MLG WoW 2010 Info

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

WoW Character Class Breakdown

Along with choosing a race, like Human or Troll, players also choose one class for their character to be from a choice of ten character classes. These ten classes are, the Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior, and Deathknight. These classes can be categorized into Healers, Damage Per Second, and Tanks. Healers have the ability to heal everyone and pets. Damage per second have the ability to do mass numbers of damage and kill very fast. Tanks can take huge amounts of damage and are very difficult to kill. In player vs. player, like you see at MLG WoW events, there are usually only Healers and DPS on teams because Tanks just drag out the game and do not do damage like DPS can.

Healer classes are Druids, Paladins, Priests, and Shaman. Death Knights can also heal but only Blood Speced Death Knights can and most of their spells only heal themselves. Healers have small and big heals and the magic used and cast time is less with smaller heals and more with bigger ones. The trick to being a good healer is to always keep a line of sight with your teammates and to choose when to cast bigger and smaller heals.

Damage Per Second, or DPS, can be played by ever class as long as you choose the right talent tree to go down. The classes you see played in MLG will change with the patches that come out for the game. Patches come out for the game to change up the over powered classes and give everyone a fair chance at winning.

Tanks are not played because they are just too hard to kill with their armor, defense rating, and huge amounts of health. They also do too little damage to be considered in competitive play. Look forward to more World of Warcraft articles coming soon!

World of Warcraft Rosters

1	Check6
	flexxzorz
	twixz
	toesz
2	SK
	enforcerz
	Pookz
	SK_Realz
3	CompLexity
	sodah
	venruki
	reckful
4	Button Bashers
	BB_numberone
	orangemarmalade
	BB_Hiren
5	Fnatic
	yog
	Douja
	Woundman
6	SK EU
	enigmz
	SK_Another
	xXInflameXx
7	Evil Geniuses
	Azael
	Smatin
	Tenderloin
8	BHMS
	Brogo
	massivez
	snutzy

WoW Racial Ability Breakdown

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Understanding Competitive World of Warcraft

Many console gamers cannot get into the competitive World of Warcraft craze because it tends to be so fast and complex. Others may watch and simply become too confused to follow. If I could slow down the pace of a match, would you watch? Well, that is what I intend to do with this article. I will try and make World of Warcraft, also known as WoW, more understandable to anyone watching during MLG events.

World of Warcraft lets players create a character from a choice of ten races. These ten races are split between the Horde and Alliance armies. The Horde consists of five races, the Blood Elves, Orcs, Tauren, Trolls, and Undead. The Alliance consists of the other five races, the draenei, dwarves, gnomes, Humans, and night elves. Each of the races has certain racial abilities that are special to their respective race.

Some of these racial abilities can help in battle many players in battle. For instance, the Gnomes have Escape Artist and Expansive Mind as just two of their racial abilities. Escape Artist gives Gnomes the ability to escape the effects of any immobilization or movement speed reduction effect and Expansive Mind increases intellect by 5%. This 5% increase in intellect increases the Gnome’s mana, which gives them more magic to cast spells. All the other races have racial abilities that do different things to help them in battle as well. This is the reason you see many different races from both armies fighting each other during MLG World of Warcraft tournaments. The only catch is that teams can only consist of three characters from the same army, either Alliance or Horde.
Along with choosing a race, players also choose one class for their character from ten character classes. These ten classes are, the Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior, and Deathknight. Only certain races have the ability to be certain classes. For instance, the Blood Elf is the only Horde race with the ability to be a Paladin and the Draenei is the only Alliance race with the ability to be a Shaman.

One misconception of World of Warcraft is that players only run around leveling their characters. This is true, but only until players hit level 80, which is the current level cap in World of Warcraft. After players hit level 80 the goal is to get the best gear they can and fight each other in battlegrounds and arenas (player vs. player or PvP) or complete end game dungeons (player vs. environment or PvE). It is the player’s preference when choosing between PvP and PvE.  Some players even do both! In MLG events, characters are outfitted with gear from both the PvP and PvE aspects of the game.

