playing some of the best teams in the world so maybe it will be a different story once they get a little more time as a team and more experience under their belt.

Apollo: Lets move away from the teams a bit, and move towards Raleigh.   I’m sure everyone has seen your post about the Live stream at the LAN.  How did you manage to hook up with Red Bull for all of this

Small: The Red Bull LAN was a huge surprise! Everything pretty much came out of nowhere. We all knew Dave (Walshy) still had the Red Bull sponsor but we had no idea that all of this would come up. My team told me about the LAN under a week ago and then I started getting emails from Red Bull about it. They are wanting to get back into the groove of things and get more involved in gaming so they obviously started with Dave. They wanted to get Carbon a good LAN before Raleigh so we happened to get picked. Red Bull is testing the waters with this one and they have already talked about flying Nezir and me out for the next one!

Apollo: You mentioned that you are part of Gaming Lessons, how did you come into that site?

Small: Kill3n and I opened are websites and we wanted to get to the point where we could work with Tsquared. After working for awhile and talking to T2, we finally set things in stone. It was going to be Kill3n, T2, and me running a brand new site but we crossed paths with Bluestrike who runs the GL site. I have always wanted someone to work with that I could talk “nerdy” with. Bluestrike filled that role and for once in the last 3 years of running websites like this, I did not feel like a 1 man army when it came to building a website. Now that all four of us are united, we know we can make something truly amazing. We decided to bring Gaming Lessons in to our network of websites. We now consist of Gaming Workshop, Good Game HQ, Gaming-Lessons, and a few more unannounced or unofficial websites.

Apollo: So, you are one of the more active coaches around, sort of like Bravo, can we expect to see some goofy videos? Maybe you and Mike(StrongSide) having a dance off or something?

Small: Goofy videos is definitely a possibility! I take a very nice HD camcorder to each event for filming whatever comes up. As far as the dance off is concerned, Mike would get completely “out-danced” so I don’t think he would agree to letting it be on camera. I think he would be too intimidated by my moves. Expect some video footage to be released after Raleigh. If anyone has any ideas for videos, let me know!

Apollo: Dude…I’m feeling a dance off haha

Small: Haha we will see!

Apollo: Alright man, wells thats about all i got haha, so any shoutouts before we finish this sucker up?

Small: I always have shout outs! Let’s see here…I always feel bad for forgetting people.

Shout out to the following:
My girlfriend, the most amazing girl in the world, Steph aka I Heart Small. Love you <3
Kill3n
Tsquared
Coach Tom
Nezir
StrongSide
Cpt Anarchy
Sypher
Dersky
D Moralize
Weapon X
The old Ambush
Buckness
Karma
Phaze II
Sicknehss
SnipesxuPnDownx
Darkest Hour (good luck round 1!)
All of my friends and family
All of my and Heaven & Earth’s fans (We love you guys!)
The 4th Watch
Im Lemonjello
All of the other pro players and coaches!

Also, be sure to check out the official Heaven & Earth team site and Facebook page!
http://teamhae.com (Will be up within the next few days)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Heaven-Earth/145386675488936 (“Like” us or I’ll find you!)
and last but not least…
RED BULL!! <3

ECL Comes to Life

For the past two MLG Seasons, European teams have been flying over from the UK to participate in MLG because there is nothing like it over in Europe. But that has all changed today. As you sit and read this, in Liverpool, England, they are gearing up for their first ever Halo 3 event. But wait…Theres more, they not only have compotition in Halo 3. But also in, Call of Duty ModernWarfare 2, FiFa 10, and Super Street Fighter 4. The event will take place over the course of July 30th to August 1st and will offer a prize total to somewhere around £25,000. Its an impressive figure…But when covereted into US Dollars, comes out to $39, 152

Now folks, some of you i’m sure will laugh at this and what not. But let me tell you. Even though the ECL is literally just getting started. They are miles away from a certain…..other…league we all know. They are working closely and using the European Halo3 forums which shows a lot of willingness to cooperate on both sides. They already have a major partner. On August 17th ECL announced that the will be partnering with game developers and publisher, Capcom. Now CapCom is not just going to be a pretty face, no no no. They are adding to the prize pool, giving out prizes that haven’t been announced yet and will be giving a random prize to one of the top 8 Street Fighter players.

They have also come into partnership with Iiyama, a monitor and tv company which will help supply the events with monitors. Also they have added 4 monitors up for prizes but no details as to how they will be given away yet.

And of course you have the partner ship with astro.

And finally one of the UK’s game stores Game Station is a major sponsor for them.

Now for the rules and such. They’re pretty much standard. No plug and play, no cheating, no totally offensive trash talk.

They do however have a “side” event you could call. They do not allow spectators to use they’re equipment at all but you can bring your own console and after the venue is done with each day of compotition.

They also offer 1 day and 3 day spectator passes which I feel, is a major deal. At 1/2 the 3 day passes price its a good deal if family, girl/boy friends want to come and check it out, or even for the average joe walking through the convention center wants to go check it out.

Make sure you guys check out their event www.ecl.eu over on their media page!

Good luck to all the Euro teams competing in ECL!

From the Insider Desk!

Well folks, its been a while we know.

Well it has all not been in vain. We’ve been hard at work after an exciting Columbus. This down time between Columbus and Raleigh has been awesome to do a metric TON of behind the scenes work. We’ve been hard at work, and in the coming weeks once our wheels start rolling we’re going to be bringing you more stuff then EVER!

We’re going to be doing more give aways, more gear reviews, more interviews, making more people mad at us, than ever before. Now i can not talk about a large amount of it. But folks let me tell you. Some of this stuff makes me want to quit the site just so i can get involved in some of these give aways!

Now you all have probbably read this far and are tired of me saying “I can not tell you” well, now is what i can tell you. We are going to be introducing a few new writers to the MLGInsider staff, we’re going to revamp MLGInsider(again to like version 3.0). We’re going to be working with quite a few diffrent people to make the whole MLGInsider expirence more than you would expect from a “tabloid” website as some call us…Not to mention any names *cough cough* MLG Forums *cough cough*. But nah, we love you all!

Now onto a side note of things that I have been doing both for the site and a little insight into my life. Also, i hope that Trent will add his own section to this.

Well for starters, work. Yes, i have a job other than this. I work at Target and if anyone reading also works there, you know its true when i say, they own your soul. I’m back in electronics as one of the “electronics team members.” And if they do a certain thing by the time i get back…I have to do an Irish jig at the team meetings for a week. Other than that lots of school, i attend Duquesne University. Took some summer classes for the heck of it.

Insider wise, working with some company’s to get some awsome gear to review. Hopefully work out some deals with them for our fans out there ^.^.

Next up is vacation. I leave today for the wonderful sunshine state of Flordia. Going to New Smyrna Beach for about a week then heading a bit more south for another week or so. So if anyone is from the Flordia area and wants to LAN it up or knows of any LAN centers, either leave comments below with LAN center info or an screen name or something. I’ll be taking my laptop along as well

Team Changes and Rumors(*Updated*)

Keep checking back, we’re updating them as we get confirmations

Updates:
Best Man to TD
Enable from sQ to Carbon
APG from Free Agency to Carbon
GhostAyame to Str8 Rippin
Solider187 to Str8 Rippin
Chig from Free Agency to Classic
APG from Carbon to Classic
Enable from Carbon back to sQ
- Destin from Free Agency to Classic
- Walshy and SK from Free Agency to Carbon
- Aries from Active Rush
- ICON forms consisting of Mimic, Aries, Jesse Peace, Max/Pro
- With Icon forming knocks Ambush out of top 16 status
- Batmayne, Frosty, IceVayne and Poweezy to Active Rush
Catagory 5 picks up ZooWuu and Snake Bite
-Darkest Hour picks up Robbie B
-KillerDrew from HaE to Free Agency
Power Reunites

Roster:
Instinct – Roy, Lunchbox, Cloud, Elamite
Final Boss – OGRE2, Victory X, FearItself, Pistola
Believe the Hype – Demon D, Maniac, Heinz, Snipedown
Classic – Chig, Tizoxic, Destin, A Pure Gangster
Status Quo – Flamesword, Ace, Assault, Enable
Carbon – Defy, Naded, Walshy, SK = 8,830
Triggers Down – Hysteria, Neighbor, Totz, Best Man
Str8 Rippin – T2, Legit, Soldier187, Gh057Ayame
Heaven and Earth – Cpt Anarchy, Strongside, Sypher
Darkest Hour – Twylight, Legend, Robbie B
Warriors – BRAKE, Goofy, NocturnalKernal, Noob
Illuminati – Gilkey, Thuggish, Elumnite, Karma
Category 5 – Thrust, Dersky, ZooWuu, SnakeBite
iCoN – Mimic, Aries, Jesse Peace, Max/Pro
Active Rush – IceVayne, Batmayne, Frosty, Poweezy
Power – Reaction, BUK 20, BUK 57, MVP

Free Agents:
Ant
KillerDrew
Destin
Fearris
Eli
Mazement

Columbus: Brits, Aussies, and Astros

My Columbus Story:

http://www.mlgpro.com/content/blog-entry/307459/Columbus-Brits-Aussies-and-Astros

or if your lazy:

Columbus Blog:

Let’s start off with Thursday. After leaving Pittsburgh, PA a little late I finally get on the highway around noon. I had a 4 hour drive ahead of me. Fast forward 4 hours. I finally ended up In. Centerville Ohio. I stop some random place to grab a drink and use the restroom. I ended up in an Arbys where it was totally open, It had lights on and a sign that said open. But there was absolutely no one inside, I looked around, asked if anyone was there. Finally gave up and left. I hopped in the Car and drove to Sterlings house where I met my team(Friday Night Flights) as well as Victorious Secret, FnaticMSI(European Team), and Frenetic Array(Australians). It was freaking insane 15 or more people in the house at any given time. I saw some of the best Halo I had seen in a while before Columbus that night. The games between Fray and Fnatic were simply awesome. What made it even better was all the different accents and various forms of trash talk. Both teams were the nicest guys outside of Halo. But when the game starts up, they are a different group of people.

The LANs started off early and did not end till about 1 am. As I said before it was some of the best Halo I had seen in a long time. All three teams were just unbelievably skilled. Fnatic, Fray and vS were some of the most evenly matched games there. Even though Fray mostly won the series, but the LAN was a great opportunity for all four teams. As for FnF. We lost both series we played 7-0. But it helped us a great deal more than it could ever hurt us. We knew what we were doing wrong. What we needed to fix as well as what was ok. It gave us more of a feel to the teams chemistry than playing XBL or even LANing with lesser teams could ever do. So after watching Fray bag on Voltage more. They make fun of him so much I’m surprised he deals with it, but its all in good fun. It makes for a good story. At one point one of Fray, Slayer I believe, stood up and screamed its like the Halo Olympics. We had the English, the Australians, and us Americans.

After chilling with everyone for a while and after getting 7-0ed by vS, Sterling and I head out to pick up Monoxide from the Columbus airport. So after an hour drive we manage to get to the airport. We had my TomTom and Sterlings Iphone for directions. We decide to go with Sterlings Iphone for some reason. We start following its directions and it takes us the complete wrong way. It tells us to get off at like 3 wrong exits and down some random roads. Then the hotel is right in front of us and it tells us to turn around. We finally make it into downtown Columbus when we get onto a two way road. We make a left going by what my GPS says but we notice we could have gotten there without going the way we did. So we were in the process of doing a U-Turn when Sterling yells it’s a one way road and we can’t U-Turn. Even though I knew it wasn’t I stopped and made a left instead of the Uey. Sterling’s major fail, however he did come out clutch in the end because we found the back entrance to the hotel a few yards down the road. So Sterling failed and clutched it out at the same time. We drop Monoxide off and try to head back to Sterlings place. But we got lost in downtown Columbus, we followed the highway signs and they just sort of stopped. So we pulled off and set up the TomTom and managed to get back on the highway after about 20 minutes of driving around downtown Columbus. We finally pull into Sterlings house at like 1am where we began to clean up after everyone left. Ended up with like 4 giant bags of garbage filled of cans, steak and shake bags, subway wrappers and general crap. After the clean up was done we went over some GP then basically chilled and finally hit the sack for the night.

Friday

Well, Friday was game day. We woke up early, got dress psyched ourselves out for the day ahead. We ate lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings and hopped in the car for the hour drive to the venue. We showed up just as warm ups started so we were pretty happy. We first got into the venue we saw that the line to “the Cage” aka: place to buy stuff was short so we hopped in line. After waiting for like 20 minutes, my team handed me their money to get them stuff and they went to warm up. After another 30 minutes filled with talking with some guys about WoW, Halo and some various other things and watching him win some MLG Gunners. I finally made it to the booth, bought a few of the MLG Columbus shirts for myself and the guys then headed back to find them. I found them chilling around and looking for another team to warm up against. We found a younger looking team to play. We 6-0ed them without much of a problem. During the 7th match one of them unplugged his controller and stormed away. They were young but had a lot of potential. If anyone from that team is reading this keep gaming guys. You guys have a lot of potential!!

Anyway, after that it was time for kick-off. We hung out with Fray for most of the event. We watched them get a bye first round thanks to a no-show. We then got called and went to business. We got a bye first round so in round 2 we played Within Reach, one of the teams I was considering coaching before FnF. So I knew people on it. We 2 – 0ed them pretty easily and moved onto round 3. We finished in time to watch Fray 2-0 49 Yellow Dragons, the number 1 amateur team. We then were called to play against Young Money the fifth amateur team. We got 2-0ed by them but played 2 close games. We lost 5 -4 on Heretic Flag. I won’t make any excuses they out clutched us. We made some extremely clutch plays but they were more clutch. Over all was a good series. After the match someone in the crowd said I had balls for wearing my MLGinsider shirt which I laughed at. We were done for the day so we followed Fray around and cheered them on. Later on that night we were supose to be staying with Victorious Secret for the weekend, but could not find them, so we hung out in the food court and luckily enough they showed up. We grabbed the stuff out of my car and headed up to the room to crash. After watching Euro Trip with ReVamp for a bit we all finally passed out.

Saturday:

We woke up early on Saturday to head down for warm ups. After warming up for a while and not having to play till losers 3. We basically hung out and wandered around the venue. Finally was our turn to play, losers 3 was against Hugging Bigfoot. They were good but we 2-0ed them pretty easily. Then we played AbR which was sporting one of my locals. We got badly outslayed in the first slayer game type but managed to clutch it in game 2. However the last game type was our weakest slayer, still however we managed to only lose 50-40ish. That ended our spree at Columbus, but did not even come close to stopping the fun.

We cheered Fray, Fnatic and vS along most of Saturday. I met up with the guys from Team e2k, and checked out the X-Fuel trailer that was located across the street from the venue. Had a 100 inch projector screen and were playing Guitar Hero on it. It was pretty tight and got some Kontrol Freaks from them. So on my way back into the venue, out of the blue I decided to text Flex4 to that number for the Bic drawings. It said to show them the code, so I did. They told me to come back at 8:30. So I hung around for a while then headed over at 8:30 not thinking much of it. So I got there and they began calling out numbers that they texted people. Two kids managed to get their number called but they weren’t the owner of the code they entered their family in and they weren’t present at the event at the time being. The rules said you had to own the phone, have the code, and be present. So after waiting for a while for them to get them there. They began calling codes again. At this point I’m like I’m not going to win, and my phone is about to die. As soon as it goes off they called my number. I was like OMG are you serious. I told them it was my number, gave them my phone number to confirm. They said I won if I could get the phone on. Lucky enough I had my phone charger in my bag and was like. Dude do you have an outlet. I have my phone charger come on dude. Luckily they were awesome people and let me plug it in. Next thing I knew I was the proud owner of some Astro A40’s and a mix amp. Have to get some new tags for it and all but they are sick. At this point the kid who won before is still complaining about winning but them not giving it to him and his mom or someone shows up. She starts going at it with them and they tell her the rules and how they gave him like 5 minutes to get them, it was getting pretty ridiculus. She then glares at me and is like “Maybe this kid will be nice.” At this point I’m like seriously lady come on. The guy luckily said something like, he looks nice enough but he is not going to be that nice. At this point the Bic girls are getting really annoyed cause the kid had been complaining to them for like 20 minutes while the drawing continued. So finally I signed the paper that said I received the grand prize and went back to watch Fray.

My teammates were completely ticked at me because I won and would not sell them. Even though I had just bought Astro A30’s which I am probably going to return. So we watched Fray lose to Ambush. After that we headed down to the food court and had a bite to eat and chilled for the rest of the night.

Sunday:

Sunday was a day of rest. We slept in till about 11. Went and watched the consolation rounds of Fray, Fnatic and Victorious Secret. We generally hung out and had a good time. After a long weekend I decided to call it an event. I said my good-byes to Fray, vS and my team and started the 3 hour drive home. I missed Sunday Night however I got home in time to watch the re-broadcast of it.

So that was my Columbus event. It was a blast. Loved meeting our Australian competitors and the Europeans. Those guys are about as cool and as nice as they come. It was a great event with a really sweet ending.

Aussie Aussie Aussie!!!! Oye Oye Oye!!!!

Check out pictures from the event on my facebook www.facebook.com/dbahle

The Foreigners!

It’s really amusing to see that MLG can be so oblivious outside of their own little bubble.  When you read back over their open bracket breakdown you see that they barely even mention Fnatic MSI and Frenetic Array.  They take no time to do roster update or even talk about their histories.

Anyway, it’s very exciting to see these two teams making waves in the event.  It really is time begin seeing a more consistent international showing.  Power has fairly well, but we have really no other international showing in the Halo 3 scene.  These two teams look as if they will continue to make waves for some time.

Quick Day 2 update:

Frenetic Array was beat 3-0 by Warriors in the first round of the Championship winners bracket.

FnaticMSI had Ambush down 2-0, but Ambush rallied back and won three straight games to take the match 3-2.

With Frenetic Arrays experience, with 9 first place finishes in Australia, should help them as they battle through the losers bracket.  Regardless, neither of these teams should be over looked.

MLG C-Bus 2010 AM Halo Bracket Update

Frenetic Array, the number 1 team in Australia, has shown up to prove they can compete against MLG’s top teams at MLG Columbus 2010. Winning their first match of the day against Scratch & Sniff because they did not show up, Frenetic Array moved on to winners bracket round 2. During round 2, Frenetic Array had to face off against number 1 seeded AM team, 49 Yellow Dragons. They had won over 49 Yellow Dragons to move on once again to winners bracket round 3. Look for more updates coming soon!

4 Team Lan

Friday Night Flights, Victorious Secret, FnaticMSI and Fray LAN!

Now Fray vs Fnatic

Next FnF vs vS

Then who knows!

Jtv: http://www.justin.tv/fnfsterling

MLG’s Newest Deal with Mad Catz Interactive, Inc.

Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. has signed a deal with MLG today, June 2, 2010! This means that Mad Catz can now use MLG logos and the name on their products. MLG and Mad Catz are planning on coming out with PC and console controllers and fight sticks.

With Mad Catz in almost every electronic section in any store you walk into, this is a really great thing for MLG. In my eyes, anything to get MLG out there to the masses will make it one step closer to running like any other sports league and begin flying high.

Darren Richardson, President and CEO of Mad Catz had a few things to say about this collaboration.

Richardson stated, “Both professionally and as gaming enthusiasts ourselves, we have tremendous respect for MLG and its talented competitors.”

He went on to say, “This new affiliation provides us the opportunity to work in close collaboration with the world’s best gamers and is a further example of Mad Catz’ commitment and capabilities to develop and globally distribute accessories which provide an unsurpassed gaming experience to professional competitors and hard-core gamers.”

Sundance DiGiovanni, co-founder and new CEO of MLG had this to say, “As one of the world’s leading gaming accessories companies, Mad Catz is the ideal partner for MLG as we look to take our gameplay to an even higher level. Our competitors demand the highest quality accessories available, and that’s why we chose to work with Mad Catz. Their commitment to excellence is unsurpassed, and we can’t wait for our competitors and fans to have a chance to play with the upcoming line of Mad Catz MLG Products.”

Will this mean that we will finally see controllers that are not broken out of the package or have players dealing with the problems of slow turning controllers? Maybe Mad Catz and MLG can finally come out with the controller that players don’t need to search through fifty different controllers to feel comfortable when their existing controller breaks. I can’t wait to see these products in stores, at MLG events, and most of all, in our hands!

I hope MLG and Mad Catz knocks one out of the park and brings us what the are striving for and think we deserve. I would like to congratulate MLG on this deal and welcome Mad Catz to our community as MLG’s newest sponsor. Be sure to post your thoughts below and come back for more MLG news coming soon!

Battle Royale drill down

With Columbus not a week away, MLG is starting to come out with its customary preview articles. After reading their “Battle Royale” I wanted to bring to light some of the teams that MLG skimmed over, including doing some research on the international competition.

1) Frenetic Array – fray Voltage, fray Benno, fray Slayer, fray heff.
Here we have one of the first Australian teams to compete at an MLG event. This teams has been putting some serious time into playing since they decided to attend. Lately they have been turning heads but have gotten a bad wrap for it. Many people are blaming it on their connection. But they are THE top in Australia for a reason. With nine, yes nine first place finishes in Australian Halo since the start of 2009, they will not be happy with anything less than a 1st place finish in MLG.

2) FnaticMSI – Baxter, ZicKneX, Riotz, Inspired2Kill- While MLG does acknowledge that they are the only all european team competing in the tournament. What they have failed to mention is that they have placed well before. They do not have 350 pro points for no reason. They have been here. They know the drill, they are coming to do more than sample the American life. They are coming to take some. Lets look at the players on their team.
Baxter, has 252.5 points, he’s placed amazingly at two events.
ZicKneX, has the other 97.5 team points. ZicKneX is known as prehaps one of the best snipers in Europe. He has proven himself both across Europe as well as in MLG, and has produced perhaps one of the best montages to date, The Forgotten Hero.
Inspired2Kill, has not competed in the MLG scene before but is know in Europe. He is perhaps one of the smartest players that i have seen in a while and has a ton of potential.
Riotz, has left his mark in Europe and is looking to do the same in MLG. He is proclaimed as one of the rising stars of European Halo.

3) Young Money – Talent, Homicide, RoYaL2, Minority
This is a team you do not want to mess with. With Talent and Homicide this team has potential to break out along with the rest of the top 8 AM teams. If Talent and Homicide can get in sync and get in a rhythm there will be no stoping this team.

4) Pain X - Polka Dot, Seb, Chizump, Wonka
This is a team that makes me feel a little fuzzy inside when i look at this roster. It is great to see some of the veterans coming back to Halo. Seb and Wonka are no stranger to top 16 play and this team will do great things.

5) Infamous – Broly, Hangman, HeLLuVa, Xambler
This team needs little introduction. If you guys have paid attention over the years you will notice all of these players are good and at least semi known. Broly, and HeLLuVa have been known since back in the Halo 2 days.

Ohhhh…And by the way…Umm…. .MLG, what about Power?!? They have a picture there and a caption, but are not listed. But also, last time i checked they are considered an “Amateur” team even though they have 16th seed? What gives???? If they hold 16th seed they should be considered pro. Its been that way since it started. I mean seriously, what gives!

Columbus AM LANs

While everyone is focused on the Pro LANS that happen before an event, not many people pay attention to the AM LANs. This is perhaps one of the most promising AM events yet, so AM LANs are more important than ever.

LANs:

FnaticMSI, Fray, Friday Night Lights, Victorious Secret:  Tuesday through Thursday

We will be updating the list as the week progresses and will have pictures from some of the LAN.

If you have a Pre-Columbus LAN and would like added to the list, either comment below or feel free to send me a message over AIM at InsiderApollo!

MLG WoW 2010 Info

Its time for MLG World of Warcraft competition again people! That’s right! One of my favorite things to watch on the Circuit is back at Columbus 2010. With the start of the season, I wanted to let everyone know what is to come in C-Bus, in later the three regular season events, and the ever-anticipated MLG WoW Championships.

