Insider sits down with Buk57

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Insider sits down with Smalls

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Small: Haha we will see!

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

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

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

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

ECL Comes to Life

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

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

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

And of course you have the partner ship with astro.

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

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

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

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

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

Good luck to all the Euro teams competing in ECL!

Columbus: Brits, Aussies, and Astros

My Columbus Story:

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

or if your lazy:

Columbus Blog:

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

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

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

Friday

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

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

Saturday:

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

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

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

Sunday:

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

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

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

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

The Foreigners!

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

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

Quick Day 2 update:

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

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

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

MLG C-Bus 2010 AM Halo Bracket Update

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

Battle Royale drill down

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Insiders Reach Breakdown

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

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

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

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

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

Lets check out the amor abilities:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stockpile

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

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

Generator Defense

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

Hmmm…..another No. Just not for MLG

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

Orlando Point Breakdown

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

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

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

vVv’s First Halo teams

If you have read Apollo’s interview with vVv Gaming’s Lord Jerith, founder and owner of vVv Gaming, you know who and what they are about, and a few things kept them from picking up a Halo team. But you read right. They have!

If you have not heard or researched exactly what they are about and maybe thinking, “Aren’t they just another one of those Gears of War Sponsors?”

I want to let you know that they are not just some Gears sponsor, but much more.

Let me start off with a few words from Lord Jerith himself, “vVv Gaming emerged onto the competitive circuit in 2007 with its explosive Gears of War team, vVv Vision.”

With a start like this they seemed to help set a standard for Gears of War players from there on out. vVv is one of the most sought out sponsors for all games on the MLG circuit. They really only ever stayed with Gears because of MLG’s infamous “Rule #8.”

This rules states; “Players and Coaches may not appear on a Main Stage Station with sponsor insignia that is not approved by MLG or conflicts with MLG sponsors.  Players and Coaches may be asked to wear MLG apparel during Main Stage activity.”

This rule really only conflicts with Halo 3 teams on a regular basis, but if anyone goes on main stage they need to follow this rule.

Along with Gears of War they also sponsor a wide range of players and teams from all different games. Feel free to check out their site at www.vvv-gaming.com. With gears and all other games included in the sponsorship line up, vVv Gaming is now sponsoring the Halo 3 teams, Take Respect and Afternoon Delight.

On vVv’s site, Take Respect has their own team page and there is no site of one for Afternoon Delight, but when I attended MLG Orlando 2010 this past weekend, I saw Afternoon Delight sporting vVv t-shirts and colors.

With these two teams scoring vVv sponsorships and earning the right to represent vVv Gaming, I would like to wish both Take Respect and Afternoon Delight the best of luck. Expect an interview with Take Respect coming soon!

Heads-Up with Flamesword captain of Status Quo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Flamesword: Nope, I just know its in Nashville.

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

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

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

Flamesword: Instinct, they just look solid.

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

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

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

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

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

Flamesword: Alright, thanks.

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

Lets Talk WoW Strats

World of Warcraft does have strategies, but are a bit different from other games. It is different because of the fact that players only really know what map they are playing on a few minutes before each match starts and they really have no idea the type of team they are playing until the first game begins. They don’t know the type of team because they really have no idea what combination of character classes their opponents are until they are in game waiting for the gates to open and the battle to begin. Once they get to this point they can see their opponents portraits on their user interface and start talking strategy.

With that said, the first game is usually played to feel the opponent out. This means that they are playing to win, but are really seeing what the other team is bringing to the table and who the opponent is trying to kill first. This may change as games go on, but all this stuff goes into consideration.

There are some things that the players always know when playing. One of these things is that they know whom they are playing. The WoW teams on the circuit usually play the same combination’s of characters from tournament to tournament. This is like knowing that someone like Snip3Down is a going to most likely have a sniper in Halo 3.

WoW players also know the objects and obstacles on every map. Some maps have objects like pillars, boxes, and coffins to hide behind, jump on, and run around. Some obstacles could be things like the water fall in the middle of Dalaran Sewers that breaks line of site and prevents movement through the fall and the fire walls on each side of The Ring of Valor that hurts who ever walks through it equal to a percentage of the player’s total health per second.

Simply knowing how a map plays out and when to run, hide, or fight effects WoW strategies. It also helps to have players know how to break line of site and having a healer that knows how to keep it. This helps either stop a spell from hitting them or having a healer get a critical heal off to keep players alive. If line of site is broken, it can really change the tide of a game.

Another key component in any WoW strategy is crowd control. When there are no objects to hide behind in site or a way to break line of site, crowd control comes into play. Crowd control is when a character casts a spell or ability that limits an enemy’s ability to fight. This can be from slowing the speed an opponent can run or completely stopping them from doing anything by turning them into a sheep or giving them a kidney shot. This may seem minor, but if a healer gets sheeped they are unable to cast any heals for a few seconds and it can make it easier to win the game. This same concept comes into play if a DPS gets crowd controlled. If a DPS gets Crowd Controlled, it can stop half the damage being dealt by their team for a few seconds. This can let their opponent take complete advantage of the situation and win the game in seconds. Crowd control is also known as CC for later reference.

All these things go into effect with WoW strategies. With the 2010 MLG circuit fast approaching, be sure to check out these kinds of things going into play when watching World of Warcraft being played. Check back soon for more WoW content coming soon!

2010 Details Breakdown

So, today MLG announced the first details of the 2010 season. I’m going to break it down so you don’t have to run and read word by word.

-Two events so far Orlando April 16-18, Columbus June 4-6….Only going to be four(4) events in the regular season, and the National Championship.
-First Online Qualifier will be for Columbus
-New Games Alright…So am i the only one pumped for this? For once MLG is doing something diffrent. Thats right Folks, Tekken 6 for the PS3…You read it right. The PS3. This will be the first PS3 Game ever on the curcuit. Also Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii will be joining the curcuit. We’ve seen SSBB before on side events, but nothing on the main circuit. Details have yet to be announced about number of players that can register for both, but yeah, we’ll see. Also this leads to a good questions of, how many people will attend for Tekken, i was checking out the gamebattles ladder and there are very few teams there. This leads to the problem that MLG will be stealing fans away from World Cyber Games(WCG) which has tekken on its circuit.
- MLG announced that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be the flagship Online Circuit game because “game’s lack of LAN lobby proved an insurmountable obstacle to our running a large-scale live competition that meets our standards” Hmm….Wonder when they decided this?
-They also hint at a “PC Revolution” that is happening in Columbus. My predictions: World of Warcraft, maybe StarCraft II? There are about 100 different options for this?
-Also, Where’s the Gears gone? With GoW gone, there will be less people there, but there could be potential for more Halo teams. I’m sorry to see this game go.

So yeah, MLG gave out a lot of information, but nothing that we really couldn’t figure out for ourselves, they just are confirming what Insider here told you during the last Orlando event. So for once, i’m going to end like them. More Info to come!

On the Inside with vVv Gaming

Well folks…We’re back! After a small delay in posting, we’re back in action! We’re going to bring you more interviews, more news, more guides than ever before! And man do we have a way to kick it off. With the first of hopefully a handful of interviews with the leaders of some of the largest gaming communities and sites out there!

First up is Lord Jerith, founder and owner of vVv Gaming!

Apollo: Alright why not start off by introducing yourself.

LordJerith: I’m Jerry “LordJerith” Prochazka, the owner of vVv Gaming.  I’m a 39-year old consultant from Chicago, IL. I have eight years experience as a business research consultant on human capital projects with Accenture. I also have special expertise in the design, implementation and analysis of human capital research, particularly in the analysis of quantitative data, as well as qualitative data analysis.  I have proven expertise in award application processes.  Before working with Accenture, I had 12 years experience in nuclear engineering as a propulsion plant watch supervisor and nuclear training specialist for the United States Navy.  I received a BS with Distinction from Old Dominion University and attended graduate school in the Master of the Arts Program for Social Science (MAPSS) at the University of Chicago.

Apollo: Alright so vVv is one of the largest gaming communities out there, one of the “Old School” communities if you will.  How long has vVv been around?

LJ: : vVv Gaming emerged onto the competitive circuit in 2007 with its explosive Gears of War team, vVv Vision

Apollo: Hmm, so what did you think of Visions 2nd place finish at Orlando.

LJ: I think they did great.  The team has great chemistry and is exciting to watch.  We expect great things from them in 2010.

Apollo: So, vVv already has one of the top Gears teams on the circuit, have you ever thought of trying to recruit one of the top Halo teams?

LJ: Halo is a complicated puzzle.  It all comes down to the infamous “Rule #8” of Major League Gaming.  Let me explain further. The rule states: “Players and Coaches may not appear on a Main Stage Station with sponsor insignia that is not approved by MLG or conflicts with MLG sponsors.  Players and Coaches may be asked to wear MLG apparel during Main Stage activity.” So, we have been very hesitant, as teams are instructed to take off their sponsors clothes, and put on MLG branded clothes. However, This year with the combine, we feel a bit better about giving Halo 3 teams an opportunity to represent and be sponsored by vVv Gaming. This year with the combine, we feel a bit better about giving Halo 3 teams an opportunity to represent and be sponsored by vVv Gaming : vVv Sector 7 for GB, vVv Supernatural for GB and the Combine, along with vVv Ultimate for the combine.

Apollo: So speaking about the combines, what are your thoughts on them? Good Idea? Bad? Great for advertising?

LJ: I think they are a very good idea.  I think MLG, in order to try to get consistency, artificially stacks the deck for its pro players.  The combine provides teams with an opportunity to compete with less of the deck stacked against them.  I understand that sponsors want consistency, but MLG should invest in training coaches and teams to work through problems.  vVv Gaming tries.

Apollo: So lets talk about vVv for a minute,  what made you think to create a gaming community and did you think you would be so successful?

LJ: When I bought the XBOX 360 in November of 2005, I took a close look at XBL, and thought, “this will change everything.”  So, while playing CoD2 with a small clan, I realized that this could grow much larger.  People will want an identity and community in this chaotic space. It wasn’t until Gears released in 2006, however,  that we had an opportunity to break into the competitive scene.

Apollo: So, did you attend Orlando?

LJ: No, I did not.  I never attend the nationals.

Apollo: Is there any reason why you do not attend nationals?

LJ: I spent several years in Orlando, Fl for Naval Nuclear Propulsion School.  So, I know the city pretty well. As far as why not nationals, it is the end of the season, and from a recruiting standpoint, we know things change pretty significantly at the end of the season, and turnout is usually the lowest.

Apollo: So do you play competitively at all?

LJ: Not at all. We do not allow staff to compete. I coach players in Gears behind the scene. There are exceptions (i.e. our Halo3 manager vVv Solid, but our basic rule is staff does not compete, but they can coach.

Apollo: Simple enough, other than Gears, what other games do you play online?

LJ: : I finally just found the time to finish Assassin’s Creed 2.  I play games like Dragon Age, Aion, Total War series and King Arthur.

Apollo: So, we all know that vVv has a large standing in MLG and on the Xbox 360, but what about the other consoles? or the other leagues like the WCG

LJ: I try not to say much, but I think our accomplishments speak for themselves, check out our wiki page. We had the bronze metal winner representing team USA for Guitar Hero at the World Cyber Games World National Finals in Chengdu, China last year, if that helps give some idea. Not to mention our FIFA player, vVv Michs, also represented Team USA for FIFA in China. On the PC side, our Call of Duty teams, Left for Dead teams and Counter-Strike: Source teams all finish top 4 in their divisions.

Apollo: With all you guys have done, surely you get many teams wanting to represent vVv, how do you determine which teams will and which teams will not

LJ: It depends.  We turn down 88% of all applications, and We turn down 95% of team applications. Mostly we want teams that understand the business side or are opening to learn about the business side. Many teams make the mistake of wanting money from vVv Gaming, without explaining how it will benefit vVv Gaming. Most teams clearly do not think through their worth.  They will say, we will represent vVv Gaming to our fullest.” We always ask, exactly what does that mean?
The problem is that many teams feel that being skilled means something, and quite frankly, that is just the tip of the iceberg.  We often refer them to this video: http://www.vvv-gaming.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=34305 , also, saying “we will get vVv known.”  We just show them our list of accomplishments and say, “more than we are?” How would you do this?

Apollo: Would you like to give any shout outs out before we wrap it up here?

LJ: Yeah actually I would, I want to give a shout out to vVv Vision, Steel Series, KontrolFreek, our awesome staff and amazing community.

Alright guys there you have it. Know an awsome site? Want to see an interview with the owner? Submit the site link and why they should be interviewed to me at Apollo@mlginsider.com or InsiderApollo on AOL. Lets here them!

Insider sits down with vVv Konvict

Well readers…..You have asked and you are receiving! We received a large amount of mail over the past few weeks asking for Gears of War interviews and I’m bringing you the first of many Gears of War articles! I sat down with Konvict from vVv Vision! He’s a great coach and a really nice guy, with a lot to say! That’s enough from me though, now onto him!

