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.

Montage Weekly #4

Welcome back to another edition of montage weekly. Since the end of Meadowlands there have been many montages that have stood out, and we are going to take a look at some of them.

Title: Dualtality
Editor:Fragtality, 3D Modeling: Robosteeze and Eli
Gameplay: Fragtality, and Stickality
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7ZnqLeatIg
My Comments:
This is a great montage. It starts out strong and stays that way all throughout the video. Starting with a very smooth intro which finishes with a Spartan head locking into place. It has a nice mixture of Matchmaking and MLG clips mixed throughout the film. It has some very smooth editing throughout the whole video and makes the video even better. It has a perfect mix of great plays and good editing.
My Ratings:
Editing: 5/5 Plasmas: Really smooth editing, and perfect synchronization.
Gameplay: 5/5 Plasmas: Some great plays mixed in with some matchmaking clips.
Overall: 5/5 Plasmas: Great montage, worked really well with the song, if the Str8 Montage had not come out this would be the standard for montages. But it still give Str8 a run for its money.
Stay tuned for an interview with Fragtality!

Title: Real
Editor: TM22
Gameplay: Monopoly
Link: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/oPfkqijlFyk.html
Comments:
TM22 Is back with another great montage. There is some great syncing in this video along with some amazing clips. There are a few clutch flag stops, mixed in with some amazing sticks. The montage consists mostly of normal matchmaking clips including, some Assault Rifle kills. There are very few MLG clips throughout the whole 4 minutes and 22 seconds. Overall it is a great montage it just could use some MLG clips.
My Ratings:
Editing: 5/5 Plasmas: It has really smooth editing and works well with the song.
Gameplay: 3/5 Plasmas: There are very few MLG clips but what it lacks in MLG clips it makes up for it in some crazy straight up sticks.
Overall: 4/5 Plasmas: Overall a decent montage brought to you by TM22

Title: The Spring Break Tage
Editor: Enigma
Gameplay: Various players
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8RvGlZO8n0v
Comments:
This is a Halo 3 Community montage that contains various players and a some simple yet effective editing. Even though spring break is over you can still feel it in this montage. It’s a good collection of clips from all skill ranges
My Ratings:
Gameplay: 3/5 Plasmas: Its decent footage from many players
Editing: 2/5 Plasmas: Simple yet effective
Overall: 3/5 Plasmas: It’s a great way to still enjoy Spring break.

Title: Best of Both words Part 2
Editor: Intro By: AAR Pie
Gameplay: RP Flash
Link: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/WiIdJzDGfhsalsfA.html
Comments:
This montage is of a new breed. He shows his skill not only in the virtual realm but also in real life. It contains both gameplay and real life football plays. There are a bunch of tipple kills that are less than great but they still fit well. He did a good job of mixing halo clips and his football films together. There is very little editing in this but it makes up for it in some decent clips.
My Ratings:
Gameplay: 5/5 Plasmas: Some decent plays, and some cool football film to
Editing: 2/5 Plamsas: The intro was the only real editing and it really unique
Overall: 5/5 Plasmas: This was a new type of montage and for that I give it a 5/5

Well that’s all for this edition of Montage weekly! Stay tuned for more rumors, news, contests and much more at MLGinsider.com!

Also be sure to look out for the Fragtality interview coming soon!

"The New Spectator Experience"

Let me be the first to admit that when I got the news about the “New Spectator Experience Fee,” I was not the happiest of gamers.  After attending nearly every event since 07, I was trying to figure out what they could really add for me to justify paying a spectator fee.  To be completely honest, had they always charged for it, I would have never thought twice about it.  Every event I have been to as a fan, player, or crew has been worth much more than $20. So after pouting and complaining to my FL, I decided to “Shut It Up” until after Meadows. So I did that and now I get to break it down exactly as MLG presented it and give my opinion and see who cares….

MLG says:  ”Witness the biggest and best gaming competition in the world”

My Take:  Well, for me, this is a gimme…who else runs a tournament like MLG?  Biggest  [Yes]  Best Gaming Competition  [Uh Yeah]

Worth paying the spectator fee? … I don’t know.  I will say that there were more “featured” stations with overhead TV’s and it always seemed like a Pro team was playing there, or on Main Stage, or at the Dr. Pepper booth (I think you get the point).  I must say,  it’s always been worth much more than $20 for me, so I guess I would just say “thanks for the 2 free years MLG.”

Worth the increase? I had to contemplate free in this, but after reading the paragraph, the answer is; YES, that it was easily worth a $20 increase

MLG says: “Spectators can get their name out as individual competitors in the Halo 3 FFA and Gears of War 2 Wingman Competitions”

My Take: MLG had a crazy sick setup for Gamebattles.  I think it was 16 stations laid out and mounted pretty sick.  I didn’t keep up with this competition too much

Worth the increase? Too early to tell…there’s still a tournament so we’ll see when it’s over

MLG says: “Interact with MLG’s Pro Players, Win Prizes and Get Free Stuff!”

I SaY:  In regards to the prizes and free stuff…whatever; but for the Interact with Pro’s: It Wuzzz Sick!!!  Pro’s were everywhere and all weekend!  The new schedule kept them in the venue pretty much every hour for all 3 days and you could see a Pro team playing at every moment of the weekend.  T2 was signing autographs, Walshy was taking pictures, Strongside, Totz, Ace, and Flamesword were dropping bombs of Kewl free gear with the “Status Quo” logo, Snipedown taking “pretty boy” mug shots with the fans, Legit, Elamite, sK, FearitSelf, Neighbor, Hysteria, Roy, Lunchbox, Ogre’s, and I could literally go on for hours. I easily saw a pro every 5 minutes.  For the Puckett fans … Yes, he was out there shooting “Puckett Rockets” with the crowd frequently.

