Musical Rosters

The fun just keeps on going and going. We brought the news of Demon D being dropped for Mackeo. Well it was official for about 36 hours. That’s when the rest of BtH had a meeting and determine they wanted Demon D back. As for Mackeo he’ll land on a solid team soon.

Carbon has finally found their fourth. For days now the speculation about Naded being on Carbon has swirled as he ran games with them. Well, to all the naysayers, it’s true. From our sources on the team they did in-fact offer the fourth spot to Naded who accepted.

As for the whole Strongside to Final Boss issue. We got to have a brief conversation with him online and he’s pretty pumped. He’s very happy to be back on Final Boss. When we spoke he was actually pulling all his FB memorabilia out of storage. I will say, generally speaking, a happy Strongside is a beastly Strongside.

On another note Cpt. Anarchy has been running games and scrimming with Ambush. It is looking more and more like he with end up there.

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!

Cbus Championship Crowd Pleasers

Crowd Pleasers from C-Bus: Championship Sunday

Don’t have time to sit through the entire finals just to catch some of the biggest, most talked about plays? Check below for some of the biggest moments from the Str8 VS. Triggers Down finals, complete with video links and times.

Game 1: Narrows CTF

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

• 1:40-2:05 SK claims Elamite told other teams not to LAN TD

• 3:08-3:15 T2 claims they are the national champs until proven otherwise

• 7:00-7:49 T2 prevents Heinz from first cap. Elamite picks up beatdown and flag recovery. T2 picks up flag from dead Elamite and puts in first cap

• 7:54-8:02 T2 picks up double from air lift with rockets

• 8:26-8:35 Heinz puts in first cap for TD

• 11:00-11:45 Elamite puts in second cap for Str8 despite a noscope and headshot from SK’s sniper

• 15:18-15:35 Heinz puts in second cap for TD with some nice flag work

• 15:55-16:50 TD prevents Str8s final cap and caps one of their own to finish the game.

• 17:20 23 kills for Pistola.

Game 2: Amplified TS

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

• 21:37 T2 and Elamite get on a roll to grab an 8 kill lead late game (35-28).

• 22:45 Double from Elamite

• 23:20 Elamite completes a killing spree

• 23:37 Str8 wins 50-38

• 23:55 Elamite +7, T2 +5, Snipedown 18 assists, Hysteria -8

Game 3: Guardian Ball

VOD: http://www.mlgpro.com/video?play=282963

• 2:12-2:22 Heinz embarrasses T2 after out BRing Snip3down

• 6:40-7:07 Nice spree from Heinz including a quick scope, headshot and beatdown

• 13:08-13:20 Triple from Hysteria

• 13:55-14:20 2 headshots from T2′s sniper

• 16:00 Heinz + 8, Snip3down +7, Pistola -9

• 237-149 (Str8 wins)

Game 4: Construct King

VOD: http://www.mlgpro.com/video?play=282962

• 1:00-1:16 T2 gets spree & double with rockets

• 7:03 Two doubles and a triple from SK

• 13:35 Double from Heinz

• 15:46 Hysteria -10, Elamite +4, Heinz & Legit 27 assists, SK 32 kills +3

Game 5: The Pit TS

VOD: http://www.mlgpro.com/video?play=282958

• 1:38-1:47 Snipedown headshots Pistola and gets 1st oversheild

• 2:35 Snipedown gets headshot and completes spree

• 10:37 Elamite +5, SK -6

Game 6: Onslaught

VOD: http://www.mlgpro.com/video?play=282958

• 14:09-14:19 Legit puts in 1st flag for str8

• 17:30-17:58 T2 has a nice BR to pull 2nd flag. Legit carries & Hysteria picks up a clutch double, but T2 puts it in for the 2nd Str8 cap

• 18:10 TD has trouble getting their 1st cap (going to Hysteria) and Str8 capitalizes on a counter cap (going to T2), their 3rd of the game

• 19:10 Hysteria gets 2nd cap for TD

• 20:30 Pistola gets 3rd cap for TD, tying the game

• 21:22-21:33 Elamite puts in 4th cap for Str8

• 21:47-21:56 Legit picks up a flag beatdown, eventually tossing it up to

• T2 for Str8′s 5th cap and game win

• 22:14 Snipedown +12 with 16 assists, Hysteria -13

Game 7: Narrows TS

VOD: http://www.mlgpro.com/video?play=282958

24:00-24:12 2 headshots from Hysteria for the double

24:30-24:52 2 wicked headshots from Elamites sniper

26:00-26:18 Double from Elamites sniper

28:00-28:10 Spree from Snipedown

28:56 Snipedown +8, Elamite +5 with 13 assists, Str8 goes off the entire game

Str8 defeats TD in Finals 6-1 fashion, steaking them in the final Narrows TS game

29-50.