Apollo: Why not start off by introducing yourself

Konvict: Well my name is Kristopher Burger, I’m from Old Bridge Nj, and  currently coach one of the top GoW2 Teams in the nation. that team is vVv Vision formally known as Type-Z Vision during Orlando where the team took 2nd at the National Championships along with hefty prize of $20,000. We are also the newest professional team to be added to vVv-Gaming where the Vision saga first Started.

Apollo: So most everyone pretty much knows the roles of a Halo 3 Coach, but what does a Gears of War Coach do?

Konvict: Basically we have the same job as the Halo coaches just scaled down a little, We do basic weapon timing, call outs when they come in handy the most and also keeping the team in line and pumped up which is the most important part of being a coach. We also do other various tasks on counting shots left in power weapons and also keeping them informed with the time remaining in ink clouds etc.

Apollo: So what first got you involved in MLG?

Konvict: What first got me into MLG was Rainbow Six Vegas & Gears of War back in 07, I liked playing RB6, but I enjoyed watching the excitement in Gears.

Apollo: What first got me into MLG was Rainbow Six Vegas & Gears of War back in 07, I liked playing RB6, but I enjoyed watching the excitement in Gears.

Konvict: I never played them on the circuit, but I competed in online tournaments, local LAN’s and of course Gamebattles

Apollo: So what do you think about the rumor that they are going to remove Gears of War 2 off the circuit

Konvict: Personally, I don’t believe it will. It was a rumor that was started due too a lack of teams showing up. I believe if they keep decreasing the turnout at each event this season it will be removed. As for this year I believe it will stay on and this may be the final year we see this on the Pro Circuit, I believe it will do good though, there has been a drastic rise from the GoW community lately and that’s a good sign.

Apollo: So in Halo we have like Slayers, Support, Objective players, are equitant in Gears or how do you characterize players?

Konvict: Well in gears we have Host, which is usually the heart of the team since the Game revolves around host basically, but sometimes its not always true since on LAN settings the gameplay is quite different, that depends on a lot of factors though. We have power weapon players who their skill varies with our small slew of power weapons we have. We have our basic support and slayer players, but they are host most of the time they fit into that category.

Apollo: What are some of those factors?

Konvict: Well the game is very different when you transition from LAN to Online and vice versa, its a very host based game, and well who ever has the better connection usually wins. On LAN though the game is much smoother and you can actually play the game with the correct settings and not have to glitch your Xbox every time you have to play the game.( For most of you Halo players you may not know that Gears has had a lot of title updates from the original release causing it too have different smokes between LAN and online due too the update being server side).

Apollo: So, what is your most memorable moment from Orlando?

Konvict: My most memorable moment during the event was the feature station match against Legacy and My team playing for top 4, we were so hyped up and loud it was crazy especially when the games was down to the wire. It was one of the best matches at the event by far and I will always remember it.

Apollo: What was your feeling when you realized that you were in the top 2?

Konvict: From my perspective I was just like wow, I was excited and happy I had fun and even though I coached I was part of GoW history coming from the 13th seed in the event and placing second we had host over 1 team the whole event. This will be a memory I will never forget.

Apollo: So, if you could change 1 thing from Orlando what would it be?

Konvict: : What we did right before the championship match, there was a 30-10 minute intermission before the last match we decided to go outside and get a break, but we should’ve warmed up and got ready for the match like THE NSAN3Z were we wasted valuable time and I believe that cost us 1st place and the title of National Champions, we were on fire until we took that short break we lost our adrenaline and momentum.

Apollo: So, I know it has little to do with you, but what are your thoughts on the MLG Combines?

Konvict: My thoughts on the combines that they released this year are definitely a good idea it is a good start for Amateur teams trying to make a name for themselves along with good publicity for MLG, also a good way to get more people to experience a “mini-event” that’s close to home.

Apollo: Do you think there should be any changes to the Gears circuit in the 2010 season?

Konvict: I think there should be little tweaks that are fixable that would make the events a little more comfortable for us. Little things such as more seating, a better mainstage maybe more projectors, along with possibly some more content and coverage for Gears, we just want to be recognized nothing special.

Apollo: : You’ll defiantly be seeing a lot more Gears content on this site! I promise you that

Konvict: : Thanks, we hope to grow our community with you guys!

The reality behind MLG’s Combine

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

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

DATE: March 26-28, 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Roster Moves Round 1

So as many of us expected, there is starting to be a bit of a shake up in the rosters for some of the top teams in Halo.  Let’s address two that have been very prominent first.

tD Neighbor, yes this is true. Triggers Down dropped Richie Heinz (Heinz) to pick up Mason Cobb (Neighbor). Neighbor was very outspoken about becoming a free agent even before leaving Orlando.  It was a group decision for Neighbor to leave Instinct.  The twins were ready to move on and Mason wanted a change as well.  So, what almost happened before last season, finally happens now.  With sK, Neighbor and Hysteria all living in Washington it was just a matter of time before these three decided to team.  This puts three of the best slayers in the game (Pistola, Hysteria, Neighbor) on the same team with probably the most underrated captain in the league in sK.   Assuming they mesh well, and they should, one begins to wonder if this might have been the little push tD needed to solidify that top spot.

Chris Smith, aka Shockwav3, who has been around the world of Major League Gaming and Halo for years now, announced his retirement for Major League Gaming.  This comes as a surprise to many especially after Carbon’s strong finish to the season.  Chris has been a model of consistency in Halo.  From his commitment to his teammates on Carbon to his always solid gameplay.  He had provided us with many memories, both serious and funny.  No one will forget his hilarious toss of the flag off bottom mid on Narrows, nor will we forget that he led the only team to knock final boss off of their throne at the National Championships in Halo 2.   Make no mistake the game of Halo and Major League Gaming will miss Chris Smith.  Shockwav3, it’s been great watch and cheering you on.  Best of luck in all your endeavors we’ll miss you.

So, now what?  Will Walshy retire as well?  Where will Heinz land?  Will Str8 make a change as well?  We’ll have these and more answers coming soon!

2010 Orlando Halo Breakdown

Like me many of you are looking at the results of the Halo 3 National Championships and sitting there rather perplexed as to how this all happened.  Well, you’re definitely not alone.  It’s been a long time since we had a finals that didn’t have Str8 Rippin, Triggers Down or Final Boss in it. If my memory serves me right it hasn’t happened since  Halo 1, but yet here we are staring at the 2010 Halo 3 national Champions, Believe the Hype and the runner-up Classic.

Some people will say Str8 and Instinct and TD all had bad tournaments.  Well, you might be able to make a case for it. Some will say that the brackets had something to do with it.  That BtH and Classic were able to continue to play warmed up were as the higher seeds all had a bye.  That’s not really a great argument since it’s really a detriment that BtH and Classic had to play two more rounds to get there.

In my opinion, it’s really just that it was their tournament.  It’s hard to look back at BtH’s play and find flaws in their play.  They played consistent and were actually very dominant at times. Clutch was steady unlike his streaky play in Anaheim and Demon D and Cloud were men on a mission.  Maniiac played great even though he’s relatively new to the big stage.

You look at Classic things went in their favor as well.  This is evident in their CTF match with TD.  Just as Heinz is about to cap the final flag and beat classic in the series 3-1, Hysteria’s xbox got the dreaded “Red Ring of Death” and the match had to be replayed.  Classic came back to win the series 3-2. Like I said it was just their tournament.

As for the Top Teams in Carbon, Instinct, Triggers Down and Str8 Rippin.  I wish they would all stay together, however, the only one of those four I don’t see making changes is Carbon.  I think you will see someone on tD and Str8 both either leave or get dropped.  I also think that instinct with make 1 if not more changes.

Let me know why you think things worked out this way.

Day 2 MLG Orlando – Wow Seriously??

I never knew that Cinderella had a successful sister, I thought they were just wicked.  Well, no matter which team is your Cinderella, she definitely has a successful sister in MLG Orlando this year.  Classic and Believe the Hype are the Dual Cinderella stories of the 2010 Orlando National Championships in Halo 3.

7th Seed Believe the Hype’s Improbable Day 2 Run:

• Opened with a 3-2 win over 6th seed Final Boss
• They followed that with an impressive 3-2 upset of # 3 seed Instinct
• They topped that off with an upset of the #2 seed and defending National Champions Str8 Rippin 3-2

5th Seed Classic’s Improbable Day 2 Run:

• They opened strong with a 3-0 win over a still under-performing Status Quo
• They followed that with 3-0 rout of #4 seed Carbon
• Finally, they did what few teams have been able to do this year, they beat #1 seed Triggers Down 3-2

So into the losers bracket for all of our top 4 seeds.

Note:

Heaven and Earth was knocked out by Active Rush for top 16.

Orlando Off With A Bang

The Major League Gaming 2010 championships are off and running. With the biggest crowd ever at a National Championship Event it should be a great weekend.

The first order of business was to announce the Stride Championship Player of the Year.   This year’s player is one of the most exciting players in MLG history.  Congratulations to Naded for a great season.  He has really found his stride(no pun intended) with Carbon.  As the number 4 seed they are gonna try an turn some heads in Orlando.

Also congratulations are in order for Tizoxic and Skyllus as they are they 2009 Old Spice Rising Star award winners for Halo 3 and Gears of War.

Allstar Classic wrap-up:

In Halo 3, the West Finally won their first Allstar Classic lead by strong performances all around. The Overall series in 6-1 in favor of the East.  In Gears of War they made it a clean sweep of the Allstar Classic with the West winning in a strong fashion.
A few side notes:

Players to watch for on Saturday-

1. Neighbor – He is playing better than I seen before and seems to have finally developed the chemistry with the twins that they have been lacking.
2. Elamite Warrior – Kyle is playing like the Elamite that helped lead Str8 to last years title.
3. Hysteria – Is playing very consistent and at a very high level
4. Walshy – Dave seems to have found his groove in Halo 3.  He is playing at a very elite level and if he gets hot might be able to carry Carbon to the finals

Studs flying below the Radar:

1. Defy – Looks great and is very underrated
2. SK – Is on the top ranked team but consistently gets over looked
3. Cloud/Demon D – These guys still get no respect

Need to know

1. Final Boss’s replacement of Sypher last week will be a huge questions mark.  If Sypher meshes quickly they can be great.  Let’s not forget Sypher was an anchor of consistency for that BtH team that finished third in Meadowlands.
2. Status Quo – Has reportedly looked very good in their LANs and they have something to prove.
3. Only three teams have beaten every other team this season and they are Str8 Rippin, Triggers Down and Believe the Hype.

Well, enjoy the weekend and be sure to check back for more analysis of the weekend.

Insider sits down with Mackeo

Alright whats going on everyone! As I promised i have an exclusive interview for you all!  He’s a veteran of MLG and has been on more Top teams than we can count! Ranging from old school FBI The Agency back in the good’ol days of Halo 2 to Final Boss!  He’s an awesome guy, i present to you..The one…The only…The Mac-Attack….Mackeo!

Apollo:  Alright, So dude, you’ve fallen off the grid recently and everyone’s talking about you retiring and you lying to a AM team about going to Anaheim.  Care to set the record straight?

Mackeo:  Basically the am team situation was I only had half of my heart in going to Anaheim. I really didn’t want to go but the am team wanted me to. They were going to give me a certain amount of money to go with them and then with that I was going to book the airfare, and they were giong to give me the rest in Anaheim. It took them a while longer to get me the money and they weren’t completely able to fulfill their part. However, I did not book the plane ticket at a smart time so by the time I was looking at airfare it was very expensive and I could not get a time that I desired because I had a test I had to take on Friday of Anaheim. I then told them I think it was the wednesday before the event that I could not attend and gave them all their money back. It was just not a good situation and I’d take most of the blame.

Apollo:  So, do you have any plans for Orlando?

Mackeo:  : I’m not planning on going to Orlando just because I’ve been so focused on school, and if I did go to Orlando it would not be a full effort. When I come back I want it to be for real and not some wimpy attempt.

Apollo:  Have you thought at all about what you might want to do for the 2010 season?

Mackeo: Right now I have no plans for the 2010 season, and haven’t been thinking about halo at all. It woulden’t be that big of a deal to me if I never came back to halo I feel that I’ve moved on from it quite a bit. However, the only real motivation for me to come back is for the money aspect. I know that I’m good enough that I could make money at this game and just be a top player. However, my main concern is not to waste my time and life. After the championships I will probably begin to get on and just feel it out see who I think is good and whatnot. I will also probably talk to Victory. After taking all these things into consideration and depending on how good and confident I feel about myself and potential teammates I will then come back.

Apollo: Hmmm….Do you think you will come back and get back on a top team or do you see yourself putting together an AM team?

Mackeo:  Good question….I’m not too sure yet.  I’d most likely plan on putting a team together that I thought could compete and win.

Apollo:  Have you had a chance to pick up Call of Duty MW2 at all?

Mackeo:  I have played CoD MW2 personally wasn’t a fan I thought CoD 4 took more skill and just the fights are so lame in comparison to halo.

Apollo:  Haha that will go over well with the MW2 community.

Mackeo: Haha yeah I am sure it will.

Apollo: What are your top 4 predictions?

Mackeo: 1st Triggers Down 2nd Str8 Rippin 3rd Carbon 4th FB

Apollo:  If you do decide to come back next season, I know it’s far away but, do you see yourself competing in the 2011 season?