Worth the increase? YES, ABSOLUTELY, NO DOUBT, WITHOUT QUESTION …Yup

MLG says: “Get the VIP Treatment by Becoming an MLG High Roller!”

I SaY: I didn’t see it, didn’t hear anything about it, and don’t care.  For me, MLG is about watching the Greatest gamers compete.  Getting a chance to meet them and talk is just cake.  Really, how many times do people really get to openly meet the greatest competitors in a sport?  Golf, rarely…NFL, rarely, etc, etc, etc… At the end of the day I just don’t care about this addition.  In fact for Columbus, lets do addition by subtraction and eliminate this.  Maybe I’m just bitter because I didn’t win, who knows?

Worth the increase? Nope

Final Thoughts: What sealed the deal for me?  It was on Sunday, when I look over and see fans playing on the stations and MLG had not taken them down early.  Dude, any gamer who goes to a MLG event and gets to “free play LAN” even for a few games has to agree that it’s worth it.  That alone is worth the $20.  I have not even mentioned Astro’s new fancy booth or the NEW Dr. Pepper MONSTROSITY of a setup.  They revamped this offseason and came back again with free Dr. Pepper (love the new Cherry) and BIGGER IDEAS.  2 stations with MLG Dubs (with a rumored 17 straight V’s by Seige), 8 stations for 4v4, some open play but ALOT of PRO SCRIMS, and some of the best looking can openers around.  Astro was Rockin a New Look with their new station equipped with a 4 station FFA loaded with Astro Headsets (Sw33t).  Props to Ball Park for free Hot dogs and Stride for the shirts and gum, all of whom added to the whole thing.  So a shout out to those sponsors and the others, but those are the one’s that stuck out to me.

“The New Spectator Experience”

Let me be the first to admit that when I got the news about the “New Spectator Experience Fee,” I was not the happiest of gamers.  After attending nearly every event since 07, I was trying to figure out what they could really add for me to justify paying a spectator fee.  To be completely honest, had they always charged for it, I would have never thought twice about it.  Every event I have been to as a fan, player, or crew has been worth much more than $20. So after pouting and complaining to my FL, I decided to “Shut It Up” until after Meadows. So I did that and now I get to break it down exactly as MLG presented it and give my opinion and see who cares….

MLG says:  ”Witness the biggest and best gaming competition in the world”

My Take:  Well, for me, this is a gimme…who else runs a tournament like MLG?  Biggest  [Yes]  Best Gaming Competition  [Uh Yeah]

Worth paying the spectator fee? … I don’t know.  I will say that there were more “featured” stations with overhead TV’s and it always seemed like a Pro team was playing there, or on Main Stage, or at the Dr. Pepper booth (I think you get the point).  I must say,  it’s always been worth much more than $20 for me, so I guess I would just say “thanks for the 2 free years MLG.”

Worth the increase? I had to contemplate free in this, but after reading the paragraph, the answer is; YES, that it was easily worth a $20 increase

MLG says: “Spectators can get their name out as individual competitors in the Halo 3 FFA and Gears of War 2 Wingman Competitions”

My Take: MLG had a crazy sick setup for Gamebattles.  I think it was 16 stations laid out and mounted pretty sick.  I didn’t keep up with this competition too much

Worth the increase? Too early to tell…there’s still a tournament so we’ll see when it’s over

MLG says: “Interact with MLG’s Pro Players, Win Prizes and Get Free Stuff!”

I SaY:  In regards to the prizes and free stuff…whatever; but for the Interact with Pro’s: It Wuzzz Sick!!!  Pro’s were everywhere and all weekend!  The new schedule kept them in the venue pretty much every hour for all 3 days and you could see a Pro team playing at every moment of the weekend.  T2 was signing autographs, Walshy was taking pictures, Strongside, Totz, Ace, and Flamesword were dropping bombs of Kewl free gear with the “Status Quo” logo, Snipedown taking “pretty boy” mug shots with the fans, Legit, Elamite, sK, FearitSelf, Neighbor, Hysteria, Roy, Lunchbox, Ogre’s, and I could literally go on for hours. I easily saw a pro every 5 minutes.  For the Puckett fans … Yes, he was out there shooting “Puckett Rockets” with the crowd frequently.

Worth the increase? YES, ABSOLUTELY, NO DOUBT, WITHOUT QUESTION …Yup

MLG says: “Get the VIP Treatment by Becoming an MLG High Roller!”

I SaY: I didn’t see it, didn’t hear anything about it, and don’t care.  For me, MLG is about watching the Greatest gamers compete.  Getting a chance to meet them and talk is just cake.  Really, how many times do people really get to openly meet the greatest competitors in a sport?  Golf, rarely…NFL, rarely, etc, etc, etc… At the end of the day I just don’t care about this addition.  In fact for Columbus, lets do addition by subtraction and eliminate this.  Maybe I’m just bitter because I didn’t win, who knows?

Worth the increase? Nope

Final Thoughts: What sealed the deal for me?  It was on Sunday, when I look over and see fans playing on the stations and MLG had not taken them down early.  Dude, any gamer who goes to a MLG event and gets to “free play LAN” even for a few games has to agree that it’s worth it.  That alone is worth the $20.  I have not even mentioned Astro’s new fancy booth or the NEW Dr. Pepper MONSTROSITY of a setup.  They revamped this offseason and came back again with free Dr. Pepper (love the new Cherry) and BIGGER IDEAS.  2 stations with MLG Dubs (with a rumored 17 straight V’s by Seige), 8 stations for 4v4, some open play but ALOT of PRO SCRIMS, and some of the best looking can openers around.  Astro was Rockin a New Look with their new station equipped with a 4 station FFA loaded with Astro Headsets (Sw33t).  Props to Ball Park for free Hot dogs and Stride for the shirts and gum, all of whom added to the whole thing.  So a shout out to those sponsors and the others, but those are the one’s that stuck out to me.