Starting with C-Bus, Columbus for short, we will have the top 16 teams from all over the world squaring off to claim the MLG World of Warcraft Columbus crown. As always, these games will be held in 3v3 format and we will be held round robin style. The teams will be separated into two groups of eight teams and the round robin style tournament will begin. Once two top teams from each group are found, they will move onto the double elimination championship bracket. The winner of championship bracket will take home a cool $15,750 in cash prizes.

Now after Columbus, we will see the circuit moving to Raleigh North Carolina. With this event, we see a few changes in the WoW and all events after coming our way. Lets start with the online qualifier. This is going to be held prior to the event and will be open to anyone wanting to play. The four top teams from the qualifier will earn invitations to the next MLG event. The top two teams will also win hotel stay for the next MLG event. Along with these four teams joining the MLG WoW Circuit, we will see the top four teams from the previous event, four teams MLG invites, and four open registration teams that will be determined by passes that will go on sale prior to the event. That makes a total of 16 teams that will be seen competing starting in MLG Raleigh.

MLG is going to determine who attends the 2010 WoW Championships by awarding ranked points after each event. These points will determine which of up to eight teams will compete in the 2010 WoW Championship and a chance to win that 2010 crown later in the season.

For everyone that can’t make it to events, MLG is also promising to kick it up a notch this year. They plan on doing this by giving us Live Stream competition like always, a brand new WoW Primetime Show, and select matches from the Online Qualifiers being shown from GotFrag.com and MMO-Champion.com.

Be sure to glue yourselves to the MLG PC Circuit this year and have fun watching old and new faces rise through the ranks and fight for the number one title each and every event. With C-Bus coming June 4-6 and the rest of the season bringing us new competitors, more coverage, and even more game play, I can’t wait! Be sure to check back all season long for up to date information and all your MLG needs right here, at MLGinsider.com.

Major Changes in MLG

Well today brought in some major changes for Major League Gaming.

First off. Major League Gaming has hired Level Studios(http://level-studios.com) to create a new website and user interface for the community. Judging by their site and some of their previous work, they are a great choice for this. The MLG site is sort of plain and could use some work and this is large step in the right direction for MLG as a whole.

Now the second even larger news is that Matt Bromberg Resigns As CEO of Major League Gaming, Sundance DiGiovanni Steps in as CEO of MLG

This is a great step in league growth. Sundance has been a competitor in MLG in the past and knows what we deal with. He is also a very respected man that actually cares a bit about the community. This is a brand new day for MLG as a whole. Hopefully it was not to soon after acquiring a few of their newest sponsors and picking up some new games.

We will continue to keep you guys updated as we look into the first announcement as well as the rumors of Sundance and Bromberg! Keep checking back for info!

Insiders Reach Breakdown

Well folks, here we are, less than a week away from the Halo Reach Beta! Now they have already told us…. No Customs for you! So we’re just going to have to fight it out in their playlists.

Now we have seen all of the basics so far. New armor layouts, armor attachments, new weapons, gametypes, and the list goes on.

Now the question lies in, will Reach be MLG Competitive. And the answer is….We’re not sure yet! Going on what has been shown so far, it could go both ways as i’m sure many people could tell. It all comes down to 1 key factor. Customization.

The reason Halo 3 was as successful as it is even though it isn’t as near as competitive as Halo 2 was. Is that we(the players) could make, and play the game however the heck we wanted. 300% speed and plasma pistols? You got it. Banshees and Hornets on Construct. Have a blast.

Sure in reach we’re going to have different weapon layouts, armor abilities and game types. But are we going to have control of what weapons we have in each layout? Can we not choose a layout and have a base starting weapon? Do we have to be equipped with armor attachments? These are the questions that will determine if its MLG Material.

Lets check out the amor abilities:

Sprint – Feel the need, Spartan? Engage this Ability for a burst of speed that’s great for quickly covering ground or escaping sticky situations.
My Thoughts: Ehhh, not bad. Has promise. But if you can sprint away with a flag whats the point? Would need to be regulated

Active Camouflage – Go off the grid by engaging Active Camo. Your enemies can’t kill what they cannot see. Stalk, seek, and destroy.
My Thoughts: A whole team with camo? Seems kinda pointless. Would also need to be regulated by MLG

Jet Pack – Fly like a bird. Target your opponents. Laugh maniacally.
My Thoughts: No….Just No..

Armor Lock – Become invincible, but immobile. While you’re locked down, Elites can’t touch you. Also has an EMP effect
My Thoughts: Seems like a good idea. Would need to see how it plays first.

Evade - Play with your food! As an Elite, you’ll be able to bob, weave, and juke to get into the most effective combat position.
My Thoughts: 6 words. Can you use as a Spartan. Would be an epic addition to MLG

Lets take a look at some of the new gametypes shall we?

Headhunter- The object of the game is simple: every player you kill drops a skull. Collect as many as you can and deposit them into one of the designated territories to score. First to 25 wins unless a player manages to earn the elusive “Skullamanjaro” by capturing ten skulls all at once.

Has alot of potential. Would test your slayer ability to the fullest. Then test teamwork, communication, and objective play.

Stockpile

Two teams scrap over four neutral flags. Flags are scored by bringing them into your team’s designated territory and protecting them until the timer reaches zero. Flags are collected every sixty seconds.

Could work very well. Depending on how the scoring positions are set up.

Generator Defense

Three Spartans defend three generators from an all out assault launched by three Elites. At the start of each round, you not only get to pick from a broad selection of Loadouts, you also get to choose your general spawning location. Choose wisely. As an Elite, you’ll need to destroy all three generators to win the round.

Hmmm…..another No. Just not for MLG

So basicly what it will come down to is customization. If we have as much control in Reach as we do in Halo 3. It will be a great game. What we need is the ability to create our own presets. If Bungie gives us these. Reach will be a good addition to the circuit.

Your Thoughts on Reach

Well folks, the beta is pubic now and we here at Insider would like to hear your thoughts on it? Will it make it into MLG next season? Guns to over powered? Guns underpowered? Anything at all.

Lets hear it!

Insider Reach Beta Give away!

Whats up guys, MLGInsider managed to score a few beta codes! So we’re giving them away! I won’t reveal the number we have but we have a few.

So you want to know how you win right? Well here’s how! The person who sends me the best reason why they should have the beta gets it! Other than that I’m basically going to choose at random! Message me on AOL: InsiderApollo!

Congrats to Undead who won the Insider Beta Code!

No more sorry!

Keep Checking back for some more awesome stuff coming your way this week!

Orlando Point Breakdown

Well, after MLG released the top 32 results from the opener i expected this to be out. But i haven’t seen it so i figured i would do it myself. Points are per player

1st Instinct Cloud Lunchbox Roy elamitewarrior -1200
2nd UoR Classic Soldi3r187 TiZoXiC Chig GH057ayame -1000
3rd Final Boss Victory X Totz FearItSelf OGRE2 -900
4th Status Quo FlamesworD Asssault eNabLe lx Ace xl -800
5th Believe The Hype MaNiiaC Destin D3M0N-D a Pure Gangster -700
6th Triggers Down SK iGotUrPisto1a Hysteria Neighbor -650
7th Darkest Hour TwYLighT AnT LeGeNd Cpt Anarchy -600
8th Str8 Rippin Tsquared Snipedown .Heinz. Legit -550
9th Heaven and Earth KillerDrewDS Clutch Naded Karma -490
10th Active Rush IceVayne Aries I FrOsty I Mimic -460
11th Carbon Walshy Defy StrongSide BesT MaN -430
12th Warriors Kevori Sypher. -Goofy- zNightMarE. -400
13th Category 5 Thrust Robbie.B ZooWuu Arkanum. -340
14th Adrenaline rush arealygoodnoob 7sblaze JeRawockee Dubay -310
15th Ambush l BaTMaYnE l SeVeRiNcE GuN_ShoT Eli -280
16th Chilled Reality Gilkey Elumnite ThuggishKlLLA I CallMeGod I -250
17th The Yellow Dragons owilly PlGGY Wiise Ashes -210
18th Victorious Secret Fugo xWatch l SwiftKil l lAdr3naLin3l -200
19th Crowd Pleasers -PrettyBoy- SneakEBeaver SuperStr8SicK Monix -190
20th Relapse Fearris -DeRsKy- NocturnalKernal MaZeMeNt -180
21st Power BUK_20 Reaction. EU-MVP BUK57 -140
22nd North of 49 G-SpOt importedd Moniz DARKscorpion -130
23rd Young Money zGheTTo Xinitty HoMiCiDe1 LuckSide -120
24th Paranoia Sargoth KNB_KatyPerry Magnezium SLaYzIZLiKeWoW -110
25th Southern Smoke Havok BeAsTx. XAMBL3R SyNoX -90
26th New Era xxzerus FainTTTT .TweaK. PhainT. -80
27th Satin Sheets Masssta _randa itzblizz xWHODiNix -70
28th The Fun Police Blocker -Duval- ProjectPatty jspgameboy -60
29th Dignitas Adi GriPzz Vardd iFuZioN -40
30th Dark Matter MinorityMan -RowaN- -SheeK- PiTBuLL. -30
31st Fire Breathin Franks VictuMM InSaiyan BuLLeTz .KillZoNe. -20
32nd Legacy AiR_Frag PRoTo_TyPe wtfadvent HaloKnight_tR -10

33-40th 6 points each
41-48th 4 points each

Congrats to Instinct!

We here at MLGinsider would like to congratulate Roy, Lunchbox, Cloud,and ElimiteWarrior for their win at MLG Orlando!

A Special Congrats to Roy and Lunchbox for their first MLG win ever! Its been a long time and coming!

Can you believe it?

Can you believe it? Top 4 of the Season opener, Status Quo, Final Boss, Instinct, Classic. All teams that have sort of been shoved under the bus by some people.

Lets check out there brackets.

Status Quo: After fighting hard and getting knocked out Winners Round 2. They moved on to play Active Rush in losers bracket, then after they defeated them. Moved on to the two predicted teams to win Triggers Down, and Straight Rippin. Now they play FB for a shot at the number 1 spot and the opener title.

Classic: Started off against Catagory 5, then moved on to defeat Carbon, then finished up with Final Boss, now are facing off against Instinct for the chance to win the event

Final Boss: After walking over Darkest Hour, moved onto upset Str8 Rippin 3-0, but are knocked into losers bracket by Classic, where they defeated Status Quo, and now move back into position to play Classic in a rematch.

Instinct: Started off against Active Rush, then moved to play Believe the Hype, and knocked Triggers Down down to Losers Bracket. All that needs said is that Roy and Lunchbox are 1 step away from taking their first win ever!

Let us know what you think!

Str8 vs BtH Lan Results

That’s right folks right now Str8 Rippin and Believe the Hype are hard at work. and are deep into their second series.

Series one ended with 8-3 Str8 winning the series.

However

Series two is underway 7-3 BtH cleaning house.

With the weekend of LAN’s over the final results of the lan are 44-33 BtH!

Congrats to BtH

The SQ Tage Review

Hey, tonight Prestigious Films released their latest work. The long awaited Status Quo Montage.

Incase you live under a rock:
http://www.mlgpro.com/forum/showthread.php?t=305204

My Review:
Right from the start BAM! A very solid yet simple intro from Zanster, who’s an epic editor. So right from the start there are some good angles, and some awesome bullet effects, which were used to a great effect. Then the Satus Quo emblem and effects at the “title” scene if you will, was great. As it progresses i noticed a few things, first the syncing was great, they put alot of time into it. Next, the only complaint i believe i will have with this is the names in the bottom right corner. They do not catch your eye at all, and go away to quickly, so if you do not watch for them, they are gone. Yes throughout the montage there is a lack of flare. But i believe that it is awesome, because it focuses you more on the gameplay and not the “wow” factor. Which i believe people have forgotten what a montage is made for. But at 3:17, there is one great piece of editing. Ace takes some guys head off with a sniper and the helmet fly’s at the screen and its a sick transition into the other clip. Another at 6:18, a Spartans’ head turns towards the camera, its just awesome. All throughout, i couldn’t help but notice the angles that Fragtality took while capturing this. It is just to cool for words. Its simply epic and original. Over all it is a simply amazing montage and if you haven’t already. Go download it, it is worth it in every way.

Summary:
Epic montage that serves as a reminder to everyone, its not about how you show it. Its about showing it. Though it is not as flashy as the Str8Tage. It is on the same level in every way.

PS: To those who say the clips were against noobs? I notice alot of familiar faces. Rapid Pulse(won a qualifier last season), Shook Won, tons and tons of pros, unless your blind and missed them.

Note: 5:41 is a older clip. ILunchbotttt actually makes an appearance, with Lunchbox actually playing on it.

Heads-Up with Flamesword captain of Status Quo

We got to sit down with Michael Chaves (aka Flamesword) the captain of Status Quo about their off-season changes. So check it out and let’s hear your thoughts about the new SQ!

Trent: Well, coming into the 2009 season you guys were touted as one of the top up-and-coming teams in Halo 3. The season wasn’t terrible, but it was definitely less than what was expected from you guys. What would you attribute that to?

Flamesword: We basically just never showed up to the event. We definitely had it in us, but like I said we just never showed up on gameday.

Trent: You seemed to never be in sync, but you showed flashes of what people expected! Was it a lack of practice, lack of chemistry or something else that caused that?

Flamesword: I think it was the cause of something else, but I just can’t explain. After Side left the team we started practicing less, so that might have had something to do with it.

Trent: Fair enough, since the Orlando National Championships both Legend and Totz have moved on and you have teamed with two very talented up-and-coming players in “A Pure Gangster” and “Enable”. How is this team different than the Status Quo team from last season?

Flamesword: Time will only tell, but I like the feel of this new squad because so far we listen to each other without complaints. Also, everyone is playing a lot more, so I’m happy to be able to sign online and game with a teammate right away.

Trent: Let’s look at your team. If you were to really analyze what you all bring what would you say are the strong suits of each individual player on your team, yourself included. Along those same lines, what prompted you to pick up APG and Enable?

Flamesword: I’m not sure yet because it’s a new team. We pushed for Enable because he’s a sick team player and APG is the next dominant force I believe.

Trent: Well, what changes would you like to see for the 2010 season in the league as a whole?

Flamesword: I want more events and maybe more Cali events. Its so sick out there.

Trent: On the topic of this coming season, have you heard much about the upcoming combine?

Flamesword: Nope, I just know its in Nashville.

Trent: Right, well we’re headed back to Orlando in mid April. Any predictions from the new Status Quo?

Flamesword: Looking at it right now, I feel this will be the best SQ so far. I have 3 young players on my team that just want to win and show they can hang with anyone. Also, Ace and myself are going all out this year to prove that we’re top players.

Trent: Last couple questions. With regard to the transactions that have been made so far regarding the other top teams, who do you think improved the most?

Flamesword: Instinct, they just look solid.

Trent: If you had to pick one, what team do you think didn’t do so hot?

Flamesword: I think they all improved. I think the level of competition will increase this year.

Trent: This will definitely be a year where there is more parity between the top teams. Any surprise teams to look out for?

Flamesword: To early to tell right now. Most teams haven’t really begun practicing.

Trent: Fair enough, well thanks for your time Mike. We’ll check back with you before the event to get your thoughts then as well.

Flamesword: Alright, thanks.

Well, There you have it! You agree or disagree with what Mike thinks lets hear it below.

Original XBL Time of Death

Yes that’s right. The Original Xbox Live Service has officially been given a time of death. Sad to see and even write, but it is time to recognize this is the last few months to enjoy ORIGINAL XBL. Now, what people need to realize is that this does not only mean no more XBL on my good old Xbox. This means that even the original Xbox titles your have on disks, burned on your hard drive, or downloaded from the XBL Marketplace will not work on XBL anymore.

This is a sad but true fact. So, for all of you that loved the game that blew up MLG into the giant it is today, get your fix of Halo 2 on XBL now until the official time of death for the original XBL service, April 15^th 2010. Play now, because everyone knows back in those days it was LIVE over LAN for most of the community today. Everyone knows that this service will be missed… I for one am sad to see it gone. In just a few short months on April 15^th 2010, the original XBL service that started it all will be gone…

The reality behind MLG’s Combine

Well recently Major League Gaming announced their first Doritos combine, a lot of people have been looking forward to these combines and more information on what these Combines are going to be about. Well now we know a good majority of information. The real question is, what is this going to mean for you? The players that wish to compete view this as their “big chance” to go pro. They announced this with only a month and 22 days away, think that is enough time? Well i am not to sure.

Now we get to the real meat of the situation, what these combines mean to you. First lets start off with what we do know.

DATE: March 26-28, 2010

What it means- Like i said before They announced this with only a month and 22 days away, teams with sponsors are rushing to get their sponsors the information so they can get to the events. Which means sponsors are scrambling to get funds together in a time where our economy is struggling as it is.

VENUE: The Gaylord Opryland Resort
2800 Opryland Drive
Nashville, TN, 37214

What it means to you -Nice venue, so at least it is going to be a nice.

WHO CAN COMPETE: The Combine is an amateur-only competition that is all about putting the spotlight on upcoming talent. No pro players are eligible to compete in the Combine.

What it means to you–Now this is the most interesting part of the whole thing. MLG has stated that “The Combine offers what so many of you have been asking for: a clear way for amateur players to shine and prove that they have what it takes to make it to the MLG Main Stage. ” Therefore, who can compete is a contradictory statement. They want amateur players, which means non-professional players. Yes any teams outside the top 16 are considered amateur. But what about those teams that have placed top 16 before, or those teams that place consistently top 20 or even 32. Which makes teams like, Ambush, Take Respect, North of 49 able to compete in the Combine who are not at an amateur level. Which pretty much means that they will start with the amateur players with no points, and with no one to stop them, will run the bracket and take home an easy spot. Which will be the complete opposite about what they are trying to accomplish with them.

COMPETITION FORMAT: Halo 3 4v4 (256 team bracket) and Halo 3 FFA (1,280 player bracket). 4v4 Team Passes include automatic entry to the FFA.

What it means to you – Yeah, same deal as the normal events, but the FFA will be interesting. With every player of the 256 teams able to enter, it will allow players from top teams as i stated before to run the events.

HOW IT WORKS: Fight your way to the top of the heap in an all-amateur tournament. Winners will get awesome prizes, including some cash, free travel and accommodations, as well as a reserved Team Pass for the following Pro Circuit Live Competition. Any competitor that stands out has the chance to be personally evaluated by an MLG Pro.

What it means to you — Perhaps MLG forgets that we have teams like Ambush, North of 49 and Take Respect who are and have teams that are top 16 caliber but lack the points that it takes to be considered a “pro team” therefore, this will not be an amateur tournament.

REGISTRATION DATES: February 23 for Halo 3 4v4; February 24 for Halo 3 FFA.

What it means to you– Registration is closing in and hardly gives teams enough time to scramble for money to get to the events.

Well, MLG says they will have more information coming so we’ll have to see what they will do with the combine.

Free Agent Spotlight

Ever dream of being pro?  Want to get on a top caliber team but don’t know how to get your name out there?  Well, MLGInsider would like to help. Therefore, we are starting what I’d like to call…The Free Agent Spotlight.

What is the Free Agent Spotlight you may ask?
Well every other week I’m going to start off by giving a position such as Main Slayer, Support, or Objective. Even though every good MLG player should know there is no real classifications of players, we’re just using this to separate everyone. Then if you consider yourself to be the class of the week.  You need to submit via e-mail a link to your fileshare with a gameplay that showcases this, along with the reason why you should be this weeks spotlight member. Also if you got a past team that has done well before and they’ll vouch for you then we will take it into consideration also.

Now your thinking to yourself.  How is this going to help me get notice?  Well, the answer is this.  After we select the winner, we will capture the video, and upload it to our youtube account.  Then, myself with the help of Mazsik(coach of Believe the Hype) will break the game down and give it a full gameplay analysis.  We will then put what you are looking for, as well as post your contact info on the site.  We will also post the runner up’s fileshare link and contact info.

Now if all of this sounds good to you? Here is what you got to do. Put a normal game up on your fileshare, just a normal game. We are not looking for try hard of the week here. Once it is submitted we will download it, watch it, then i will most likely look back on your bungie.net checking past games and see how you have done in the past. You must then write up a short paragraph stating the reason that we should select you as our spotlight of the week.

For the first Free Agent Spotlight we are going to start at the top of the list by looking for the best Free Agent Main Slayer out there.

If you think you’re the best main slayer out there send the above info to apollo@mlginsider.com with the subject header of “Free Agent Spotlight Entry.” Also, in the e-mail please include an AIM screen name where i can reach you.

For any questions or additional info please message me on AIM at InsiderApollo!

The winner will be announced Next Friday!

Good Luck!

Congratulations to BtH our National Champs!

MLGinsider would like to congratulate Demon D, Clutch, Cloud, Maniac, and Mazsik for their first place finish at MLG Orlando and their big check of $100,000 dollars!

We would also like to congratulate Classic for their second place finish and Carbon for their third place finish

MLGInsider looking for CoD and GoW Writers!

Think you know alot about Call of Duty?  Or how about Gears of War?  Well here is YOUR chance to shine.  MLGInsider is looking for 1-2 intern writers for both Call of Duty and Gears of War!  If your interested in being an MLGInsider intern, all you have to do is e-mail me at Apollo@mlginsider.com or message me on AIM at InsiderApollo and i will send you an Internship application.

Dr Pepper Ultimate Winter Break Ladder Update

 

The Dr Pepper Ultimate Winter Break Ladder is in full swing and has some impressive winning streaks heading into the final weeks. With most people playing CoD Modern Warfare 2 since it’s release, these players have been hard at work playing the Dr Pepper Ultimate Winter Break Ladder. With $2,000 on the line and a trip to the MLG Orlando Nation Championships, you can bet these players will be fighting for the top spots on the ladder until the playoffs begin on December 7th.

1st: Check my Anaheim Stats
EffinNinja is an 18-year-old college student from Grayslake, Illinois attending Silver Lake College. He is currently holding steady with a record of 77 wins and 2 losses and is in 1st place. He has a streak of 27 wins. Will he continue to stay on top until the playoffs begin? Only the other competitors can step up and say no.

“If I play a little a day I plan on holding the #1 seed to playoffs.” -EffinNinja

2nd: BIGGS
BIGGS tbsa is a 21 year old from Dallas, Texas. His current record is 81 wins and 17 losses and is in 2nd place. He has a streak of 12 wins. Even while dropping all the way to the 9th position earlier on the ladder, he has clawed his way back to the # 2 spot in the competition. With this kind of determination, I think we could be seeing BIGGS heading into the playoffs with the #2 seed.

“Drive. That’s the only thing in my mind on this ladder.” -BIGGS

3rd: 9/13/09 M<3E
c4 XLEK is a 15 year-old from Houston, Texas. His current record is 47 wins and 3 losses and he is in 3rd place. XLEK has a winning streak of 3 wins. We will have to see if XLEK can take the #2 spot heading into the playoffs.

“I know I can beat everyone above me.” -XLEK

4th: CAMO n GTFO
Chaos is EZ has a current record of 46 wins and 8 losses. He is currently in 4th place and has a winning streak of 8 wins. Will he take XLEK’s 3rd place spot? Only Chaos is EZ can change that fact. Lets wait and find out if he can do it!

5th: <3 Sarah
MaC BaBy’s record is 45 wins and 2 loss and is in 4th place. He has a streak of 2 losses. Unfortunately, he is currently locked from the ladder. All we can do is wait and see if he can salvage lost time in the final weeks of the ladder.

6th: Winds of Plague
K22 Vtec has a record of 25 wins and 2 losses. He is currently in 6th place and has a winning streak of 7 wins. Lets see what he can do before ladder play ends and playoffs begin.

7th: That girl is a Dime they say
Final Hunter has a record of 70 wins and 10 losses. He is currently in 7th place and has a winning streak of 2 wins. Lets see how far he can progress before playoffs.

8th: [Hydra] Gab
Gabriel has a record of 24 wins and 4 losses. He is currently in 8th place and has a streak of 1 win. He will let us know what he is capable of in just a few weeks!