“The Greats”

What’s up everyone!  Alot of people spend time searching for all the great montages that use to be simply amazing, many more are new to halo and have no clue what they missed out on.  So i’m going to list the greatist Halo 2 and 3 montages of all time.

Lets start off with a few classics:

Halo 2:

TheHaloGod:

Stick to your Roots: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RKrHHQXEZM

Untouchable: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/00FrrqdyjqA.html

Dust 2 Dust: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/Nxdny2DrYlM.html

Girls Just Wanna: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/DXEz7QGL7ks.html

ShooK On3:

Revolution:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O560fEZkWow

Shook On3′s 2nd: Amazing Montage if you can find it with sound….

Shook’s Third: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAxUQTRc9UI

Shook’s Fourth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17M235HjMD8

Shook’s Fifth-Fragging Rights: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/y35QH3xmsulpkg.html

Gun Shot:

Gun Shot Montage 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtFzbKHulVk

Gun Sh0t Montage 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDcK37IF27M

ItWasLuck:

ItWasLuck 4th-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOmEjusgVe0

ItWasLuck 5th-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssozjrT6fBY

ItWasLuck6th-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYs5tXNl3Dg

ItwasLuck 7th- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO7KM0NLl_Q

Walshy:

Ogre 1:

Its called Team Work- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH_5rQWPCYM

Mix:

Hysteria + Eli-The Wicked Ends: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBe2HqEMo5w

VisviSect- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uAQ1RyumSs

Trinity-Fragtality, Sheney, Tensorhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzIchjz34Ww

Phalanx-Beat It: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECVfAW4qgB0

Braddddddddddd-http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/Gt590OkROfU.html?video_page=9

Those were only some of the Classics from back in the day..Now we have new classics!

Fragtality + Sticktality Dualtality-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7ZnqLeatIg

The Str8 Tage-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr5Dnk4Rd3k

Acurate: Street Lights-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2v0MTwh_ag

Dersky + Gunshii: Salvation- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6ucL7iPaDY

Please note: these are not in any order, and they are not all the classics, only most of them i could find.

If you would like to contribute send me a message over aim at InsiderApollo.  I’ll be updateing these lists as i get them

Pro Scrims 6/21

Today was pretty silent across the battlefield as most of the Pros enjoyed a nice Sunday off to pay respect to their Fathers that paid for their X-Box, Astros, plane tickets or the many other items that go into making our pros so good.  Yes, today no team really played matches or scrims a few top pros showed their face for a brief moment, but not much was done in the way of practice.

I did however notice that Ogre 2 has not played a scrim or custom game since June 4th this leads me to believe that Final Boss is not practicing at all. If they want a better finish they need to get on the ball teams like Status Quo and Ambush are not going to stay the same they will only get better so Final Boss needs to keep up or they will fall to the teams that well at this moment show they care by their actions.

Well other than that it’s been empty around the scrim area. I hope tomorrow we’ll see the fire back in the pros as they enjoyed their day off. Once again, Happy Father’s day to all the family and friends of the pros and the MLG community.

I’m the Bnet Stalker saying stay tuned and keep fraging!

-Taylor “HavkinKnight” Wilson

Elamite VOD Analysis

Kyle was the one who was on fire in the Columbus Finals for Str8 Rippin.  We’re gonna look at game 1, TS Pit, of the finals and see what he was doing that worked so well.

VOD Link:  http://www.mlgpro.com/content/link/283300/Elamitewarrior

Off the break He and T2 push rocks. The key here is he stays alive. This allows him to push back in with Legit to kill SK at 14:40. Again he stays alive and pushes back in again getting shots on Pistola and Heinz and once again he stays alive. At 14:12 he takes a different angle seeing that they keep spawning in Needle pit and gets a great angle to help out T2 with Heinz and Pistola. He then gets a four on SK. Notice his use of the floor to provide himself cover. From 13:50 to 13:32, there are no shots fired, but you need to see the way he uses angles to cover T2’s back . Even more so look at his use of the walls and angles as cover.