MLG Dallas will be the 3rd Event

***From MLGpro.com***
Major League Gaming is proud to announce that the third stop of the 2009 Pro Circuit will take place in Dallas, TX on August 28th-30th. This will be the fourth consecutive season MLG has made a stop in Dallas at the Hilton Anatole, and as always, it’s sure to be one of the biggest events of the year. MLG Dallas will feature top notch competition in Halo 3, Gears of War 2, and World of Warcraft, as well as a slew of spectator activities and events. 

MLG Dallas
August 28th-30th
Hilton Anatole
2201 Stemmons Freeway 
Dallas, TX 75207

MLG Dallas has historically been one of our most popular events of the Season, meaning passes will go fast. The only way to guarantee your spot a pass for the MLG Dallas Competition is to compete in the Online Qualifier. Teams finishing in the Top 64 spots will earn ranking points that will help to improve their seed at Live Competitions, as well as the opportunity to purchase a reserved Competition Pass for Dallas. Registration for the Halo 3 and Gears of War 2 Online Qualifiers opens June 8th.

User Articles

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Halo 3 Top 32 Standings w/Point Totals

***From MLGpro.com****     This is the most current team standing for the top 32 teams.  You can see the point breakdown goes back to last year.  So have at it all you number junkies.

The Man Behind the Str8 Montage: Zola

Whats up everyone! I think that I can say that everyone enjoys watching montages. Well I got a chance to sit down, with someone who is amazing at editing those montage! You know him from the most recent, perhaps most watched montage of all time the Str8 Rippin Montage, and others such as Trinity. I present the man behind the montage, Zola!

Apollo: How long does it take to edit a montage?

Zola: The Str8 Rippin Montage, was my first proper h3 one and it took a few months, about 5. The Halo 2 montages took a lot less, about a month, trinity took me 5 weeks. The halo 2 montages were a lot easier to do since you just got the clips sent and that was
it.

Apollo: How long did it take you to make that amazing intro to the Str8 Rippin montage? I would say that it is the best montage intro ever.

Zola: I had the cloud scene made a long time ago, the rest took about 5 days

Apollo: What is your favorite part of editing a montage?

Zola: I would say, the satisfaction of setting yourself a target to try something an go about tackling it, and making it come to life.

Apollo: So, do you have any more projects lined up?

Zola: Well the montage thing is finished now so nothing I guess, I won’t be doing any projects for anyone else now, but, i have a personal project lined up, but that will be open to my friends list only.

Apollo: What is going through your head when you edit a montage? Do you go for, “hey this looks good” or do you have a vision about what you want it to be

Zola: Well I speak to whoever it is I’m making it for as at the end of the day they are the only person that matters in deciding how they want it to come out, It’s my job to make sure it pleases them primarily. I haven’t really had the chance to do what I wanted to do yet in a montage hopefully I’ll do that in the next one

Apollo: So does this mean we are going to be seeing a Zola Montage coming out?

Zola: Well no it is the project I mentioned before, it’s the Zola and friends 2 montage.

Apollo: Other than editing what other types of media do you do?

Zola: Well I’m starting to get into the graphics side of things too which is very exciting, I had a fairly limited knowledge of that area up until recently, now I’m trying to round myself off that way, also improving my 3d work.

Apollo: I have seen some of your graphics and background work and they are amazing.

Zola: Hopefully there is a lot more to come on that side, I haven’t even scratched the surface of that side of things yet

Apollo: What are you plans for your future? Are you looking to get a job editing professionaly for like movies?

Zola: I freelance already, hopefully get into a studio at some point.

Apollo: You freelance? Have you worked on any projects?

Zola: Sure for some companies here in the uk

Apollo: That’s awesome.

Apollo: What type of graphics do you do?

Zola: Backgrounds, logos, I don’t do things like signatures unless it’s for a montage I’m promoting.

Apollo: Is there any one player or any team that you would like to edit for if you come back to editing?

Zola: No, I don’t think a montage of that scale will ever be done again, teams don’t stay together for long enough

Apollo: Any individuals then?

Zola: No not really, financially it’s not worth the time you put in, there’s too much stress involved, and I can be making a lot more working for real companies out there in the working world. I’ve graduated from college now so I’m just concentrating on my working life

Apollo: Its been great doing this interview, thanks alot! Any shout outs before we go?

Zola: Sure, I’ll give a shoutout to all the fans!

Karma/Naded need 2

We have the first major team change from 2009.  VG The New Order is changing.  From inside sources we’ve been told that Karma will be dropping Defy and Best Man.  He and Naded will continue to team together.  

Stay tuned to MLGinsider.com for more information.

Bracket Contest Winner

The winner of the Meadowlands Madness bracket contest is Spencer Wood.  Congratulations Spencer we will be sending you a 13 month Gold  Subscription to Xbox Live. Spencer is one of very few people with Believe the Hype going further into the WB.  Good going Spencer.

Be sure to get in on the next bracket contest for MLG Colombus in June.

Montage Review #3

 

Whats up Everyone! This is Apollo and I’d like to welcome you back to another addition of Montage Weekly! Due to the major lack of montages that stick out this will become a more bi-weekly Montage review. I’m going to be looking for montages that stand out from the rest! Lets get it popin!