Mackeo: The way I see it is if I come back I’m going to be on top and stay on top so yes I’d be competing in 2011. However, if Iwere to comeback and it be not quite what I wanted I would probably just not think about halo really ever again

Apollo: What type of Mackeo can we expect to see in the 2010 season if you do come back and play?

Mackeo: A great one that will be on the top of his game. With renewed interest.

Apollo:   Now, recently there has been a renewed interest in your disappearance, including the creation of a whole”Mackeo?????” thread on MLGpro.  Have you had a chance to check the thread out? And what do you think of the communities commitment to you.

Mackeo:  I have not had a chance to check out that thread, but I think I’m going to have to now. The fact that the community cares that I disappeared means alot and inspires me to come back to show that I am very capable of being an MLG Pro.

Apollo: Ok so there has been a lot of speculation on what happened between Final Boss and You?  Would you mind letting us in on what really happened?

Mackeo:  Basically I got a phone call from fearitself saying I was off the team, and that was that.

Apollo: So no warning what so ever.  That’s really shady.

Mackeo: Yeah, well its over now and I don‘t really care.

Apollo: Do you have anything to say to anyone, or the community as a whole?

Mackeo: *in an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice*  I’ll be back

Alright you heard it here everyone…Mackeo’s coming back! Its short and sweet and to the point.. But he is a very busy man so thats all we got for you! So, keep checking back! Got another exclusive coming you way sometime next week!

Dr Pepper Ultimate Winter Break Update

With MLG Orlando 2009 fast approaching, things are beginning to fall into place. On December 16^th, the Dr Pepper Ultimate Winter Break came down to the semi-finals. The match ups were Effin Ninja (1) VS. Perplexion! (28) and u knw ron rig (19) VS. CAMO n GTFO (2). The favor of the ladder, Effin Ninja, came out of his match victorious and beat 28^th seeded Perplexion! 2-1. In the 2^nd match of the semi-finals the underdog, 19^th seeded, u knw ron rig, pulled the upset over CAMO n GTFO 2-1. Each of these series was hard fought and both players deserve to be in the finals come Orlando. I got a chance to sit down with both players with a little interview.

Congratulations on earning your spot in the Dr Pepper 1v1 finals in MLG Orlando! Why don’t we start off with telling me a little about how you got into the game and 1v1s.

Effin Ninja: It started off with halo 2, I was 13 and I was visiting family in Arizona and my brothers were playing Halo 2 on XBL and I never heard about it. I asked to play and they said, “No, you’re to young and you will suck.” I got XBL and Halo 2 when I got home and ended up surpassing my brothers in skill 10 fold. So then GameBattles halo 3 1v1s came out and I was bored and realized I was the best.

Gjjonii: First of one of my friends named Richie Kumar or as we call him “Kumz”, I was over his house one day and he was playing Halo 2 and I had no idea how to play or what to do. But I was having so much fun so when I left his house I went out and bought me a copy. So time went on and I was pretty bad at Halo 2 but then when halo 3 came out I saw it as a chance to be the best at something!

Effin Ninja, since you came into the playoffs as the number 1 seed you must have been confident. On the other hand gjjonii, you came into the finals as the 19^th seed! It is pretty impressive that you took down the number 2 player on the ladder. How did you guys feel coming into the playoffs?

Effin Ninja: To be honest I knew that I would win. The only competition I had was on the other side of the bracket, Chaos, but somehow Gjjonii beat him. I can guarantee victory on LAN.

Gjjonii: I felt confident that I could beat anyone since before the playoffs began I beat Effin Ninja.

Seems like you are both very confident in your game. That should make a good performance for us watching at Orlando. How will you guys prepare for the finals in less than a month?

Effin Ninja: My teammate Aye Rab is the SMARTEST 1v1 player on guardian, HANDS DOWN! He is going to be scrimming me everyday until the event.

Gjjonii: Personally for me I will just practice a lot probably against a lot of people I know that are good that didn’t make it to the finals. Like, I will try different playing styles against different people and see which one works best.

Do you guys have Event or LAN experience and do you think it will change the way you take your 1v1 at the Orlando finals?

Effin Ninja: I have been to 2 events so far, 5th round event 1 but Aye Rab and I carried. Second event I placed 26^th and went +27 in pro bracket. The only thing that will change from XBL to LAN is the shots that my opponent won’t eat.

Gjjonii: I have a lot of LAN experience at like local tournaments like NJhalo and other places, but Ninja has more experience at events and has points.

That crowd can be pretty daunting. This being the first Halo 3 1v1 on the main stage, how do you guys plan to win them over? Anything special?

Effin Ninja: I know that I have a lot of people who have already been messaging me saying they will be there cheering me on. I would say that I play on having a fan club there, but I will win the crowd over with my gameplay.

Gjjonii: I guess to tell you the truth I will be very nervous in front of all those people, but I know Ninja really well so this is gunna be fun.

Now I’m no Chris Pucket, but I think its time for a Zaleium speed round. You guys ready?

Effin Ninja: Bring it!

Gjjonii: IM READY TO DESTROY!

1v1s or 4v4s?

Effin Ninja: 4v4s.

Gjjonii: Both.

Camo or Sniper?

Effin Ninja: Sniper.

Gjjonii: Sniper.

Sneakers or Sandals?

Effin Ninja: Sandals.

Gjjonii: Sneakers.

Slippery Pickle or Naughty Armadillo?

Effin Ninja: Naughty Armadillo.

Gjjonii: Naughty Armadillo.

TD or STR8?

Effin Ninja: Neither, my team.

Gjjonii: TD.

MLG Insider or MLG Insider?

Effin Ninja: MLG Insider? LoL!

Gjjonii: IDK, that’s a tough one…

Good luck in Orlando guys. I know I will be there cheering you both on. Be sure to hit me up! Before I wrap this up, any shout outs?

Effin Ninja: Shout out to my boy Aye Rab, Nate, and Motas who started my competitive gaming career.

Gjjonii: Hell ya to Nick Gjoni, Nate, Richie Kumar, Bee Shey, Zember, CrickCity, Ninja’s brother Jon, and to my last opponent Chaos aka Scottie! They’re many more but not enough space.

Gjjonii wanted me to spread the word that he is going by the name Mac Baby at the event. Orlando is sure to be an exciting event for both 4v4 Halo teams and our 1v1 finalists. These two finalists have already won themselves a all expense paid trip to the Orlando National Championships. Be sure to tune in for them battling for $2,000 prize and the Dr Pepper Ultimate Winter Break crown on January 8^th-10^th at the MLG 2009 Orlando National Championships!

Halo Rosters

*Updated 2/3/10

Halo 3 Pro Rosters:

1. Triggers Down – SK, Hysteria, Pistola, Neighbor = 10,675
2. Str8 Rippin – T2, Legit, Snipedown, Heinz = 9,987.5
3. Instinct – Roy, Lunchbox, Cloud, Elamite = 9,057.5
4. Carbon – Walshy, Defy, BesT MaN, Strongside = 8,272.5
5. Classic – Soldier, Destin, Naded, Clutch = 7,668
6. Believe the Hype – Demon D, Maniac, Tizoxic, Chig = 7,320
7. Final Boss – OGRE2, Victory X, FearItself, Totz = 7,092.5
8. Status Quo – Flamesword, Ace, Enable, a Pure Gangster = 5,770
9. Heaven and Earth – KillerDrew, Karma, GH057ayame, Cpt Anarchy = 5,043
10. Swagger Like Us – Thrust, Assault, Dersky, Snake Bite = 3,290
11. No Name – PoWeeZy, Robbie B, NoctournalKernal, Gilkey = 2,984.5
12. Surprise – BRAKE, Goofy, Advent, Zoo Wuu = 2,514.5
13. AntiGravity – Eli, GunShot, Severince, BatMayne = 2,281
14. Active Rush – IceVayne, Mimic, Frosty = 2,234
15. No Name – Legend, AnT = 2,165.5

North of 49 – GSp0t, DARKscorpion, Imported, Moniz = 1,705
Virtuosity – Jetty, Painless = 1,410
No Name – Fearris, Thuggish = 1,365
No Name – Perplexity, Ar7ofWar = 989.5

MLG Anaheim Wrap up

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

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

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

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

Gears of War 2:

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

Congratulations to THE NSAN3Z our GoW2 Anaheim Champs!

Call of Duty 4:

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

Rainbow 6 Vegas 2:

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

Congratulations to Rage our R6V2 National Champs!

World of Warcraft:

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

Carbon vs. Status Quo LAN

Carbon vs. Status Quo LAN

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

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

Interview with CRA, now Oasis

Apollo: Hey whats up everyone, I got a chance to sit down with the entire team of CRA or Clean Rich Adolescents.  The winners of the Halo 3 Anaheim Qualifier.  This is a group of great guys and i wish them well at Anahiem!

BlakeumZ: Before we start the interview out, I’d like to clear up a name change really quick.  On the ladder we are known as “Clean Rick Adolescents”, but the name is too long for the events so we will be attending Anaheim as “Oasis”.

Apollo: Alright so how about starting off by just introducing yourselves(Name, where your from, what got you into MLG, anything else you can think of)

Ashes: I’m Ashes (Mike Cholko), I’m from Philadelphia, PA, I got into MLG about 4 years in Halo 2 just by playing team hardcore and hearing about it, and I loved the concept of BR start and competition at a high level, I got into a party with GH057ayame after a game of Team Hardcore and didn’t even know who he was at the time, added him as a friend, and that’s when I really started to get into things

BlakeumZ: My name’s Blake Roberts, I’m from Tigard, Oregon.  I first got into competitive MLG through local tournaments held in our downtown city.  Through those I met CAK, my future teammate – who was insanely better than me.  Through about 6-8 months of solid improvement, I eventually got onto CAK’s level and began running with him for various LAN, and online tournaments.

CAK: My name is James (CAK69), i was born in the state of Oregon and continue to thrive in my birth place. I got into the game during the end of Halo 2, I was not a very solid player, but i continued to practice. Then i started taking competitive gaming seriously during the beginning halo 3. After placing well during local tournament I found that i had potential.

VictuMM: My name’s VictuMM (Matt Kunke), I’m from Clackamas, Oregon. I first got into MLG a little bit back in Halo 2 by running MLG customs with my neighbors. Although I wasn’t very into it back than. I got really into it in Halo 3 just by playing MLG playlist and starting to go to LAN’s and local tournaments.

Apollo:  Have any of you attended MLG events before?

CAK: I attended Meadows 09.

BlakeumZ:I have lanned at local events H3 probably 20+ times, however no.

Ashes: I attended Philadelphia, 2005

VictuMM: I have not gone to any; this will be my first one.

Apollo: With Anaheim so close, are you guys nervous at all about the event?

Ashes: I’m not worried about the event; I’m just worried about missing a few college classes on Thursday/Friday, and maybe Monday.

VictuMM: I’m not very nervous; I’m more pumped up and excited.

Ashes: Yea, VictuMM has his smarties ready.

CAK: No, I feel confident that our team will pull through; we just have to continue to put in hours for practice.

BlakeumZ: I’m not worried at all – these guys are the best teammates a guy could ask for.  We all want the same thing, and NO ONE is stopping us.

Apollo: When I tell you guys that every team that has won the Online Qualifier that MLGInsider has interviewed has gone o n to place at least top 32 in the event, does this make you guys nervous at all?

VictuMM: I think we are very capable of placing top 32.

BlakeumZ:We don’t get nervous, just excited.

CAK: It adds some pressure to our shoulders, but i believe we can live up to that.

Ashes: No, it makes me feel even better about our chances.  Who wouldn’t like to hear a stat like that?

Apollo: That would have to be whoever gets paired against you in round 1.

VictuMM: Hahahaha

Apollo: So, do you guys plan on sticking together after Anaheim?

Ashes: As long as we can get a sponsor afterwards, sure.  I’m going to be going on Christmas break from college for a month, and as long as we’re a good team with a sponsor I’ll dedicate time when I’m home to keep practicing, otherwise, nope

Apollo: How long have you guys been together as a team?

VictuMM: Cak, Blake and I have been teaming for about 2 months

BlakeumZ: Cak and I – for quite a while.  We picked up Victumm about 2 months ago.  Ashes recently hopped on board 3-4 weeks ago through Victumm.

Apollo: When Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 comes out are you guys going to switch to that or stick with Halo?

Ashes: Stick with Halo, I haven’t played any other video game since 2004

BlakeumZ: What is Call of Duty?

Apollo: If you guys get into the pro bracket and end up facing a pro team, which team would you guys not want to face?

VictuMM: I heard that Str8 Rippin did not want to play us.

BlakeumZ: Str8 Rippin – They may have stumbled in Dallas, but I’m confident they’ll regain #1 come Anaheim.

Ashes: I wouldn’t want to face Triggers Down, Hysteria’s trash talk might hurt VictuM’s feelings.

CAK: I personally would not want to play Str8 Rippin, because i know how dissappointed they were with their placing at Dallas. Their going to come out guns blazing.

Apollo: Do you guys have any LANs set up for the  days before anahiem?