With stats like this on the ladder thus far, playoffs are sure to be exciting for everyone that qualifies. The Dr. Pepper Ladder will conclude at the MLG National Championships in Orlando Florida. Be sure to tune in and see the 1st and 2nd place qualifiers battle it out for the $2,000 Grand prize and a shot at the 1st place crown of the Dr. Pepper Ultimate Winter Break on January 8th-10th. It is hard to tell who will head to Nationals. With the gameplay so far, we can see any of these hopeful competitors at the MLG National Championships!

 

*Please note, as this is a 1v1 winter ladder, standings will change constantly*

Happy Thanksgiving from MLGInsider

The staff at MLGInsider would like to wish you and your families a happy and safe Thanksgiving.  Gobble Gobble

A Turkey Day Poem:

T is for turkey on Thanksgiving Day,
H is for “Hurry, I’m hungry!” we say.
A is for Auntie, she works and she mends,
N is for Native American friends.
K is for kitchen, the oven’s on low,
S is for silverware, set in a row.
G is for Grandma, the one we love most,
I is for inside, where we’re warm as toast.
V is for vegetables, eat them we try,
I is for icecream on top of the pie.
N is for never do we have enough dressing,
G is for Grandpa, who gives thanks for our blessings.

~Unknown~

MLG Turkey Day:

T is for the thanks you give when you win the game.

H is for everyones new favorite MLG map.

A is the word you call the scrub, who just ran you over in a ghost.

N is for Neighbor, will you ever miss a shot.

K is for knowing, that guy was right behind you.

S is for calling out, the “The Sniper is up!”

G is for a call out, on a map forgotten.

I is for the lone Ogre, there use to be 2.
V is for the Vets, who know this game so well.

I is for Instinct, will you ever be on top?
N is for Canada, you finally have a team.
G is for Good Times, gone but never forgotten.

~Apollo~

WoW Racial Ability Breakdown

World of Warcraft lets players create a character from a choice of ten races. These ten races are split between the Horde and Alliance armies. The Horde consists of five races. The Blood Elves, Orcs, Tauren, Trolls, and Undead. The Alliance consists of the other five races. The Draenei, Dwarves, Gnomes, Humans, and Night Elves. Each race has certain racial abilities that are special to them and them alone.

Some of these racial abilities can help in battle, while others help in different ways. I am only going to explain the racial abilities of all ten races that help during player versus player or PvP. This is because the 3v3 Arena death match game play at MLG World of Warcraft events are considered PvP.

Racial abilities can be passive abilities that are always active and do not need to be activated or they can be abilities needed to be activated by the player. Below is a list all ten races and their respective racial abilities that help in battle. Any racial abilities that do not help in battle are not listed.

Draenei have Gift of the Naaru, Heroic Presence, and Shadow Resistance. Gift of the Naaru is an instant cast that lets the player heal a target for 50 Health points + 15 more points for each level the character gains over 15 seconds. Heroic Presences which is a passive ability that increases the chance to hit with spells and attacks by 1% for all party members within 30 yards. Shadow Resistance is a passive ability that reduces the chance to be hit by Shadow spells by 2%.

Dwarves have Stoneform, Gun Specialization, and Frost Resistance. Stoneform is an instant cast that increases armor and removes all poison, disease, and bleed effects by 10% for 8 seconds.  Gun Specialization is a passive ability that increases the chance to critically hit with guns by 1%. Frost Resistance is a passive ability that reduces the chance to be hit by Frost spells by 2%.

Gnomes have Escape Artist, Expansive Mind, and Arcane Resistance. Escape Artist gives Gnomes the ability to escape the effects of any immobilization or movement speed reduction effects. Expansive Mind increases intellect by 5%. This 5% increase in intellect increases the Gnome’s mana, which gives them more magic to cast spells. The last ability is Arcane Resistance which reduces the chance of being hit by Arcane spells by 2%.

Humans have Perception, The Human Spirit, Every Man for Himself, Sword and Mace Specialization. Perception is a passive ability that increases stealth detection. The Human Spirit is a passive ability that increases spirit by 3%. Every Man for Himself is an instant cast ability that removes all movement impairing effects and all effects that cause players to loose control of their characters. The last ability is sword and mace specialization, which are passive abilities that increase specialization with swords and maces by 3.

Night Elves have Shadowmeld, Elusiveness, Quickness, and Nature Resistance. Shadowmeld is as an instant cast that lets the player go invisible so that enemies cannot detect them as easy. Players cannot move while this ability is in effect or it cancels. Elusiveness is a passive ability only available to rouge and druid Night Elves. It reduces the chance of enemies detecting the play while Stealthed or Shadowmelded. Quickness is a passive ability that reduces the chance of melee or ranged attacks hitting by 2%. The last Night Elf racial ability is Nature Resistance, which reduces the chance of getting hit by nature attacks by 2%.

Blood Elves have Arcane Torrent and Magic Resistance as their racial abilities. Magic Resistance reduces the chance that spells will hit by 2%. The Blood Elf’s last racial ability is Arcane Torrent, which has many different effects depending on what class uses it. Hunters, Mages, Paladins, Priests, and Warlocks receive 5 mana + 1% of their total mana points. Rogues receive 15 focus and Death Knights receive 15 runic power. Arcane Torrent also silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds for all classes. Silence is when an opponent’s spell casting is cancelled.

Orcs have Blood Fury, Hardiness, Command, and Axe Specialization. Blood Fury is an instant cast that does different things for each class. Death Knights, Warriors, Rogues, and Hunters gain 322-attack power at level 80, which lasts for 15 seconds. Shamans get their attack power and their spell damage increased for 15 seconds. Command is a passive ability that increases the damage dealt by Hunter, Warlock, and Death Knight pets by 5%. The last Orc racial ability is their axe specialization, which increases their axe and fist weapon specialization by 5%.

Tauren have War Stomp, Endurance, and Nature Resistance. War Stomp is an instant cast that stuns up to 5 enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds. Endurance is a passive ability that increases a Tauren’s base health by 5%. The last racial ability for the Tauren is Nature Resistance, which is a passive ability and reduces the chance they will get hit by Nature spells by 2%.

Trolls have Berserking, Regeneration, Bow Specialization, and Da Voodoo Shuffle. Berserking is an instant cast that increases attack speed by 10% – 30% for 10 seconds. They get a 10% increase if they are at full health and 30% if they are badly hurt. Regeneration is a passive ability that speeds the regeneration of health by 10%. Bow Specialization is a passive ability that increases the chances to critically hit with their bow by 1%. Da Voodoo Shuffle is a passive ability that reduces the duration of all movement-impairing effects by 15%.

Undead have Will of the Forsaken, Cannibalize, and Shadow Resistance. Will of the Forsaken is an instant cast that removes charm, fear, and sleep effects. Cannibalize is an instant cast that allows undead to eat humanoid or undead corpses to regain 7% of their total health every 2 seconds for 10 seconds. The last racial ability the Undead have is Show Resistance, which is passive and reduces the chance to get hit by Shadow spell by 2%.

These racial abilities are the reason you see many different races from both armies fighting each other during MLG World of Warcraft tournaments. The only thing players are limited to at MLG tournaments is that teams can only consist of three characters from the same army. Players also need to choose from the pre made characters and races uploaded to the account they are using to play. This is because the server used to play at MLG events has pre made characters uploaded to the server by the Admins at MLG. The race that players may want might not be there and they might have to settle. I hope this helps you understand WoW racial abilities a little better. Watch for more on competitive WoW coming soon!

MW2 Rumors

We here at MLGinsider have been hearing some interesting rumors of late and we figured we would fill everyone in on what we have been hearing.

The first rumor which we have been hearing.  Please note this is just hearsay, and is no where near confirmed.  This rumor is about MLG switching from the 4v4 competitive style for Modern Warfare 2 to a more 5v5 style.  This is due to the increased map size.   Is this a creditable rumor?  We are not sure.  There are pros and cons to this switch.  A pro is that it would be more team based instead of just four people running preset strategies around the map.   Also it would add a greater competitive aspect because it would rely more on, on the spot teamwork rather than set stratigies.  However, a con to this approach is that MLG would have to spend money and buy extra TV ‘s, and 360 systems to accommodate the new setups.  Also this would eliminate the split screen aspect completely.

We have also heard a few rumors that MLG is/has been working with Infinity Ward to make Modern Warfare 2, more competitive friendly.  Such as creating a LAN lobby, fixing spawn points, adding competitive maps, as well as the leveling system so that players get to use the full array of guns.

Update:

Alright, so just an update.  Killa KC the MLG gametype creator has just stated on the MLG forums that MW2 will not be 5v5.  So that means that MLG will be using the 4v4 style.

We here at MLGinsider are still looking into the 2nd set of rumors and will update this page as we get them.

MLG Anaheim Wrap up

In case you have been living under a rock for the past few days and missed MLG Anahiem.  I’m going break down the final results of the weekend.  Lets start off with the flagship, Halo 3.

First off i would like to congratulate and give an honorable mention to team Power.  Power is a team from Europe who flew 14 hours to attend MLG Anaheim.  Jet lag and all else behind them, they stepped up to play against some of the very best in the world, and proved they could.  After getting knocked into the losers bracket the first round, Power fought through the losers bracket, going on a rampage, and ended up getting to the 5th round losers in the Championship bracket.  They finished the night in 19th place, a mere 3 spots short of being the first European team to ever place pro.  Could this be the start of seeing some rising players from Europe?  Maybe it is time that MLG starts thinking about an international event.

The championship round was played between Triggers Down and Str8 Rippin.  Str8 fought long and hard to get there, they played some of the best Halo I have seen in a while.  Knocking out teams like Carbon and a surprising Dynasty, two teams which seemed to give Str8 some problems.  TD and Str8 went into the series 3-2 with TD already in the lead.   A few games later the series was set at 5-4 with TD still in the lead.  With the wall being at Str8′s back they pushed hard and managed to get a 50-49 win over TD on Team Slayer on Construct.  This sent the series into Game 11.  Str8 fought hard but could not stop the reigning champs, finishing off the series with a 50-41 Amplifed Slayer Triggers Down Victory.  This makes Triggers Down the first Halo 3 team to win back to back Halo 3 events.  Can they do it again in Orlando? There is a lot of time, between now and then.  Can another team rise to the challenge and defeat them?  Only time will tell.

Congratulations to Power as well as our H3 Anaheim Champs Triggers Down!

Gears of War 2:

THE NSAN3Z, fresh off their recent roster addition of Prison, at first seemed to have some problems.  In the winners bracket finals THE NSAN3Z showed us a more aggressive side than we are use to and took Amayzn by storm.  Team Get Bronco, stormed through the losers bracket to face the THE NSAN3Z in the Championship round.  Get Bronco began to get desprate and managed to pull it togeather to win 2 games.  But in the end it was not enough. THE NSAN3Z came out on top.

Congratulations to THE NSAN3Z our GoW2 Anaheim Champs!

Call of Duty 4:

This is perhaps the last ever Call of Duty 4 National Championships and we were not disappointed.  With Envy Us knocking Fear out of the tournament, they moved on to play Xtravagent Icons in the Championship finals.  These finals contained everything from trash talk, to random people joining games, to Puckett calling a capture point a spawn point before catching himself.  It was a good series of games.  Going into the match Envy Us was down 3 games to 0 from their earlier loss to Xtravagant in the winners bracket.   Envy Us rallied in their first 3 games to tie it.  However Xtravagent rallied right back and won the next 3 games, ending the series with a 6-3 win.

Rainbow 6 Vegas 2:

Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 did not suprise anyone with fan favored Rage coming in first.

Congratulations to Rage our R6V2 National Champs!

World of Warcraft:

Congratulations to Button Mashers our MLG Anaheim World of Warcraft 3v3 Champs!

Carbon vs. Status Quo LAN

Carbon vs. Status Quo LAN

I’d have to say, that even though this LAN was very short, it was some of the most thrilling Halo I have ever had the chance to watch.  The series’ were back and forth, with both teams mirroring each other in games won per series. However, play was stopped after a 2-0 lead by Status Quo in series 5, because Naded’s hand was cramping up from all the destruction he was dishing out. Of course, everyone was pretty worn out by the time that play stopped, considering that series 5 was the third series being played that night. Overall, it was an amazing LAN and all of the guys from Carbon are very cool, down to Earth people. I’m sure we will be LANing again soon.

Series 1    Series 2     Series 3    Series 4    Series 5    Total LAN
SQ 8            sQ 3               sQ 6        sQ 5            sQ 2          sQ  24
CbN 3        CbN 8           CbN 5    CbN 6        CbN 0      CbN  22

Clearing the fog around SQ

With this being my first article, I’d like to take a few lines  to clear up some of the mess that has been following Status Quo around for  quite some time now.  Foremost, no money has been paid to any of the players  that the team has acquired over the season, with the exception of the  expenses that our sponsorship, provided by my father, has paid for.  My dad  has always supported my brother and I, one-hundred percent, in whatever we  have decided to pursue, and likewise, has supported our choice to compete in video game tournaments.  The sponsorship is nothing out of the ordinary, and  it covers the basics, such as, airfare, hotel, food, etc.

Another question that is commonly brought up about the team is,  “How did ToTz end up on the team to begin with?”.  Starting back in 2005, I became good friends with FlamesworD over Xbox Live and we never lost contact  with each other. After Orlando, Status Quo dropped Prolific and was in need  of a fourth teammate. My brother was gaming very hard at the time and was  improving exponentially, so I suggested a tryout to FlamesworD and the rest  is history. They improved their placing from top 24 to top 12 and almost  beat Ambush for top 8 in a heartbreaking series, that I probably never will  forget.  We get a massive amount of unnecessary disrespect for being more  well off than other people, but that is okay, because haters are always going to hate.

Finding Home

During the course of this MLG season, Status Quo has struggled  to settle on a roster that would fit the family like atmosphere and hold up in tournament play.  Once upon a time, at the  WinterLAN, MLG¹s top professionals from all over the country gathered at the Fries¹ House (it¹s my article, so I¹ll call the house by my name) for some epic halo action. Status Quo, at that point, consisted of FlamesworD, ToTz, S1y Fox, and Swisha.  S1y Fox never showed up to the LAN even though his plane ticket was purchased, and that event started the snowball (no pun intended).

It was the 2v2 tournament, where Ace teamed up with FlamesworD and became a dominant force that only StrongSide and, the Grand Master of Halo, Walshy, were able to take down in an eight game epic that was birthed from a three game series.

StrongSide saw the talent in FlamesworD and Ace then, and played numerous 4v4 games with ToTz, seeing potential in all three rising stars. StrongSide was in-between teams at the time, and after a few phone calls, decided to join Status Quo. The team practiced religiously and LAN¹d more times than some top teams do in a whole season, before the first event took place.  Nevertheless, they didn¹t live up to the hype that was built up around them, and everyone on the team was disappointed because they knew
their own potential, but did not perform at the event.

After another seventh place letdown, StrongSide was off to bigger things by reuniting with Final Boss, leaving Status Quo in search of
a fourth.  Believe the Hype, aka Cloud, had just released In The Clutch, and he looked like the best bet for the team. Even though Clutch performed well at the LANs and the team functioned very well against Triggers Down, something just didn¹t click at the event and Status Quo ended up with an, inexcusable, tenth place finish after a loss to an ³on fire² Dynasty for top 8.  After Dallas, Clutch left to join up with Cloud, and the core three from Status Quo were left without a fourth player, once again.

Luckily, Legend was dropped from Classic in the midst of a “hurricane” and Status Quo was able to acquire him before Classic realized that they had made a mistake.  This has been the best addition to the team since Ace was added to the team at the WinterLAN. Legend is a seasoned veteran who knows the game back and forth, and can also put up some Pistola-like numbers with a good supporting cast, but that isn¹t what he is here for and it isn¹t even something he cares about. What he really cares about, is what everyone on the team cares about the most: Winning.  I think I speak for the team when I say that it does not matter how ugly a win may
be, we will definitely take it if it brings the team closer to the number one spot.  Legend reminds me of Walshy, with his knowledge of the game and willingness to teach, but I think he packs some serious fire power (he dropped a positive 94 kill to death ratio at Dallas).  His mentoring of the young players will be key in the success of the team, because Heretic is now the dominant map on the circuit and, with that, Status Quo is at a huge disadvantage by being a new team to Halo 3.   However, this will only make them practice harder than ever.

I truly believe that Legend is the answer to the inconsistencies that have plagued Status Quo in tournament play so far this season.  This weekend Status Quo will LAN Carbon, who broke the mold with the acquisition of Walshy and Naded by placing second.  With all the scheduled practice, there should be no excuses this time around, and we should see a totally different Status Quo. After all, a Status Quo firing on all cylinders has yet to be shown to the 500,000+ watching the live stream, maybe this will be
the event where every head starts to turn.  I honestly believe that Status Quo has found home with the addition of Legend, and I guarantee they will come out on fire Friday night at Anaheim.

Halo 3 Pro Scrim Update

Here are a few of the latest scrims and results
Str8 Rippin vs Believe the Hype (BtH 5 – Str8 Rippin 3)

Str8 Rippin – T2, ElamiteWarrior, Legit, Snipedown
Believe the Hype – Cloud, Demon D, Maniac, Clutch

Game 1
OddBall on Heretic (14:31)
BtH 250 – Str8 Rippin 157
Maniac was +10 with 31 kills, 22 assist and 68 seconds of ball time.

Game 2
Amp. Team Slayer (5:15)
BtH 50 – Str8 Rippn 45
Clutch was +9 with 17 kills.

Game 3
Construct King(14:26)
BtH 250 – Str8 Rippin 240
Demon D had 26 kills with 102 seconds of balltime.

Game 4
OnSlaught CTF(8:47)
Str8 Rippin 5 – BtH 4
Snipedown was +17 with 31 kills and two flag captures.

Game 5
Slayer on Heretic (4:59)
BtH 50 – Str8 Rippin 41
Demon D and Cloud were both +5. T2 only had 3 kills with a -12 KD.

Game 6
Slayer on The Pit(7:48)
BtH 50 – Str8 Rippn 42
Maniac was +6 with 16 kills. Elamite had 17 kills but only a +2 KD.

Game 7
Narrows CTF (9:51)
Str8 Rippin 3 – BtH 2
Legit had 19 kills with a +2, T2 also had 19 kills with a +4 KD.

Game 8
Heretic CTF (14:01)
Str8 Rippin 5 – BtH 3
Snipedown was +8 with 34 kills. Demon D was -15 with only 17 kills.

Believe the Hype vs Team Classic(BtH 3 – TC 1)

Classic – Best Man, Chig, Soldier187, GH057Ayame
Believe the Hype – Cloud, Demon D, Maniac, Clutch

Game 1
CTF on The Pit (11:51)
BtH 3 – TC 0
Demon D had 30 kills with a +17 KD. Ghost olny had 7 kills and a -17 KD.

Game 2
Amp. TS (5:46)
TC 50 – BtH 48
Best Man was +5 with 16 kills. Demom D had 17 kills with a +KD.

Game 3
Onslaught CTF(8:46)
BtH 5 – TC 1
Demon D had 25 kills, with a +9 KD and three Flag Caps.

Game 4
Oddball on Heretic(10:37)
BtH 133 – TC 124
Ghost was +7 with 25 kills.

Interview with FeaR Moho

I got a chance to sit down with Moho from DpG FeaRthe Number 1 Call of Duty team out there.  Here is what he had to say

Apollo: Thanks a lot for doing the interview.

Moho: Not a problem at all.

Apollo: How does it feel to know that you have won what may have been the last Call of Duty 4 PCL?

Moho: It feels good! If there is any PCL that me and my team have played and won it would be this one. There is no greater feeling then winning the last PCL and heading into Modern Warfare2.

Apollo:  Speaking of Modern Warfare 2, I know that Infinty Ward has spoken with you about testing the game.  Have any plans been made or have you talked with them at all about it?

Moho: We are not sure if it will be before or after the game releases till they fly us out to the headquarters. But we do know that it will be a competitive gamers meet that we will be participating in.

Apollo: So do you think that means you could potentially be playing against other MLG teams that you know? Or perhaps some WSG teams.

Moho: Well, what they have planned for us im sure they dont have planned for other MLG teams. This was decided back in 08 when we won nationals. Im sure what they are going to do is host a open house building that is lan like and have all competitive gamers test the game out. That is just my speculation.

Apollo: What do you think about what we have already seen about Modern Warefare 2? What are some of your expectations of it?

Moho: I think its going to be hands down the best game anyone has ever played. With the expectations that is applied to infinity ward I DOUBT they will dissapoint. Some of my expectations are that it heads to the pro circuit and it out shines all other competitive games and gets the attention it deserves.

Apollo:  What are your top 5 favorite guns?

Moho:  I dont think I have a top 5. I think its a top 2 type of thing. My main two guns are the Mp5 and the M16 and as for a side arm I like to use the deagle and the USP. The colt 45 is not bad though.

Apollo: Do you have any plans for when Modern Warfare 2 comes out? Any first night scrims of deathmatch or Capture the flag?

Moho: My plans for when Modern Warfare2 drops are to just play play play and get to know the game and try to understand how everything works.

Apollo: With Modern Warfare 2 being a new game, with new guns, do you believe anything will carry over skill wise?

Moho: I think alot will carry over. But the same time I feel that the people that were good at COD4 in the beginning are going to be the good people in this one. It takes time to adjust to any new game. But shooting wise I think its all the same.

Apollo: Are there any teams that you have seen either in the PCL or online in general that have potential to go pro?
Moho: Well, DyNaStY is a team that I think is an up coming team that has potential to make pro status. Other than that, no one.

Apollo:  What do you feel separates a normal team from a Pro team?

Moho: I think the thought process between the two are TOTALLY different. The difference is casual and non casual. The casual team only plays for fun and the pro gamer plays to win

Alright I got 1 last question from a community member that sent me one in, and that question is this

Raseri asks: Whats was your most memorable moment in Rainbow 6 Vegas?

Moho: Probbably losing to professional skills in the MLG A tournament by one of our players disconnecting.

Apollo: Alright that’s about all the time we have, any shout outs before we go?

Moho: Shout to babyyy…the team…..all the fans……DpG Gaming for all the support……Kontrol Freak….Turtle Beach……Evil Controllers……Kiaeneto for gettin our nasty shirts…..and to all the haters

MLGInsider in Rd 3 of Melee in Manhatan

Hey, I would like to invite people to come out to Maumee, Ohio on Friday October 23rd 2009, to cheer me as I represent MLGInsider while competing in the Melee In Manhattan tournament round 3.

Round 1 and 2 summary

I easily won round one only having won 3 games in round 1. In each game the opponent got no more than 5 kills on me.  One game i went 8-1 with my only death being a stick from my own plasma grenade being bounced off a bubble shield.  Round 1 ended quickly

In round 2 there was an odd number of people at the event.  Therefore who ever had the most kills in match 1 got a bye into match 2.  My first opponent did not stand a chance.  With him saying how good he was I defeated him 15 to 0 and got a perfection out of it.   I got a bye into the 3rd set of matches, where i played some like 23 year old guy who was talking a bunch of smack.  He got even more pissed when I would strongside away from him when I was 1 shot.  Game was winding down and with a about 20 seconds left I was up by 1 kill.  He was screaming his head off to fight him like a man and was flipping out swearing at the TV and everything.  When the game was over I reached over to shake his hand and tell him good game.  He told me ” I ain’t touchin your hand dude.(Insert string of swear words here) He’s cheatin over here.”  He proceeded to storm out basically crying and as he slammed the door shut everyone was dying laughing.

After that I was gaurenteed a spot in round 3.  We still played for 1st, and I won 8 to 3.  It was a good game the guy had some skill.

So if anyone is in the area and would like to come cheer on MLGInsider or even boo us out, feel free to show up and say hello, I will most likely be wearing some sort of MLGInsider clothing so I should be easy to find.

On a side note: I will be running Heritic FFA’s and 1v1′s open to anyone who wants to although i would prefer people who are moving into round 3.  Also i would love to meet some of the people i will be competing against!  Feel free to send me a friend request on Xbox Live.  MLGInsiderApolo is my GT.