Name: R3VO zZ Montage 2

Edit: R3VO

Gameplay By: R3VO zZ

Link: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/ArkNepcYRf4.html

This is a well put together montage. He states that it was only for fun and I belive he accomplished his goal. There is a nice mixture of fun matchmaking clips as well as some nice MLG clips. It has a nice mixture and works well with the song. This is a great tage to watch if your looking for some laid bad not to serious montage.

Scores:

Editing: 2/5 Plasmas: Just do to the fact that it is lacking but what is there works very well with the laid back song.

Gameplay: 5/5 Plasmas: This is a great laid back montage with just the right mixture of clips!
Overall: 4/5 Plasmas: It is a great laid back montage and I would recommend it to everyone

 

Name: YaF Gunner’s Trailer

Edit: Slayer Media

Link: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/mtMWumMN0j0.html

This is a great trailer, has some good footage against some top players such as Karma and SK. There are some really nice snipes hidden throughout also. Quality is a bit shaky but it makes up for it. Can’t wait till the full thing comes out

My Ratings:
Editing: 3/5 Plasmas: Its decent. Not much but its ok

Gameplay: 5/5 Plasmas: Some amazing clips in there can’t wait for more

Overall: 4/5 Plasmas: There are a few flaws but its overall a good trailer

 

Name: Dutchy:: Lag Warrior

Edit: Zane

Gameplay: Dutchy

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2GbnoI212o

This is a really good montage. There are some really enjoyable parts as well some some really crazy sniper kills. My favorite part would have to be where they make fun of Puckket and Sundance. There is a little to much matchmaking in for my taste but what they lack in MLG gameplay they make up for in overkills.

My Ratings:

Editing: 5/5 Plasmas: Some great editing and transitions in here

Gameplay: 5/5 Plasmas: Great montage quality clips

Overall: 5/5 Plasmas: Over all a solid montage

 

Name: Xemplified

Edit: Staic Hazard

Gameplay: Xemplary

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOMUQ9WZwhg&feature=related

This is a decent matchmaking montage. It has some smooth transitions in it, as well a few very nice plays. The montage gets better as you watch it and is at its best towards the end. Only complaint is the song is extreamly annoying. Techno is not the way to go for a montage.

Ratings:

Gameplay: 2/5 Plasmas: A nice attempt at a montage but just not good enough

Editing: 2/5 Plasmas: Some smooth transitions but that’s about it

Overall: 2/5 Plasmas: A good attempt at a montage, but not the best

 

Alright that’s it for this week! Check out some of our latest articles and keep watching the site. Got some exciting this going on in the next few weeks!

If you want your montage in the next edition, e-mail it with a link to Apollo@mlginsider.com

Maszik 4 Bravo

Meadowlands Champions Triggers Down is the first team to announce changes to their roster, sort of.  While their team remains intact, they made a coaching change dropping their coach, Mazsik< and moving forward with JTBravo.  With Mazsik they won 2 out of 4 events including the opener this year in Meadowlands. 

The move is a little puzzling because the just won, but Bravo’s a good Coach. While we don’t always understand or agree with what SK does as far as transactions go,  he continues to put together teams that win.  They have won 3 events in the last year dating back to Orlando 2008.

Final Placings

**** From MLGPro**** Here is the complete results list for the MLG Meadowlands Halo 3 Competition. The numbers in parenthesis is each team’s seed throughout the tournament.

TD Champs again

Triggers Down fought their way thru the Losers bracket beating Str8 Rippin, Believe the Hype and finally Instinct. They got bounced early then showed the determination of champs to not give up and keep fighting.

They actually had to beat Instinct twice.  The won the first match 3-0 and then wrapped up this second match with a 3-1 victory.  Congratulations to Triggers Down the 2009 Meadowlands Champions.

tD 6-4 over BtH

Triggers Down started the series down 3-1 and took 5 of six games to win the series 6-4.  They were a different team this time around and Believe the Hype just didn’t have enough.  Triggers Down will move on to face Instinct  in the Championship Match for the 2009 Meadowlands Championship.

Instinct 3-1

Instinct just took out Believe the Hype 3-1.  They each took turns going huge with Walshy proving that “old men got game”.  The story of the match though was Neighbor debuting his new backpack line and going a monstrous 46 and 31 with 34 assists on Onslaught Flag,  That set the tone for the rest of the match. Even though Instinct lost the TS Pit match, I don’t think that BtH ever fully recovered.  

Now we have to wait and see who will face Instinct in the Championship match.  It’ll either be Triggers Down or BtH.

Top 4 Update

And then there were 4.  4 teams still remain in the hunt for the title.  Str8 Rippin – the defending champs, tD, Believe the Hype -the meadowlands Cinderella story and Instinct with Grandpa Walshy leading the way.

Matchups - 

For 5 and 6 Place – HaE Vs Final Boss

For 7 and 8 Place – SQ Vs Carbon

CLB Update

Quick update for CLB round 7

HaE Vs Status Quo – HaE shocks Status Quo in their rematch.  The up the games to a best of eleven with HaE starting down 3-2.  HaE just got in the groove and SQ couldn’t quite do it.  HaE wins 6-3.

Triggers Down Vs Carbon – Triggers Down just proved to be too much for Carbon beating them 3-0.

CLB Rds 4,5 and 6

Here are a couple losers bracket updates.  