Another misconception made by people when thinking of World of Warcraft competitive play is that players use their own characters to play at MLG. Contrary to popular belief, players do not use their own characters. MLG actually has premade characters of each race and class that are already at level 80. All these characters have the same season 5 PvP and season 5 PvP gear equivalent on every computer. This makes sure all teams are equally matched when playing at MLG tournaments.

There are also strategies used during the game. There are many different class combinations that can be used. Players usually go with a combination of one healer class and two DPS classes. DPS is short for damage per second. This allows teams to keep each other alive while dealing a great amount of damage. It has also been known for teams to use two healers and one DPS to catch opponents off guard. Healer classes include the Priest, Shaman, Druid, and Paladin. Any class can play DPS if it gets set up the right way.

Another important part to any World of Warcraft strategy is crowd control. Most classes can do this. Crowd control makes an enemy player loose control of their character for a few seconds. Some examples of crowd control are Mages using polymorph and Rogues using kidney shot. Polymorph changes the enemy into a sheep for a few seconds and kidney shot stuns an enemy for a few seconds.
There are also pillars and other objects on each arena that players can hide behind. This helps players run away to get healed by their healer or heal themselves with bandages. They also drink so they can get back mana for spell casting or healing. These pillars and other objects can also break a spell caster’s line of site. This line of site is needed to cast a spell on their target. Whether the target is an enemy or their teammate, both spell casters and healers need this line of site. If it is broken before or during a spell casting, the spell will be cancelled and will not be cast. This is why the pillars and objects on maps are an important part of any strategy.

Most people think it would be easy to just take out the healer so their enemies cannot get healed. This is true some times but not all the time. Most of the time players like to try and single out a player behind a pillar or object where games could end in seconds because the enemy healer may not have a line of site. The player that gets singled out may be a healer or DPS. Games can also be all out wars in wide-open playing field and last the full 20-minute time limit. Most battles depend on the combination of classes and teams that are battling and which arena is being played.

MLG World of Warcraft tournaments are played in 3v3 arena matches. Each match is a best of 5 series. However, all 5 games are played because MLG plays a round robin style tournament until Championship Sunday. The game type is 3v3 death match. Teams can only change their characters and class combinations during a 5-minute break after games 3 and 5.

World of Warcraft is fast pace and can be hard to understand with out knowledge towards the game. Then again, most games are hard to understand without proper knowledge. I hope that this helps shine some light on any confusion you may have had about World of Warcraft competitive play.

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!

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.

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

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!

Apollo’s Columbus Journal

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

Friday Morning:

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

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

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

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

Saturday:

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

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

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

Sunday:

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

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

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

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

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.

’09 Pro Circuit Info

Updates for the 2009 Circuit and Next MLG location!

From MLGpro.com
MLG is proud to release a flurry of information regarding the 2009 MLG Pro Circuit. In order to house all of these exciting details, we’ve launched a new and improved MLG Pro Circuit Section which will make it easier than ever to access vital info for the many different ways you can get involved with the Pro Circuit. Within you will find just about everything you need to know about the Pro Circuit tour, the Online Pro Circuit and Online Qualifiers, as well as spectator and online streaming info. We’ll be adding to the new Pro Circuit Section regularly, so be sure to check back often! Click on the link below to enter the 2009 Pro Circuit Section and begin exploring all that this year’s Pro Circuit has to offer!

MLG 2009 Pro Circuit Section

In our ongoing pursuit of perfection, we have made some changes to the Pro Circuit format, outlined below:

New Rolling Rank Points System
The first major change to the Pro Circuit is the addition of the Rolling Rank Points System. In short, the Rolling Rank Points System ranks/seeds players based on the four or five most recent Live Competitions. To kick off the 2009 Season, Halo 3 Players will retain 50% of the Pro Circuit Rank Points that they earned at each of the 2008 Pro Circuit Competitions (excluding the Vegas National Championship). 2009 Live Competitions will be worth 100% of their value until the 2010 season.

As each new Live Competition takes place, the Rank Points from the oldest valid Live Competition will expire and be replaced by the most recent one, creating a new total. For example, Pro Circuit Rank Points earned at the 2008 Meadowlands Competition will expire at the end of the 2009 Meadowlands Competition. Pro Circuit Rank Points earned at the 2008 San Diego Competition will expire at the end of the 2009 Columbus Competition. Pro Circuit Rank Points earned at the 2008 Orlando Competition will expire at the end of the third 2009 Competition. Pro Circuit Rank Points earned at the 2008 Toronto and Dallas Competitions will expire simultaneously at the end of the fourth 2009 Competition. When 2008 Pro Circuit Rank Points expire, they become Expired Pro Circuit Rank Points.