Championship updates

With Anaheim being the championships for Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 as well as Call of Duty 4, this last online ladder will determine who will hold what seed for the event.  Both Leagues are in their championship rounds with the best 2 teams of their respective games dukeing it out for first place.

In Rainbow 6 Vegas 2: First place Rage, is going up against sixth place tC Vengeance.  Rage’s roster is AkA LyRiCz, BlOoD n GlOrY,  HOP3Z, and JwHoJcAsH.  While Vengeance’s roster is tC ForBiDDeN, tC KiKLioN,  tC NawK0uT, and tC R4GE.

In Call of Duty 4 we have XtravaganT(2nd) against DpG Fear(1st).  DpG Fear’s roster consists of FeaR Moho, FeaR ASSASS1N, FeaR PuN1sHeR, FeaR xProoFyy.   XtravaganT’s roster consists of BiG TyMeR IXI, DodgeRz IxI,  RaMb0 IXI,  FeaR xProoFyy

MLG announces MLG Orlando

MLG has finally announced officially that the 5th and final Major League Gaming Event will be in Orlando, Flordia on January 8 through the 10th.  But we already told you that.  MLG has also announced that Orlando will be an open event for Halo 3 and Gears of War 2.  Which means get your teams together and get ready for another event!  This is a very questionable move.  They have more or less removed a total National Championship event like in the past.  With Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 and Call of Duty 4 being in Anaheim, and the Halo 3, Gears of War 2, and World of Warcraft being in Orlando.

Along with the FPS’s and Warcraft there is also a expanded EA Sports Challange which will feature Madden 10, NBA Live 10, and Fight Night Round 4. Which will offer more than $380,000 in prize money will be awarded over the course of the weekend.  This brings a few questions to mind.  Is this foreshadowing the possibility of an edition of another console to the circuit?  Or another one is, Will we see a new game on the circuit next year?  Maybe something other than a FPS?  Or even, with MLG aquireing a gaming company, and all their new sponsors….Could this possibly be the beginning of a Major League Gaming Video Game?  Only time will tell.

Last Day for MLGinsider Intern Apps!

Today, September 29th 2009 is the last day that MLGinsider will be accepting Intern Applications.  If you have not recieved one, or would like to join.  Please E-Mail me at Apollo@mlginsider.com or contact me on AIM at InsiderApollo.  I will be on AIM all night and check my e-mail once an hour.  Please message me and i will get you an application ASAP.

Instinct and Status Quo Rosters

Ok, we are finally able to confirm both the Status Quo and Instinct rosters.

Let’s start with Instinct.  First off, Ghost was let go partially due to his play in Dallas and partially due “personality conflicts”.  He’s a great player and will definitely land on a solid team.  After Ghost’s release two players were actually being considered for the 4th spot; Fearitself and Strongside.  From discussions we’ve had with those close to the situation, they ultimately went with Fearitself because they felt he rounded out their team the best.

Contrary to the stupid rumors going around that Strongside and Neighbor would never play together again cause they “don’t get along”, they actually are extremely good friends and have no issues playing with each other.

Now on to Status Quo.  For those who don’t know Clutch actually made the decision to go back to BtH before he left Dallas.  So it was no surprise to those involved when he made it official a few days later.

A few people close to the situation said that the reason Legendpimps left/was kicked from Classic was a butting of heads due to his strong personality.  He was picked up by Status Quo as their 4th player a few days ago.   We decided to wait to update because Legend was also being pursued by a few other top teams and had considered one other.

Personally I think the strong personality that Legend has will be an asset to a young Status Quo team that could use and outspoken leader.  He has also proven to consistently play at a level that puts him on the border of that upper echelon of players.

Side note:  I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ghost wind up on Final Boss as their fourth, not only from a talent stand point, but also from an experience stand point.

MLGInsider ODST FireFight Review

As many of you are aware, gamestop recently launched a demo setup of FireFight mode in Halo 3 ODST.  They have been bringing it around in a special ODST HellJumper truck.  The truck is an old army truck, it weighs 28,000 pounds(which is 14 tons).  I managed to log a decent 1 hour of gameplay. How it works is you get in line, and they send people 8 at a time into the back of the truck where they had 8 systems hooked up to 8 plasma screen tv’s.  You had 10 minutes and infinite lives to rack up as many points as possible.  We were told in actual firefight on the ODST game you will only have 7 lives that are shared between your team.   They will not let you play on legendary and you are absolutely not allowed to play as Sergant Johnson. Somehow I ended up playing as him anyway.

The controls are the same except there is no equipment.  The X button has been taken over by visor mode.  This may sound useless at first but it works wonders as I will explain later.  There is no motion sensor, your ODST can not jump as high or throw grenades as far.  If you think your going to melee kill a brute like in H3.  You better be ready for it, its not an easy task.  You do not regain health if you get damaged, so you need to be careful.  The most important thing, one that every MLG player can relate to, is teamwork.  You will be hard pressed to tackle a hunter by yourself.    Anyway…Lets get on with the actual review and my comments….

You start out with the SMG and Pistol(this may be changeable..not sure).  Upon first firing the guns your going to notice the guns actually recoil, so you can’t just spam the trigger and hope to kill something, this actually requires some what of aiming.  It takes a while to get use to, but you do eventually.  Halo 1 fans rejoice, they have brought back the Halo Combat Evolved Pistol. Unfortunately it’s not as we fondly remember.  It seems to do less damage and it has a smaller clip so you need to pick your shots. In my personal opinion, sounds like a little laser gun. (Phew Phew Phew sound).  It does have a very nice scope though.  The SMG is a very efficient weapon, even at long range  it can be put to excellent use due to it having a scope as well.  The only downside is that it has a small clip as well.

Next up is the visor mode. This is a really helpful feature as it allows you to see enemies, friendlies, and invisible brutes.  It is excellent for finding new weapons!  I used the pistol scope and managed to find rockets and a sniper rifle.  The map Crater, it is a semetrical map with 2 bases facing each other.  In the opposite base you spawn in there is a sniper up top and a rocket launcher on the bottom.  You can not be afraid to pick up and use enemy weapons, you run out of ammo fast, so be prepared to use that spiker, and plasma rifle.  Because you are not a spartan, your melee’s basicly are horrible compared to what we are use to.  If you do it to a brute and he does not die, he will swing and knock you back and you go flying.  The enemies come at diffrent times and are usualy announced with a good old fashion Reinforcement call…The drones(bugs) sometimes have shields along with the brutes..It takes 2-3 sniper shots to kill a brute. 1 shot to break shields…1 to break armor…and 1 to finish him off.

Teamwork is a huge role in ODST Firefight.  The brutes are shielded and take alot of shots to kill. Brutes carrying hammers seem to have even more health.  The skulls rotate randomly; one second it is on the “Grunt Birthday Party” and “Iron” then it can switch to “Storm” and “Tough Luck”.  It adds a good amount of challenge to the game.

I said up at the top that we had infinite lives, but in the regular version you only get 7.  In each of the 10 minute rounds we did we managed to only die about 7 or 8 times on normal. So it is going to be very interesting.

I stood in line for a total of something like 5 hours for a single hour of gameplay.    My thoughts … it was WELL WORTH IT!  It was an awesome experience and I would personally buy ODST for only this game if your sitting on the fence.   Don’t buy it for the maps, buy it for “Firefight”!  They give you some free gear like a sick little mini-helpmate for playing, and if you get the most points on your team you get a licence plate cover that says, “My other car is a Warthog”.  Below are some pictures of the stuff!  Hope you guys enjoyed my thoughts on ODST!   “Helljumpers, Feet First into Hell!”

Controller directions they gave us^

Other side to the card^

license plate cover^

Mini-Helm^

Mini-Helm 2^

The Truck^

Naded – New Man or Finally Understood

If you watched MLG Dallas you saw the tournament that Naded had.  It was very similar to the tournament he had in the National Championships in 2008 in Vegas.  He seemed like a “new man”.  The question really is why?

Here’s how I see it.  If you watch Naded’s play historically you will see that he has played on some talented teams.  He had a great fit with Carbon in the national championships and then they parted ways becasue Carbon just felt he took to many chances and wanted to try the more conservative and consistent Soviet.

They never seemed to put it all back together until MLG Dallas this year.  The difference for both Carbon and Naded is this …. “They’re like a glove”.  They are a great fit for each other.

The knock on Naded is not his talent. He is one of the most dynamic players in the game.  He is one of maybe a handful of players in this league that can turn and entire game on his own.  The reason is of course his talent, but that’s not all he has a confidence that causes him to take chances , but also puts him in positions that others don’t get in to create dynamic game changing plays.  Now all this sounds great, the problem is that he also puts his team in bad positions when his gambles backfire.

Now here is why Carbon is such a great fit.  Carbon has three consistent, solid players that are extremely experienced and team oriented.  They are the perfect trio to compliment Naded.  They have the consistency and ability that they are able to effective neutralize the oppositions advances till Naded respawns.  This is a team that was overlooked, but as teammates they fit as well as any foursome in the league.

With the cat now out of the bag… I am interested to see what will happen in Anaheim in November.  Lets hear your thoughts sound off below.

Perplexity VOD Analysis

I have heard many rumors that Perplexity is an elite player on the Pro Circuit. I had to see what all the commotion was about. This CTF Pit game with Heaven and Earth versus Classic took place in the Placement Rounds of MLG Columbus.

VOD Link: http://www.mlgpro.com/content/link/284569/Perplexity

As Perplexity breaks for sniper, we begin to see what all the hype is about, as he gets a solid quick scope on Soldier187. Both teams try to feel each other out in the beginning, as the game kicks off with a slow tone that eventually heats up once the flags start to be pulled.

When Perplexity spawns at 28:29, you can see he is just trying to establish map control for his team in the center of the map. Making pushes through Green Box and Long Hall are very team-oriented, and a vital piece of running The Pit efficiently.

Around 26:46 Perplexity dies to a sneaky Soldier187. Soldier really stood out to me this game. He was constantly keeping pressure on HaE to think twice about every action, and pulling off some great snipes too.

Off his 21:39 spawn, Perplexity helps Hokum clear out a Classic member pushing through Long Hall simply by using his death cam. The death cam is a highly underrated tool to winning Halo games. It can provide critical information in crucial times. Even if a teammate can just get a quick glance at your screen, this helps tremendously.

Starting at 20:11 Perplexity goes into beast mode. You can see through his game play how badly he wants this cap. He starts by winning a personal battle with Chig on top of bridge and proceeds to move through Green Hall to help his team out. He makes a very clutch play by keeping the flag alive, out BRing Soldier, and picking off Legend for the double kill. Unfortunately for Heaven and Earth they do not come away with a cap here and this proves to be the momentum changer of the game for Classic, as they run back a quickly executed counter cap.

At 18:12, we see Perplexity put his sniper to use once again as he tears Chig’s face off.

Throughout this game, Perplexity’s Battle Rifle continued to impress me more and more. His mid range BR was top of the line. He plays similar to Neighbor in many ways. He plays sneaky, he flanks the opposing team, and makes amazing snipes. He opens plays up for his team when he is shining and slaying to the best of his ability; exactly what Neighbor brings to Instinct. If Heaven and Earth gets a core four for the last two events, I expect them to make the Playoffs at the end of the season.

Walshy Does it Again?

Yes, once more Walshy defeats the team that dropped him.  He has a great tournament and finishes in second with a team that was put together a month ago.   This raises a few questions in my mind: Is Walshy not quite the team oriented player we thought he was? Has he lost the drive to push him over the top? Or is he just messing around with all of us?

This is something I’ve actually given quite a bit of though to.  Let’s go back to 2008 in Toronto.  Walshy gets dropped by Final Boss for Neighbor.  He decides to team with Roy, Lunchbox and Soviet.  After looking like he might be on his way out of the game in the previous tournament in Orlando, he comes alive in Toronto.  His Br is on point and he appears to be playing like the Walshy many of the longtime MLG fans have seen.  Instinct upsets Final Boss and Walshy  compares the ogres to the Olsen twins and says, “It was like taking candy from a baby, but the baby fought harder.”

Fast forward to Columbus 2009, Instinct finishes 5th and Walshy again looks as if he’s might be what is holding the team back.  They make a big move and drop Dave for Ghostayame.  (Que the dramatic music) Walshy teams with Shockwave, Defy and Naded a month before MLG Dallas and again seems revived and has a great tournament beating Str8 3-0 and eliminating Final Boss and Instinct enroute to a 2nd place finish behind Triggers Down.  Now here’s the real question.  What gives?

Does he just lose motivation on the team’s he’s on?  Is he just a scape goat for teammates to blame him? Maybe to both?  While I can’t explain how his play changes so drastically when he gets dropped by a team, all I can say is that he has become a nightmare for teams.

Allow me to play a scenario out for you … Let’s say Carbon has a couple bad tournaments in a row and once again the blame gets placed on Dave.  If you’re Carbon what do you do?  You look back at FB and Instinct and realize it’s a curse to drop him, but maybe you feel like he’s what’s holding you back.  I can’t answer that question, all I know is that the guy pulls upsets out of his redbull hat like a genie granting wishes.  He has shown he gets fired up and still can compete at this top level, I know I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side.

What do you think?  Sound off below?

Orlando = Championships?

We have been told by reputable sources close to MLG that the Major League Gaming Championships will be in Orlando, Florida. This actually coincides with the many rumblings that we have heard. So, it looks like all you Floridians are in for a treat.

Please Note: Locations for MLG events are not final until MLG Commisioner John Nelson announces the location.

Insider Internship?

Hey, are you looking for a place to intern at? But you don’t want to go to the same old place most other people go to?  Do you have a passion for gaming?  Do you follow MLG?  Do you want to do what i’m doing right now?  If you’ve answered yes to a few of those then your in the right place.

MLGinsider is opening up 3 Internship spots on our staff.  Internships will be official with paper work, and would look great on job, college or any other resumes!

For more information regarding the internship spot please contact us by either the Contact Us tab.  Or you can contact me at apollo@mlginsider.com or on AIM at InsiderApollo.
Looking forward to hearing from you all!

Clutch to BtH?

We have just received word from our sources that Clutch has joined Believe the Hype.  We are not yet certain who will be dropped.  It is rumored that either Soviet or Maniac will be dropped.

This comes as no surprise since both Believe the Hype and Status Quo were unhappy with their respective placings.  We will have to wait and see exactly how it shakes out, but we will update you as soon as we hear more.

This also puts status quo on the hunt for the second straight event to fill that fourth spot.

Dallas Wrap Up

Dallas was an event full of firsts and surprises! From the number 1 Halo 3 team Str8 Rippin being knocked out early and MLG having a madden side event, Dallas sure was entertaining.

Here are the placings for Halo 3, Gears of War 2, and World of Warcraft.

Halo 3.

1. Triggers Down

2. Carbon

3. Instinct

4. Str8 Rippin

5. Final Boss

6. Classic

7.  Under the Influence

8. Dynasty

The Winner of the Madden Challenge was  Jat Steele.

In second place was Problem.

Third place was taken by Derwi

Fourth place was Chow.

Gears of War 2:

1. Amayzn

2. MbN: The Business

3.  vVv Less than Zero

4. pT Retaliation

World of Warcraft:

1. eMg

2. X6tense

3. Complexity

Best of luck Sypher

We here over at MLGinsider would like to wish the best of luck to Sypher and his family as they go through this incredibly hard time in their lives. Please feel free to show your support and encourage Sypher and his family below.

For those not aware of the situation, Sypher, due to personal family issues, will not be able to attend Dallas, so Believe the Hype only now has 3 team members after the roster lock. We would like for this article to serve as a voice so that MLG will let Believe the Hype Change their roster with little to no problems. I encourage you to support the cause and wish Sypher the best of luck.

Best of Luck Sypher hope that all is well

from mlgpro forums -posted by Sypher

A couple of weeks ago my parents were fighting and my mom wanted some time to think and I thought my family was going to be destroyed because me, my brother and my father had to live in a hotel because my mom didn’t want to see my father or us because we look like him. My father was destroyed. I couldn’t leave him by his side and I thought my family was done for but my mom took him back. I’m not sure what he did but I think he cheated on my mom. My mom took us in and I thought we were back to normal but she was just dealing with him for the sake of me and my brother. I awoke yesterday finding that they had been fighting all morning and they agreed on a divorce in front of my brother. Now not only can I not leave my father because I have to hang around in a hotel for a bit but my brother was my only way to go to Dallas. I thought I was able to go alone but my parents said it’s too dangerous. I begged my brother to go but he just told me how could I be thinking of a god damn video game at the time and to be honest I have to agree with him. I wish this could of went any other way but my life as of now is seriously going down the ****ter quickly. I know this is the worst possible time to say this but it’s not like I ****ing planned this whole operation.

Alpha X Factor VOD

Amp North of 49 is a Canadian MLG team made up of Imported, GSpot, Alpha X Factor, and Dark Scorpion. This talented group placed 21^st at Columbus after a disappointing Meadowlands. Among all of these players I must say I was very impressed with Alpha X Factor. This hectic game of Amplified TS took place during Losers Bracket Round 3 in Ohio earlier this season.

Alpha X Factor VOD

North of 49 loses the opening break on Amplified, with three of their players down. Like any other map on Halo, the break sets the tone for the game. However the beginning portion of the game on Amplified is even more crucial. The key to victory on Amplified is jumping out to an early lead and never looking back.

When Alpha spawns at 14:47 his mindset is to help his team control blue base. Although he is assassinated by IceVayne flanking, N49 successfully kills all four members of Pistol and the Jets and claims control of blue base. Amplified can be viewed as a run and gun type map, the fastest game type on the Pro Circuit. With that being said, control of either blue or red base is needed for your team to avoid disaster.

Alpha spawns at blue base once again at 14:32. He stays on top of the tower while the rest of his team pushes up near purple and gold to prepare for the Pistol and the Jets spawning at red base. Near 14:04 Alpha anticipates the blue team spawning under him, at top blue. This can be a very common occurrence on Amplified. The blue and red base on Amped only have four spawn points, while the gold and purple base have six each, making a whopping grand total of 20. Mastering spawn points generally come from experience, but it can’t hurt to go in Forge and check them out either. When it comes to learning spawns, Amplified is by far the easiest.

When Alpha spawns at 13:03 he pushes straight through The Jets near the purple base with his team. He then takes position on the tower of red base, and supports his team in their efforts to kill their enemies at blue. He takes this position so often because of his strong and steady long range Battle Rifle.

11:43 was the breaking point of the game in my opinion. The Arkanum was one shot top purple and somehow managed to warrior away from Alpha X Factor and stay alive while picking up a double kill shortly after. This was a really clutch play by Arkanum.

At 11:22 North of 49 has a 6 kill lead and continues to build this lead, appearing to take control of the game. Alpha spawns bottom purple at 9:46 and picks up a very important kill on Pistol to secure N49’s lead momentarily.

Alpha spawns at mid gold at 9:32 and finishes up a kill on The Arkanum. After this kill you see a great example of swarming the enemy by North of 49. You can see they all move in a pack to the Pistol and the Jets purple spawn, picking up two kills while watching out for each other’s life.

At 8:48 North of 49 is in a hole. The game quickly turns into a standoff and falls into N49’s favor when they regain the lead at 8:11. This would have been an ideal time to push on The Jets for the win, while they had a four on two advantage, but North of 49 wanted to play the game out patiently with control in their hands.

So as you can see, Amplified Team Slayer is a Pro Game type for a reason. This map requires quick decision making, an overwhelming team shot, and a mix of close and long range BR slaying ability. Alpha played a great game, but unfortunately his team came up short in the end, with a heartbreaking 50-49 loss. A loss such as this is hard to get off your mind, but the top players get focused for a series game by game. This Game Two win for Pistol and the Jets proved to be the confidence builder to boost them forward to a 3-0 sweep of North of 49.

Max VOD

Coming into MLG Columbus Believe the Hype was looked at as a team on the rise, especially with the added slaying ability of Soviet on their roster. The Dynasty would go on to place 9^th in Ohio, improving from their previous placing of 17^th earlier this season in the Meadowlands.

We are going to hop on board this Game Two match up with Max from the Dynasty.

http://www.mlgpro.com/content/link/284257/Max-Pro

Right off the bat Max is seen providing excellent support for his team, as Assault attempts to grab the Over Shield. Throwing grenades at the enemies training is a very common break on The Pit. This strategy stalls your opponents’ opening push for the Custom Power Up. Although Max made his presence known in the game off the break, Believe the Hype successfully grabbed the first OS late.

Starting around 14:20 Max starts checking BtH’s mauler, first BR, and needle pit spawn from a safe distance by sniping through long hall. This positioning of the sniper shows that he has a great awareness of where the enemy will be. Provided with his teammate’s cover he pushes up to try to help out by sniping from the Believe the Hype needles. Unfortunately for Max, Soviet pulls off a big play and stops him in his tracks.

Off his 13:46 spawn, Max and the blue squad spot Demon D trying to flank their courtyard and he is successfully put to sleep. This was a great team play for The Dynasty. If Demon D were to get comfortable on top of their snipe tower Believe the Hype could of wreaked havoc. BtH was known in Meadowlands for their dominance in The Pit TS game type.

At 12:26 Max gets caught up in a 1v1 BR battle with Cloud through the green hall. Halo is a game based solely on teamwork, even at the highest level of competition teams have already proven that solid teamwork and communication can prevail over raw skill. When you can win the majority of your own fights your team will start to rely on you to do more, and have the confidence that you can make big plays when needed. Personal one on one battles are huge in Halo 3, as they can shift momentum easily.

From the red teams training near 12: 30 Max really shines and makes his biggest play of the game. With three of his team mates dead he catches BtH off guard and is able to burn the 12 minute OS. If Believe the Hype was able to kill Max, and obtain this Custom Power Up they probably would have made a push and taken the lead back.

When Max spawns at 12:11 he grabs his teams snipe. Although he does not pick up kills, he is positioning himself to stay alive and protect his team very well. I can not determine what went on inside Max’s head, but it appeared as if he did not have confidence his sniping ability this match.

At 8:50 Max picks up rockets and gets ahead of himself with a wasted rocket life. I don’t think he made the right decision to push so hard for one kill. The rockets are one of the most important contributing factors to your team’s victory on The Pit and he handed them over to BtH on a silver platter.

All in all I would say Max played a solid game in his teams win. The Dynasty really capitalized on the opponents miscues and played together. Expect to see The Dynasty continue to place well for the remainder of the 2009 Pro Circuit.

Day 2 Td Vs SQ

series 4

Narrows ctf -TD 3-1 ……..TD up 1-0

Pit TS – SQ 50-49 ……… Tied at 1 to 1

Construct King – TD 250-236 …… TD leads 2 to 1

Onslaught CTF – TD 5-0 ……… TD leads 3 to 1

Guardian TS- SQ 50-33 ……. Td  Leads 3 to 2

Pit Ctf – SQ 3-0 ……… Tied up at 3 to 3

Construct TS SQ 50-40 ………. SQ leads 4 to 3

Lockdown ball TD 250-153 ……… Tied up at 4 to 4

Narrows TS TD 50-37 ………. TD Leads 5 to 4

Amp TS TD 50-46 ………. Td Leads 6 to 4

Guardian Ball …….TD 192-130 ………  TD wins series 7-4

Series tied at 2-2 TD leads games 24-20

Series 5

SQ leads 3-2 in series

SQ leads games 29 to 26

Series 6

Tied series at 3 to 3

Sq leads in games 34 to 32

TD and SQ LAN Updates

Here are the scores for day one of the Triggers Down vs Status Quo LAN!