CLB Round 4 

Matches - 

High Society 3-1 over The Dynasty

Classic 3-0 over Armageddon

Uprising 3-1 over Virtuosity

End Result upsets pro team The Riot 3-1

CLB Round 5

Matches – Winners in top 16

High Society upsets pro team Darkest Hour 3-1

VG The New Order 3-0s Classic

Heaven and Earth – 3-1 over Uprising

Xit Wounds 3-0 over End Result

CLB Round 6

Matches –  Winners in Top 8

Status Quo 3-0 over Xit Wounds

Carbon 3-1 over VG The New order

Triggers Down cruises 3-0 over High Society

Heaven and Earth 3-1 over Ambush

Instinct 3-1′s FB

Walshy and crew set out to make a statement and did so very well.  With Walshy as the self proclaimed “Uncle Jesse” from Full House, playing against Ogre 2, whom he called Mary Kate, they got business done.  Neighborwas doing exactly what they brought him in for.  Killing is his business and business has been good.  

They beat Final Boss 3-1 allowing Mason to keep his streak of never losing to Final Boss Alive and putting the twins, Roy and Lunchbox, one step closer to their first event win. They will play BtH today for the Winner bracket finals and a spot in the Championships.

They revamped a few things after their LAN with Status Quo and corrected a few things.  They got Neighbor is positions to do what he does best flank and kill, Roy is now able to utilize his rediculous Br and Lunchbox is doing what he does best A bit of everything.  Finally walshy who everyone said is the “weak” link has really brought his “A” game leading the teams numerous times in kills for slayer as well.

BtH Shocks Again

Believe the Hype has done it again.  BtH, the #11 seed, has upset not only #5 Classic and #4 Triggers Down, but this time they did it to #1 Str8 Rippin, the defending National Champions.  

They were trailing 2-0 to the defending champs, when they just settled in and turned it on.  They rallied and won three straight games to upset Str8 Rippin.  Cloud played great, Sypher was solid, Demon was rocking and Clutch was, well, “clutch”. He made plays when he needed to and was a big-time beast, on a big-time platform. 

They will play the winner of Final Boss and Instinct.

We to have a quick chat with Clutch and here are his thoughts.

Trent: What are you feeling right now? 

Clutch: Honestly, It’s just hard to sit down.  I’m in shock. 

Trent: You guys beat #5 classic, #4 tD and now #1 Str8 Rippin, what does hearing that make you think?

Clutch: Well, I had picked tD to win it all.  This is like a dream. 

Trent: You guys have your own version of a Cinderella story going here.

Clutch: Yeah, now we just guaranteed ourselves to finish no less then third place.  I’ve never been above 9th before.

Trent: What was the difference in the first 2 games and the last three?

Clutch: Well, we were pretty cold we hadn’t played in 8 hours.  It was just rough the first two.  Then I hit a point when we were up by about 60 seconds on Guardian ball and just went into another zone.  I just knew right then, we can win this series.  We can beat these guys.  I felt like I caught fire and I can’t say enough about my team they played amazing.

Trent: Well, congratulations this might be the biggest upset, check that, day of upsets in MLG history.

Clutch: Thank you it’s awesome

Great job to Clutch and the rest of BtH.  Congrats on a job well done.

11:30 

 

7:30

Open Teams

Here is your list of Open teams to make it to the Championship Bracket. In no specific order: Almost Famous, Flatline,
Feel the Hype,  Uprising,  Pt Virtuosity,  The Dynasty, Armageddon, High Society, Direct Effect,  Infamous, Hood Ninjas

Placement Rounds

Here are the result from the latest placement round: Featuring Triggers Down Vs VG The New Order and Status Quo Vs Heaven and Earth.  

Triggers Down Vs VG The New Order – Triggers down showed they’re weren’t to be taken taken lightly. They firmly made their point by 3-0ing VG.  

Status Quo Vs Heaven and Earth –  Status Quo was determined to get back on track after their disappointing loss to Final Boss.  They did just that beating HaE 3-2 in a competitive five game series.

Ambush Vs Xit Wounds – Ambush said they’re not done  and proceeded to 3-1 Xit Wounds to make a statement to the open bracket teams.

Carbon Vs Darkest Hour – Carbon joined in with the rest of the teams trying make a statement as the open teams join and 3-0d Darkest Hour.

Round 2 Heat 2

Big Matches with competitive games. This round features Status Quo Vs Final Boss and Instinct Vs Ambush.  These are two solid matches. The matches resulted in Instinct moving on to play Final Boss in round 3. 

Instinct Vs Ambush – Instinct again had trouble with game bone.  They seem to coming into each round a little flat.  In the end they were just too much for Ambush and pulled away with a 3-1 victory

Status Quo Vs Final Boss – Status Quo been beating everyone in their LANs, this was their first real test at an event.  Unfortunately for Lan Man Joe and SQ they just couldn’t pullout a win.  FB won 3-0, but every game was very close and really could have gone either way.

Wb Round 2 Heat 1

This gives us two very competitive match-ups.  Str8 Rippin Vs Carbon and Triggers Down Vs Believe the Hype.  We’ll bring you both right now.

Str8 Rippin Vs Triggers Down –  In a hard fought battle that went five games and looked as if either team could win, the defending National Champions held off a very solid Carbon team by a score of 3-2.  The advance to play Believe the Hype who is looking for upset number 3.

Triggers Down Vs Believe the Hype – Believe the Hype has done it again.  Upset number two is over the number 4 seed Triggers Down. tD was touted as the most talented team here by many.  This wins guarantees that Believe the Hype will finish no lower than 6th place.  The final score was 3-1 BtH. An example of how solid Bth played is shown in their 5-1 Onslaught flag win for the 3rd victory.

Round 1 Heats 3/4

Here are both round scores.