At 13:29, look at how he nades green, jumping up from pit giving himself some protection from Hysteria who is carrying rocks. He makes the smart play at 13:25 in killing the rocket guy who is one shot even though he ends up dying. The reason this is smart is because of the threat the rock guys poses. If he had waited then Hysteria would be full shields with rocks and now SK would also be in their needle pit.

On respawn he takes a body shot from blue tower and waits for his shields then pushes through long hall to slow down the tD rush and prevent the spawn trap. Even though he dies it was a very smart play b/c the rest of Str8 was able to clear training and the tower.

At 12:40, good teamshot with T2. Good push with Legit. Even though Legit died he was able to provide enough support that he and Tom were able to take out 2 guys. Notice how he runs sideways on training to keep his back to Hysteria and not give him the side headshot.

12:10 – He pushes in a little too far chasing Pistola and got caught by SK. On respawn rocks drop at 11:56 and he nades green. Notice at 11:50 he peeks and sees rocks aren’t there. He doesn’t run into green knowing that most likely tD already has rocks. Instead he waits for a possible surprise attack. At 11:40 look how he uses the bridge as cover to stay alive in his br fight with SK. At 11:15 trying to be sneaky, but they knew he was there.

At 10:50 he sees SK is engaged with Legit and pushes in. He gets a easy double due to Hysteria’s poor awareness in the situation. He sees Heinz going for OS and puts shots on him. Heinz burns OS, but here’s the key rather than chasing and fighting him during the short invincibility period, he waits for the invincibility period to wear off knowing his shields won’t have recharged yet and then gets the kill. This is a brilliant heads up play.

At 10:10 he picks up an easy kills thanks too a good call out by Legit. He then duck into a nice little hiding spot . He nades 1st br b/c he knows Legit is shooting from green so to get him Pistola must come 1st br. Again notice how he stays alive. He pushes Pistola in Mauler b/c he knows Pistola in 1 shot and he is half shields. At the 9:00 mark he out br’s Pistola, again using the wall as cover.

On spawn he has a great escape from Heinz who has rockets. Heinz gets killed and he is able to sneak up to Pistola who picked up rocks and Pistola kills them both. With Str8 having an 8 kill lead he pushing directly across on respawn trying to keep pressure on tD. He makes Pistola 1 shot, but he gets cleaned up by Heinz.

Next spawn he watches long hall and trades shots with Heinz. Realizing they are up 46 – 40 he backs off an patiently waits for members of his team to spawn so they can push for the last four kills.

At 6:45 all 3 teammates are going training and tower, so he moves just outside of long hall where he can’t be seen . This allows him to watch Blue room, Green box and get a jump on anyone coming through long hall. As they push training and bridge he pushes long hall. He runs into Heinz and Hysteria and backs off allowing his teammates coming through training to flank them. Snipedown takes out Hysteria and he pushes right back through long hall. Unfortunately they all spawn in Mauler and he is taken out.

Analysis: The single biggest thing that stood out to me was his ability to stay alive. Through the use of cover and knowing when to push and when to back down. He was able to stay alive. This did two things specifically. First, it allowed him to put more shots on people to help his teammates. Second, because he stayed alive he was able to pick up numerous easy kills and had more opportunities to get kills for his team. This is one of the better examples of how to use your brain and use cover to stay alive longer.

Pro Roster Updates

Due of all the roster changes we’re going to tell you the most up to date rosters we have

1. Str8 Rippin – T2, Legit, Elamite, Snipedown = 12,400
2. Triggers Down – SK, Pistola, Heinz, Hysteria = 12,150
3. Instinct – GH057Ayame, Lunchbox, Roy, Neighbor = 9,400
4. Final Boss – Victory X, Mackeo, FearItself, Ogre2 = 9,600
5. Believe the Hype – Cloud, Demon D, Soviet, Sypher = 7,195
6. Team Classic – BesTMaN, Soldi3r, Legend, Chig = 7,130
7. Status Quo – Flamesword, Ace, ToTz, Clutch =
8. Carbon – ShocKWav3, Walshy, Defy, Strongside = 7,877.5
9. Ambush – Tizoxic, Nexus, Naded, Gilkey =
10. Heaven and Earth – Karma, Perplexity, Poweezy, KillerDrew – 4,831.5
11. The Dynasty – Assault, Max/Pro, Enable, Destin = 3,282.5
12. Check Your Pulse – Eli, Seb, GunShot =
13. XiT WoundZ – Luck, Bonfire, Sasquatch, Mr. Frisky – 2,365
14. Pistol and the Jets – Pistol, IceVayne, Mimic, Arkanum = 2,309.5