Series 1

Game 1: CTF Pit ………..SQ wins 3-0 with Heinz uncharacteristically gets no kills  …….SQ is up 1 game to 0

Game 2: Narrows Slayer……..SQ wins 50-34 …………SQ is up 2 games to 0

Game 3: Guardian Ball …….TD Wins 205 to 179 ………..SQ is up in the series 2 games to 1

Game 4: Onslaught Flag ………..SQ Wins 5-4 ………..SQ is up 3 games to 1

Game 5: Pit Team Slayer ……..TD Wins 50-29 ………..SQ is up 3 games to 2

Game 6: Narrows CtF ……….TD Wins 3-2 ………..Series is tied up 3 games to 3

Game 7: Guardian Team Slayer …………SQ Wins 50-33 …………..SQ is up 4 games to 3

Game 8: Construct King ………SQ Wins 250 to 176 ………SQ is up 5 games to 3

Game 9: Lockdown ball…….tD Wins 214 to 207 …………SQ is up 5 games to 4

Game 10: Amp TS …….tD Wins 50-47 ………Tied at  5 games to 5

Game11: Construct TS ………SQ Wins 50-47 ………SQ Wins Series 1 : 6-5

Series 2

Game 1: CTF Pit ………..tD wins 3-2  …… tD is up 1 game to 0

Game 2: Narrows Slayer……..SQ wins 50-47 …………Tied up 1 game to 1

Game 3: Guardian Ball …….TD Wins 187 to 174 ………..tD is up in the series 2 games to 1

Game 4: Onslaught Flag ………..TD Wins 5-1 ………..TD is up 3 games to 1

Game 5: Pit Team Slayer ……..SQ Wins 50-38 ………..TD is up 3 games to 2

Game 6: Narrows CtF ……….TD Wins 3-1 ……….. TD is  up 4 games to 2

Game 7: Guardian Team Slayer …………TD Wins 50-41 …………..TD is up 5 games to 2

Game 8: Construct King ………TD Wins 239 to 226 ………TD is up 6 games to 2

Game 9: Lockdown ball…….SQ Wins 250 to 127 …………TD is up 6 games to 3

Game 10: Amp TS …….SQ Wins 50-44 …….. TD is up  6 games to 4

Game11: Construct TS ………TD Wins 50-40 ………TD Wins Series 2 : 7-4

Series 3

Game 1: CTF Pit ………..SQ wins 3-2  …….SQ is up 1 game to 0

Game 2: Narrows Slayer……..SQ wins 50-48 …………SQ is up 2 games to 0

Game 3: Guardian Ball …….TD Wins 200 to 195 ………..SQ is up in the series 2 games to 1

Game 4: Onslaught Flag ………..SQ Wins 5-1………..SQ is up 3 games to 1

Game 5: Pit Team Slayer ……..TD Wins 50-48 ………..SQ is up 3 games to 2

Game 6: Narrows CtF ……….TD Wins 3-1 ………..Series is tied up 3 games to 3

Game 7: Guardian Team Slayer …………TD Wins 50-49 …………..TD is up 4 games to 3

Game 8: Construct King ………SQ Wins 250 to 160 ………Tied up 4 games to 4

Game 9: Lockdown ball…….TD Wins 250 to 87 …………TD is up 5 games to 4

Game 10: Amp TS …….SQ Wins 50-26 ………Tied at  5 games to 5

Game11: Construct TS ………SQ Wins 50-44 ………SQ Wins Series 3 : 6-5

Day one wrap up SQ lead in series 2-1 , but TD leads in games 17-16.  I can’t wait to see what day two holds.

SnakeBite VOD

In this exciting Game 5 match up of Narrows TS Pistol and the Jets take on Flatline. Pistol and the Jets became a fan favorite at Columbus with their top 16 placing and their unique, aggressive play style.

My purpose in writing this VoD analysis is to help players understand what Snakebite did well and things I believe he should have done differently. I am confident these tips will help you understand Narrows better as a whole.

http://www.mlgpro.com/content/link/284691/Snakebite

Off the break Snakebite dies at the hands of a good sniper. He should have considered that the sniper can easily see in the pockets off the break and prepared for it. At 14:46, he pushes from his cannon spawn under the bridge to his R1 cuts. On Narrows whenever you have a group of two or three teammates already on top of the bridge, it is a smart decision to go under the bridge off spawn to get top mid faster. If your team does not have any presence top middle, pushing out from your lobby appears to be most effective. This allows you to make one single, unified push, and you increase the chance of a pocket spawn. It is fairly easy to get your teammates this spawn but very underrated. It is such a relief when you have an extra teammate right on your heels instead of at flag, cannon, or stage spawn.

Off his 14:24 spawn he plays great support up top, placing shots on just about every member of Pistol and the Jets. At 14:03 he gets caught pushing too far into the enemy’s base. You could really go both ways with this decision. He could have easily stayed alive at their snipe and helped his team out in the Jets pockets. However, he chose the aggressive approach and lost a BR battle at their cannon. Staying aggressive on any map on Halo 3 usually pays off with great rewards and keeps the opposing team guessing, which is always good, but you need to be smart about it and capitalize on your opportunities.

When Snakebite spawns at 13:45 he is quick to realize the Jets are dominating top mid. Instead of making a reckless push by himself, he falls back into the protection of his lobby and makes a successful push out with his team. Ghost Attack makes a good choice to cannon out and kill Arkanum off of top middle, causing a big distraction once he reaches the opponents landing. Cannoning on Narrows is primarily used to take pressure off of your team in situations similar to this.

At 13:18 Snakebite makes a very smart decision to stay in the Jets pockets. This is a little more complicated approach being on the outside, but proves to be successful. When you are alone like this on the enemy’s side always try to position yourself in their one of their pockets. When pressure is being put on you off spawn it gets frustrating and gets to the opponents head.

Around 13:00 Flatline makes a strong push into the Pistol and the Jets base and Snakebite picks up his third consecutive kill on Pistol. I do not agree with his decision to continue to push towards man cannon after taking out Pistol. However at this point of the game Flatline picks up the lead and gains momentum.

At 12:25 IceVayne cannons over to Flatlines base and proves to cause them trouble by playing sneaky and hard to kill. On maps like Narrows and The Pit having a player from your team in the enemy’s base is always going to be on your opponents mind. It causes the opposing team to panic and have an extra burden to take care of.

Near 11:46 Snakebite looks across the top of the bridge to check for the blue team pushing top mid and to make sure Tuss is safe before he leaves the attic. Attic sniping is obviously great because it provides a great view of the most important part of Narrows; but on the down side it is also a very common place for enemies to expect a sniper. Sniping top mid on Narrows requires great awareness. The wall on top of the bridge is your best friend when you are sniping on this map. Snakebite effectively used a combination of cover and his team’s suppressive fire to help regain the lead once again.

Realizing Pistol and the Jets had control of top middle and two of his teammate’s dead off his 10:23 spawn Snakebite waited for his team to make a move up top. Once Ghost Attack picked up 2 kills, Snakebite got two big kills at his team’s pockets to eliminate the blue team off of his base. Eliminating opponents out of your base should take priority over anything else.

After Snakebite gets sniped by Pistol at 9:09, you can see Flatline is in a dilemma. Pistol and the Jets have a demanding control of top middle and the nine minute rockets are soon to come. He loses an unlucky fight at L1 to IceVayne but keeps his cool and takes him out on respawn, getting rocketed shortly after. The nine minute rockets really proved to be the X factor of this game. Things quickly got out of control for Flatline as most of the game was going in their favor.

I can not blame Snakebite for not challenging Mimic at 7:57 for the 46th kill, but you have to question if it was the right decision to back down since Mimic was the one who got away and eventually killed him for the win. You can’t put this one play on Snakebites back and say he lost the game because he played a great game and it looked like Flatline just had some miscommunication down the stretch. Until recently, I have never heard of Snakebite, but I am impressed with his aggressive play style and he is a great support player to watch.

Good or Bad to Drop Mackeo from BtH

Good Decision or Bad to Drop Mackeo?

A few weeks back, Believe the Hype had dropped Demon D, in order to pick up Mackeo, who at the time was a free agent. I believed that this move would help the team, but may run the risk of possibly harm it with no middle ground. But my curiosity wouldn’t be satisfied because a day or so later, the news was announced that Mackeo was dropped so Believe the Hype could pick up their old
teammate, Demon D again. The reason for dropping Mackeo, or as stated by Cloud, was, “Demon D fits our style more; charging and such.” I believe however, that if Believe the Hype were to keep Mackeo that the team could’ve potentially been the best team.  I say this because the team is already solid with Sypher as a main slayer, Cloud doing whatever is needed, and not to mention the team has arguably the player with the best BR in the game.  With the addition of Mackeo, who can go off at anytime and just slay unbelievably good, this team would be hard to stop. However, it could have gone completely the opposite way (but it appears we’ll never know) .  Too many players that focus on slaying and not enough players focusing on the objective portion of the game could present a setback.  Nevertheless, we will not get to see how this team could’ve done with the addition of Mackeo since he is no longer on the team.

Overall I think that it would have been a good decision to keep Mackeo simply because he could’ve been that person to help “push” Believe the Hype to the next level and a higher spot then they finished in the past few event.

More roster changes!

Our sources have informed us of a few new roster changes. The “Mac Attack” aka: Mackeo is teaming with  Tizoxic, Nexus, Gilkey  on Ambush. Which gives ambush 6272.5 points.

Our sources are telling us also that XiT Woundz has lost Luck and Bonfire.  Luck is said to be teaming with Darkwing, CuCuy and Drasai  who seem to be locals from Texas.  Our sources are telling us even though Luck said that Xit Woundz seed is being dropped this may not entirely be the case.  We will know within the next few days whats going on with XiT. Rumors are that Bonfire may either be retiring or go into the free agency.  We will let you know the latest on the XiT situation as we get it.

Cpt Anarchy is now on Uti and appears willing to play though AM with them.

SummerLAN Winner

The winner of the SummerLAN Giveaway is Robert Golden from Staten Island, NY.  Robert and a friend will be flying out to the SummerLAN and will have the opportunity to hangout with 30 of the top pros in Halo 3.  From July 15th through July 19th Robert will be apart of one of the biggest events of the year.

Be sure to watch MLGinsider.com July 15th – 19th as we will be streaming video from the SummerLAN live.  Stay tuned for more details.

The Insider Source on the 4th MLG event

Our sources are telling us  that the 4th 2009 Major League Gaming event will be in Anaheim, California on November 6th through the 8th.  The last event held in California was San Diego 2008, the second event with Str8 winning their first of several for the circuit including a National Championship.  Anaheim should lead to a larger crowd than San Diego and sure to be a very exciting event with plenty of rowdy gamers screaming for their teams.  I look forward to a great turnout from the West Coast Gamers in BIG fashion.  The MLG community has many players and fans on the West Side and this location is great and hopefully a record crowd.

IMO, and their are no rumors or news on this…strictly my opinion!!!

This sets up for what could be a National Championship in Disney/Orlando.  To me, that is exciting (and I believe it will be a full tournament, not just top 8).  While Vegas is nice and a great city…for the gamer demographic, Orlando is much more “gamer” friendly for gamers, fans, and the parents.  If this happens, I believe it will be that largest and GREATEST National Championship ever because the fans will be going absolutely nuts.  This Great tourist attraction in Disney for with a fun atmosphere for all ages and families and I call it a WINNER.  Imagine the finals with thousands watching (And I believe new fans will attend this)!  WoW

Another reason I think this will happen is the association with ESPN.  The economy is what it is.  Disney owns ESPN (and I’m sure their fine financially), however, I believe it would be a great way to increase visitors during these slow times and get Disney some great exposure with this demographic.  Now, that is all  opinion.  I have never had a single conversation, email, or caught wind of anything in the works.  This is simply my opinion as a “student of the sport” if you will.  If it holds true, then I just got lucky with some deductive reasoning.  If not, then I just wasted your time and mine, but I hope you enjoyed

For the record:  I hope it’s true!  I think it would be the greatest NC ever!  It think it will bring a huge crowd never before seen because it’s the perfect place for the perfect competition (To me, MLG events are one of the greatest competitions of all Sports).

Joe Pennacchio and SummerLAN

We sat down with Joe Pennacchio to talk about the upcoming SummerLAN and all the roster changes.

Insider: Well, I want to start by asking how the response has been for the SummerLAN Giveaway.

Joe: The response has been better than we thought. It has been so good in fact, that we are going to extend the deadline to Wed the 8th at 3:00pm Central. The drawing with be done and announced by 5pm central time.

Insider: What decided to make you take the task of doing another LAN?

Joe: After the WinterLAN we realized how much fun it was and we saw an incredible meshing of different players from different teams. They were playing together for the first time, it brought the new talent together and meshing it with old talent. It gave lower level pros and high AMs the opportunity to showcase their skills. Not to mention certain the ability to see pros play together that have never played together before on the same team.

Insider: What is estimated number of Pros and top AMs that will be in attendance up to?

Joe: It should be right at 30.

Insider: Ok, lets switch gears for a sec, what do you think about all the teams changes that have taken place?

Joe: Well, I think that a lot of team changes are unnecessary, but that being said, I think that a lot of these pros think that if you don’t come in top 3 or better you need to change something instead of practicing more.

Insider: What about the Walshy for Ghost change?

Joe: I have a lot of admiration for Walshy. He is a great player and doesn’t the credit he deserves and people get too locked in on stats and K/D ratios. I think he bring a lot more to the table than just that. He knows the game as well or better than anyone. He is a great fit for Carbon. Ghost I don’t know enough about, from what I hear he is a very good player. Both teams really got what they wanted and will be fine. After a series of moves by Strongside, Carbon ended up with Naded who will be a good fit as well.

Insider: What about Karma going to HaE for Hokum?

Joe: That might be a very explosive pick up for HaE. They have been looking for that kind of player and got one finally. This may be a very good home for Karma.

Insider: What are your thoughts about Strongside leaving SQ? Let’s follow that with your opinion of their pick up of Clutch?

Joe: First off, with Strongside it was very difficult, but I understood his choice to go to a different team. Strongside had given us a ton off knowledge and confidence that we will carry with us forever. I can only thank him for that. He is a great guy and all I can say is that Status Quo wishes him the very best. I also think that my boys FIS and Strongside sitting next to each other at the events will be pretty sick. Regarding the Clutch pickup, we had a number of options. Things that a lot of the forums kids had no clue about from top guys to other pros. We whittled it down to a couple of choices and ended up deciding that Clutch was the best fit for SQ. Clutch brings a lot of energy and excitement to our team which I think we really needed. He is also a great kid who I think would definitely be a great addition to the SQ family. I say family because our team truly has a family atmosphere to it. We spend a lot of time together and everything win or lose is done together.

Insider: Well, you called BtH as your darkhorse for Meadowlands and called Classic your darkhorse for Columbus. So who is it for Dallas?

Joe: We’ll wait see after the SummerLAN, but I really think SQ will surprise a lot of people.

Insider: Where do you see SQ finishing in Dallas with the addition of Clutch?

Joe: We are a new team bonding together. There are a lot of good teams not just 3 or 4 as at other events, but I think that we will have a modest approach and we’re trying to land top 16. I mean, how we finish better than top 16 without Strongside and with players like Totz and Flamesword on our roster.

Insider: Come on…. Top 16 …. Seriously?

Joe: Actually, if you believe what you read in the forums and the community, that’s all we get credit for. So why talk people into believing that we’re a threat.

Insider: Ok, I get that, but where do you seriously see you guys finishing?

Joe: Going back to the knowledge of the forums and the community, with Totz and Flamesword and no Strongside we don’t have a chance. I will say this, at Columbus people forgot to look at the whole picture and failed to see that on SQ everyone had a role. We were a complete team, each player had their responsibility and our ultimate goal was to win. No one cared about stats. However, after looking at the Columbus stats and hearing all the chatter on the forums, we saw people failed to realize that Totz, for all the bashing gets, led all players in Columbus in objective time. I believe Flamesword was top 3 in objective time at Meadows. They do whatever it takes to win. I think now without Strongside we have a little different approach to our team strategy than before. I think everybody will be pleasantly surprised at the new SQ. I know I am.

Insider: What one thing are looking forward to most about the SummerLAN?

Joe: I can’t wait to see who the winner is and how excited they will be to hang with all the pros. I wait to see you out here Trent. I think you’ve been a great addition to the MLG community and everyone is finally realizing you are a credible source for MLG news.

Insider: Well, I truly appreciate it Joe and I’m looking forward to getting up there for the LAN. Thanks so much for taking timeout for us.

Joe: Thank you very much.

Insider: One last question… Any LANs setup before Dallas?

Joe: Yeah as a matter of fact, we have a couple things lined up. One is a four team LAN with us, tD, Classic and Carbon. We not sure of the dates but it will happen. We are trying to set a couple more up with Str8 Rippin and possibly someone like FB, Instinct, Ambush etc.

Insider: Any chance for a 4 team LAN giveaway?

Joe: Trent, that’s a good idea. I didn’t think of that but maybe a very good opportunity for someone to come up and watch four tops teams scrimming.

Well, there you have it folks be sure to take advantage f the extended opportunity to register for the SummerLAN giveaway.

MLG Insider Exposes Hacker AK47

Update:  Word has been sent to us from someone claiming to be affected AK47′s hacking.  This individual claims to have obtained all of his personal contact information and passing it on to the proper authorities or organizations (I would think those interested would be the Credit Card companies, Banks, and Microsoft off the top of my head).  Now, we are not sure what this means, but it is interesting if true.  However, we have no way to determine is this is 100% accurate at this time.  If this does hold true and the proper authorities do care, I can’t help but to think about 2 sides to this situation:

First, if this young man does indeed face legal action and identity theft is tied to his name, he could have a tough time at some points in his life launching a career.  That is ashame for what may be a very talented kid and may add challenges to him starting a life.

On the other side of that:  If all reports are true and he continued these actions knowing they were wrong (or illegal), then he obviously felt above the law and that can start the domino affect.  Think about this… do you think at some point 40-50 years ago Bernie Madoff committed a crime less significant?  Probably and had anybody exposed him and officials prosecuted him at that time then thousands of people wouldn’t be out of Billions of dollars right now.  (I am not saying a XBL hacker is equivalent, but I believe a majority of serious crimes begin with a lesser criminal offense going unpunished)

We will continue to follow these sources frequently and validate them or discount them.  Stay tuned and keep the feedback coming.  The more feedback, the more we know, the better we do.

From an Anonymous Source …

Reports from undisclosed sources have potentially identified the account hacker known in the community as AK47. This Hacker is well known for all of the wrong reasons and not very well liked. Rumors are that this person has stolen tags of many players, specifically Pro Players with the most recent and well known being TSquared, GT: T2 is Rippin (and that may be important, read below). The amount of Gamertags stolen by this individual or group is unknown, but what is known is there have been many and the Gamers want it to STOP.

These sources claim the real name of AK47 is Eliott Mandighomi (not sure which Eliott M though). There has also been more personal information spreading through the XBL community (specifically H3) about the unpopular and disliked hacker which may indicate that the community is fighting back against these actions. Maybe finally enough is enough and there should be consequences for stealing personal information, credit card info, MS points, paid in full Gold accounts, and lists of people who paid to be friends with pro’s and on and on and on.

That raises an interesting question to me. Is this identity theft which is punishable by law? Is it no different than any other form of stealing? In fact, it may be even something bigger in my opinion. Let’s take a look:

First, Halo 3 is a business in every aspect now. There are many players who pay to be on particular friends lists. They also pay for those spots to play with those gamers and part of that business includes those who pay up to $115/hour for lessons. So if a Pro Player sells spots on his friends list for $50, then that list is potentially worth $5,000. For some top pros, this number can jump to $200 to $300 which means that any one list can be equivalent to purchases over $10,000. Now, tie that into identify theft and money put into a tag and there may be some legal recourse.

Next, selling accounts has become a big business with many websites solely devoted to that. In some cases, accounts sell for close to a $1000 depending on stats, rank, exp, and many other factors. Basic 50′s alone sell for an average of $75-$100 from what I can tell from surfing.

Now, some would say it’s just stealing an account…No Big Deal. That may be true, but in most cases that’s just the beginning. How easily we forget the person who has to cancel their credit card, then all of the automatic payments, check for fraudulent charges, lose access to credit until new cards are issued, etc, etc, etc… It’s a lot of frustrating work, ALL OVER A GAMERTAG (Dude, get your own)

Finally, the lasting effect!!! Why are Pro’s so closed to random gaming? Duhhh, thanks AK. Why do they make most of their profile’s private? Thanks AK. Why does it seem they act uncomfortable and leave when they don’t know everyone? Thanks again to AK and all of the Hackers for turning gaming into a self preservation job rather than a good time with players from everywhere. And lets not be foolish, AK is not the only one who has nothing better to do than steal Gamertags (that even sounds ridiculous) and frustrate the community and for what…I’ll never know? I hear respect is a goal and he mentions that in his bio for his GT: AK Jacked this…whatever dude, get respect the right way, EARN IT.

MLG Insiders goal is to grow the sport of Professional gaming. However, after receiving countless amounts of emails, maybe we should help in being the voice of protecting our community beyond the pro’s. For every T2 who gets hacked, there may be hundreds or a thousand that nobody hears about so those potential criminal offenses go unnoticed.

Been hacked or know someone?  Sound off below

FB StrongSide?!

This just in from a very reliable source who is close to the situation.

Final Boss has just dropped Mackeo.  Mackeo is now a F/A.

Final Boss Roster: Ogre 2, FearItSelf, Victory X, Strongside

We will update you when we ourselves have more information!

SummerLAN Giveaway

This is it Ladies and Gentleman (and I use those terms loosely).  This is what you’ve all been waiting for.  Your chance to go to the SummerLAN in July.

YES, this is the same place that the WinterLAN was held.  It is at the house of Totz, member of the pro Halo 3 team Status Quo.  It’s in his ridiculous LAN center style basement.  Once again hosted by the LAN Man himself, Joe Pennacchio. Last time they had roughly 40 of the top Halo 3 players in the world in this basement.  You don’t want to miss it.

The dates are July 15th through July the 19th.  This is the opportunity of a lifetime for two lucky people.  If you’re an international gamer and you think you have what it takes to compete with the top pros in the world.  Here is your chance to get an opportunity to prove it.  If you’re just an avid gamer or fan of MLG, then here is your chance to be around most, if not all, of the top Pros in Major League Gaming.  For just $5 you get to purchase a membership that will give you access to the drawing.  Multiple memberships will allow you to access the drawing multiple times and increase your odds of being able to win.

The Prize is as follows*:

• Airfare/Travel for the Giveaway Winner and a friend
• Lodging at the SummerLAN Headquarters for winner and friend
• Food is included at the SummerLAN

The rules are as follows:

1. Anyone from anywhere in the world is eligible to win this giveaway, with NO location restrictions
2. To enter you must purchase a “Membership” to the giveaway.  Each “Membership” costs $5.  The number of memberships is limited to the size of your budget.
3. “Memberships” will be purchased through Paypal and are nonrefundable.  You may return to purchase multiple memberships, but you may only purchase one membership per visit.
4. The Deadline for the purchase of New Memberships is July the 8th, 2009 at 9:59pm Central Time.  The winner will be announced on July 8th 2009 at Midnight Central time on MLGinsider.com

Following MLG = FUN …..

Paying $5 for Membership=Cheap …..

Winning a fully paid trip to the SummerLAN = PRICELESS

* MLGinsider.com is involved for marketing purposes only.  All proceeds of the “SummerLAN Giveaway” are directed to Joe Pennacchio and the SummerLAN.  All prizes and drawings will be conducted by Joe Pennachio.  MLGinsider.com staff and writers are NOT eligible for the giveaway.

Apollo’s Columbus Journal

Check out www.flickr.com/mlginsiderapollo for some pictures of the event.

Friday Morning:

After sleeping through my alarm I get a late start on my way to Columbus for the tournament. So I get on the road around 8ish leaving Pittsburgh PA. I make a wrong turn and go 30 miles in the wrong direction so I have to turn around and waste another 30 min just to get back to the right way. 30 minutes later i’m back on the right track and heading towards Columbus Ohio for the 2^nd stop on the MLGpro circuit tour.

After driving for 4+ hours I eventually made it. After navigating around the outskirts of Columbus I arrive at the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Columbus. Which is connected to the convention center. After meeting the guys from Insider and dropping my bags off in the hotel we head out to the venue to see whats going on. We get in around 12:30 where they are just finishing setting up so we got some time to walk around and hang out for a while. After about an hour or two people start coming in as the let the competators into the venue.