The idea behind rolling rank points is that players will have a more stable point value attached to them. Players carry 50% of their points from the previous season, which expire after each corresponding Competition this season. GoW2 Players should assume that their 2009 Pro Circuit Rank Points will roll over to the 2010 Pro Circuit in the same fashion, should GoW2 be chosen as a 2010 Pro Circuit Title.

For a graphical representation of the Rolling Rank Points system, Click Here.
To view the new and improved Player Points Page, Click Here.
To view the new and improved Team Points Standings, Click Here.

Revolutionary Championship Bracket Format
The format of the 2009 Championship Bracket has been changed. Championship Bracket play will now begin on Friday with the Top 16 seeded teams fighting it out in the first round of the Winners Bracket. Teams who lose in the first or second round of the Winners Bracket will play in another new addition to the Pro Circuit, Placement Rounds. These matches are not elimination matches. They determine where teams will fall into the Losers Bracket. With this new system, fans will be treated to pro gameplay all weekend long.

Click Here to check out the New Championship Bracket Format.

Boost Your Seed for Live Competitions with MLG’s Online Qualifiers
The 2008 Pro Circuit Online Ladders have made a return in 2009 with a new name and some big changes. Now known as Online Qualifiers, these pre-event competitions will have teams fighting it out for an improved seed at MLG Live Competitions and a reserved team pass for the next Live Competition. Unlike last year’s Pro Circuit Online Ladders, Online Qualifier Rank Points are cumulative throughout the season. This means that players who do not plan on attending a Live Competition until later in the Season may begin competing in the Online Qualifiers to improve their seed now. Online Qualifiers are available for both Halo 3 and Gears of War 2.

MLG’s Online Pro Circuit Returns
The 2009 Online Pro Circuit will feature both Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six Vegas 2. The Online Pro Circuit brings all of the competition to your home. Running in a similar format to the Pro Circuit Live Competitions, the Online Pro Circuit lets players compete against other players for awesome cash prizes and pro status. Each competition takes place online, making it much easier for players to participate.

The players who are successful enough to earn pro status will enjoy many of the same benefits as pros for Live Competition titles, such as access to the Pro Players Association, editorial coverage, team sites, and potentially even team sponsorships.

Registration for the Online Pro Circuit is now open for both Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six Vegas 2.
Click here for more information about the MLG Online Pro Circuit.

Gears of War 2′s Pro Circuit Debut
The 2009 Season will feature the debut of Gears of War 2 on the MLG Pro Circuit. With a new Pro Circuit Title comes a fresh start, new teams, new pro players, and the birth of new and exciting rivalries.

Expanded Spectator Experience
The 2009 Pro Circuit will also feature a significantly expanded spectator experience. While we’re not ready to share with you all of the details just yet, we can say that this season will engage spectators like never before.

The next MLG Circuit stop after Meadowlands is going to be Columbus Ohio, June 5-7. The games featured will be Gears of War 2, Halo 3, and World of Warcraft!

Also if i may…I would like to say that this new point system is not a good idea…This system will make it

'09 Pro Circuit Info

Updates for the 2009 Circuit and Next MLG location!

From MLGpro.com
MLG is proud to release a flurry of information regarding the 2009 MLG Pro Circuit. In order to house all of these exciting details, we’ve launched a new and improved MLG Pro Circuit Section which will make it easier than ever to access vital info for the many different ways you can get involved with the Pro Circuit. Within you will find just about everything you need to know about the Pro Circuit tour, the Online Pro Circuit and Online Qualifiers, as well as spectator and online streaming info. We’ll be adding to the new Pro Circuit Section regularly, so be sure to check back often! Click on the link below to enter the 2009 Pro Circuit Section and begin exploring all that this year’s Pro Circuit has to offer!