PT Virtuosity – Robbie B, Jetty, Painless = 1471.5
Vengeance – Sheeer, Freel, Tuss, Aries = 1781
Ending Reality – Mad Max, Helluva, Callmegod, Batmayne = 2,123.5
Under the Influence – TaLenT, TwYLighT, MudVayne, Ant = 2,745 (UTi is back in Action)

Free Agents:

Cpt Anarchy = 1,700
Elumnite = 766.5
Moniz = 672.5
aPG = 580
NocturnalKernal = 555
Braaaaake = 436
Makowski = 283
Violenc3 = 237.5

Our sources tell us that there are roster changes in the works for Xit Wounds also.  We will let you know whats going on as soon as we know.

Pro Scrim update

Strangely enough our bungie.net stalker reported that there are no scrims happened last night. Keep checking back as we bring you the most uptodate Pro team scrims daily! Most teams only played playlist last night along with a few random 4′s.

Pro Scrim Updates

Thanks to our local bungie.net stalker we have the latest scrim results and let me tell you. These teams are hard at work preparing in the two month break for Dallas.

Lets start off with Status Quo. This team, after placing seventh and with the addition of Clutch, is putting in a lot of work . So far, they have scrimmed Instinct, Carbon, Heaven and Earth, and Believe the Hype.

Status Quo played a 12 game series with Carbon. Stats Quo came out on top only dropping 3 games to Carbon. The only 2 games they dropped were Narrows Flag 3-1, Guardian Oddball 180 to 163. A few points of interest of the scrim are SQ’s victory 50 to 30 in Pit Slayer. In a CTF match on Onslaught SQ put up an outstanding 72 Kills and 62 assists. FlamesworD went off going a crazy +17. In one of the Pit CTF matches SQ landed an amazing 101 Kills with 82 assists.

Status Quo also played Heaven and Earth in a 3 game series. Status Quo Only dropped 1 game out of the three. Their only game dropped was CTF on the Pit, it was a close game but they lost 3-2. Some points of intrest are in Construct Hill, Ace went off going +10 with 10 assists.

Status Quo also is in the process of scrimming Believe the Hype. Which is going on as I type this. So far they have played 9 games, and SQ is currently losing the scrim 4 games to 5. Flamesword went off in a few games going +10 and +14.

(Note: We are in the process of confirming this) From the way it looks  Uti is back , yes, you read that right UTi Is apparently back….With the lineup of Ant, Muddvayne, Talent, and Twylight. They played a 4 game scrim against Believe the Hype. They ended with the series tied 2-2. First game was Pit Flag, Uti won it 2-1, next was Construct Hill, BtH won 250-203. Next was Onslaught Flag, which BtH won 5-0. Finally Narrows Slayer which Uti won 50-46. Some highlights are in the Pit CTF Ant went +20 with 24 assists. Also in the Contruct KoTH game Sypher went +14 with 15 assists.

They then played a 2 game series against Carbon in which UTi won both games. First was Construct King which Uti won 217-214 and then Pit Team Slayer 50-44.

Now Believe the Hype played against Heaven and Earth. They played a 4 game series in which BtH won all 4 games. On Onslaught flag Cloud went +15 and Karma went -15. In every game Karma went negative.

Finally Str8 scrimmed the new Ambush with the new addition of Naded. It was a 5 game series and Str8 only droped 1 game. That was Construct Slayer and they lost 50-47.

That sums it up for the most recent Pro scrim updates! Check out your chance to win a full expenses paid trip to the Summer LAN only at MLGInsider!

PS: Special thanks to Havikin and Wallie for helping out with this update!

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.