As the place starts filling in games get underway on the featured stations as well as in the Dr Pepper booth. After hanging around with Rob at the Dr. Pepper booth while watching Status Quo rip through a bunch of assorted pros and random players. After watching for a while I begin walking around the venue, as I go over to the Gears of War 2 and World of Warcraft stations…I notice that the lighting is really bad over there so I can not take very many pictures. Over the next few hours many pros as well as other players start showing up and begin to warm up. Around 5:15 or so opening ceremonies begin and the game is on.

While the main stage and featured stage was going, a few teams were scrimmaging over at the Dr Pepper booth suck as Str8 vs Ambush as well as Status Quo and Ambush. After walking around and meeting a few people I know Trent(Rodn3y) comes over and tells me we need to go out to the VIP party with Vanity Gaming and Breaking Benjiman. After eating a really nice dinner at Boston’s Gormate Pizza shop(Which I recommend to anyone in the Columbus area) I got my picture taken with a guy from Breaking Benjamin as well as getting one of my tour shirts signed. We head back to the hotel where I need to re-make a sign for TD Mazsik(I didn’t spell it wrong it was Trent) and type this article up. I’d like to thank the guys over at Vanity Gaming and Liquid Lighting for the awsome time.

Saturday:

Saturday roles around and we are awakened to a noise that sounds like a bio hazard alarm. It freaked me out, we then realized that it was Robs phone. So we get up and hang around the room for a little bit. I re-make the sign I told Mazsik I would have(and I do have it). Flamesword comes over to the room and chills with us for a bit then goes back to his room as Trent and I go over to a Bagels to grab some breakfast. We then we head out of the convention center to go to StarBucks which is “right across the street” according to some guy. “Across the street” turns out to be something like 3 ½ blocks. So after we go into the Starbucks we head into the convention center to watch the starting matches.

After an interesting day of various gameplays including watching The New Order being knocked out and getting top 48. We wonder around the venue for a good time, getting autographs from Instinct, Carbon and an assorted amount of pros. Around 6 o’clock we head down to eat dinner, we ended up eating with Status Quo, and they’re the coolest guys ever. After talking about the glory days of Rainbow 6 Broken arrow, 007 and Splinter Cell. SQ heads out to practice before they’re 8:30 game against Chilled Reality. We hang around for a bit then, head back up into the event. We walk around and generally chill for the next few hours till ESPN Saturday Night where Str8 Rippin played Instinct. When that match was over we got up and went to watch SQ play against Chilled Reality. We ended up watched the game next to Ace and Elamite’s mom who is one of the coolest people ever. Once that game was over, we started back to the hotel room.

While waiting for the elevator to get back to our floor. A bunch of people joined the “weight watchers” and took the stairs instead of waiting. We pile into an elevator that is going down to the main level which is only one floor down, with SK, Jade, Clutch, and Seppso along with some other people, the elevator is packed. We reach the main level and some lady asks if we are going up, silly question……So we expect to head up to our floor after this, but no, we go down to the pool. When we reach the pool theres this one guy who just got done swimming. He looks at all of us in the elevator and as the door shuts, with barely any room to spare he jumps in. Clutch then calls him a warrior who. Then when he stops the door from shutting he screams “who let this random into the elevator.” We’re on our way up with Clutch making comments about chlorine. We all get off on the 11^th floor except for Seppso. So then I get into the hotel room and sit down to do some long needed writing.

Sunday:

So I wake up around 9 with plans to go to the venu early to get seats to the main stage. I wait for Rob, and Trent to get showers then head out grab some breakfast and what not. I grab a great banana nut muffin from the restaruant in the hotel, then I grab a bottle of OJ from the cafe right outside the convention center. Its around 10:15 or so. I go into the venu and main stage is already filled with a line with about 50 people in it. So I walk around to watch the featured stage for a while. After wandering around watching the games at the station and in the event I head out to grab some lunch. Where I find a guy dressed like Jack Sparrow. I couldn’t help asking him where the rum is and where’s his jar of dirt.

After lunch I head back in and walk around for a bit. I stoped by the featured station and watched SQ’s match against Classic. Status Quo is a group of crazy guys, once they find their play style togeather, these guys are going to be the team to beat. They’re also some of the niceist people you’ll find. I learned a lot by just watching them play. After they’re unfortunate loss I went over with some local kids I met up with and we all got our butts handed to us in streat fighter by some crazy kid, all he did is sit back with Ryu and shoot the little Kameahaa’s(i wasn’t aware Goku was in Street Fighter). We gave him an easy 7 wins, I headed over to the DP booth to watch some random 4′s. Then Championship Sunday started. There wasn’t much of a line to get into Main Stage so I got in line. B

ut they forced us back to sit down and like 20 people shoved their way to the front. It was a lot of fun watching TD vs FB. Although Puckett lost the game for TD. At one point one of the TD squad was coming up elbow behind FB. Puckett called him out more or less in his commentating and the FB member turned and destroyed him. Way to go Puckett. These two kids who were sitting behind me were talking about FB and one of them made the comment that Mackeo should be called “The Mack Attack” and I completely agree. For all the hating people do on him….He deserves a nickname.

So after Str8 finshed TD off I decided to head for home, 4 hour drive ahead of me, so I left after closing ceremonys. It was a great time meeting Trent and Rob from insider for the first time, as well as Taylor the guy who’s working with us, hanging with SQ was insane. They’re all really chill guys. So thats about it for me. It was an awsome time over there in C-Bus.

Objective and Your Team Vol. 1 Flag

Whenever the word ‘objective’ is brought up, players immediately begin to think about roles, specifically which position they should fill in an objective gametype. Many teams like to nominate at least 1 player to strictly run the objective out of what MLG objective gametypes have to offer: Narrows CTF, Pit CTF, Onslaught CTF, Guardian Ball, or Construct King.

The truth of the matter is that by selecting 1 player to solely run the objective, your team could be in a great deficit before the game even begins. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t put the objective job in the hands of that respective player, but when it comes down to it, every member of the team should be focused and talented in objectives- from start to finish. In this example, I’m going to go over Narrows CTF and how the above applies.

When you think of teams with the most chemistry, some of those being Str8 Rippin, Instinct & Triggers Down, they also just happen to be some of the best in the league. It’s fun watching these teams dominate in Team Slayer, but their smarts and team work are truly tested in moving that flag across the map.

One of my favorite games I got to see this past Columbus 09’ event was in the championship round: Str8 Rippin vs. Triggers Down: Narrows CTF (Game 1). I chose this map for CTF since at times it can be the most daunting. Indeed, when this gametype loads up on the main stage, prepare to settle in. Why can it be the most difficult? Even with a great set up, the opposing team is always spawning either directly behind the flag or on the other side of it. At that point, if the flag was not man cannoned over, all they have to do is scope bottom middle or top center and the flag will be close to their sights.

That’s why it’s important to have great team work in this objective gametype. Narrows is a sniper’s haven, so having one person solely chasing after the flag will be near impossible against good teams. There are numerous sniper angels, so when the flag is pulled, that’s where they are going to be watching.

Video Link: http://www.mlgpro.com/video?play=282964

In Game 1 of the championship series, Str8 produces beautiful flag work even though they came away with the loss. During the game, every member of the team juggles the flag at least once (some multiple times). On either team, you will never see a player just sitting back and slaying, unless for a short moment with the sniper, in which they are getting kills to open up the flag for a pull (notice Heinz and Hysteria). Both teams show a lot of aggression, which is a must in this CTF game.

Check out 15:45 – 16:15 of the video. Here, Legit pulls the flag from a 3 down TD. Running it bottom middle, he actually drops it by mistake. Snipedown picks it up realizing the situation (when & where the flag was pulled) and continues down bottom middle as if it never happened. While running it however, he gets sniped in the back, dropping his shields. From there, he instantly tosses the flag out to a full shield T2, who unfortunately gets sniped from behind and they wind up not getting the cap. Again, while they didn’t get the cap, it was an impressive run by Str8 to say the least. It shows their chemistry and awareness as a unit is far beyond many teams.

Check out 15:15 – 15:32 of the video. As an individual runner, Heinz impresses here as well. While running the flag bottom middle, he fumbles but recovers quickly. Just as he is about to pop out of the sniper lobby, he stutter steps to avoid prefire and nades. Performing this simple act saves their team a cap which otherwise could have very well been a loss (as well as the game for that matter).

In the objective, be aware as a team and individual player. Make sure all of your teammates know what is going on at all times, and what they should do in certain situations beforehand if possible.

SummerLAN – 33 Reasons Why

You want 33 reasons why you should enter to win the “SummerLAN Giveaway”.  Well here are your 33 reasons:

Totz, Flamesword, Ace, Clutch, Tsquared, Elamite Warrior, Legit, Snipedown, Chig, Best Man, Legend, Soldier, Cloud, Demon D, FearitSelf, CallMeGod, Rudy, Heinz, iGotYourPistola,

sK, Shockwave, Killerdrew, Perplexity, Art of War, Hokum, Elumnite Warrior, Victory X, Mackeo, Ogre 2, Nexus, Madmax and Tizoxic

Click the link to find out how you can be there too!!!!!        SummerLAN Giveaway

Officially SQ InTheClutch

It is Official….. We have just received word from sources close to the SQ camp that Status Quo has officially offered the 4th spot to InTheClutch.  It happened around 8pm Eastern time.  I think Clutch will be a very good fit.  We’ll continue to keep and eye on their scrims online for you .

Congratulations to Wes, InTheClutch, on making what is still a very underrated team in my opinion.

MLG Columbus 2010?

Sundance DiGiovanni recently posted a very interesteing comment on his Twitter account

Cbus is win and go for next year (assuming the venue is available)

Could this mean we will be seeing another MLG event back in Columbus? Only time will tell

Source: http://twitter.com/MLG_Sundance

Note: This is pure speculation based on the Twitter of Sundance DiGiovanni.  This is no where near official.  The 2010 events will be announced sometime after Christmas.  We are not saying there will be a MLG Columbus event next year.

The Theory of TeamShooting

I am sure this has happened to everyone who reads this. Your playing with your team, they call someone who is two shots out and you move in for the kill. You turn the corner to find him..and his teammate. Here is the moment of truth, you have two choices, 1) rush in ninja the full shield guy and get a beatdown on the one and teabag their bodies, or 2) retreat and regroup. You chose option number one. All of this has happened in a split second. You rush in and are dead before you have had a chance to even shoot. This is the teamshot, perhaps one of the most yelled things in matchmaking and customs alike. TEAMSHOT, TEAMSHOT, WE NEED TO TEAMSHOOT!

What is really teamshooting? The full team blasting one guy? Or just a duo taking down the overshield guy. The answer is both. As a team, teamshooting comes with set ups. I know its going off topic but a good setup is where the teamshot is most efficient. You should set up so you always have a teamshot, like on Guardian. The elbow set us is a prime example. One or two guys snipe two can cover top gold, bottom mid, top mid, top green, blue window, snipe lift and camo. Top/Bottom green can cover top and bottom mid, top green, blue window, snipe-lift, snipe 3, snipe 1, bottom and top green also. There are overlapping fields of fire which is why when a good team sets up its difficult to break.

What makes a pro team pro? Some special pills? Modded controllers? None of those, its their team work, more often than not they will make better decisions and are more aware than most other players. While they generally are better at these thing, what puts them way above is their teamwork.  Put a group of four random pros together and they will play very well together.  It is not just because their pro, but because they have awesome communication. With great communication will come great teamshooting.

Lets look at some of the asthmatics behind the BR first. It takes 4 shots to kill one person on LAN(online it is questionable). Each burst does about 25% damage to you. There are 3 bullets in each BR burst. Which means it takes 12 bullets to kill someone. Lets say that from full shields to death you have 100 points of damage. Take 100 and divide it by 12 and you get 8.33333. So each individual bullet will do 8.333 repeating points of damage to you. After the third shot your shields will be down. That takes you down to 74.9 health. Which the next shot will kill you. This is with a normal BR.The MLG settings have the BR at 110% damage which means each burst will do 27.5 points of damage per burst. Which means in MLG each bullet does 9.16 points of damage. It takes you 10.9 shots to kill someone in MLG. Basically 11. Which means you have a whole 1 bullet to hit nothing but a dead body. This is assuming all shots hit him in the head.   For body shots, it takes around 6 shots to kill a player, give or take(assuming all shots are in the body) Which means that each bullet does 5.556 points of damage to the target. It takes 13.51 bullets to drop the opponents shields.

Lets put this into practical use in what I said before, the Guardian elbow set up with Team Oddball. Red team has the ball sitting on elbow, with player R1 and R2 sitting on snipe tower, player R3 with ball on elbow, and player R4 on middle green. Blue team is spread throughout gold, and blue. They know they need that ball so they organize a push. Player B1 is set up to go over snipe lift, B2 is set up to go into blue window to put shots on R4 on top/mid green. B3 is going to push bottom middle and B4 is going to go top mid and push to green. They move at the same time. B1 goes over snipe lift and R1 and R2 go to lift side of snipe to put shots, at the same time R3 drops ball and puts shots on the guy lifting. He will be dead before he is ½ off the lift because assuming all 3 bursts hit it would only need 1 more shot to kill him. They then would take out the guy top middle team shooting with the guy top green which would drop him 1 shot(assuming all bullets hit). At this point the guy B2 has gotten R4 one shot and he will drop down to bottom green. B3 would be just coming down to bottom green. R3 would see him put shots on him along with R4 when he comes around the corner. B2 would attempt to make a move up to snipe 3 because the R1 and R2 would be S2/Elbow putting shots on top mid, and bottom green. Which would leave Blue team all dead, and Red would be all up waiting for the respawn.

Or another situation(does not happen)

Both teams are standing still Team A is going to be shooting 2 people at a time, team B is going to be shooting each person individually. Team A will be putting out 55 points of damage against one person while Team B puts out only 27.5 points of damage. The outcome will be, Team B will all be down but Team A will lose 2 people.

Teamshooting is not only an easier way to win a match, it encourages teamwork.  Teamshooting is not only all four players shooting. It could just be your friend and you, or a group of friends. Many people want a explanation of why teamshooting is better. The reason is as complex as Halo 3 is. Teamshooting means you have a decent team. Constant teamshooting means that there is a decent amount of awareness not just self-centered playing. Team shooting should not be judged by total number of assists.

Teamshooting is not only a result of decent call outs, and teamwork, but it is a start to building a better team. Teamshooting can either make or break a game. It is not necessarily the answer to all your problems, but it helps out a lot and will come with practice and playing together..

The SQ House – Flight Schedules

From a very reliable source we have been told that there will be a few guests at the Status Quo house over the next week.  

Our source told us the InTheClutch actually just landed and is on his way to the house.    Also mid week Heinz will be flying in to play a bit and finally Walshy will be flying in over the weekend.  

We are not assuming anything yet, just bringing you what we found to be very interesting news.

HaE Karma????

Yes it true.  We’ve confirmed it through our sources and as of 5:00pm Eastern time.  The new Heaven and Earth is  Killerdrew, Poweezy, Perplexity and Karma.  Ben is replacing Lester (aka Hokum) after Columbus.  Lester seemed to have some other things on his mind.  The the question now is will HaE be sponsored by vG or will some one else.

Strongside Leaves SQ for Carbon

It appears the prospect of teaming with former Captain and good friend Walshy was too much of a temptation for Side.  He called a few people last night to explain that it was a very difficult decision for him to make, but that in the end he felt that a move to Carbon was in his best interest.  

Side spent quite a bit of time playing with Totz over the offseason and Status Quo has had their moments where they shine and moments that they’d rather forget.  They played poorly in Meadowlands and placed 8th.  Then in Columbus, due to a roster submission technicality, they had no coach and still placed in 7th place.  They didn’t necessarily play well in Columbus, but had they had a coach they probably would have finished around 5th.

So now with Side on Carbon their new squad is Walshy, Shockwave, Defy and Strongside.  This is a team that will be competitive, but I don’t know if they can beat the top teams right now in Triggers Down and Str8 Rippin.

Vg The New Order Top 48??

Vanity Gaming Team “The New Order” got bounced for an unfortunate top 48 finish.  This is a very disappointing finish for the Golden ticket winners and is by far the worst finish for Karma and Naded in quite sometime.  Maybe their worst ever.  

On a side note … In the LB round 2 Chilled Rality and Escape the Fate went to six games.  That’s right I said six games.  They actually had a tie in game five at 50-50.  This forced a replay of game five from scratch and Chilled Reality advanced this time.

Cpt Anarchy VOD

User article by iWallie: This is iWallie’s first Gameplay analysis – Please feel free to leave him feedback so he can improve.

VOD Link: http://www.mlgpro.com/content/link/278236/Cpt-Anarchy
All season long last year the Carbon team struggled, only placing in the
top 5 once the whole year. So no one in the MLG community expected what
happened in Las Vegas last year. Carbon ended up finishing in the top 3,
stunning almost everyone. However one man who wasn’t stunned was Cpt.
Anarchy. Last year he stepped up his game leading Carbon to their best
placing in 2008. So coming into Meadowlands the sky was the limit after
picking up former member of Instinct, Soviet. But after a sudden 8th place
finish, I look back to see exactly what happened with Carbon. I analyzed
Winners Bracket Round two Capture the Flag Pit, versus Str8 Rippin.
At the begining, nobody for Carbon went for Rockets, & Cpt Anarchy went
through Long Hall flanking to Str8′s Green Box. This lead to Str8 to
easily getting Rockets at the begging. Also, even though Carbon had three
people going Training side, Carbon wasn’t able to get the Oversheild
either. I dont know if this was a lack of communication, but it allowed
Str8 to get easy control of the map. About 30 seconds more into the game,
Cpt. Anarchy and Shockwave push down long and proceed to pull the flag.
The other two Carbon members were on Red Training putting pressure on
Str8′s Courtyard spawn. Cpt. Anarchy pushed towards green to help his
teammates on training, but in doing so basically leaves Shockwave out to
dry. The Str8 members then spawn Mauler and take down Shockwave easily. If
Anarchy would have stayed along needles he could have put cover shots for
Shockwave and it could have lead to a possible Capture for the Carbon
squaud.

It seems throughout the game he felt a little uncomfortable, he
seemed to challenge to much when normally you would want to backoff. Until
about 10 minutes in the game no one was able to gain major control. Until
Anarchy was able to push with the team and unlike before put supporting
fire behind the Flag Runner. Which lead to the first capture of the game.
Immediately after the capture, the rockets were up. Anarchy rushed into
green and got them for Carbon, but once again he was way to aggressive and
pushed by himself into Str8′s green. He was then met by T2 and Snipedown
and was killed instantly after wasting two rockets. This gave Str8 rockets
and with three dead a chance for a capture of their own. With Str8 now
pulling the Flag, Anarchy makes a great decision moving quickly to Sr8′s
side of the map without being seen. He then proceeded to stop the flag,
and gives his team a chance to counter. However a great play on the
opposite end, Legit waited for the overshield and tore apart the charging
Carbon. That lead for a Str8 Cpature and the game was tied 1-1. Right away
after that Str8 put the pressure on and never let off the gas, not allowing a single Carbon member to rech past their training. That pressure lead to a long, but dominating end to a 2-1 Str8 victory.
Pro’s: It seemed Anarchy’s BR was on point. Almost every 1 on 1 battle he
got into he came out the winner. His team-shot seemed great, every time his
teammates were shooting he was shooting as well. He was able to be on top
of the rockets every time they spawned. He seemed to be very aware of the
time.
Con’s: However, with those Rockets, his decision making seemed to be
horrible. Each time he got the Rockets he only got one kill the entire
match. His decision making overall the entire game seemed inconsistent.
Most of the game he put himself and his team in bad positions, ultimately
allowing Str8 to win the game.
Overall the differences between Meadowlands & Vegas was his decision
making and awareness. Hopefully the Carbon team can change these issues
and make for a better placing in Columbus. However, with the addition of
Defy many people believe this makes Carbon a worse team, but only time
will tell. So will Carbon improve or be lost to the ranks of uprising
teams, wait and see on June 5rd – 7th.

Follow MLGinsider on Flickr

Whats up guys…I created a Flickr account and am going to be using it to post pictures and what not over the course of the weekend…Most are going to be up at night but a few are throughout the day…So yeah if you want to follow us at Columbus check the link below starting tommarrow night!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mlginsiderapollo

Updates on Twitter and by Text

If you want the best, most unbiased updates available on the web or through the air sign up for the MLG Insider Text Updates or follow us via Twitter on your phone.  Well be updating our twitter as often as our fingers can handles without getting writer’s cramp of course.  We’ll also be bringing you round by round updates on your mobile phones via sms text messaging as well.

Rapid Pulse Interview

Whats up everyone I got a chance to sit down with RP Flash, Rooney, and Fatal, three members of Rapid Pulse, the winners of the Winners Bracket of the Online Columbus Qualifier. Heres what they have to say.

Apollo: Thanks a lot for doing this interview guys

Fatal: yup no problem

Flash: No Problem

Rooney: Great to be here

Apollo: Well first off, tell us a little about how your team got put together.

Fatal: We’ll leave that to Rooney

Flash: Yeah I agree with Fatal……

Rooney: It all started when I posted a thread on MLGpro It got 5000+ Views and hunderds of replies. Matt’s team interested me and it was Love at first sight if you will… We started clicking through our 1st couple games as 3′s and were eventually taking down pro teams all while “running games”

Flash: Fatal, Logikal(our 4th), and me teamed for meadowlands and had really good teamwork together but needed that extra fourth to complete us and he has changed our team so much, and I am so greatful for that pickup, we are really lucky to have him.

Fatal:…..What he said….

Apollo: How does it feel to have won the Winners Bracket for the Columbus Qualifier?

Flash: It feels great, but I won’t be satisfied until were at the actual event and carry it over to lan. Which i see us having no problem with that

Rooney: Amazing, it’s really a great feeling to know that you are one of the best online teams that are preparing themselves using this ladder. It helps assure what were capable

Fatal: : It feels pretty good. In the last qualifier the top 3 teams got a top 32 finish, so winning this I guess almost guarantees that we get that at the least.

Apollo: So as you mentioned before, 3 of you participated in Meadowlands this year, but do you have any other event experience?

Rooney: actually, i participated at Meadowlands also, but under a less practiced squad and with a late pick-up. Other than that it was my first Halo 3 event.

Flash: I participated in Dallas 08, and meadowlands 09. So this will be my 3rd event

Apollo: Are you planning on attending the rest of the events this year?

Rooney: Very much so, our Team is currently fully sponsored by TCGAMINGCREW.com for the MLG Dallas event and we WILL be staying as a team with no roster changes up until that event, otherwise Dallas will be my last event

Fatal: Without a doubt. We will also not be changing this roster no matter what. We are fully sponsored by tcgamingcrew.com for Dallas so there’s no way in hell we aren’t going to be going

Flash: Yes, I am planning on attending all events as long as our team stays together and keeps the sponsor. Otherwise I too will be quitting after Dallas

Apollo: So Dallas will be the end of Rapid Pulse or do you intend to come back next year?

Fatal: Dallas will not be the end of Rapid Pulse if we continue to do good after Columbus and Dallas. without a doubt all of us are going to stick together and continue gaming at events and online as a team if we continuously place high.

Rooney: Actually it depends on how things go. If we can keep up our intesity through Dallas and maybe keep our sponsor or add a new one, I would be greatfull to team with these guys again

Flash: I agree with both my teammates on this issue.

Apollo: Alright, so I’m looking at the bracket and the 2 finalists in the Loser Bracket Finals are both teams you have elimated..How do you feel about this.

Flash: I feel good, but it doesn’t mean anything really. Anything can happen and the series is not over until we play Thursday Night. Nobody gave us the win yet.

Rooney: We are looking forward to whoever we play. Both are skilled teams and deserve to be in the spots they are right now. WE have a general feel for both teams play styles and we cant wait to see who we’ll be facing

Fatal: I feel pretty confident. Both of these teams were good, and i cant wait to find out who we play

Apollo: What are your predictions for top 4 in the Pro Bracket?