VictuMM: We actually have one for tomorrow. But it will only be the 3 of us over here in Oregon.

CAK: Yep, just the 3 musketeers.

Ashes: I’m just going to be split screening with a local here in Philly to get used to the resolution change on Wednesday, otherwise I’ll just be on Xbox Live.

Apollo: Alright guys, that’s about it for me…Got any shoutouts before we wrap things up here?

BlakeumZ: Bigups to Rhymesayers, Ent, Wembley Park, Senses <3, and ShadowfireZ for his sick sig he’s made us!

VictuMM: Shout out to Cpoon and Ned Flanders. haha

Ashes: Im going to have to give a shout out to my close friend Christian (TT69z), he let me borrow the mythic Halo 3 disk to practice Heretic. I also have to give a big shoutout to Colin (Recycle), he is letting me barrow is Astros for Anaheim.

Apollo: Alright guys, thanks alot and good luck.

Halo 3 Anaheim Qualifier Champs

We here at MLGInsider would like to congratulate Clean Rich Adolescents,  the Halo 3 Anaheim online qualifier champions!  Keep your eyes here on MLGInsider for an interview with them.

Clearing the fog around SQ

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

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

Finding Home

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

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

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

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

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

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

Halo 3 Pro Scrim Update

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gamebattles Qualifier Update

With Anaheim closing in the Halo 3 Gamebattles qualifier ladder is coming to a close.  With only a few more matches to be played the teams are hard at work in preparation.

In the winners bracket Clean Rich Ad(3rd) and OMG…GMm!(20th) are preparing to face off.  Also Sector 7(27th) and Nothing Personal(10th) are getting ready to play.

In the losers bracket Electromovimineto(1st) plays Catch the Fourrrr(26th).  Grimy Halo Playerzzz(21st) plays against Goon Squad(12th).  We are Figure Skating(19th) plays Violent Theory(5th).  Look Dad No Snipers(31st) plays against Intensity Rising(8th).

With the next round being played this Thursday, these teams are hard at work preparing for their chance to claim the number 1 spot.

VoD Analysis: Painless

Virtuosity is on the rise! These Buffalo boys have been hot this entire MLG season. So far this year they have made a team change after every event. Through the ups and downs, the two core members of Virtuosity have remained: Jetty, the team captain, and his brother, Painless. They are making the right decisions regarding the players on their team, and their preparation for upcoming events. Virtuosity’s placing continues to improve. This group started the season off fresh with an 18th place finish in the Meadowlands, 14th at Columbus, and 12th in Dallas. We are going to jump on board with one of the most highly recognized voices on the Pro Circuit, Painless, as Virtuosity takes on Final Boss.

http://www.mlgpro.com/content/link/290637/Painless

Painless and Robbie B get to work quickly on Final Boss, and grab the Oddball first. It felt to me like this was the only game of the series that Virtuosity played their own game. The first two games of the series they seemed to let Final Boss control their play-style.

At 13:45 Painless eliminates the threat of Victory X beneath his team at Bottom Gay Jump. He waits for his teammates to spawn Gold, and starts the Virtuosity push for control of snipe tower. I agree with this push to get the Ball out of Final Boss’ hands.

Painless plays very smart with the 10 minute Camo. He waits patiently for his shields to recharge and once again breaks up FB’s set up on snipe tower.

When Painless spawns Bottom Blue at 8:12, he is prepared to lift over to snipe tower, with the rest of Virt ready to support him. Strongside and Victory X shuts down their plan, which results in Final Boss accumulating an extra 30 seconds of uncontested ball time. I think the biggest difference between a Top 16 team and a Top 8 team is the ability to disrupt your opponents game plan. Virtuosity is more of a set-up oriented team, rather than a run-and-gun type team. Final Boss made sure Virtuosity never got into a comfort zone.

Painless wisely plays the Oddball at 6:10. Virtuosity has three players down and is trailing by over a minute at this point in the game. This gap only grows larger in Final Boss’ favor from this point of the game.

NocturnalKernal is starting to heat up at snipe tower, allowing Painless to grab the ball at 3:45. Unfortunately, he goofs up and makes a mistake in playing the ball. Virtuosity may have gotten enough ball time around 3:30 to put them right back in the game, if things had gone their way and they set up on elbow here. Instead, the game went slowly downhill for Virtuosity.

Considering Virtuosity’s improvement as a team, the high level of competition they play at, and their dedication to the game, Virtuosity is still lacking the ability to place Top 8. Virt needs to close games up. They also need to figure out their roles, and  play to their style of Halo in Anaheim. Painless plays objective very smart and focuses on the team. Best of luck in California Virtuosity.

Halo 3 Gamebattles update

With  Anaheim coming up in just over a month to the date away, Gamebattles teams are in full swing working towards the goal of the number 1 spot.  Round 2 was played on October 1st.  Round 3 is scheduled to be played on Thursday October 8^th.

The match ups for round 3 are:

Match 1: Electromovimiento(1^st) against Clean Rich Ad(9^th)

Match 2: Grimey Halo Playerz(21^st) against OMG…GMM!!(20^th)

Match 3: We ARE figure skating (19^th) against Sector 7 Anaheim(27^th)

Match 4: Nothing Personal  (10^th against Look Dad No Snipers(31^st)

And in the losers bracket round 2 Is played on the 6th

Match 1:  GreatnesS(18^th) against XX The Lost Boys XX

Match 2: Catch the Fourrrr(26^th)against I The Hollow I(25^th)

Match 3: Lullaby(11^th) against the winner of Counteraction(28^th) and Goon Squad(12^th)

Match 4: Play for Points(3^rd) against Carrying Private Brian(13^th)

Match 5: Rise Again???st(4^th) against TripleDW(30^th)

Match 6 Violent Theory(5^th) against the winner of your friendly pastries (23^rd) and WTF Prokemon[Anahiem]

Match 7: The System(16^th) against the winner of Bullet Symphony(15^th) and NewKind(2^nd)

VoD Analysis: Assault

This week we are going to look at one of MLG’s upcoming Halo 3 pros Assault. With his recent growth in popularity the sky is the limit for this young player.

http://www.mlgpro.com/content/link/290941/Assault

Near 11:28 Assault grabs one of his biggest chunks of time with the ball in the game. You can tell Dynasty’s communication is really on point from here on out through the game. Unfortunately Classic destroyed this set up by sending in two members from Car and one flanker from B maze.

At 10:12 when Assault spawns, his mindset is to clear off Pink Tower. He picks up three quick kills with a very clean BR, showing off his long range shot. Assault provides awesome support in this game.  At 9:50 he is grabbing ball time, and fearlessly puts himself out to put shots on enemies across the map at the A base.

Dynasty is three players down when Assault spawns at 8:52. Assault makes a clutch play by keeping the ball out of Soldier’s hands.

Classic countered Dynasty’s play style to perfection not only in this game but on The Pit especially. They seemed to always know where everyone was. Midway through this game around 6:56 seemed to be the turning point where Classic flipped things around in their favor. At multiple times, Assault appears flustered and loses individual battles he normally would conquer.

When Assault spawns at 4:49 he starts to get things going again, and almost single-handedly abolishes Team Classic.

When you pour your heart into every game inside a series like Assault, and still manage to come up short in the end your team is demoralized. Classic got the best of Dynasty in this Placement Round match up because of their shots being on, and apparently great callouts. I was not fortunate enough to watch the Dallas broadcast but I am happy to see that The Dynasty moved on through their bracket on Saturday into Sunday, and left with an 8th place finish.

Due to its’ tight quarters and being a fast paced Foundry map, Lockdown appears to be the most team-oriented objective game type on the circuit right now. The Car base and Pink Tower are mostly used for protection, and height advantage respectively. If your team has a “lockdown” on these side bases, this opens up opportunities for your team to set up with the Oddball on the A and B bases. Throughout this game you can see Assault has a lot of talent up his sleeve. He maneuvers through the map with his team always in sight. What continued to amaze me was his ability to stay alive. It appeared late in the game that Dynasty knew the series was over and folded.

MLG announces MLG Orlando

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

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

Montage Weekly is back

Whats up guys, do many factors this little segment got cut for a while.    Now its back! So if you’re new here and don’t know what this is I’m going to be looking all over MLGpro, youtube, as well as a few other video sites looking for montages, the good, the bad, the funny, and unfortunatly the ones that should never have even been thought of(Check the honorable mention at the bottom of the article)…Also, if you want to do one of these montage weekly’s or submit a video for review please e-mail me at Apollo@mlginsider.com!  Anyway, Lets kick it off!

Link; http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/kqwHWFSJQos.html?video_page=18

Title: Redefined Trailer

Editor:  Toxic Designs

Gameplay: Perpetual And Unlimited

Thoughts:  This is a good trailer, deffinatly worth a watch…Has some really good syncing as well as some great gameplay.  It has some nice audio mixing as well.

Ratings:

Quality: Clip quality was ok..Little blurry but couldn’t complain to much. 3/5 plasmas

Editing: Loved the syncing….5/5 Plasmas without a doubt

Clips: Good clips, one or two fillers but otherwise great 4/5 plasmas.

Overall: Overall I have to give this a 4/5.  This  was a great trailer and can’t wait for the full thing.

Link:http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/1WmaxZJEsVA.html?video_page=7

Title: ShinxZ:: A Halo 3 Montage

Editor:ShinxZ

Gameplay: ShinxZ

Thoughts:
This is a decent montage….It is WAY WAY over edited, to much for my tatste…But if you can get past all the flashes, slow-motion, speed ups…And everything in between its a good watch…Theres alot of decent gameplay in it..But where there is good…there is bad…There was alot of just plain trash gameplay also

Ratings:

Quality: Hard to see gameplay most of the time…..2/5 plasmas

Editing:  I give the editing a 1/5.There was editing…but WAY to much

Clips:  I give it 3/5 plasmas….From what i could see it was decent

Overall: Over all i give it a 2/5 plasmas…It was good…But WAY over edited….

Link: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/gEGJ2aPuC9I.html?video_page=29

Title: Stryke x MT H3M1

Editor:

Gameplay: Stryke x MT

Thoughts:

Not the best montage ever…If your looking for an overkill montage this is not it..There are a few very entertaining clips in this…At the beginning his teammate and he are going to sandwich a opponent, but his teammate swords through the guy and kills Stryke….Irony at its greatest

Ratings:

Quality: I give it 2.5 Plasmas…Not the best, but by far not the worst

Editing: There is very little to no editing..Can’t give it a 0 so 1/5 plasmas

Clips: There are some entertaining clips hidden in this mess…3/5 plasmas

Overall: I give it 2/5 plasmas….Not the best…but by far not the worst

Link: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/yUwjPZrGsulpjM.html?video_page=33

Title: Phenomenon

Editor: Fatality Films

Gameplay: FatalEvOloutiON and JFactor

Thoughts:

It was a rather enjoyable montage…Quality was kinda lacking and blurry..Other than that there were a few nice clips in there.  There were a few really good multi-kills with.  The whole montage had a rather nice flow to it.

Ratings:

Quality: I give it 2/5 plasmas….Quality was lacking

Editing:  It was smooth but there wasn’t much to it…I give it 2/5 plasmas

Clips:  I have to give the clips a 2/5 plasmas..There were a few decent ones…but they were few and far between

Overall:  I have to give the montage over all a 2/5 plasmas…It was an ok montage..could have been better, it’s on the bottom end of the montage charts though.

Honorable Mentions:

Slaughtr Destny and his CellPhone Montage:

http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/ifhsalsDUIRGuxMs.html

My thoughts: He gets 5 Plasmas just for the effort…But really…..

Intra: Featuring Apollo

My own montage trailer that got good responses on H3F…Not reviewing it =P

http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/kqKLArrl8UI.html

Random Video:

http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/xGHteO6cXqQ.html?video_page=14

MLGInsider ODST FireFight Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Controller directions they gave us^

Other side to the card^

license plate cover^

Mini-Helm^

Mini-Helm 2^

The Truck^

Perplexity VOD Analysis

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dallas Wrap Up

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

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

Halo 3.

1. Triggers Down

2. Carbon

3. Instinct

4. Str8 Rippin

5. Final Boss

6. Classic

7.  Under the Influence

8. Dynasty

The Winner of the Madden Challenge was  Jat Steele.

In second place was Problem.

Third place was taken by Derwi

Fourth place was Chow.

Gears of War 2:

1. Amayzn

2. MbN: The Business

3.  vVv Less than Zero

4. pT Retaliation

World of Warcraft:

1. eMg

2. X6tense

3. Complexity

Alpha X Factor VOD

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

Alpha X Factor VOD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Max VOD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SnakeBite VOD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dallas Qualifier Update 3

With Dallas only a few weeks away, the Qualifier is slowly winding down.  Round 4 was played just a few days ago.

Halo 3:

In round four 1^st place Perfect Evolution defeated 12^th place Limelight and now moves on to play in round 5.

Also in Round 4, 3^rd place H! Voltage played against 18^th VzR and came out the victor and moves to play Perfect Evolution in the finals of the Winners Bracket for a chance to move into the Champions bracket.

In the losers bracket 23^rd place Divine Wind defeated 11^th place Autolaim and moves on to play 18^th place VzR in round 6.