Round 1 heat 3  

Final Boss Vs Incredibles - This was a mismatch.  FB was just too strong taking it home in a quick 3-0. Moving on to take the winner of Status Quo and VG The New Order

Ambush Vs Darkest Hour – Ambush advances into the second round to face the winner of Instinct and The Riot.  Ambush advanced fairly easily with a 3-1 victory.  However, there games were fairly competitive Ambush just had too much for Darkest Hour. They move on to Fall Final Boss at 10 am this morning,

 

Round 1 Heat 4

Status Quo Vs. VG The New Order – In a very tough match-up Status Quo was able to pull out a 3-2 victory with the crowd chanting “Status Quo, Status Quo”.

Instinct Vs The Riot – Instinct lost the first game 3-2 on narrows Flag.  Then they woke up.  They proceeded to beat The Riot by about 15 kills on TS pit.  Then they proceeded to close it out  with a 150+ win on KoH Construct and 100 sec win on Lockdown ball.  They will play Ambush in round 2.

Placement Rounds

We wanted to bring you a few scores from the Placement rounds.  Remember the placement rounds determine when the top 16  teams that have lost will play the open brackets top teams.

Classic Vs Heaven and Earth  - Classic again loses to a lower ranked team being upset by Heaven and Earth.  This is not good for Classic as they will have to fight their way out of the loser bracket even further than before.

Antigravity Vs Xit Wounds – Unfortunately for AtG they are continuing this bad event.  They just aren’t playing well.  They Got beat by Xit Wounds, who seems to have bounced back well after their beating at the hands of Str8.

Round 1 Heat 2

Round 1 Heat 2 featured Str8 Rippin Vs Xit Wounds and Antigravity  Vs Carbon.  Here’s the update:

Str8 Rippin Vs Xit Wounds – Str8 Rippin easily 3-0′d Xit wounds winning the final game , KoH Construct by more than 50 seconds.  As usual Str8 looks great. 

Antigravity Vs Carbon – Carbon quickly 3-0′d Antigravity.  They really look like the Carbon of 2006 when they won the National Championship.

Str8 Rippin will face Carbon in Round 2.  It should be a great match-up.

Rd 1 Heat 1

The two two feature matches in grouping are Triggers Down Vs Heaven and Earth and Classic Vs Believe the Hype.

Triggers Down Vs HaE  - Triggers Down won a very close Narrows Flag in overtime and played well throughout the series.  HaE also played well keeping most games close.  IN the end tD was just too much. Triggers down 3-1

Classic Vs Believe the Hype – In the first upset of the tournament,#11 seed, Believe the Hype, beat #5 seed, Classic, 3 games to 1.  Winning Narrows flag 3-0, KoH Construct by 30 and Lockdown ball by roughly 30.  They did lose TS Pit 50 -44, but they bounced Classic into the loser’s bracket.

Lets Goooo!!

Don’t forget the live VOD feeds at www.mlgpro.com

We got to talk to a few of the Pros before the first round.  Here’s some of their takes and thoughts on the event and their preperation

Lunchbox: “We’re ready we’ve practiced more than enough and now we’re gonna see it payoff”

KillerDrew: “Yeah, I definitely think we’re ready.  We’ve got a tough bracket, but we can’t wait to get it started”

Shockwave: “I think we’re more than ready. I think Demitri (Soviet) is really meshing well with our team.” …. “Everytime you can’t help but have the adrenaline rushing.  The problem is you have to calm it so you play well.”

We’ll keep bringing you more inside information from the 2009 MLG Meadowlands event. 

(Bye the way I went heads up with Legit and Got beat 10-2.  I guess that was his warm-up)

Text Updates

Don’t forget to sign up for text updates.. If you can’t watch you can still know what happens.  We will be sending text updates throughout the tournament to keep you “in the know”.

 

Please be aware that normal text messaging rates from your provider still  apply.

AXPro Headset by Tritton Technolgies

We had the Tritton AXPro Headset tested by multiple testers and here is the summary of what they thought. We tested the AXPro extensively. The overall score for the Tritton AXPro’s was 28 out of 30 stars. You can purchase a pair through www.trittontechnologies.com . Be sure to tell them you saw it at MLGInsider.com. Here is the breakdown of their scoring: Read more

1 thru 8 Seeds

Here is the final run through for the top 8 seeds

1. Str8 Rippin -Once again led by T2, these guys are the reigning champs for a reason. They will still be tough.  And they have to be the team to beat.  Nobody could take their National Championship away.  Now everybody starts over and these will have targets in their back.

2. Instinct – They finished last season as the runners-up to Str8.  The addition of Neighbor replacing Soviet should bolster their slaying power which has at times been their weakness.  I see these guys as a one or the other team.   They will either catch fire or have a bad tournament.

3. Final Boss – With the Ogre 2 as the only remaining member of the Original FB team.  He will have to step up and be big this year.  With FearitSelf, one of the most versatile players in the game and the duo of Mackeo and Victory X.  These guys could be a force to be reckoned with.

4. Triggers Down - Most of the top team will tell you that on paper this is one of the most talented teams assembled.  Their problems is getting too critical of each other.  They some time disrupt their own chemistry at events.  If they stay on they same page there is no question they could take this first event 0f the season.

5. Classic -The original members of team classic have been reassembled.  This could be a good thing.  Maybe they can spark the magic that got them a second place finish in Meadowlands last year. It will be tough though because I think at times they will be out matched.

6. Carbon – This is a tough one for me.  I thought Naded was a big reason they did so well in Vegas.  They replaced him with Soviet who has one of the best BR’s on the circuit.  If they can melt Soviet’s play style into their effectively they could be extremely dangerous again.