Fatal: I want to see final boss do really good again so 1) Final Boss 2) Str8 3)Instinct 4) TD
Rooney: I’d have to say: Instinct, Str8, tD and Carbon

Flash: Instinct is going to take this one, Str8 will place 2nd, TD 3rd, and 4th Believe The Hype.

Apollo: Alright everyone….You know what TIME IT IS!!! THAT’S RIGHT!! RAPID FIRE!!! I’m going to make a comment like BR or Snipe and your going to say what you like the most.

Apollo: BR or Snipe?

Fatal:BR
Rooney:Snipe
Flash:BR

Apollo: Slayer or Objective
Fatal: Slayer
Rooney: Objective
Flash: Objective

Apollo: Lockdown or Amplified
Fatal: Amplified
Rooney: Amplified
Flash: Amplified

Apollo: Favorite Objective gametype?
Fatal: Flag
Rooney: Flag
Flash: Flag

Apollo: Favorite Map?
Fatal: Onslaught
Rooney: Pit
Flash: Pit

Apollo: Favorite Pro?
Fatal: FearItSelf
Rooney: Mudvayne
Flash: Snipedown

Apollo: First person out of you 4 to fall asleep in Columbus?
Fatal: (no definite answer)
Rooney: Fatal… He’s 13 his bedtime is 11 =P
Flash: Fatal for sure

Apollo: Alright everyone! That about does it for us tonight! Keep here on MLGinsider.com for some fun stuff coming up!

Good luck to Rapid Pulse in the Championship!

Heads Up w/ The Big Seppy

We sat down with Mike Sepso, the CEO of Major League Gaming because we wanted to give the community a chance to hear directly from one of MLG’s topdogs (No-Pun intended BallPark).  So without any further adou, here he is Ladies and Gentleman, The Big Seppy, Mike Sepso. (Photo by Jon Wasserman)

Trent: Thanks for your time Mike I know your always very busy.

Sepso:  I always have time for the community.

Trent: Thanks, I know the community appreciates everything you guys do.  What does goes through your head when you see MLG today and remember where you came from?

Sepso: I love seeing where we’ve come from.  This has really grown into a tremendous business, but even better is the growth of the sport and the following it has developed.

Trent: What is your favorite part of MLG?

Sepso: My favorite part of these events is watch all the great match-ups on main stage.

Trent: What would you want the community to know about behind the scenes that they probably don’t?

Sepso: This is a really big job that is tackled by about 120 people over 2 days at each event.  We have the most dynamic online VOD setup of any sport other than Major League Baseball.  It looks like NASA over there when our A/V team gets all setup.   People don’t realize this, but it took us quite a while to develop the system that Chris Puckett uses during the broadcast.  He actually controls the VOD and actually is the one who changes the main feed for the color commentary

Trent: Is MLG headed towards mainstream Television?

Sepso: Actually, for the demographics we reach, which is male 34 and under it actually doesn’t benefit us like people think it does,  Yes we could reach some new audience, but it really is ideal for us online.  We actually are a bit ahead of the curve.  You can see the trend in TV shows beginning to move online like NBC.com and  Hulu.com.  I think they are realizing they need to be where we are.

Trent:  What aspect of MLG is the most frustrating for you and what are you doing to fix it?

Sepso: We realize that the venues that we are using are limiting us in expansion, but there’s no real easy jump from here.  With the size of our current venues our only real move from here is into Stadiums and Arenas.  We are doing everything we can to be able to find the right size venue and still fit within the budget for the events.

Trent: Are you guys moving to get all the pros sponsors or just top 8?

Sepso: Well, unfortunately contrary to popular opinion because of the economy we don’t have people just lining up throwing money at us for sponsorships, yet.  We do however, want to get every team that we can a sponsorship.

Trent: Have you considered adding additional events or do you thing it would actually have a negative effect instead?

Sepso: We want to do as many as we can.  Unfortunately, we are subject to our finances and the time constraints it places on our pros.  We also run into the problem of limited venues that can actually hold us. We really do want more and are constantly searching for venues and ways to have more events.  You also have to look at the stress both in time and financially that it places on our pros.  Many of them are still in high school.  We are the only pro league that has this issue and it is something we must be mindful of.

Trent: What would be some of your highlights in the life of MLG?

Sepso: The first is the whole transition from the NY-2003 event that Sundance and I ran around like crazy doing everything to the Philly Nationals.  That is when we hired Puckett and he began the commentary.  A lot of other amazing people joined our team around that time.  The second highlight, is seeing the transition of the teams and the pros.  From Halo 1 to Halo 2 and now into Halo 3.  You continue to see some big names that have been solid, like Tsquared, Walshy and The Ogres, still playing years later.

Trent: Ok, have you thought of having an MLG Hall of Fame and who would be the first four players selected?

Sepso: Wow … (laughing) … That’s a really good idea. I think that’s great.  Out of respect the first four would have to come from the Halo 1 days.  I think I would say Darkman, Zyos, Strangepurple and The Ogres(as 1 person).  That’s my four.

Trent: Ahhh … the old days.  Well, thanks for your time Mike.  It’s been fun

Sepso:  Thanks Trent.

Well, there you have it the thoughts and the league from big Seppy himself.  Thanks for sharing your thoughts to the community Mike.  We look forward to what great ideas you, SD and the rest of the creative team and come up with next.

Columbus Qualifer Update

Round 4 of the Columbus qualifier was played on Thursday May 14th.

Winners Bracket

In the first match Hydra(1) played Rapid Pulse(28). Though in 1st place Hydra couldn’t hold it together and lost the match 3 games to 2.

In the second match Clutch Club(15) played against No Respect(14). Clutch Club came out clutch again and won the series 3-0

Losers Bracket

In the losers bracket The Fatal Rush(8) was paired against Meep is Bad(29). Meep once again proved they are not bad and moves to plays No Respect in Round 6 of the losers bracket.

In the second match Unleashed Gaming(27) played against Four-shadowed(7). Unleashed Gaming came out big and defeated Four-Shadowed. They move on to play Hydra in round 6 of the Losers Bracket Finals.

Karma VOD

In the pre-Columbus hype all focus is on VG The New Order and their “golden ticket” winners. Now they have to play through the Open Bracket to even qualify for Pro Bracket. Due to this all focus is on Karma and Naded the senior members of the team. I’m going to go inside Karmas gameplay from Meadowlands and see how he’s playing these days. I’m going to be analyzing his gameplay from Placement Round 2- Game 2 TS on Narrows against Triggers Down.

Off the start Karma and his two teammates push up top middle, and have an amazing teamshot. This is an extremely good move, because it stops TD from having top control and puts pressure on rocket spawn and both snipes. Only problem is he may have missed a call out about SK coming around top mid.

Later on in the gameplay around 12:21 Gametime Karma spawns into their lobby and starts to head out to the middle of the map, but notices his teammates are on spawn and there are TD members up top mid. So he hangs back and proceeds to put shots on people top middle while he waits for his team to spawn. When they spawn they proceed to push up top which is an extremely smart move on both Karma and his teams parts.

Soon after at 11:39 gametime the whole New Order team is bottom middle so Karma heads to top middle. This is a smart move on Karma’s part because he would be able to keep Triggers Down off of top middle, but unfortunately Hysteria had a sniper and took Karma out.

Later in the game at 10:46 The New Order pushes into the TD base. Karma heads into R2 to put shots on TD. This is potentially a devastating move, it could be either a bad move on his part because if he pops his head out into more than one or two TD members, he would be killed, but on the flip side, if he pops out and the TD members are looking the other way, he could potentially change map control into TNO’s favor.

Keep watching MLGinsider for some more amazing stuff coming up in the week!

Good Attitude in Matchmaking

User Article By Novak – How to keep a positive attitude for both yourself and your teammates in MLG, and use it to your advantage

As almost anyone who plays MLG knows, it can be very frustrating at times. There can be games where you are constantly getting out-BR’d, your teammates aren’t pulling their weight, and the game is lagging. In all of these situations, it’s natural to get angry, but if you let it get out of hand it will negatively affect how you play. When you resort to yelling into your mic, you let your teammates know you’re frustrated and it will affect how they play as well. The obvious solution to this is to do everything within your power to stop yourself, and your teammates, from getting mad. Here are a few things to keep in mind, and can also be used to help keep your teammates heads in the game instead of up their backside.

1) Remember that it’s just a game
Always remember when playing Halo, that it’s just a game.  Getting killed in Halo doesn’t constitute dieing in real life, so there is no need to get upset about it. Sure it’s okay to occasionally swear when you die, but letting it distract you will only make yourself and your teammates play worse. If you find yourself stressing out everytime you die, just remind yourself that how good you do in Halo won’t determine how well you do on your next exam, or whether or not you get a promotion next week. It means nothing outside of the game, so keep it in perspective. Getting too mad while you play may make the people you’re playing with think you are actually mad at them for doing something wrong, and it may cause them to not want to play with you anymore.

2) There’s always a next time
Whenever you die, you always respawn. This means there will be another chance for you to out-BR that 50, or to get back the sniper you just gave to the other team. When that happens, it isn’t the end of the world and it’s important to keep that in mind when you play. When you watch Pro players play, they control their emotions, and if they don’t, it’s only for half a second, and then they’re back in the game. Always give yourself a second chance at something, because very few people have ever succeeded their first try… at anything.

3) Keep a positive attitude
Staying positive while you play Halo is crucial. The more optimisitc you are, the better you will play. If you are upset that you’re losing, you spend less time thinking about your next move. It’s a never ending downward spiral that causes you to play worse and worse. These distractions can include forgetting about your straffe, losing track of times on weapons, or not waiting for your teammates to respawn before you push.  Staying positive will encourage you and your teammates, and everyone will naturally play better. Ever wonder how teams come back when they’re down 3-0 on Onslaught? They stay positive, and build off their momentum. They work together and use each other’s momentum to their advantage. On the opposite side of this, don’t get down if your lead starts to slip away. Restrain from yelling at your teammates, and encourage them instead. Anytime you notice someone gets a double kill or a snipe, communicate how important it was. Tell them “Nice Double!”, even if you saw all they did was shoot a rocket around the corner. Always remind your teammates how well they’re doing, even if they’re doing terrible. This will keep everyone positive and will make your teammates and yourself play to your full potential.

4) Play with confidence
Remaining confident while you play is similiar to staying positive, but is a little different. You can play knowing that every 1v1 situation you get in you will lose, and still have a positive attitude about it. It’s very important that you are confident as well as positive in those 1v1 situations or else you won’t be effective. Trust in your decisions and don’t second-guess yourself. Believe that you are the best Halo player ever, and you will play like it.

5) DO NOT blame your teammates for anything
This is possibly the most vital tip to live by while playing Halo. It relates to all other 4 topics and can carry over to real life as well. When you blame your teammates for something, you’re letting them know that you think it’s their fault they did something wrong. Yelling and ridiculing them will only make them play worse which is something you want to avoid at all costs. Blaming your teammates for something will only make them think about that one time they did something wrong, and they will forget to put mistakes behind them so they can move on. It will always be in the back of their head, and will affect how confidently they play. The more that you blame your teammates the more it affects their attitude and yours for that matter. Bad attitude usually leads to bad results.  As mentioned before, this all leads to a downward spiral and will cause the team to play less confidently, and ultimately lose a game you shouldn’t have. Blaming your teammates, your friends, or family members is the worst thing you can do in both Halo and real life. Always remember to learn from your mistakes, and stay positive. Doing so will not only help you play Halo better, but also lead to self accountability and a better quality of life.

 

Please feel free to submit your article for consideration to articles@mlginsider.com

Insider Bracket Analysis for C-Bus

Here is the breakdown of the first round of the C-Bus brackets from the Insider Analysis team.

1.     Triggers Down – Triggers Down is just too talented for The Dynasty they will sweep this series 3-0.

16. The Dynasty – Got a gift in the form of The New Order Missing the Roster cut.  They won’t win a game in this series .

Prediction: 3-0 tD

 

9. Classic – Best Man and Chig are two nice pickups for Classic.  While I think the Chig pickup is extremely beneficial the Best Man pickup is so-so in my opinion.

8. Status Quo – The haven’t practiced yet as a team since Meadowlands.  The do habe a four team lan coming up  soon.  They will be ready and practiced up.  Watch out Classic, 3-0 Status quo over Classic.

Prediction: 3-0 SQ

 

7. Ambush – Ambush will be motivated by a very poor showing in Meadowlands.  I see them coming out and playing closer to their potential. They have the skill to run with other teams.

12. Xit Woundz – They are in disarray a little bit.  ItWasLuck has changed things around and they picked up two semi unknown players.  They are hard to get a “beat” on I think they win be more competitive in C-Bus though.

Prediction: 3-1 Ambush

 

15. Apocalypse – These guys could be really good or really bad, depending on how they mesh. 

4. Final Boss -  Regardless of how Apocalyse plays I think Final Boss runs away with this one, big time.

 

Prediction: 3-0 Final Boss

 

2.     Instinct – This shouldn’t even be close.  Instinct is too smart, too talented and too experienced.  The also have quite a bit to prove since they have not yet won an event.  

14. PT End Result – They do have some good skill and might get lucky and win a game but I don’t see it happening.

Prediction: 3-0 Instinct

 

11. Check Your Pulse – I’m not sure if Makowski and NocturnalKernal are ready for this level yet, but they’ll get introduced real quick.

6. Believe the Hype – The are out to prove Meadowlands wasn’t a fluke.  They picked up Soviet which makes them better theoretically.  They need to play a lot and get chemistry with Dimitry to try and repeat, or improve on what happened in Meadowlands.

Prediction: 3-0 BtH

 

5. Carbon – Once again Carbon is hit or miss, they have been a picture of inconsistency with their tournament play in Halo 3.  They picked up Defy who isn’t quite the individual player Soviet is, but he actually may be a better team player than Dimitry. 

10. Heaven and Earth – Good to see Hokum back with these guys. They have as more than enough talent to compete at the top level.  They need to squeeze in some practice time with Hokum before the event to continue to move in the right direction.

Prediction: 3-1 HaE, in a series that could be close or a blow out.

 

2.     Str8 Rippin – These guys still are the reigning National Champs.  They can be very dangerous when they’re on.  A big difference between Meadows and C-Bus is that they will actually be practicing online, something the couldn’t do before Meadows.

15. Darkest Hour – The don’t really have a chance in beating Str8 on paper, but that’s why we play the games.  The might pull a game or two, but I think straight will be too focused.

Prediction – 3-0 Str8

Dr. Pepper C-Bus Text Contest

 

 

 

 

 

Hey MLG Fans! Here’s your chance.

Win tickets to the Major League Gaming Pro-Circuit event in Columbus, a
year’s supply of Dr Pepper, video game giftcards, Dr Pepper T Shirts, and
more! 

Just text the word      MLGOHIO   to     PEPPER (737737)     to enter for your chance to  win!

 Your carrier standard text or other charges may apply; you must have a 2-way
text enabled phone with compatible carrier and plan. Text messaging is not
available in all areas of the United States.

For more contest information and Official Rules, please visit:
http://bit.ly/dy0eC“

Heads Up w/XiT Sasquatch

Apollo: As you all may know…One of the most controversial moves happened over the past few weeks . Both with the vG golden ticket and Xit Wounds picking up two completely unknown players. Those two players are Mr. Frisky and Sasquatch. I got a chance to sit down with a friend of mine, Sasquatch one of the brand new faces on the circuit.

Apollo: Thanks a lot for doing this interview

Sasquatch: Not a problem, always willing to talk to a friend!

Apollo: Thanks dude, anyway, you’re one of the brand new faces on the curcuit and kind of really came out of no where. Give us a little background on yourself, what got you into gaming, and how you got on Xit Wounds.

Sasquatch: I have been gaming since I was 5. My first shooter I played was Golden Eye 007, but I really didn’t get into shooters seriously until Halo: CE. I played Halo 2 religiously during Highschool and Frisky and I always tore up local 2v2’s and crashed LAN parties. Halo 3 came out when we both went to college, and initially, we went to two different schools. His didn’t allow TV’s/videogames, so he transferred to my college (Valparaiso University) this year.

As for getting on XiT, college played an important role in that as well. I am majoring in Civil Engineering and I really don’t have the time to practice until im done with finals May 12th. Luck and Bonfire also are in college and they put school and their future over Halo, just like everyone should do. Anyway, long story short, Me and frisky were looking for two, Bonfire was going to retire, and XiT woundz would no longer be a team since Str8 Pimp and Elumnite were leaving. So thanks to our awesome sponsor, all four of us can go to Columbus, keep the XiT team alive, and do what we all enjoy- play some competitive Halo. Dream come true.

Apollo:Civil engineering, sounds rough. How do you, and the rest of your team, balance school, life, and professional gaming?

Sasquatch: Really, I try my best to put my schooling first. Engineering is takes up a lot of time. I believe Shockwave recently blogged on how much time management skills it takes to fit halo into college life and an engineering workload. I think everyone on our team tries to manage their college and personal life first, and then fit halo in when they can.

Apollo: I’ve heard you guys arn’t planning to start playing till middle of May, how do you guys plan to compinsate?

Sasquatch: A lot of team practice during those 2 weeks and I plan on putting a ridiculous amount of individual practice in those 2-3 weeks. T2 said he was going to put the most mlg games in out of anyone going to Columbus and is up for any challengers. I’m going to have to play quite a bit to get more in than him. [laughs]

Apollo: There have been a lot of people questioning you and Frisky. I know from experience that you guys are legit. How are you planning to respond to all the “haters”.

Sasquatch: Well not through the forums, haha. Really, just put in the practice and play to the best of my ability. If I do well people will still dislike me, if I do bad people will still dislike me. It is a losing battle- so im just going to go out to Columbus, play my best, and have blast doing it.

Apollo: How are you feeling possibly going up against top teams that have been togeather for a while?

Sasquatch: I’ve watched a lot of VoD- the teamwork at the professional level is nasty. A good example is FB- they click so well together. Im hoping to get as much teamwork down as possible before the event, but it will be hard to beat teams that have good chemistry, However, this is Halo 3, crazy things happen!

Apollo: Now, I know your an extremely skilled player, but how does it feel to be playing with players that are either the same skill or more skilled?

Sasquatch: As the team captain of all of my previous teams, I always felt like all the pressure was on me to do the best. I had to call out the most, slay the most, and keep my teammates’ heads in the game. It was very stressful during practices. Now, I am no longer the captain, have very talented and smart teammates, and won’t feel the pressure of having to “do everything”. I can rely on my teammates more than ever.

Apollo: Do you guys plan to stick together beyond Columbus? Or is this a one event teaming?

Sasquatch: There are several factors. Obviously, it really depends how well we play together. Also, the next event is in Luck and Bonfire’s home state. They have a lot of local friends that would love to attend MLG Dallas with them. I am not worried about the future now though, I’m worried about performing well as a team at Columbus.

Apollo: Tell me a little bit about each of your teammates.

Sasquatch: ItwasLuck is the best team player I have ever played with. His callouts are precise, he has massive assists, does the objective, and still manages to post the kills. I think we will click well. Bonfire is just a beast. He is a massive slayer and has a solid sniper. I don’t know him as well as tyler(luck) because he has been busy, but from the VoD I watched and what I have seen while playing, he is an excellent player. Frisky is my roommate, as I mentioned before, and we have been playing with each other for over 4 years. He is has always been the “elamitewarrior” on every team I have been on. When a custom power up is up, he will make sure that the other team doesn’t get it. He is versatile and can do just about anything that he is asked to do. He is the least selfish player I know.

Apollo: What controller setting do you use?

Sasquatch: Bumper jumper, inverted, 5 sens

Apollo: What are some of your personal goals in Columbus?

Sasquatch: Do well as a team and individually, meet some old friends, and make some new ones, and have fun.

Apollo: Alright now we’re going to do a little part that we here at insider like to call..Rapid Fire.

Sasquatch: Lets do it!

Apollo: Rockets or Snipe?

Sasquatch: Snipe

Apollo: Camo or OS

Sasquatch: Camo

Apollo: Team least looking forward to playing in Columbus?

Sasquatch: Triggers Down

Apollo: Favorite pro?

Sasquatch: Walshy

Apollo: Pit or Guardian?

Sasquatch: Pit

Apollo: Flag or Hill?

Sasquatch: Flag

Apollo: Winners of Columbus?

Sasquatch: Instinct, they are nasty!

Apollo: Alright dude…That’s about all the time we have…Any shout outs before we go?

Sasquatch: My two new teammates, Luck and Bonfire, Frisky, Poppy, Sky’s the Limit Enterprises, Paul, and my Mom lol. Oh mlginsider.com and my boy Apollo!

Keep an eye on the site where i’m going to be doing gameplay analysis of Sasquatch, also keep an eye out for my interview with Mr. Frisky and my gameplay analysis of him also. So stay tune!!

Head’s up w/ Vanity Gaming Founders

We got to take some time and sit down with the Cofounders of Vanity Gaming; vG Small and Vanity. Here what they had to say about Vanity Gaming;  where it came from and where it’s going.

 

Trent: How was Vanity Gaming born?

vG Small: VanityGaming was born back in 2006 in the days of Halo 2 when Vanity first met Tetra Shot , who just won the ”Golden Ticket,” coincidentally. Vanity was then introduced to many other pro-players. Being from a family of business people, he thought he would be able to help them with sponsorships and advertising pro-services. The rest is history

Trent: Where does the name “Vanity Gaming” come from?

Vanity: Well at the time I wasnt expecting us to become as succesfull as we have, so Elamite and Fossik suggested that we call it Vanity Gaming as Vanity was my tag in order to say thanks to me for helping them out.

Trent: You guys came from out of no where and have more sponsored teams now than any other organization. How have you acquired all this success so quickly?

vG Small: We have spent countless hours into building up the site alone. I truly believe that when other gamers saw this organization uprising, they wanted to get involved, seeing how it could be the next big impact on the gaming world. There has been a tremendous amount of dedication from our staff (graphics, writers, etc.) which got us off to a great start. Since the day I joined VanityGaming, Vanity and I have gained an incredible amount of trust in eachother. Without this trust, I don’t think we would be where we are now. As far as the sponsorships go, Liquid Lightning has been truly amazing. They have been very supportive of our organization and goals. Check out llenergy.com!

Vanity: It’s been a great experience working with such dedicated pros and staff members, we’ve also had a really friendly forum community and that is the back bone of vG, to thank everyone we’re partnering up with Liquid Lightning and holding a party at MLG Columbus where the band Breaking Benjamin will be playing a live acoustic set  So watch out for free tickets on our site!

Trent: I’ve been hearing about this VIP party and I must say I’m very excited. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this in MLG yet.

vG Small: Ya, I can’t wait to talk to a pro. (laughing)

Trent: Well …. you guys are now sponsoring 4 teams, The New Order, High Society, Team Vanity and Team Evasion (from the UK). Where do you go from here?

vG Small: Well, due to recent roster changes, High Society was disbanded. We are going to continue our partnerships for the other 3 teams and we are looking to pick up another team after Columbus. From here, we will continue to support our teams and players in the community.

Vanity: Who knows we might even do a team Golden Ticket! We might as well call ourselves vG and the Gaming Factory!

Trent: (Laughing) Wow … a team “golden ticket” that would be an incredible opportunity for many of the up and coming teams. Are you going to sponsor as many teams as you can or will you just increase the levels of sponsorship for a limited number teams?

Vanity: Yes I think 4-5 will be our max. I want to help focus on making business relationships and more partnerships to further what we already do for our teams, There has been an idea in the pipeline about putting together a business module to give to gamers help to equip themselves for approaching businesses for sponsorships.

Trent: I think that would be very helpful being that the hardest part for any team is understanding how to approach potential sponsorships. Even realizing what to ask for is difficult.  Being that you are now “in the thick” of  MLG. Where to you see yourselves and MLG in say 3 years.

vG Small: Hard to say…Assuming the Halo series will still be a very popular game then, I think we will be very solid. I know Vanity and I have high hopes for this organization and I believe we will carry it out for many years. I can’t completely comprehend what it would be like then. If we continue to expand at the rate we are now, we could essentially be huge. Vanity and I have many long term plans and goals for the site and we would love to reach these milestones.