Also 5^th place o0 Paradox 0o  defeated 7^th place OpTima and moves on to play 12^th place LimeLight in round 6.

Gears of War 2

In Round 4, 16^th place Crossfire 09 played 5^th e2k Composure, there is no score reported on this game yet.

Also 19^th place Delirium lost to 10^th place Annoy, Annoy now moves on to play the winner of the Crossfire and Composure game.

In Round 6 of the losers bracket Delirium will play either 29^th place FeaR or 26^th place Next Level.

Magnitude MgN will either place Crossfire 09 or e2K Composure.

GoW2 guys are slacking a bit…I’ve had a heathy respect for them when in the Columbus qualifier the top teams knocked out like 100 games a piece.  Slacking guys step it up.

Pro Rosters Announced!

MLG today has announced the pro Rosters for Halo 3 for the Dallas Event.  They are listed below!

1. Str8 Rippin – T2, Legit, Elamite, Snipedown

2. Triggers Down – SK, Pistola, Heinz, Hysteria

3. Instinct – GH057ayame, Lunchbox, Roy, Neighbor

4. Final Boss – FearItSelf, Victory X, OGRE2, Strongside

5. Believe the Hype – Cloud, Soviet, Sypher, DemonD

6. Team Classic – BesTMaN, Soldi3r, Legend, Chig

7. Status Quo – Flamesword, Ace, Totz, Clutch

8. Carbon – ShocKWav3, Walshy, Defy, Naded

9. Ambush – Tizoxic, Nexus, Gilkey, Mackeo

10. Heaven and Earth – Hokum, Poweezy, KillerDrew, Karma

11. The Dynasty – Assault, Enable, Max/Pro, Destin

12. End Result – MadMax, ThuggishKilla, CMG, Gregor

13. Overnight Sensation – Eli, GunShot, Seb, Wonka

14. OverLooked- Sasquatch, MrFrisky, Rezzo, Makowski

15. Pistol & The Jets – Pistol, IceVayne, Mimic, Arkanum

16. High Life – Fear, Elumnite, Cpt. Anarchy, Perplexity

Dallas is going to be INSANE!

MLG Announces MLG Anaheim

MLG finally has announced the 4th landing spot on the pro circuit.  It is officially Anaheim, California (which we reported in early July after some thorough investigating)

Taken directly from MLGpro:
Major League Gaming is proud to announce that the fourth stop of the 2009 Pro Circuit will take place in Anaheim, CA on November 6-8. The MLG Pro Circuit will feature top notch competition in Halo 3, Gears of War 2, and World of Warcraft, while the EA SPORTS Challenge will see top players duke it out in Madden 10, NBA Live 10, and Fight Night Round 4. There will also be a slew of spectator activities and events for fans of all ages.

MLG Anaheim
November 6-8
Anaheim Convention Center
800 West Katella Anaheim, CA 92802

MLG Anaheim is sure to be another exciting event, and passes will go fast. The only way to guarantee your spot at a pass for the Pro Circuit Competition at MLG Anaheim is to compete in the Online Qualifiers. The larger benefit of these qualifiers is that teams finishing in the Top 64 spots will earn ranking points which will help to improve their seeding at the Live Competitions.  As stated above, qualifiers serve as an opportunity to purchase a reserved Competition Pass for Anaheim (which as we all know…sell out in minutes). Registration for the Halo 3 and Gears of War 2 Online Qualifiers begins August 17th.

The MLG Pro Circuit is a spectacle that every fan should have a chance to witness.  Be sure to travel out to to Anaheim Live Competition and be a part of the madness and excitement which includes meeting the top Pro’s in the world. There are plenty of awesome spectator activities driven by the great sponsors with gameplay and activities for all (including prizes and opportunities to play the Pro’s).  Finally, the addition of the new competitions bring in more games in multiple platforms.  Learn more about being a Spectator.

MLG Anaheim will play host to the second event of the EA SPORTS Challenge. Top players in Madden 2010, NBA Live 2010, and Fight Night Round 4 will show off their skills as they play for huge prizes. Don’t miss out on all of the exciting action!

Dallas Qualifier Update 2

We are back with another Dallas Qualifier Update for Halo and Gears of War 2.

1st-Perfect_Evolution-  They are 14 and 2 on the ladder and are on a 9 match winning streak.

Their roster consists of: DuaIDEADZOMBIE, I LionH3art I, kpii, and o afyk o.

2nd-Amateur Hour-  They are 10 and 2 on the gamebattles ladder and are on a 10 game winning streak.  With their only 2 losses being to Global Popularity and -Rise Above.

Their roster consists of: AnnoyedCustomer, icemayyyne, stigmative rawr and The uUnforgiven.

3rd-H! Voltage- In second we have H! Voltage, they are 12 and 3 in the qualifier, with their only two losses being to Above the Law and Catching Fire at Dallas.

Their roster consists of: hV GlocKomA, hV Golden, hV HooZ and, hv lemonade.

4th-Above the Law-In third we have Above the Law, they hold a perfect record of 7 and 0.  Therefore they are on a 7 game winning streak.

Their roster consists of: EEOR, MLG Mailbox, My Cure, and VyRiZz.

5th-o0ParadoX 0o-In fifth we have ParadoX, they are 9 and 2 on the ladder.

Their roster consists of: IDirr T, Krakiin,  NtG is InSane,  and zParanoia.

Gears of War 2:

1st-bT Retribution-In first we have Retribution, they are 16 and 1 with their only loss being to Volatile DL.  They are on a 13 game winning streak.

Their roster consists of: LiiTeMaRe, Serphew, vXc ChuBZeRo, and XternaI.

2nd-[SPiRiT] F3-Gameaccess.ca- In 3rd we have GameAccess, they are 16 and 4 on the qualifier.

Their roster consists of: B 1 R DxM A N, F3 Will Care, MortaL Is F3, and SupRstaR o9.

3rd- TsC UpRise- In second we have TsC UpRise, they are 15 and 2 on the qualifier with their only loss being to e2K Composure.  They are on a 12 game winning streak.

Their roster consists of: SkinZMercs, TriviuhM, WhiiTeKnighT and YounG Tack.

4th-Reality-In 4th we have Reality,  they are 14 and 3 on the ladder.

Their roster consists of: CarSoNz,  MJMeRCs, OveRate,  and Ruhverse.

5th-[e2k] Composure- In 4th we have e2k Composure, they are 11 and 2 in the qualifier.

Their roster consists of: Decryptic, iPabIo, SuPeR Ma77o, and WyIder.

SummerLAN Winner

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

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

MLG Insider Exposes Hacker AK47

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

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

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

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

From an Anonymous Source …

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Been hacked or know someone?  Sound off below

“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

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.

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..

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.

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.

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

Rapid Pulse Interview

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

Apollo: Thanks a lot for doing this interview guys

Fatal: yup no problem

Flash: No Problem

Rooney: Great to be here

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

Fatal: We’ll leave that to Rooney

Flash: Yeah I agree with Fatal……

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

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

Fatal:…..What he said….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Apollo: BR or Snipe?

Fatal:BR
Rooney:Snipe
Flash:BR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good luck to Rapid Pulse in the Championship!

Heads Up w/ The Big Seppy

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

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

Sepso:  I always have time for the community.

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

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

Trent: What is your favorite part of MLG?

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

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

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

Trent: Is MLG headed towards mainstream Television?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sepso:  Thanks Trent.

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

C-Bus Halo 3 Rds 2,3 & 4

Lets look into round 2 in the C-Bus championship bracket.  Starting from the top of the bracket.

Triggers Down Vs. Status Quo

SQ knows Td Better than any team. They have lanned with them twice and scrimmaged them many times online.  The definitely have the potential to beat tD, but due to their lack of team play between events.  I don’t know that SQ will be rollin’ enough to upset tD.

Prediction: 3-2 tD

Ambush Vs Final Boss           

Ambush has a lot to prove after the poor Meadows performance.  Unfortunately, I don’t see it happening against FB.  Ambush will have to fight their way out of the Loser’s Bracket.

Prediction: 3-1 Final Boss

Instinct Vs Believe the Hype

Instinct is too strong and experienced.  If you combine that with BtH not having the same chemistry they had with Syphur.  I call a close series, but Instinct comes out on top.

Prediction: 3-1 Instinct

Str8 Rippin Vs Heaven and Earth

This matchup has the biggest potential for upset in my opinion.  HaE is still underrated and still being overlooked.  If Str8′s not on their “A” game HaE will bounce them to the Loser’s Bracket.  However, I think Str8 will be on their game and will be ready.

Prediction: 3-1 Str8, but a very close series.

 

On to Round 3

Triggers Down Vs Final Boss

I think that tD will overlook Final Boss.  I also think that Final Boss will be ready.  So based on those two statements you should already know where I stand.

Prediction: Hard fought match, 3-2 Final Boss

Str8 Rippin Vs Instinct

This is the match I am really looking forward to.  I think these two teams are so evenly matched.  This will be an incredible match-up.  Unlike most I think the determining factor will not be Neighbor or Snipedown, but will be the play of Lunchbox and Elamite Warrior.  I think that the overall play of these two will determine which team wins this match-up.  I think that Instinct is just a little more motivated right now.  Especially Roy and Lunchbox, as they have yet to win an event.

Prediction: Instinct 3-2

Winner’s Bracket Championship

Final Boss Vs Instinct

I think Instinct has the better chemistry.  Although Ogre 2 will be very motivated being that this is in essence a “Home Game” for him, I don’t quite think Final Boss will have enough to come out on top.

Prediction: Again a very, very close series but Instinct will win 3-2 and advance to the Finals where I think they will face Str8 Rippin again.

 

Please feel free to submit your breakdowns and other articles to be included in our user Articles Section to: Articles@mlginsider.com

Good Attitude in Matchmaking

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Insider Bracket Analysis for C-Bus

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

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

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

Prediction: 3-0 tD

 

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

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

Prediction: 3-0 SQ

 

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

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

Prediction: 3-1 Ambush

 

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

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

 

Prediction: 3-0 Final Boss

 

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

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

Prediction: 3-0 Instinct

 

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

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

Prediction: 3-0 BtH

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

Prediction – 3-0 Str8

Top 16 teams are Set

These are the Official Top 16 teams for C-Bus.  The Dynasty will not have Pro Status, but is the number 16 team.

 

Halo 3
Rank	Team	Captain	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Points
1st	Triggers Down	SK	Hysteria	.Heinz.	iGotUrPisto1a	10150
2nd	Str8 Rippin	elamitewarrior	Legit	Tsquared	Snipedown	9700
3rd	Instinct	Neighbor	Lunchbox	Roy	Walshy	9200
4th	Final Boss	FearItSelf	OGRE2	Victory X	Mackeo	7850
5th	Carbon	ShocKWav3	GH057ayame	Cpt Anarchy	Defy	5515
6th	Believe The Hype	-Cloud-	-CIuTch-	D3M0N-D	KGB Soviet	6127.5
7th	Ambush	NtG NeXuS	TiZoXiC	GuN_ShoT	Gilkey	4505.5
8th	Status Quo	StrongSide	lx Ace xl	FlamesworD25	.Totz.	5007.5
9th	Classic	Soldi3r187	[AsK]LeGeNd	BesT MaN	Chig	4742.5
10th	Heaven and Earth	KillerDrewDS	PoWeeZy	Perplexity	HokuM	3555
11th	Check Your Pulse	Eli	Lilseb	Ol_Man_Makowski	NocturnalKernal	1773
12th	XiT WoundZ	Itwasluck	Bonfire	MLGxFrisKy	Sasquatch_Snipa	1529.5
13th	Darkest Hour	TwYLighT	I FrOsty I	GregoR	Frywod	2035
14th	pT End Result	TalenT	Moniz	Madmax_eh	ThuggishKlLLA	2437.5
15th	Apocalypse	WooooLy	MaNiiaC	MudVayne	TheAr7oFWaR	2802.5
16th	The Dynasty	Asssault	eNabLe	TricKsDaSaMuRiE	Max/Pro	1430

Heads Up w/XiT Sasquatch

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

Apollo: Thanks a lot for doing this interview

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Apollo: What controller setting do you use?

Sasquatch: Bumper jumper, inverted, 5 sens

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

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

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

Sasquatch: Lets do it!

Apollo: Rockets or Snipe?

Sasquatch: Snipe

Apollo: Camo or OS

Sasquatch: Camo

Apollo: Team least looking forward to playing in Columbus?

Sasquatch: Triggers Down

Apollo: Favorite pro?

Sasquatch: Walshy

Apollo: Pit or Guardian?

Sasquatch: Pit

Apollo: Flag or Hill?

Sasquatch: Flag

Apollo: Winners of Columbus?

Sasquatch: Instinct, they are nasty!

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

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

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

Head’s up w/ Vanity Gaming Founders

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

 

Trent: How was Vanity Gaming born?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trent: Vanity?