MLG 2009 Pro Circuit Section

In our ongoing pursuit of perfection, we have made some changes to the Pro Circuit format, outlined below:

New Rolling Rank Points System
The first major change to the Pro Circuit is the addition of the Rolling Rank Points System. In short, the Rolling Rank Points System ranks/seeds players based on the four or five most recent Live Competitions. To kick off the 2009 Season, Halo 3 Players will retain 50% of the Pro Circuit Rank Points that they earned at each of the 2008 Pro Circuit Competitions (excluding the Vegas National Championship). 2009 Live Competitions will be worth 100% of their value until the 2010 season.

As each new Live Competition takes place, the Rank Points from the oldest valid Live Competition will expire and be replaced by the most recent one, creating a new total. For example, Pro Circuit Rank Points earned at the 2008 Meadowlands Competition will expire at the end of the 2009 Meadowlands Competition. Pro Circuit Rank Points earned at the 2008 San Diego Competition will expire at the end of the 2009 Columbus Competition. Pro Circuit Rank Points earned at the 2008 Orlando Competition will expire at the end of the third 2009 Competition. Pro Circuit Rank Points earned at the 2008 Toronto and Dallas Competitions will expire simultaneously at the end of the fourth 2009 Competition. When 2008 Pro Circuit Rank Points expire, they become Expired Pro Circuit Rank Points.

The idea behind rolling rank points is that players will have a more stable point value attached to them. Players carry 50% of their points from the previous season, which expire after each corresponding Competition this season. GoW2 Players should assume that their 2009 Pro Circuit Rank Points will roll over to the 2010 Pro Circuit in the same fashion, should GoW2 be chosen as a 2010 Pro Circuit Title.

For a graphical representation of the Rolling Rank Points system, Click Here.
To view the new and improved Player Points Page, Click Here.
To view the new and improved Team Points Standings, Click Here.

Revolutionary Championship Bracket Format
The format of the 2009 Championship Bracket has been changed. Championship Bracket play will now begin on Friday with the Top 16 seeded teams fighting it out in the first round of the Winners Bracket. Teams who lose in the first or second round of the Winners Bracket will play in another new addition to the Pro Circuit, Placement Rounds. These matches are not elimination matches. They determine where teams will fall into the Losers Bracket. With this new system, fans will be treated to pro gameplay all weekend long.

Click Here to check out the New Championship Bracket Format.

Boost Your Seed for Live Competitions with MLG’s Online Qualifiers
The 2008 Pro Circuit Online Ladders have made a return in 2009 with a new name and some big changes. Now known as Online Qualifiers, these pre-event competitions will have teams fighting it out for an improved seed at MLG Live Competitions and a reserved team pass for the next Live Competition. Unlike last year’s Pro Circuit Online Ladders, Online Qualifier Rank Points are cumulative throughout the season. This means that players who do not plan on attending a Live Competition until later in the Season may begin competing in the Online Qualifiers to improve their seed now. Online Qualifiers are available for both Halo 3 and Gears of War 2.

MLG’s Online Pro Circuit Returns
The 2009 Online Pro Circuit will feature both Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six Vegas 2. The Online Pro Circuit brings all of the competition to your home. Running in a similar format to the Pro Circuit Live Competitions, the Online Pro Circuit lets players compete against other players for awesome cash prizes and pro status. Each competition takes place online, making it much easier for players to participate.

The players who are successful enough to earn pro status will enjoy many of the same benefits as pros for Live Competition titles, such as access to the Pro Players Association, editorial coverage, team sites, and potentially even team sponsorships.

Registration for the Online Pro Circuit is now open for both Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six Vegas 2.
Click here for more information about the MLG Online Pro Circuit.

Gears of War 2′s Pro Circuit Debut
The 2009 Season will feature the debut of Gears of War 2 on the MLG Pro Circuit. With a new Pro Circuit Title comes a fresh start, new teams, new pro players, and the birth of new and exciting rivalries.

Expanded Spectator Experience
The 2009 Pro Circuit will also feature a significantly expanded spectator experience. While we’re not ready to share with you all of the details just yet, we can say that this season will engage spectators like never before.

The next MLG Circuit stop after Meadowlands is going to be Columbus Ohio, June 5-7. The games featured will be Gears of War 2, Halo 3, and World of Warcraft!

Also if i may…I would like to say that this new point system is not a good idea…This system will make it