7. Ambush – A young team with tons of talent.  Chig is emerging as one of the better snipers in the game. Tizoxic and Gunshot  are to very dynamic slayers and Nexus is one of the best team players you will find.

8. VG The New Order – This is a little old school style, in a good way.  I think that Karma and Naded are still at the top of their games, but I’m not sure that Defy and Best Man are ready to play at the truly elite level.

My predictions Top 8:

1. Instinct
2. Status Quo
3. Str8 Rippin
4. Triggers Down
5. Carbon
6. Final Boss
7. Ambush
8. VG The New Order

Classic out of the Top 8.

Heads Up w/ Totz

We sat down with the youngest Pro on the circuit, Anthony Pennacchio,  a.k.a. Totz.  We got his feedback on their newest acquisition and how he feels heading into this exciting first event. So here you go.

Trent:  What does it feel like to be so young and be on one of the top teams in MLG?

Totz: It feels great to get this chance to compete and play with all these good players. I don’t know, I hope I can be the youngest player to win an  MLG event?  If that’s still possible

Trent: You guys picked up Strongside in the off-season. Did you think you could get him to team with you guys the whole time or were you as surprised as everyone else?

Totz: I was defiantly so surprised, I couldn’t believe it.  The way it happened was crazy.  It was supposed to be me Flamesword, Swiisha and Sly, but Sly didn’t show up to the LAN so we were picking up Ace.  Then Heinz, Mackeo, Victory and Side were teaming and Heinz went to tD.  Side was confused and just went to us.  If Slyfox had gone to the LAN none of this would of happened, or if we picked up Cloudy Cloud this wouldn’t of happened either.  It was great the way it turned out.

Trent: Now, how much has playing side by side (no pun intended) with Mike benefited you.

Totz: (Laughing) Well, its actually been a lot of help.   It’s crazy how well he handles things.  We can even be in a scrim and if someone does something wrong we will talk about it even in game. Which isn’t good, but then we learn the situation a lot better and honestly it helps a lot having him here.

Trent: Have you seen our bracket predictions?

Totz: Yeah, I saw us losing to Instinct. (laughing) I don’t know about that.  I think that in this tournament there will be a lot more surprises than these fans can handle.

Trent:  That kind of leads me into my next question. You guys have beaten everyone but tD in the LANs. Can you beat tD in Meadows and what team that you’ve beaten in the LANs scares you the most?

Totz: Well yeah,  I definitely see us beating tD.  They are definitely a good team though.  I mean that bracket is going to be crazy, but the team that scares me the most is FB.  I mean we didn’t play enough games to really see what will happen with us and them.  Just the fact that Ogre 2 is going against Strongside will be very heated, I hope we beat VG so we can play FB

Trent: So here’s a tough question for you.  Being young and new to the “Top of the League” how do you think you will handle the pressure of a big game on Mainstage. Possibly main stage in bracket semi’s against Instinct or a game of that nature.

Totz: Well I just look at it as a way for the people to see what I can do.  I mean everyone will be nervous, but I’ve been in a lot of those situations in my life, were there was much more pressure than this. I am actually really excited to play at this level.

Trent: That a good approach to take into it. Let’s switch to you gamertag for a sec. I noticed you are now only Totz.  Did big brother “Joe Fries” stop calling you “Baby Totz” when you become able to take him in halo.

Totz: (chuckling)No, no. I just thought it was time to change it up.  I didn’t like the “baby” part, so I had to go with ToTz.  Which I will be playing with at the event, just so everyone knows there isnt two different ”ToTz”

Trent: How much time does Papa Joe spend watching you guys practice?

Totz: A lot.  He watches every single LAN game and 3/4 of our online scrims.  He gets really into it and he actually reads every post on the forums. Which is pretty is funny to me.

Trent: So if I went on the forums and challenged the “LAN Man Joe” to a 1v1 he would read it?

Totz: Yeah,  he definitely would read it.  I’m telling you he is up to date on every post,.  He is addicted to reading what people have to say about SQ.  (laughing) “LAN Man Joe” is a great nickname.

Trent: Well, do you know who Jack Johnson is?

Totz: Yeah, I like his music

Trent: Ok, I’ve had some people giving me slack about my Strongside comparison. I said in the interview with mike that he’s more chill than a Jack Johnson Cd. What are you thoughts?

Totz: (laughing) That is 100 % true.  I love that 1 song called “Banana Pancakes” or something?  It reminds me of Side on a beach,  NO HOMO though.  With his old school long hair.

Trent: That’s too funny … It’s one of my favorite songs actually.  Well, we’re gonna play rapid fire now. You ready?

Totz:  Yeahhhhhhh

Trent: Best sniper on the circuit?

Totz: Neighbor, Snipedown or Hysteria… it’s 2 close

Trent: Best sticky nades on circuit?

Totz: Me, no doubt. (laughing) I am crazy with those blue things.

Trent: Player, past or present, you most look up to in halo?

Totz: I have a few, but Walshy, Side and Neighbor for sure.

Trent: Boxers or briefs?

Totz: Boxers, brief aren’t roomy enough (said with a smirk)

Trent: (Laughing) Now Mike hinted in his interview that you’re not a big fan of xbl and that maybe, just maybe, you whine about it a bit. What do you have to say to that?

Totz: Oh my god, I cant stand it.  It’s terrible and I complain a lot.  Ii cant help it. (laughing)

Trent: Okay, before I let you go, what do you want to say to your SQ fans?