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

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

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

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

Trent: Thanks for you time guys.

vG Small: My pleasure

Vanity: Thank you man

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

Montage Weekly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Submit all your reviews to apollo@mlginsider.com

Also check out our User Article section link is below

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

Columbus Rules, settings & rounds

Taken from MLGpro.com
Here is an overview of the Rules that have been added/changed for this Competition:

1. MLG Guard v6.1 will be used in the Halo 3 Columbus Event and can be downloaded here: MLG Gametypes File Share. No Guardian weapon placements have changed, however, for v6.1 all of the spawn points are the same as they were for v5.

2. There is a new illegal spot on Guardian. “No going onto the ledges around the outside of bottom middle on Guardian.” You can find a picture of the new illegal spot here

3. As stated previously, the Lancer is now the Starting Weapon for GoW2. Also, the Map Avalanche has been added to the list and the Maps Stasis and Ruins have been removed. Please review the GoW2 Columbus Rules to see all of the new Weapon Swaps.

4. The GoW2 Title Update 3 will be used in Columbus, so a rule has been added prohibiting the Double Ammo Glitch. The rule is as follows, “Players may not attempt to cause the Double Ammo Glitch. Attempting to cause the Double Ammo Glitch includes, but is not limited to, repeatedly dropping and picking up the same weapon.”

5. All GoW2 Games now have a 5 Round limit in the Open Bracket and a 7 Round limit in the Championship Bracket. The Open Bracket rule reads as follows, Each Game must be played as a Best of 5 Rounds. If a Team reaches 3 Round wins, the Game is over. If neither Team has reached 3 Round wins after 5 Rounds have been played, the Team with the most Round wins will win the Game. If neither Team has reached 3 Round wins after 5 Rounds have been played and both Teams have won the same number of Rounds, the Game must continue and the next Team to win a Round will win the Game.”

The Championship Bracket rule reads as follows, “Each Game must be played as a Best of 7 Rounds. If a Team reaches 4 Round wins, the Game is over. If neither Team has reached 4 Round wins after 7 Rounds have been played, the Team with the most Round wins will win the Game. If neither Team has reached 4 Round wins after 7 Rounds have been played and both Teams have won the same number of Rounds, the Game must continue and the next Team to win a Round will win the Game.”

6. Players may not use a Memory Card at any time.

7. There are now official Rules regarding playing shorthanded. For Halo 3, “Teams are permitted to start Multi Flag, Team King, and Team Oddball Games with three Players. However, Teams with fewer than four Players are not permitted to start a Team Slayer Game and Teams with fewer than three Players are not permitted to start any Games. If a Team doesn’t have the required minimum number of Players to start the first Game, five minutes after the announcement, that Team must Forfeit the Game. If a Team doesn’t have the required minimum number of Players to start the next Game, after the previous Game has ended, that Team must Forfeit the Game. Players are not permitted to join Games that are in progress. Players are not permitted to add a Character to a Game for a Player who is absent.”

For GoW2, “Teams are permitted to start Games with three Players. However, Teams with fewer than three Players are not permitted to start Games. If a Team doesn’t have at least three Players, five minutes after the announcement, that Team must Forfeit the first Game. If a Team doesn’t have at least three Players, after the previous Game has ended, that Team must Forfeit the next Game. Players are not permitted to join Games that are in progress. Players are not permitted to add a Character to a Game for a Player who is absent.”

C-Bus Halo 3 Rd by Rd

Open Bracket Game Types

Winners Bracket
Round 1
Game 1 – Team Slayer – Guardian
Game 2 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 3 – Team Slayer – The Pit

Round 2
Game 1 – Team Slayer – Construct
Game 2 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 3 – Team Slayer – Narrows

Round 3
Game 1 – Team Slayer – The Pit
Game 2 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 3 – Team Slayer – Construct

Round 4
Game 1 – Team Slayer – Narrows
Game 2 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 3 – Team Slayer – Guardian

Round 5
Game 1 – Team Slayer – Guardian
Game 2 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 3 – Team Slayer – The Pit

Round 6
Game 1 – Team Slayer – Construct
Game 2 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 3 – Team Slayer – Narrows

Losers Bracket
Round 1
Game 1 – Team Slayer – Construct
Game 2 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 3 – Team Slayer – Narrows

Round 2
Game 1 – Team Slayer – Narrows
Game 2 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 3 – Team Slayer – Guardian

Round 3
Game 1 – Team Slayer – The Pit
Game 2 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 3 – Team Slayer – Construct

Round 4
Game 1 – Team Slayer – Construct
Game 2 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 3 – Team Slayer – Narrows

Round 5
Game 1 – Team Slayer – Narrows
Game 2 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 3 – Team Slayer – Guardian

Round 6
Game 1 – Team Slayer – The Pit
Game 2 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 3 – Team Slayer – Construct

Round 7
Game 1 – Team Slayer – Guardian
Game 2 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 3 – Team Slayer – The Pit

Round 8
Game 1 – Team Slayer – Construct
Game 2 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 3 – Team Slayer – Narrows

Championship Bracket Game Types

Winners Bracket
Round 1
Game 1 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 2 – Team Slayer – Amplified
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Lockdown
Game 4 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Guardian

Round 2
Game 1 – Multi Flag – Onslaught
Game 2 – Team Slayer – Guardian
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Lockdown
Game 4 – Team King – Construct
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Narrows

Round 3
Game 1 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 2 – Team Slayer – Construct
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Guardian
Game 4 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Amplified

Round 4-Winners Bracket Finals
Game 1 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 2 – Team Slayer – Amplified
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Guardian
Game 4 – Team King – Construct
Game 5 – Team Slayer – The Pit

Round 5-Finals
Game 1 – Multi Flag – Onslaught
Game 2 – Team Slayer – Narrows
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Lockdown
Game 4 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Construct

Tiebreaker Game
Game 11 – Team Slayer – Guardian

Losers Bracket
Round 1
Game 1 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 2 – Team Slayer – Amplified
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Lockdown
Game 4 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Guardian

Round 2
Game 1 – Multi Flag – Onslaught
Game 2 – Team Slayer – The Pit
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Guardian
Game 4 – Team King – Construct
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Narrows

Round 3
Game 1 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 2 – Team Slayer – Amplified
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Guardian
Game 4 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Construct

Round 4
Game 1 – Multi Flag – Onslaught
Game 2 – Team Slayer – Guardian
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Lockdown
Game 4 – Team King – Construct
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Narrows

Round 5
Game 1 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 2 – Team Slayer – Narrows
Game 3 – Team King – Construct
Game 4 – Team Oddball – Guardian
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Amplified

Round 6
Game 1 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 2 – Team Slayer – The Pit
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Lockdown
Game 4 – Multi Flag – Onslaught
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Construct

Round 7
Game 1 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 2 – Team Slayer – Construct
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Guardian
Game 4 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Amplified

Round 8
Game 1 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 2 – Team Slayer – Construct
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Lockdown
Game 4 – Multi Flag – Onslaught
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Guardian

Round 9
Game 1 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 2 – Team Slayer – Amplified
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Guardian
Game 4 – Team King – Construct
Game 5 – Team Slayer – The Pit

Round 10-Losers Bracket Finals
Game 1 – Multi Flag – Onslaught
Game 2 – Team Slayer – Guardian
Game 3 – Team King – Construct
Game 4 – Team Oddball – Lockdown
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Narrows

Tiebreaker Game
Game 11 – Team Slayer – The Pit

Placement Rounds
Round 1
Game 1 – Multi Flag – Onslaught
Game 2 – Team Slayer – The Pit
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Guardian
Game 4 – Team King – Construct
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Narrows

Round 2
Game 1 – Multi Flag – The Pit
Game 2 – Team Slayer – Guardian
Game 3 – Team Oddball – Lockdown
Game 4 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Construct

Round 3
Game 1 – Multi Flag – Narrows
Game 2 – Team Slayer – The Pit
Game 3 – Team King – Construct
Game 4 – Team Oddball – Guardian
Game 5 – Team Slayer – Amplified

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

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.

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!

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.

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)

Heads Up w/Strongside

I got to sit down with a guy who is Halo.  He created “Strongsiding” and is known for his ability in ridiculous situations to stay alive.  Who is this mythical monster who wields the rockets and sniper more effectively than most?  Ok, enough fancy talk,  it’s Michael Cavanaugh a.k.a. Strongside.  The blond bomber who’s more chill than a Jack Johnson CD.  Here’s what he had to say:

Trent: First off, for those who don’t know, where did “strongside” come from?

Strongside: The name “StrongSide” came from a classic movie “Remember the Titans” They yell leftside! strongside! It means there rightside is there stronger side to take the ball and honestly i thought it just sounded cool so I made it my gamertag.

Trent: AHHH…. Love the movie. Now this off season you made the move to SQ. What prompted that?

Strongside: Yes, I joined SQ. I wanted to start something new with some young guys and build as a team. Last year was a rough season for me and I thought I didn’t play to my potential. I thought teaming with some young guys that loved the game would bring the H2 Strongside back. I lost my drive to play and was about to quit at one point. After playing with these guys at “The Winter Lan” at Totz’s  I saw the potential and talent that Totz and Flamesword had.  I knew Ace was a good player already and he knew how to play.  I was thinking that if I could teach them the game and show them the ways we could do it. It was what Walsh did with me when I first joined final boss. So I thought I could do it with these guys.

Trent: Are you surprised at how quickly you guys have meshed as a team? You have beaten some great teams in your recent LANs.

Strongside: Yeah, it has surprised me a bit. It feels like we have been teaming for a season already with all the practice we’ve put in.

Trent: Well,  you seem to be rejuvenated by these young guys. Has “Side” found his “second wind”?

Strongside: Yeah, I’d say so. I’ve been playing almost non-stop since I joined up with this new team. I’ve been visiting ToTz’s house a lot so it has been really easy to build chemistry. We have had our whole team together so many times at his house and that has really helped the most.

Trent: Now, just for a minute, let’s go back to last season. You started off with a bang in Meadowlands and even had Sundance saying you were going to be the season MVP after one event. What happened for things to sprial downhill like they did for both you and the team?

Strongside: Last season was very different for me. Before Meadowlands, last year, I put in almost the same amount of time that I am putting in now. I really wanted to see my team do well all season. After winning the first tournament, I thought it would be easy to win the rest of the events and I lost almost all drive to practice. As for the team, it seemed like we lost our camaraderie. It was like we weren’t a team anymore. That eventually broke us up.

Trent: Lets hear your top 5 for Meadows, in order. (laughing) No Pressure.

Strongside: 1st –  sQ that’s my only prediction.

Trent: Ok,ok …. we’re gonna play rapid fire now…. have you seen this yet?

StrongSide: yup

Trent: Best gamertag on the circuit

Strongside: FearitSelf

Trent: Loudest?

Strongside: CallMeGod

Trent: Books or music?

Strongside: Music

Trent: H2 or H3

Strongside: H1

Trent: Guardian or Lockout

Strongside: Lockout

Trent: I figured that one… boxers or briefs

Strongside: Briefs

Trent: Man after my own heart…Ball or flag?

Strongside: Ball

Trent: Rockets or Sniper

Strongside: Sniper

Trent: Camo or OS

Strongside: Camo

Trent: Your favorite player

Strongside: Kobe

Trent: Implusive or thoughtful

Strongside: Thoughtful

Trent: Your surprise team of the year other than SQ

Strongside: Believe the Hype

Trent: Okay these are for SQ only.  Best sniper

Strongside: Ace

Trent: Best with rockets

Strongside: FlamesworD

Trent: Most likely to just go totally off?

Strongside: ToTz

Trent: Hates Xbl the most

Strongside: ToTz (laughing) errr… (still Laughing)

Trent: Eats the mosts

Strongside: Ace at  P.F. Changs!

Trent: Reallly? What’s the most you’ve seen him eat?

Strongside: At a Brazilian Steakhouse, he ate for 45 minutes straight. No lie.

Trent: Ohhh … those places are great I can’t blame him … We’ll have to take you guys if it comes to Orlando again.

Strongside: Sounds like a date.

Trent: Most definitely … Trent  or Robbie …. (laughing) careful remember who doing the interview

Strongside: Trent all the way.

Trent: Yeah baby, (laughing) you catch that Robbie? Well, this has been a lot of fun man.  What would you like to say to your fans?

Strongside: Keep it Real and thanks for all of the support for Status Quo.  Make sure to show your support at Meadowlands, so you can score some Official Status Quo Fan Gear!

Trent: Nice …. Last thing, I was talking to Mason He said he’s looking forward to some fun banter in round 3.  Any thoughts?

Strongside:  He better bring his “A” game, because it’s hard to bash ToTz when his volume is at Max. There won’t be any 1v1′s this tournament, and if there were, I think Mason and I both know who would win.

Trent: (laughing)That hilarious. Any last Shout outs before I let you go?

Strongside: Joe Fries for going huge today give him some plus rep on the forums. Good luck to everyone going to Meadows!

Trent: Well, good luck to you in Meadowlands and see you online. Thanks for the interview

Strongside: Yeah, thank you for the interview

Thanks again to Mike for the interview.  He’s a very chill guy and exactly what you see is what you get.  Good luck in Jersey to Mike and the rest of SQ.

Sir Gandhi

 

The word on the street has been confirmed.  Gandhi will in fact be doing commentary for Halo 3 in Meadowlands.  This is great news. I’m not saying anything bad about Puckett or Nexy, but having a seasoned pro player being involved in the commentary is a very large benefit for the community.  