B.Net Stats

Thanks to our local B-Net Stalker over here at MLGinsider.com we have the latest scores from the scrims, and all things related to the recent roster changes

Status Quo Vs. Instinct Scrim Best of 11

Games: 9

SQ: 6

Instinct: 3

Winner: SQ

Game 1: Narrows Flag

Game 2: Amp Slayer

Game 3: Lockdown Ball

Game 4: Construct Slayer

Game 5: Guardian Ball

Game 6: Pit Slayer

Game 7: Construct King

Game 8: Guardian Slayer

Game 9: Pit Flag

Roster:

Status Quo: Totz, Ace, Flamesword, Clutch

Instinct: Neighbor, Lunchbox, Roy, GHOSTayame

Slayer

Games: 4

SQ: 3

Instinct: 1

Hill

Games: 1

SQ: 0

Instinct: 1

Ball

Games: 2

SQ: 1

Instinct: 1

F lag

Games: 2

SQ: 2

Instinct: 0

Game Breakdown

Game 1: Narrows Flag

SQ: K: 54 A: 35 D: 43 K/D: +11

Instinct: K: 43 A: 40 D: 54 K/D: -11

Score: 3-1

Winner: SQ

Game 2: Amp Slayer

SQ: K: 50 A:47 D:47 K/D: +3

Instinct: K: 47 A: 46 D: 50 K/D: -3

Score: 50-47

Winner: SQ

Game 3: Lockdown Ball

SQ: K: 94 A: 79 D: 93 K/D + 1

Instinct: K:93 A: 83 D: 94 K/D -1
Score: 250-173

Winner: Instinct

Game 4: Construct Slayer

SQ: K: 50 A: 41 D: 45 K/D: +5

Instinct: K: 45 A:39: D:50 K/D: -5

Score: 50-45
Winner: SQ

Game 5: Guardian Ball

SQ: K: 102 A: 72 D: 99 K/D: +3

Instinct: K: 99 A: 66 D: 102 K/D -3

Score: 232-202

Winner: SQ

Game 6: Pit Slayer

SQ: K: 47 A: 35 D: 50 K/D: -3

Instinct: K: 50 A: 38 D:47 K/D: +3

Score: 50-47

Winner: Instinct

Game 7: Construct King

SQ: K: 106 A: 89 D: 109 K/D: -3

Instinct: K: 109 A; 91 D: 106 K/D: +3

Score: 222-180

Winner: Instinct

Game 8: Guardian Slayer

SQ: K: 0 A: 0 D: 0 K/D: 0

Instinct: forfeit

Score: 0- -1

Winner: SQ

Game 9: Pit Flag

SQ: K:46 A:47 D:29 K/D: +17

Instinct: K: 29 A: 23 D:46 K/D: -17

Score: 2-1

Winner: SQ

Shockwave, Walshy, Strongside, and Defy, on June 15^th, put 28 games straight in. Carbon went on to only drop a grand total of two games yeah that means they went 26 and 2.

Lets break down the stats

Flag

Games: 9

Wins: 8

Losses:1

Slayer

Games: 14

Wins: 14

Losses: 0

KoTH

Games: 2

Wins: 2

Losses: 0

Ball

Games:2

Wins:1
Losses:1

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..

Killerdrew on Columbus & Rosters

We wanted to bring you Drew’s thoughts about Columbus and all the happenings afterwards:

The Columbus events

As everyone knows Heaven and Earth went through a few controversial team changes prior to the Columbus live event. The bottom line regarding these changes is, there were a few disagreements we acted very swiftly without thinking and we were all being very stubborn. We never wanted to change the team up at all. So when it came down to it we knew Hokum couldn’t practice a whole lot, but he told us he could play every day for two weeks right before the event. So we figured if we used our time wisely we could get by with 2 weeks of practice.

We played together 2 days out of those 2 months of the off time and then played a total of about 15 games together as a team. Less than 10 of those games were scrims the rest was matchmaking playlist. I’m not going into detail about how we didn’t play and how we weren’t prepared. I just want to get over it and forget the weekend and move on. So we now realize that practice was very important to us and it obviously shows whichever team shows up most prepared will do well. With that being said, Heaven and Earth feels as if Hokum’s drive is no longer there. Sunday night he even told me face to face he “doesn’t care”. I tried to get in contact with him after the tournament to talk about what was going to happen but I never got to speak with him. Now to end it, I would like to confirm that Heaven and Earth’s new roster will be KillerDrew, PoWeeZy, Perplexity, and Karma. We look forward to practicing like a team should be practicing after a top 8 performance in Meadows. Our hunger, drive, and commitment is there and hopefully all the Hokum fans have no hard feelings as we respect Hokum and wish him luck with his new job and school life in California. See you guys in Dallas.