Trent: Vanity?

Vanity: Yeah, we just want to be apart of this great community which together every website, spectator and player has helped shape and as long as we have this strong growing community who knows were gaming will be in 3 years! Hopefully at the Olympics….(laughing)

Trent: Very cool guys. Well I have what I need right now we’ll definitely do another one in C-Bus. Anything you want to say to the community, fans players and peeps before I let you guys go.

vG Small: I want to give a few shout outs to some strong supporters. Parfrey – thanks for your graphic contributions to the site; Zero Point, Legacy xIFCx, vG Bane -thanks for your amazing support and encouragement; The New Order – you guys are awesome, especially Kill3n ; All the Pro-Players on the site, Shout out to Jason Blades, Thanks to my mommy, and last but not least, my MM (laughing) Don’t ask

Vanity : Yes sir here goes! Parfrey, ElamiteWarrior, Squire 2 , Fossik, Tetra Shot,Waldo, SK, FearItSelf,,Venom, Haggie, Mando, Mackeo, all of our teams, all of our instructors, Karma and Brett couldn’t of done it without those guys! Liquid Lightning And the best Coach on the circuit Killen! Hope we didn’t leave anyone out!

Trent: Thanks for you time guys.

vG Small: My pleasure

Vanity: Thank you man

There you have the “Vanity Gaming” from the Vanity guys themselves.

vG The New order to play from AM

According to Karma himself, he was 2 and a half minutes late to register for pro status.  So New Order and their “Golden Ticket” winners will have to play through the open bracket.  This will mark the first time in years that Karma will play in AM.  

This is very disappointing to see that all the hype of the “Golden Ticket” to be a pro was for not.  Our hope is that MLG might reconsider and cut vG New Order some slack on this one.

Golden Ticket & New XiT Wounds

Thats right people! VG announced their full roster. After a roster dispute with Soviet leaving the team,  VG decided to pick up 2, Tensor and Tetra Shot.  The new VG roster now consists of Karma, Naded, Tensor, and Tetra Shot.  I think the entire community is anxious to see what they can do with this new roster (considering the unprecedented “Golden Ticket” opportunity).

Also, XiT Wounds has finally announced their new roster. This recent roster change has gotten mixed feelings from the community. Their new roster consists of ItwasLuck, BonFire, Sasquatch, and Mr. Frisky….They take 13th Seed for Columbus

My personal opinion (not reflected on the site at all) is that this will benefit the team if they put in the work.  I know Sasquatch and have played with Frisky before and they are definitely some of the most unknown talents out there…If your looking for an upset team, this is it.

MLG Insider would like to congratulate Tensor and Tetra Shot and wish them the best of luck!!!

Montage Weekly

Over the past few weeks there have been a lot of awesome montages that have come out. I’m going to show you a few that stood out to me.

These first two I’m going to do something I’ve tried to stay away from…and that is using trailers and montages from the recommended video section

Title: Composure trailer
Editor: Primal Designs Dweller
Gameplay: Rhis and KayEmX
Link: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/eV0AIBO3To0.html
My Comments:
This is one of the best trailers I’ve seen in a while. It has some amazing graphic work as well as some awesome effects. The gameplay is all from Halo2 and with this trailer they have proven that it is not a dead game at all.
My Ratings:
Editing: 5/5 Plasmas: Simply superb editing and graphic work
Gameplay: 5/5 Plasmas: Some of the best H2 gameplay I’ve seen in a while
Overall: 5/5 Plasmas: One of the best trailers out there and definitely worth a look.

Title: Apathy Trailer
Editor: Delicious Media
Gameplay: PretadoR
Link: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/4IxU4wPSlnE.html
Comments:
This is yet again another amazing trailer. It combines some music from Fast and Furious with some really good Halo 3 game play and throws it together with perfect synchronization. Defiantly worth watching
My Ratings:
Editing: 5/5 Plasmas: It has really smooth editing and is in perfect sync.
Gameplay: 5/5 Plasmas: Some awesome clips that leave you waiting, along with some awesome snipes
Overall: 5/5 Plasmas: An awesome trailer over all. You should defiantly watch it.

Title: vVv Tomas H3 M2
Editor:
Gameplay: vVv Tomas
Link: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/Z11VtPk9aWQ.html?video_page=8
Comments:
vVv Tomas is back…If you have never seen his first montage go check it out..Its really awesome. He’s back with a 100% HD Pure MLG montage. It starts with an awesome vVv Gaming Intro and doesn’t stop. All the way through it is just great clip after great clip. This is defiantly one of the best montages out there.
My Ratings:
Gameplay: 5/5 Plasmas: Superb gameplay that goes above and beyond the normal montage
Editing: 3/5 Plasmas: There is some awesome syncing but other than that there is not much in the way of editing.
Overall: 5/5 Plasmas: A simply edited yet superb montage. If you haven’t seen it watch it now.

Title: Expectance Trailer
Editor:
Gameplay: Statikk, Spanker, RivaL, Eclipse
Link: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/w5HX75UKNPE.html
Comments:
This is a really laid back trailer with a nice mixture of Matchmaking and MLG clips. This is a really nice and smoothly edited trailer.
My Ratings:
Gameplay: 5/5 Players: They have some really cool clips throughout the montage
Editing: 4/5 Plasmas: There is very little but really smooth editing
Overall: 5/5 Plasmas: A really laid back and cool trailer.

Alright everyone! For the next edition of Montage Weekly I want to get the community involved so. If you want a chance to get your opinion out there, as well as get some writing published on the site, I want you to go out on MLGpro gameroom or go on youtube and look for a Halo 3 Montage. You then must write a review of it like I do above in the bottom format. You have 2 weeks to pick either one or two montages to write a review for some simple rules are listed below the format

Title:
Editor:
Gameplay:
Link:
Comments:
Ratings:
Gameplay:
Editing:
Overall:

Rules:
1. Reviews can not contain vulgar language or any insulting comments
2. You MAY state that it was a good attempt but please no put downs
3. The Str8 Rippin montage can NOT be used to review
4. You may submit up to 2 reviews

Submit all your reviews to apollo@mlginsider.com

Also check out our User Article section link is below

http://mlginsider.com/?p=2187

Wow … roster changes Galore

Now Soviet is on Believe the Hype and Clutch and BtH dropped Syphur.  Defy is no longer on Classic he has since left to join Carbon.  

We have reason to believe that Soviet may have been dropped we’ll let you know for sure.  As for vG The New Order our contacts at Vanity Gaming have said that The New Order will definitely still be picking up one from the “Golden ticket” contest. It is not certain whether they will pick up two now or if they will pick up a f/a.

Gunnar Digital Eyewear by Gunnar Optiks

Overall Rating:   22 out of 25 stars …  These are generation one of the Gunnar Optiks line of digital eyewear. The GUNNAR eyewear in designed to increase visual performance , protect against (DEF) Digital Eye Fatigue and prevent full blown Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) which can lead to the deterioration of your eyesight. 

Read more

Columbus Update #1

As Columbus draws near teams are working hard to get a better rank in the Columbus online qualifier. Will one of these teams be the next semi-pro team like the Meadowlands winners Feel The Hype? Only time will tell, lets look at the top teams in the ladders.

Halo 3:

1. Hydra – In first place we have Hydra. Hydra is proving to be a formidable force. They are in first place with an amazing 18-0 record. They have defeated some decent teams in the rise to the top and are planning to keep going.
Roster: v RaBBiT v, OMG ITz Rambo69, GARB0 1, DeezaL Ehhh
2. XseSiVE- In second place we have XseSiVE, they also are proving to be a team to watch, they also have an 18-0 record and are actually tied for first place. They deffinalty have some talent and have defeated some good teams.
Roster: FONZO is APT, iReZzo, LLMeaJordan, oKrazed
3. 4-Deep – In third we have 4-Deep. They hold a record of 12-2 and are working hard to get out of third place. They are on a 8 game winning streak and don’t plan on stopping any time soon.
Roster: FD SavioR, IINoMercy, IVIeIo, Publicy
4. Kasper n Friends – In fourth we have Kasper n Friends. This team has worked hard and has earned their spot in fourth. With a record of 7-1 they only lost their first game and have won 7 games straight. With a little determination this team could be a force to reckon with.
Roster: be flawless, Bmw wmmmmmmm, Kasperrr, Mult0
5. Clown Shoes – In fifth we have a team who say they are not x-box live kids, but they seem to be able to perform well enough to have a record of 10-8 and are on a 6 game winning streak.

Gears of War 2:
Allow me first to say that these Gears of War kids are extreamly motivated.

1. Highest- In first we have Highest, they are currently in first place with a 12 game winning streak and a record of 48-9.
Roster: Dto Dreadful, Dto SticK, Dto Terrible, InsannitY
2. Less-Than-Zero- In second we have Less than Zero, they are in second place with a record of 37-4 and are currently on a 10 game win streak
Roster: CriMBo sLiCe, GhosttSniperr, LtZ Resistince, LtZ Wildebeast
3. Envious- In third we have a team with a 19-0 record and of course on a 19 game win streak. They have not played as much as the rest of the teams, but that 19 game win streak puts them up with the best.
Roster: FlNest, RaIph E, SK1LLSHOT, Xcells
4. LiQuiD ZeRo – In fourth we have Liquid Zero who has a record of 16-4 and is the only team in the top 5 without a winning streak.
Roster: inhaL3, SuprRemecy, xCounTeR, xDukeSkillz
5. Impulse- In fifth we have Impulse, they currently have a record of 13-2 and are on a 6 game winning streak.
Roster: ASCEND slyfox, i2kit iz2CluTcH, Im Broody, KnockKD

“Golden Ticket” to a Pro Team

Wow … I never thought I would write that phrase.  Karma and Naded have seen a vast amount of new talent coming up through the ranks and have decide to hold open tryouts for their fourth player.  VG The New Order is currently Karma, Naded, Str8 Pimp and their fourth will be selected by open tryouts.  

This is a wildly unprecedented move by a pro team on the circuit.  The first time I have ever heard of this.  This gives one player the opportunity  to break into the pro ranks with a “Golden Ticket” into the top 16 teams.  If you are interested in trying out please post you gamertag and tournament experience here: Golden Ticket

"Golden Ticket" to a Pro Team

Wow … I never thought I would write that phrase.  Karma and Naded have seen a vast amount of new talent coming up through the ranks and have decide to hold open tryouts for their fourth player.  VG The New Order is currently Karma, Naded, Str8 Pimp and their fourth will be selected by open tryouts.  

This is a wildly unprecedented move by a pro team on the circuit.  The first time I have ever heard of this.  This gives one player the opportunity  to break into the pro ranks with a “Golden Ticket” into the top 16 teams.  If you are interested in trying out please post you gamertag and tournament experience here: Golden Ticket

HaE is Back??

We have undisclosed sources that have informed us that Heaven and Earth has rejoined, But with a new member.  According to our sources HaE is now KillerDrew, Powweezy, Perplexity and Chig.  Yes, That’s right Chig.  

Evidentially there was a disagreement about the fourth when Hokum(Lester) couldn’t make it to C-Bus and they split with Poweezy and Plex considering joining Karma and Naded on vG.  I guess they worked things out.  This would mean the original  roster that was considered of Elumnite, Str8pimp, Chig and Drew would be invalid.

We’ll try and get you an interview with Drew this week.

What the new Rosters will mean

With all these rumors flying around many people may wonder how these roster changes may affect the teams. VG the New Orders pick up of Perplexity and Powweezy is one of the first roster changes. Perplexity is a solid player and has a lot of potential to go off. He’s a veteran player and has got the skill to back it off. Powweezy is another solid pick-up. Powweezy is one of the newer players on the circuit but shows just as much potential as Perplexity. I believe this will be a great experience for Powweezy and win or lose he will be better off with it. With veteran player like Karma, Naded, and Perplexity there is only one direction he can go skill wise, and that, my friends, is up.

Now on to the rumors that we’ve been hearing. Lets start with The Incredibles, led of course by Ogre 1. Ogre 1 at Meadowlands made a questionable move by teaming with 2 players who were not known on the circuit, these of course were Mantrain and Mioff. As many people expected they did not do well at all in Meadowlands. After Meadowlands, our sources say that Mantrain and Mioff were dropped in favor of Slim and Eleven. Slim and Eleven are no strangers from the curcit, they were semi-known back in the days of Halo 2, along with Tupac. This move is also a bit questionable but it is a step in the right direction for the rouge Ogre Brother, Ogre 1.

Next up is Xit Wounds. Xit has been around since the days of Halo 2. With the dropping of Elumnite and Sly Fox, Bonfire and ItWasLuck lose 1450.5 points. Which leaves them with a total of 1529.5 points and drops them right behind High Society in 20th place. With the dropping of Sly Fox and Elumnite they have added Sasquach and Pet Mr Frisky. Now these are two players who are little known. I actually know and have played with Sasquach, and he has a lot of potential. He is one of the better players I know and with this team, I believe they can make it very interesting at the top. 

As of Best Man, Defy, and the HaE break up. Only time will tell who goes where.

Heads Up w/Cloud

We got to go Heads up with Cloud from the breakout team in Meadowlands Believe the Hype.  BtH has a history of being a bracket breaker. Last year in San Diego they gave Final Boss their first ever finish out of the top 2, bouncing FB in 8th place.  Cloud is one of those guys who is well known amongst the pros and has been around for a while, but was never really known by the fans.  Guess what Scott?  They know who you are now after BtH’s 3rd place finish and record setting upset run. Here what he had to say about Meadowlands.

Trent: What did you guys expect going into Meadowlands?

Cloud: I knew we would do really well, like we did or we were going to do bad and get top 12 or something, kind of like a hit or miss. What I wanted at least was top 6 though.

Trent: Top 3 though, wow….

Cloud: Yeah, it was pretty unexpected, and it felt great. Looks like all our practiced paid off.

Trent : What was the feeling like after upsetting Classic round 1?

Cloud: I was expecting to beat them like we did. Still felt good to know that we were good on LAN and not just on xbl.

Trent: What about the next round with tD?

Cloud: It felt awesome beating the two teammates that left me to team with tD. No one was expecting us to beat them or even get past classic, it was a great feeling.

Trent: Now the the upset of #1 seeded Str8 Rippin, that had to be great?

Cloud: Yeah definitely, it felt really good to just see Clutch going off and when we were up in that Pit TS game by like 10 I knew we were going to win. It was just sick.

Trent: You guys were just on fire. I spoke with Joe Pennachio and he called you guys his darkhorse team, but I was still shocked at three straight upsets? Did it sink in right away or were you in a state of shock initially?

Cloud: It honestly felt like we had won the event after we beat them, everyone was just coming up saying congrats. It was my first time finishing top 3. I just wish we could have done better on Sunday, but yeah I guess it was more of a shock rather than it sinking in.

Trent: Okay, so coming into the Instinct game what was going through your head?

Cloud: I thought we were going to win. I got a little flustered when they beat us in those 2 really close games.

Trent: You seemed to be really down after the series  and it seemed to affect your play against tD the second time.

Cloud: Yeah, it definitely affected our gameplay as a whole. I was really upset about losing and I had a terrible attitude playing against tD. My being like that makes myself play bad and hurts the rest of my teammates, we just werent into the games.

Trent: Okay, so here’s what everyone wants to know. Straight up, was it a fluke or can you guys repeat that performance in C-Bus?

Cloud:  We are going to repeat our performance in Columbus.

Trent: (laughing) Wow … You heard it here first. BtH top 3 again in C-Bus. How does this event compare to the upset of FB last year in San Diego?

Cloud: I’d say that our upsets at Meadowlands were a lot better because we placed better and upset more teams.

Trent: Well we’re  gonna play rapid fire, you ready?

Cloud: Ok go

Trent: Most dangerous on the circuit?

Cloud: D3M0N D

Trent: Wow … Favorite teammate so far

Cloud: Clutch

Trent: Boxers or Briefs

Cloud: Boxers

Trent: Stickys or frags

Cloud: Stickys

Trent: Br or Sniper

Cloud: Sniper

Trent: OS or Camo

Cloud: OS

Trent: Objective or Slayer

Cloud: Objective

Trent: Favorite player to watch

Cloud: Neighbor

Trent: The team you would least like to face opening round in C-Bus.

Cloud: Does not matter

Trent: Well, I’m about finished. Any shout-outs before I let you go?

Cloud :My teammates, Atrophy, Maniac, Snuff

Trent: Anything for the fans or your opponents?

Cloud: I’d like to see some BtH chants going at Columbus. Thats about it

Trent: Well Scott, thanks for your time it’s been a lot of fun man. Looking to see you again in C-Bus. Good luck to you guys.

Cloud: Yeah see you there.

Believe the Hype now has the confidence to go with the skill.  They could once again be a very serious threat to the top teams in C-Bus.  Best of luck to Cloud and BtH.

Rosters Changes

The wild changes begin.  Here’s the breakdown of what we’ve seen so far.  vG The New Order – Karma, Naded, Perplexity and Powweezy.  Sources have told us that the Incredibles are now Ogre 1 & Tupac and after dropping Mantrain and Mioff, they picked up Slim and Eleven from Florida Jackelopes.  Bestman has since joined Ambush.  On to Xit Wounds, Bonfire  and ItWasLuck parted ways with Elumnite and Sly Fox and picked up Pet Mr. Frisky and Sasquach.  

On the Coaching side as many of you know JT Bravo is now coaching Triggers Down, Mazsik is officially coaching Believe the Hype, although there are some rumors that he might be receiving some other offers.  We’ll keep you in the loop.

We also spoke with Killerdrew about the HaE split and apparently it was due to a personality and perspective conflict.  As of this article Killerdrew was running games with Chig.   Hokum actually couldn’t go to Columbus.

Fragtality Interview

Alright what’s up everyone! I got a chance to sit down with one of the guys from what some people are saying the best montage out only second best to the Str8 Rippin montage itself. I’m talking of course, about Fragtality, check out the link below for the montage and check the most recent Montage Weekly for my review of Dualtality

http://www.mlgpro.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5185703

Apollo: Thanks a lot for doing the interview.

Fragtality: Anytime, thank you for having me.

Apollo: What gave you the idea to do Dualtality with Sticktality?

Frag: Well, sticktality and live close to eachother and have been freinds since 3rd grade. We got into the Halo scene together, and aways teamed. In Halo 2, I made a few montages that were pretty popular. Sticktality could never make one because he did not have a capture card. Thanks to Halo 3′s theatre mode, we immediately realized I could capture his footage for him, so I was set from day 1 to do a video together with him; it’s something I always wanted to do. The name dualtality just hit me one day about 8 months ago, and I was set on it ever since.

Apollo: What made you decide to edit it yourself?

Frag: I’m a perfectionist and I wasn’t satisfied with the work that other editors offered. The only person I would feel comfortable with would be Zola, and of course he was busy with the Str8 Rippin Montage. Originally, I had another editor myself. However, I wasn’t exactly satisfied with the quality of work I was recieving. One day when I was out of school sick, I decided to download Sony Vegas and just play around with my footage just for fun. I did about a minute, and showed my freind Kindred what I had done, and the first thing he said was that I needed to drop my current editor and edit myself. At first I thought it was unrealistic since I had no real experience as an editor, but he convinced me to do it, and 5 months later here it is. I am really happy I did it, it turned out great, and I’ve learned so much, I’m thinking about majoring in video related fields for college because of how much i’ve learned over the last 5 months.

Apollo: You say that was 5 months ago, and you’ve been wanting to make a montage with him since halo 2…Exacltly how long have you been planning on making this montage?

Frag: I didn’t get into Halo 3 until Summer time, so maybe a month of 2 into last summer was when we began looking for an editor. That was around the time we really started taking the idea of a dualtage seriously since we had gotten some sick footage within that time.

Apollo: What got you into gaming and MLG?

Frag: I played halo 1 with some freinds from my basketball team back in 3rd grade; the year Halo 1 came out. Alex (or sticktality) and me always destroyed everyone else out of our group of friends even though sticktality didn’t an xbox at the time. We didn’t know anything about Halo xbc or tournaments or anything. Around the time cs for xbox came out, Alex got his xbox with an xbl subscription, and I got an xbl. We played cs casually until Halo 2 came out, which was where everything started. Naturally we realized there were tons of people out there who were way better than us (very humbling since we never had any competition with out group of friends). As we kept playing we got better and met knew people through the minor clan match system (some people may remember the name Four2o from way back when) and eventually met some people who attended a few MLG events in 05. I was then told that MLG was coming to my city (St. Louis) in the summer time. Since it was so close, we of course decided to go to MLG St. Louis in 05. We went with some local friends and got absolutely destroyed; I remember that we didn’t even make it into the actual tournament. It was an embarrassing, yet unforgettable experience that really sparked our interest to begin playing more seriously. We’ve been playing ever since except for my 6 month break when halo 3 first came out (decided to play css with my friend Anesthet1k instead since I didn’t exactly like H3 when it first came out. When CGS died, both Anesthet1k and I decided to get into h3 along with sticktality. When we saw the first 08 h3 event, we realized how much we missed it and we had to get back into it.) We plan on going to h3 events as soon as we feel we are ready to go to an event and place at a pro level.

Apollo: Do you guys plan on making a second dualtage?

Frag: It all depends on the footage we get. I’m sure eventually it could happen, but not for a while. I need a nice long break from editing Halo so I can focus on enjoying the rest of my senior year with my friends and just playing the game of Halo as opposed to editing it. Dualtality 2 could happen in the far future, though………….. But no promises.

Apollo: That would be a great day. So you don’t plan on editing anymore?

Frag: Yes, everything I’ve learned over the past 5 months really sparked an interest for me in the video editing field. I don’t plan on doing any official projects for a while, but I am definitely going to enjoy expanding my knowledge with After Effects, and learn how to model 3D objects as well as animate them. That’s one thing I didn’t get a chance to do, special thanks to Robosteeze and Ell for modeling the 3D work in dualtality. Also, the work zola did using Vue for the 3D environments in Str8 Rippin’s intro was outstanding. I also want to learn that program; it’s so powerful and can create the most stunning atmospheres. He did a great job on the Str8 Rippin video. It was really cool getting a chance to work side by side with him on the HD recordings of the footage and of angles he needed. That’s actually one of the reasons why Dualtality took 5 months to edit; there was about a month span where I didn’t have time to work on it due to angles that needed to be done for Str8 Rippin.

Apollo: So you know Zola?

Frag: Yes, he edited my first big video (trinity). We’ve been friends over since and I recorded the angles and clips for him (I believe he had another capturer help with the recording of the actual clips as well)

Apollo: A lot of people absolutely love the 2nd Anberlin song “Fin” you used. Many people have never heard of it before. How did you come across such a great song that hadn’t been used before?

Frag: Ok, so my friend Tom (anesthet1k, the dude I played css with and now Halo) has this awesome stereo system in his car, and one day during the winter he came to pick me up so we could go grab some fast food somewhere, and he had the song blasting with his amazing stereo system. It was the most epic song I had heard in my life. I asked him what the name of the song was; and I knew that from that moment on If I ever made another video, I would use that song.

Apollo: Where did you ever come up with the title Dualtality?

Frag: Usually a montage of 2 people is called a “dualtage”, and since me and alex both have “tality” at the end of our name (suffix means “death”), the name just kinda hit me one day, and stuck with me ever since It was very appropriate because it fits the theme of us being as a single unit(since we always teamed I thought this was a good idea), which inspired me to have the 2 different helmet halves coming together as 1 for the logo.

Apollo: Well that’s about all the time we got! Any shoutouts before we go?

Frag: Yeah, I’d like to take a second and thank Sticktality for getting a ton of sick footage. Ell and especially Robosteeze for doing an amazing job on the 3D modeling, Vastly and Kindred for giving me their oppinion on my work during production. Anesthet1k for helping me in a ton of miscellaneous ways, such as mixing the “Fin” song, participating as an extra whenever I needed people for the cinematic scenes. Also, a shoutout to Yasha for hooking me up with the new maps and being an absolute boss at doing incredible jumps. That’s about it. Once again, thanks for having me, and I’m glad you guys enjoyed Dualtality.

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