Gandhi has won a National Championship and has played in the playoffs every year he played.  He has a lot of knowledge that he can bring to the commentary team.  Looking forward to it.  Congrats Scott.

Snipedown Interview

We took a minute to sit down with Eric Wrona, also known as Snipedown.  The 2008 “Rising Star” award winner, the 2008 Las Vegas MVP and a member of the 2008 National Championship team in Str8 Rippin.  We’re bringing you the man in the dress and the youngling on the Dr. Pepper sponsored Str8 Rippin. Here he is: Snipedown.

Trent: Well… Right off the bat, you have become one of the most well known players in the Pro Halo 3 circuit. How does that feel?

Snipedown: It feels great. When I think about how far I have come in just one year I even amaze myself.

Trent: When you were just an “on-line warrior” around this time last year, what did you expect going into Meadowlands?

Snipedown: I was pretty nervous going into that event. I had high expectations because you can’t go in thinking you were going to do bad, but I never expected to get top 8 at my first event.

Trent: Well, you did more than just place top 8. You played so well that you caught the attention of top teams. I mean after one event you were sought after in the f/a market. That’s got to be a big confidence boost.

Snipedown: I had no idea that any of the top teams even noticed me after that event. When I heard that Instinct was thinking about picking me up, I couldn’t have been happier. I was more confident in my gameplay and my team than ever before. It was great

Trent: Okay, now the whole transition to tD then to Str8? You guys had a great team on tD was there anything in particular that caused the break up or was it just the incredible opportunity to team with Str8?

Snipedown: The whole team swap was a huge misunderstanding. There were so many things that were said that were taken the wrong way. I told Str8 “no” a bunch of times, but then i thought about all the pros and cons of the situation and decided to take a chance with them. I was also pretty good friends with Elamite at the time so that had a pretty big influence on my decision as well. It definitely worked out the best it could have, even though a lot people think the Orlando Triggers Down team was the best team last season

Trent : Let’s move on to Dallas. You guys lost a heartbreaker in Dallas. How did that affect the team and you individually getting ready for Vegas?

Snipedown: After Dallas we were so motivated to play every day it was insane. I played more halo during the Dallas to Vegas break than I think I played all season and it definitely paid off.

Trent: Now in Vegas you won the “Rising Star Award”, MVP and the National Championship. That has to have been an almost unbelievable feeling? The perfect trifecta.

Snipedown: It was the perfect end to the perfect season. I ended up on the best team I could have asked for and I walked away with one of, if not the greatest feelings of my life and along with some of the best friends I could have meet

Trent: Well, how have you dealt with this all of a sudden fame? Has it got to your head at all? Even a little?

Snipedown: I mean yeah, it has gone to my head. There’s no way it couldn’t, but I try to keep my head in the right position as much as I can so I don’t become the Terrell Owens of MLG.

Trent: He does have big muscles and is pretty studly though?

Snipedown: He’s freakin huge

Trent: (laughing) We all wish we could be like him. Outside of your team what three people would you like to team with?

Snipedown: neighbor, ghostayame, hysteria

Trent: I would have seen hysteria and neighbor, but ghost … really, why?

Snipedown: He loves the game and he plays all the time and is always trying his best to get better. Along with that his name is Eric, together we form E2

Trent: Very true, Ghost has been a perennial powerhouse. We’re gonna play rapid fire now….. quick questions quick answers.

Trent : Who has the best hair on the circuit?

Snipedown: Pistola

Trent: Who is the loudest?

Snipedown: T2

Trent: (laughing) Who is the funniest?

Snipedown: SK

Trent: Sniper or Br

Snipedown: Sniper

Trent: Camo or OS

Snipedown: Camo

Trent: sneakyyyy

Snipedown: beaverrrrr

Trent: (laughing) Favorite player

Snipedown: Legit

Trent:Best player on str8?

Snipedown: Legit

Trent: Favorite band

Snipedown: Wiz Khalifa

Trent: H2 or H3

Snipedown: H2, no doubt. I was the biggest online warrior ever

Trent: Last one …mlginsider or mlginsider? (wink, wink) Trick question

Snipedown: None of the above. (laughing)

Trent: Ouch that’s cold…

Snipedown: mlg INSIDER

Trent: (Laughing) Ahhh, now I see.  I have two questions from our users….. then I’m done. Do you get any attention or recognition from your teachers about being a professional Halo 3 Player?

Snipedown: Actually I do, my business teacher, tennis coach, and physics teacher are all pretty interested in what I do.

Trent: That’s awesome. They ask about the events when you get back?

Snipedown: Yea

Trent: Last one… and this is the one I get asked the most. Who would win in a 1v1, you or Neighbor?

Snipedown: We will just have to wait and see, might be a mainstage event at ML.

Trent: (laughing) That would be awesome

Snipedown: We are playing the Octagon on mainstage.

Trent: That would make the wait worth while. Well, before I let you go do you have anything you want to say to your fans or any shout-outs?

Snipedown: Nothing other than the usual. Cheer us on at ML and I’m gettin an overkill

Trent: (laughing) Nothing other than the usual, huh? Thanks for your time Eric

Snipedown: Yup

 

There you have it.  The kid who according to the awards has one of the brightest futures in Major League Gaming.  Can’t wait to see he and Str8 Rippin try to defend their title against the onslaught of good teams that want what they have.  Good Luck guys.

Qualifier Finals

Halo 3

The winners bracket came to an end over the past week. With FeeL tHe HyPe dominated the competition and took first place.  Now they move on to play the winner of the losers bracket.

The match between intensityRising and Dedicated 09 will determine who plays FeeL the HyPe in the Championship round.

GoW2:

In the Gears of War 2 play off bracket MbN: The Business defeated DpG Fear to win the winners bracket.

For the losers bracket their is a  grudge match between DpG Fear and TH3 NSAN3Z. The winner will go on to play MbN: The Business in the Championship Match.

“F.T.H.” Interview

I got a chance to sit down with Coach BossMayne, PRiZoto TiZype, and The Main Slayer from the number 1 online ranked team FeeL tHe HyPe. These guys are some of the funniest guys I’ve talked to in a while. Prizoto is hilarious, and MainSlayer is a beast with rockets.

Insider: Hey guys thanks a lot for doing the interview!

FtH: Not a problem, glad to be doing it.

Insider: First question, how did you guys come together to be a team?

Mainslayer: Well…It started when I went into the MLG playlist and got paired up with Luckyy ShoTT and HighC. We did well together and Lucky asked if I wanted to join his MLG team. I ignored it at first, then he kept bugging me so I finally said OK and we started running games. They wanted to tryout and pick up Brolly, but I said no, lets try out Captian X Clutch, now known as PRiZoto TiZpe. After a while HighC left they picked up Mister Excel. After that we just kinda clicked.

Insider: How often do you guys practice?

Prototype: From around 6 pm Central to 2 or 3 am. These guys never let me get sleep.

Main Slay: I go to bed a 3am…Sleep for 2 hours..Get up go to school and back at Halo 3.

Insider: How do you guys feel about placing first on the online tournament but not having a top 16 place in Meadows?

Bossmayne: The way we see it, the Qualifier is just practice and is not a priority. We consider ourselves to be a top 16 team and have a lot to prove this year.

Insider: How do you guys feel about going up against “Intensity Rising” in the winner bracket finals?

Main Slayer: We are confident. We played them in the playlist and beat them. One of our only losses in the ladder is because Prototype’s sister got on the computer and put him into red bar for 5 minutes of a King of the Hill game.  It’s hard to come back from an 80 point gap.

Bossmayne: Intensity has a bunch of great players but they lack the team work that these for guys have. My “ninjjaz” have amazing teamwork and better communication than 50% of the teams out there

Insider: Your “ninjjaz”

Bossmayne: Yes, my “ninjjaz”

Mainslayer: With the double j’s and the z at the end

Insider: Alright…….Moving on……..Are you guys looking forward to Meadows?

Prototype: Yes we’re pumped. We’re hoping for a top finish to get our names out there and to get some amazing scrims with some awesome teams. We’d love to play against some pro teams to get ready for Meadowlands.

Insider: How do you guys see yourselves placing in Meadows?

Bossmayne: Top 16 for sure. We are going to be the next Team Classic, except we are better than them and are going to take first instead of 2^nd.

Insider: What team are you guys looking forward to playing in Meadows?

Bossmayne: We are hoping only to play top 16 teams. We want to play only top 16 teams because we want enough points to be top 16 in Columbus, and to show some pros that there are hidden teams out there with enough talent if they only have a chance.

Prototype: Well…I really want to play Status Quo, Strongside is a beast and can’t wait to see what they do this year.

Insider: How long have you guys been a team?

MainSlayer: Well, around 3 or 4 months. (They argue for a bit) Yeah between 3 and 6 months.

Bossmayne: I’ve known you guys for around a year now.

Insider: Main Slayer, how did you get into MLG and onto Feel The Hype?

MainSlayer: Well, I use to be a Matchmaking noob trying to get 50s in everything. So I skipped school one day because I wanted to get my 50 in the MLG Playlist. So I go in and get paired up with LucKyy ShoTT and HighC. On the other team was Xit Wounds. I did not know they were pro at the time. Luckyy Shot was like, dude these kids are pro. Then I said so what? We played them and won. After Luckyy Shot asked me if I wanted to be on his competitive Major League gaming team, and after he bugged me for a while I finally said yes. I use to call out stuff like brute shot and power drain. But, there is no brute shot or power drain in MLG so they had no clue what I was talking.

Insider: PRizoto TiZype, how did you first get into MLG and compettitvie gaming?

ProtoType: Well, back in Halo 2 I played Hardcore a lot. I got paired up with who is now Tizoxic, he liked the way I played so sent me a FR, he taught me MLG and I just got hooked. This is before he was pro though.

Insider: How did you end up with FeeL tHe HyPe?

Boss: I knew Main Slayer for almost a year now, and I coached Proto Types team back in Dallas. Even though we are both thick headed and butt heads some time. We both want to be dedicated and go somewhere in this game so we manage to get over it pretty quick. Since I’m their coach and agent I take care of all the sponsors and everything so they can focus just on gameplay.

Insider: You guys talk about sponsors, who exactly sponsors you guys?

Boss: Our sponsor is Firestormgaming.com They are an awesome sponsor and are helping us out a lot!(They also have another but didn’t want me to add to the interview)

Insider: Alright, for all of you guys who didn’t know. Call me slayer has beaten top pros in a 1v1, you can check him beating Neighbor in a 1v1 on my fileshare, LApollo ze GodL. Proto type, how do you stand up against some of the other players out there?

Bossmayne: Dude…He has Walshy like tactics and reflexes with a Snipedown sniper.

ProtoType: Yeah, call me YhslDown…..

Everyone: (nothing but silence) (then we die laughing)

Insider: Have you guys been to MLGinsider before?

Bossmayne: When I have a computer, yeah. You guys have great interviews, a lot of awesome commentary and some great gameplay analysis.

Insider: Well that about does it for me, its been awesome! Good luck in your match tomorrow against intensityRising, and good luck in Meadows

Check out some of their awesome gameplay on MLGinsiderApolo’s fileshare this afternoon. Also watch for the FeeL the HyPe’s Team Montage coming out later this month…It’s going to be awesome!

"F.T.H." Interview

I got a chance to sit down with Coach BossMayne, PRiZoto TiZype, and The Main Slayer from the number 1 online ranked team FeeL tHe HyPe. These guys are some of the funniest guys I’ve talked to in a while. Prizoto is hilarious, and MainSlayer is a beast with rockets.

Insider: Hey guys thanks a lot for doing the interview!

FtH: Not a problem, glad to be doing it.

Insider: First question, how did you guys come together to be a team?

Mainslayer: Well…It started when I went into the MLG playlist and got paired up with Luckyy ShoTT and HighC. We did well together and Lucky asked if I wanted to join his MLG team. I ignored it at first, then he kept bugging me so I finally said OK and we started running games. They wanted to tryout and pick up Brolly, but I said no, lets try out Captian X Clutch, now known as PRiZoto TiZpe. After a while HighC left they picked up Mister Excel. After that we just kinda clicked.

Insider: How often do you guys practice?

Prototype: From around 6 pm Central to 2 or 3 am. These guys never let me get sleep.

Main Slay: I go to bed a 3am…Sleep for 2 hours..Get up go to school and back at Halo 3.

Insider: How do you guys feel about placing first on the online tournament but not having a top 16 place in Meadows?

Bossmayne: The way we see it, the Qualifier is just practice and is not a priority. We consider ourselves to be a top 16 team and have a lot to prove this year.

Insider: How do you guys feel about going up against “Intensity Rising” in the winner bracket finals?

Main Slayer: We are confident. We played them in the playlist and beat them. One of our only losses in the ladder is because Prototype’s sister got on the computer and put him into red bar for 5 minutes of a King of the Hill game.  It’s hard to come back from an 80 point gap.