Thanks for clearing it up for us Drew.

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.

Bungie Stats Coming Soon

We will begin covering the top 8 teams online scrims and their weekly playlist records very soon. Stay tuned for more details.

Status Quo Now on the Hunt

With the loss of Strongside, Status Quo now begins the search to fill the role and spot vacated by the Halo veteran.

While they still have a very young and talented team, they now need to find a dynamic player who can fill that role that Side had.  There are a lot of players that will be interested and a lot of players that would actually leave the team their on to join this up-and-coming team.

A few possibilities that come to mind are: (this is in no specific order)

1. KillerDrew – Drew slaying ability could fit very nicely with SQ.  He would just need to keep his Ego in check and step into a team role instead of the Captain role he is accustomed to
2. InTheClutch – Clutch could actually be a very good fit.  In my opinion, he is very underrated.  I think he caught a lot of heat for BtH’s Columbus performance when it wasn’t completely his fault.  He is a very dynamic player that could bring a lot of excitement to the team.
3. Naded – Brett is pounded by many due to his lack of “teamwork”, but he has a very free-wheelin style of play.  This at times puts him out of place, but also allows him to turn the tide of a game if he gets hot.  SQ just might have enough talent to weather the chances he takes and be able to benefit when those chances turn into game changing opportunities.
4. Cpt Anarchy – He is a Halo veteran as well. I haven’t watched enough of his VOD to really make an educated analysis, but he is still going to be a solid consistent option.

There are obviously many other options, but I just chose a few to present here.  If you have you’re own opinion on who they should pick up then post it in the comments below.

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.

Roster Changes Abound

This event was very competitive and as a result we are already seeing the backlash of teams trying to better themselves and get the edge.

Let’s Start with the biggest one of all.  Dave Walsh is no longer a member of Instinct. From sources very close to the team Walshy has been dropped and Ghostayame is his replacement.  This looks to be a very good pick up for Instinct who seemed out of sorts in Columbus.  Walshy has played better, but is just not the right fit for this team.  Lunchbox does all the technical things that Dave does and is a better slayer Mason has shown the ability to play the technical side as well.   Ghost is a very Consistent and solid slayer.  He will be a very welcome addition to the team and should allow Mason to get back to being Mason.

It appears that Walsh will be most likely landing on Carbon with Shockwave and Defy.  There are rumors that Carbon may try to replace Cpt Anarchy with Strongside, reuniting Dave and Mike.  In my opinion it would be hard to see that happen as Carbon was just outplaced by Status Quo.  Then again this is MLG so anything can happen

InTheClutch was also dropped by Believe the Hype.  We have no update as to his replacement at this point, but with all the changes going on now they should find a very suitable replacement.

Championship Sunday

With Str8 Rippin coming out of the winners bracket, and Triggers Down winning the Losers. These two power house teams showed off for the Championship match. These teams faced off before and came into the series with Str8 leading 3 games to 1. Triggers Down played exceptionally well, but Str8 Rippin was firing on all cylinders and ElamiteWarrior going off there was nothing Triggers Down could do. Triggers Down ended up losing the series 6-1. Congratulations to Str8 Rippin your MLG Columbus Champions.

LB Wrap up

The Loser’s bracket shaped up with Classic getting hot and causing some problems.  Classic beat Status Quo and Instinct back to back before being eventually bounced by Final Boss.  Ogre 2 fought valiantly in his home town, but FB just couldn’t get through Triggers Down.  tD looks solid and will advance to the Championship match where they will face Str8 Rippin, but they start down 3-1 in the best of eleven series.

Sunday Morning Recap

The morning was competitive and fiery.  It opened up with Status Quo rolling 3-0 over a visibly frustrated HaE.  Status Quo had a bad Friday, but a better Saturday.  However the seem to be warming up when it actually counts, n Sunday.  Without their Coach Joe Fries(due to a roster technicality) they have realy had to step it up in their communication and they have done just that.   They just pushed through Ambush 3-1 and continue to play better ans better.