Totz: I want to say thank you for everyone cheering us on in Meadows and on the forums.  If you see me I will be handing out some  Status Quo gear. (laughing) So, if I think you guys are real SQ fans then I will hook u guys up.

Trent: We get gear right?

Totz: Oh yeah.  Some apparel.

Trent: Okay, just making sure. Any last shout-outs before I Let you go?

Totz: I want to say hi to Art of War and CMG and Rudy, and last but not least Bert, Bulletz, Parma and yo Sneaky. Also thanks MLG Insider, I love the site keep it up.

Good luck to Totz and the rest of SQ in Meadowlands.

Open Bracket

**From MLGpro.com** 224 — That’s how many teams will be battling it out in the first Live Halo 3 Competition of the 2009 Pro Circuit. 896 players will fight for bragging rights, prize money, and the self-gratification that comes with being a success on the MLG Pro Circuit. From the very first BR burst, to the last assassination, every player will be giving it their all in front of hundreds of thousands of fans.

 While 16 teams have earned the right to start in the Championship Bracket, it’s hard to forget about the massive wave of teams who are aching to join them.  With the new bracket system for 2009, there is an increased importance as to where you exit the amateur bracket. Four teams will exit the amateur bracket unscathed, earning themselves a great spot in the Championship Bracket. From there, these teams will look to claw their way into the Pro ranks. For the teams who aren’t fortunate enough to emerge from the Open Bracket without a loss, they’ll have to battle one another as they struggle to survive in the early rounds. Never before has the Open Bracket been so important.

With that in mind, check out a quick preview of the amateur teams and players you’ll want to watch out for this event. 

 Active Rush (l BaTMaYnE l, Obii, j0rdizzle, IceVayne) Featuring a talented line-up of players who have plenty of Halo 3 Championship Bracket experience, Active Rush will look to finish at the top of the Open Bracket and challenge some of the lower seeded Championship Bracket teams for their spots. 

After Effects (.KillZoNe., Laquatus, BuLLeTz, 7-Sep)  A mash up of some very skilled players, look for Killzone and Bulletz to lay down the slaying for this team. Bulletz has never finished short of the Championship Bracket in his career, and he’ll be hoping to continue that streak in 2009. 

DGK (DGK-Acid, Fearris, SuperStr8SicK, Frywod)  A fan favorite, DGK is another team that sports a young but talented lineup. Each of these players has a couple of events under their belts, and they’ll use that experience to pull them ahead of some of the lesser experienced squads. 

Direct Effect (xThRuSt, Ghost_Attack, Violenc3, PisToL)  Led by Pistol, a Pro Circuit veteran, Direct Effect looks like a strong contender for one of the Championship Bracket spots at this first event of the 2009 Season. 

Driven by Adrenaline (MeRkAg3, MeGaH., -PrawN-, SpeeD)  Speed has been touted by many as one of the more talented amateur players. Look for him to shine in this event with the rest of his team right behind him.

Flatline (-DeRsKy-, All_Eyes_On_Tuss, NocturnalKernal, Nickel-9)  With a lineup full of individual talent, Flatline shows a lot of promise heading into the Meadowlands. With a LAN under their belt, they may have the edge on some of the other less-practiced amateur teams. Dersky is a name that has been on the tongues of many in the community as of late. This is his chance to show off his skills to the masses. 

Florida Jackalopes (Eleven_11, SyNoX, hslightking, Slim)  The Florida Jackalopes are probably the most experienced team in the Open Bracket coming into this event. Hot off of a LAN with first-seeded Str8 Rippin, the Florida Jackalopes won’t be satisfied with just an appearance in the Championship Bracket. They’ll be shooting for a Top 12 finish, and more importantly, a Top 16 seed for the rest of the season. 

Infamous (RephoriK, XAMBL3R, lK4l Massacre, HeLLuVa)  Rephorik, who has had success in both Halo and Rainbow Six, has teamed up with some talented players to make up Infamous. Massacre and Helluva form one of the nastiest duos in the Open Bracket, while Xambl3r has proven in the past that he has the slaying power needed to take control of a series. 

Power Weapons (Pirateee, ELi_ScRuBBz, fr1l0ck, Ms Baretta)  Featuring the only female gamer to make it into the Championship Bracket in Halo 3, Power Weapons will look to help Ms Baretta return there. 

pT End Result (TalenT, Gilkey, Moniz, Madmax_eh)  End Result had a rough start to the 2008 Season, but ended it strong, culminating in a 13th place finish at Toronto. They’re hoping to get off to a better start in 2009. 

Sovereign (LegendJRG, lProlific, InSaiyan, Snake Bite)  After a disappointing 2008 Season, LegendJRG is looking to return to the spotlight in 2009. He’s hoping Sovereign will be just the team to get him there. 

Time 2 Prove (TimeliestBrute, D34DLYFORCE, BigTimer, Hifey_Indvidual)  Time 2 Prove is a name that most MLG veterans will be familiar with. Halo 2 Pros TimeliestBrute and BigTimer are back, looking to establish themselves as contenders in Halo 3. 

Here are a few other teams to watch out for in the Open Bracket: 

Get Krank’d (Ol_Man_Makowski, SwisHaa, EpidemiC, Bradddddddddddd) 

New Breed (Tipsy., PainxWarkid, S3cktorr, lAdr3naLin3l) 

Hood Ninjas (-MoNsTeR-, Trip., MaZeMeNt, Mimic) 

The Business (-Heirarch-, yungcityyy, Scrub, OVERSHIELD)

and the Gamebattles Qualifier Winner:

Feel The Hype- (Lucky shottt, Mister Excels, Proto X Type, The Main Slayer)