Bossmayne: Intensity has a bunch of great players but they lack the team work that these for guys have. My “ninjjaz” have amazing teamwork and better communication than 50% of the teams out there

Insider: Your “ninjjaz”

Bossmayne: Yes, my “ninjjaz”

Mainslayer: With the double j’s and the z at the end

Insider: Alright…….Moving on……..Are you guys looking forward to Meadows?

Prototype: Yes we’re pumped. We’re hoping for a top finish to get our names out there and to get some amazing scrims with some awesome teams. We’d love to play against some pro teams to get ready for Meadowlands.

Insider: How do you guys see yourselves placing in Meadows?

Bossmayne: Top 16 for sure. We are going to be the next Team Classic, except we are better than them and are going to take first instead of 2^nd.

Insider: What team are you guys looking forward to playing in Meadows?

Bossmayne: We are hoping only to play top 16 teams. We want to play only top 16 teams because we want enough points to be top 16 in Columbus, and to show some pros that there are hidden teams out there with enough talent if they only have a chance.

Prototype: Well…I really want to play Status Quo, Strongside is a beast and can’t wait to see what they do this year.

Insider: How long have you guys been a team?

MainSlayer: Well, around 3 or 4 months. (They argue for a bit) Yeah between 3 and 6 months.

Bossmayne: I’ve known you guys for around a year now.

Insider: Main Slayer, how did you get into MLG and onto Feel The Hype?

MainSlayer: Well, I use to be a Matchmaking noob trying to get 50s in everything. So I skipped school one day because I wanted to get my 50 in the MLG Playlist. So I go in and get paired up with LucKyy ShoTT and HighC. On the other team was Xit Wounds. I did not know they were pro at the time. Luckyy Shot was like, dude these kids are pro. Then I said so what? We played them and won. After Luckyy Shot asked me if I wanted to be on his competitive Major League gaming team, and after he bugged me for a while I finally said yes. I use to call out stuff like brute shot and power drain. But, there is no brute shot or power drain in MLG so they had no clue what I was talking.

Insider: PRizoto TiZype, how did you first get into MLG and compettitvie gaming?

ProtoType: Well, back in Halo 2 I played Hardcore a lot. I got paired up with who is now Tizoxic, he liked the way I played so sent me a FR, he taught me MLG and I just got hooked. This is before he was pro though.

Insider: How did you end up with FeeL tHe HyPe?

Boss: I knew Main Slayer for almost a year now, and I coached Proto Types team back in Dallas. Even though we are both thick headed and butt heads some time. We both want to be dedicated and go somewhere in this game so we manage to get over it pretty quick. Since I’m their coach and agent I take care of all the sponsors and everything so they can focus just on gameplay.

Insider: You guys talk about sponsors, who exactly sponsors you guys?

Boss: Our sponsor is Firestormgaming.com They are an awesome sponsor and are helping us out a lot!(They also have another but didn’t want me to add to the interview)

Insider: Alright, for all of you guys who didn’t know. Call me slayer has beaten top pros in a 1v1, you can check him beating Neighbor in a 1v1 on my fileshare, LApollo ze GodL. Proto type, how do you stand up against some of the other players out there?

Bossmayne: Dude…He has Walshy like tactics and reflexes with a Snipedown sniper.

ProtoType: Yeah, call me YhslDown…..

Everyone: (nothing but silence) (then we die laughing)

Insider: Have you guys been to MLGinsider before?

Bossmayne: When I have a computer, yeah. You guys have great interviews, a lot of awesome commentary and some great gameplay analysis.

Insider: Well that about does it for me, its been awesome! Good luck in your match tomorrow against intensityRising, and good luck in Meadows

Check out some of their awesome gameplay on MLGinsiderApolo’s fileshare this afternoon. Also watch for the FeeL the HyPe’s Team Montage coming out later this month…It’s going to be awesome!

Qualifer Update

Its down to the Round 4, in the Halo 3 and Gears of War 2 playoff bracket.

Halo 3

In round 3 FeeL the HypE played THE UnDeFiNeD. Though The undefined fought hard they could not stand up to the first place FeeL tHe HyPe.

In the 2^ndmatch Sector 7 played intensityRising. Sector 7 fought hard but they could not match the 2^ndplace team intensityRISING

Now on March 12^th 1^st and 2^nd place teams will battle it out to be claimed Online qualifier winners! Who will win? Only time will tell.

Gears of War 2

In round 3 TH3 NSAN3Z came up against DpG Fear. Though the first place team from last year stepped up to the plate DpG Fear would not be denied. With that loss TH3 NSAN3Z is dropped to the losers bracket.

The next match was MbN The Business against Simply UnderRated. Though Simply underrated was ranked 15^th they played a top 8 game but still could not hack it.

In the final match MbN The Business will play against DpG Fear on March 12^th.

Montage Weekly #2

Whats up Everyone! This is Apollo and I’d like to welcome you back to another addition of Montage Weekly! Every week or so I’m going to be updating everyone on the hottest montage trailers, Montages, Funtages, and everything in between! Along with giving you a link, I’ll be giving you my thoughts, as well as a rating for the video! Lets get started!

Name: Psylence Trailer

Editor: Robotik Designs and Xam MediA

GamePlay: Robosteeze and CitriC AciDDDD

Link: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/WDyO3atr1wI.html?video_page=7

This trailer is one of the better ones I have seen. It is a high definition trailer, and has some amazing music to it. It is edited almost to perfection, with a lot of 3^rd person views, and some great syncing. Only complaint would be it needs more actual footage.

Ratings:

Editing: 5/5 Plasmas: Editing is simply great

Gameplay: 4/5 Plasmas: Could use just a bit more actual gameplay

Overall: 4.5/5 Plasmas: It’s a great trailer and leaves you on the edge of your chair for the full thing!

Name: Orima: Teaser Trailer

Editor: TM22

GamePlay: TM22, ST68, Halomaggot, Scarecrow, Avo, Shift, Sargoth, Smurfx2, WarHero

Link: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/GCCvPWG9PQQ.html

This is a 9 person campaign montage. The trailer is like a breath of fresh air. It’s really relaxed, and chill. With some smooth editing and some amazing sticks in campaign this montage is one to be looked forward to.

Ratings:

Editing: 5/5 Plasmas: This is really smooth editing

Gameplay: 2/3 Plasmas: There is very little actual gameplay but it promises much

Overall: 4/5 Plasmas: It’s a great trailer…But there’s no actual gameplay

 

Name: Extermination

Editor: Suddoth 2

Gameplay: Suddoth

Link: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/jT9iTF7kk8s.html?video_page=4

This montage starts out extremely well. Good quality clips, all really nice overkill exterminations. But then, after about 2 minutes it goes to very very low quality clips. The skill of the clips are still awesome, some really cool no scopes and br kills. But the quality brings it down so much. With a better quality, like the beginning it would have made MLG top 10 without a doubt. But the quality just brings it down. As for editing, there’s not much in the way of it, a few simple transitions and that is it.

Ratings:

Editing 1/5 Plasmas: Very little in the way of editing

Gameplay: 5/5 Plasmas: Some of the clips are just amazing. But after 2 minutes the quality becomes something very close to a camcorder.

Overall: 3/5 Plasmas: If it had better quality it would have been awesome. Some more editing would have been much wanted.

 

Name: Str8 Rippin Montage

Edit: Zola

Link: http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/view/TRYG6kNx4Ko.html

Only a god would be able to edit better…This is superb editing with the most amazing gameplay to date

Gameplay: 5/5 Plasmas: Pure epicness

Edit: 5/5 Plasmas: Only a god could edit more

Overall: 10/5 Best montage to date

 

MLG Update Pt2

This is the MLG Update Part 2 for those of you who decided to stay away in the off-season or just lived under a rock.  We talked about some of the roster changes in Part 1.  You can read that here.  This article is to discuss the changes to the Pro Circuit.  There have been three drastic changes to the Pro Circuit.  The Circuit this year with have a modified bracket, a new Pro Points system and a will charge a fee for the first time for it’s new-and -improved “Spectator Experience”.

Let’s talk about the brackets first.  This year the Championship bracket play will start on Friday with the Open bracket play.  The top 16 teams will play the first round of the championship bracket on Friday.   Then the losing teams will then play 2 placing rounds for the loser’s bracket.   The top 16 Open teams  will still make into the Championship bracket  like in previous years, but they will go directly to the Loser’s bracket.  However, they will not face a top 16 team for the first three rounds.  This is actually  making it easier for an open team to make the top 20.

Next I want to address the new “Rolling Points System”.  MLG wanted to increase stability in the Pro Ranks and with this thought they changes the Points system.   Starting this first event,each team will carry over 50 % of their point totals from last season.  Then after the first event in 2009, the points from the first 2 events last year will expire.  One additional event from the previous year will expire after every event this year.  This will increase the stability of the Pro ranks and will increase the familiarity of the Pro teams with fans and hopefully will increase MLG’s following.

Finally, let’s talk about the New “Spectator Experience”.  The first ad biggest chance in this is that every event will have an entry fee now.  It will be $20 at the door or $15 dollars if purchased ahead of time online.  Now this fee is meant to cover the expenses associated with the new experience. 

New this year to the “spectator experience” will be the following features:

• Chill out in the GameBattles Arcade, play mini-games, and interact with other fans!
• Spectators can get their name out as individual competitors in the Halo 3 FFA and Gears of War 2 Wingman Competitions!
• Get the VIP Treatment by Becoming an MLG High Roller

Click here for more details on the spectator experience.

HaE Analysis

This is part 2 of our 16 team pro breakdown.  Next up is the number 15 seed Heaven and Earth.  Their line up consists of Poweezy , Killerdrew, Hokum and Perplexity.  Let’s get right to it!!

Poweezy

• Posistives: Team player, Solid overall skill set, very consistent
• Negatives: Can be a little too conservative at times and too aggressive other times, needs to be in the middle.

Killerdrew

• Positives:  Solid Slayer, steady br and good snipe
• Negatives: A little too aggressive at times, sometimes too “slaying” oriented

Hokum

• Positives:  He was know in Halo 2 for having a solid Br and Sniper, he seems to have picked up where he left off in halo 2
• Negatives: Not as much experience with Halo 3 as other pros last year

Perplexity

• Positives: Bigtime slayer, can be a beast
• Negatives: Short team chemistry, Not been in with the “big boys” as often

Summary:  They all have experience.   How well they do will be determined by how quickly they meash and how they can do with their bracket draws.

Bold Prediction: Top 12

Qualifier Play-off #2

 

Halo 3

Round 3 of the Halo 3 Winners play off bracket was played in the past week! And we are here to bring you up to date on whos breaking out and coming up big!

First match is current 1st place team FeeL tHe Hype. They played and defeated 24th ranked SPiRit 3-0 and move on to play in round four which is on March 5th.

Next Match was UnDeFiNeD, who is in 5th place, against 20th placed team Total Audacity. Undefined came out big and defeated Total 3 - 2. They move on to play the 1st ranked team FeeL the HypE.

The third match is 19th ranked Sector 7 against ranked 11th In The Spotlight. Sector 7 came out to play and defeated In The Spotlight 3 – 0.

The final game is 7th ranked GIMME mY MONEY against 2nd place intensityRISING. IntensityRISING defeated them 3 – 0, and moves onto play Sector 7 in round four!

Gears of War 2

The first match played was 1st ranked team, TH3 NSAN3Z, against the 25th ranked team ReLease. Though ReLease fought hard they could not defeat TH3 NSAN3Z. TH3 NSAN3Z defeated ReLease 3 – 2.

The next match was Strength in Numbers who is ranked 12th against 4th ranked DpG Fear. Though they fought hard Strength in Numbers could not stop DpG from winning 3  – 1. DpG Fear now moves onto round 4 to play against TH3 NSAN3Z.

The third match is 3rd ranked vVv Destiny against 6th ranked MbN-The Business. MbN- The Business upset this top team 3 - 2 and now moves onto round 4.

The final match is another upset. 7th ranked pX I Fully Spaced was defeated 2 - 3 by 15th ranked team SimplyUnderRated.  Simply now moves on to play The Business in round 4 on March 5th

Top 16 are Set.

The top 16 teams that qualify for Pro status are finally set for Meadowlands. The biggest surprise of all – Ogre 1 is back!!  Here is the break down from MLGpro.

Meadowlands Halo 3 Top 16 Team Rosters Set

MLG Bracket Show to Announce Bracket Tomorrow

The roster deadline has passed for the teams aiming to start in the Meadowlands Championship Bracket, and MLG Commissioner John Nelson has released a list of the Top 16 seeded Halo 3 teams headed into the competition. Check out the names and rosters of teams starting in the Meadowlands Championship Bracket below, which are now locked until after the Meadowlands competition.

While the Top 16 seeded teams are now known, it is still unknown which teams will face off in the first round of the Winners Bracket. Tomorrow, MLG’s new Bracket Show will reveal the Meadowlands Halo 3 randomized Championship Bracket quadrants, surely kicking off countless debates about which team will prevail. Be sure to look out for the video on mlgpro.com tomorrow to find out which teams will be facing off in the first round of the Winners Bracket. For more information on Quadrant Randomization, click here.

You can also see the team names and rosters with their rolling rank points on the Halo 3 Team Standings page.