A surprise team in Cbus has been Pistol and the Jets.  they upsset Check Your Pulse and made quite a splash in the Championship bracket.  Unfortunately for them they were sent packing by Classic.  Classic 3-0′d PaJ and ended their run to glory.

Team Carbon is playing extremely well. After almost beating Str8 earlier in the tournament they have continue o play well. They just rolled over K-Mart Shoppers 3-0.  The biggest difference in Carbon; Defy is now playing like the Defy of Halo 2.  He has really stepped up his game and Carbon as a team has benefited.

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.

Open Team s in Championship Bracket

Here is the list of the opens teams that advance to the championship bracket:

Escape The Fate, Severance, Flatline, Amp North of 49, pT Uprising, Redemption, Prototype, Chilled Reality, Pistol and the Jets, The Dollar Menu, K-mart Shoppers, Shady Halo Kids, Remedy, pT Virtuosity, Swagger Like Us, High Society.  

 

Final Placements round matches are:

Status Quo vs Swagger Like US; Severance gets a bye, End REsult vs Amp North of 49; and Darkest Hour vs High Society

Wb Rd3 & LB Placements

Well In winner’s bracket round 3 You will have two incredible matches.

Str8 Rippin vs Instinct – This puts to extremely talented teams against each other.  They are know each other very well. So this could be a very epic battle.

The other side features the Meadowlands Champs Triggers Down against the hometown hero Ogre 2 and Final Boss.  This should be a very competitive match as the two teams do have some competitive fire between them as both Mackeo and Fearitself played for Triggers Down last season.

In the placement rounds Loser’s bracket round 4 will include Status Quo, Darkest Hour and End Result.  In round 5 you will have HaE, The Dynasty, Check Your Pulse and Xit Wounds.  Moving on to round six you have Ambush, Classic, Carbon and BtH.

Wb Rd3 & LB Placements

Well In winner’s bracket round 3 You will have two incredible matches.

Str8 Rippin vs Instinct – This puts to extremely talented teams against each other.  They are know each other very well. So this could be a very epic battle.

The other side features the Meadowlands Champs Triggers Down against the hometown hero Ogre 2 and Final Boss.  This should be a very competitive match as the two teams do have some competitive fire between them as both Mackeo and Fearitself played for Triggers Down last season.

In the placement rounds Loser’s bracket round 4 will include Status Quo, Darkest Hour and End Result.  In round 5 you will have HaE, The Dynasty, Check Your Pulse and Xit Wounds.  Moving on to round six you have Ambush, Classic, Carbon and BtH.

Round 1 Heat 2 …

The wrap up of Round 1 Heat 2 is as follows:

Xit Wounds got 3-0′d by Ambush.  Surprisingly the new additions of Sasquach and Mr. Frisky appeared to carry the team most of the time, but Ambush was just too much.

Str8 Rippin 3-0′d  Darkest Hour.  ”We were really trying to set the tone for the weekend” said Tsquared.  They appeared to do so.  Looking very sharp and ready to play.

Final Boss won 3-0 over The Apocalypse.  It was Ogre 2 getting things rollin in hos home town of Columbus.  FB looks solid and good cause some problems for other teams.

Carbon looked solid with Defy as they beat Heaven and Earth 3-1 to advance into the WBRD 2.    HaE is a little out of practice since Hokum couldn’t play much in between events.  IU wonder how much that played into it.

Round 1 Updates…

With round 1 Heat 1 now over there was a few suprises.  First of Status Quo picked by most easily over take Classic 3-0 or 3-1; actually lost to classic 3-1.  SQ looked good in the Lockdown Ball and the TS Amplified games, but they just didn’t quite seem in sync on the flag games.  The REAL difference maker here was a lack of coaching for SQ.  Joe Fries wasn’t able to coach them due to a minor oversight in their roster submission.  This was a large factor as Classic controlled most of the powerups and power weapons.

Instinct rolled through End Result.  They appear to have picked up where they left off in Meadowlands.  Neighbor looked very strong and in rhythm. Roy, Lunchbox and Walshy again were extremely strong.  As a team they were very in sync.

Triggers Down advances over The Dynasty.  They surprisingly lost a game.  I expected them to walk to a 3-0 victory.  They should be fine, but it raises question as to their focus.

Believe The Hype won 3-1 over Check Your Pulse.  InTheClutch and Makowsi were jawing back and forth the whole match.  It should make for a good rematch if they meet again.

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.