Last month, MLG kick started the 2010 season with the inaugural pro-combine which saw the coming together of the best and brightest amateur teams the MLG scene had to offer. One month later the real action started with the first pro circuit stop, MLG Orlando. Touted by a number of pros as the best MLG stop of the season, Orlando also played host to last season's National Championships; an event that caused more upsets than Simon Cowell on Britain's got Talent.
Putting the results of the National Finals to one side, few could argue that the biggest teams in the 2009 season were Str8 Rippin and Triggers Down. Both teams struggled at the National Finals though, and despite Triggers Down becoming the first team to win two back to back events on Halo 3 in the 2009 season, and of course, Str8 Rippin owning a house together where they run their successful Halo 3 lessons business, like many others, the two teams decided to join the shake up and change their rosters.
The off season saw a plethora of changes, which, at the very least, meant that the 2010 season was going to be an interesting one. Some of the more significant changes included Heinz joining Str8 Rippin from Triggers Down while TD welcomed Neighbor as his replacement. The now team-less Elamite Warrior found a new home in Instinct. Elamite along with the two most talented Twins on the circuit, Roy and Lunchbox were also joined by Cloud to complete their new roster. Final Boss welcomed Status Quo star Totz as they looked to re-ignite the dynasty which once completely dominated the Halo scene; a feat that now seems like a distant memory. Heaven and Earth also posed a strong roster on paper as old and new names came together, included Naded, a player who looked extremely impressive at the back end of the 2009 season.
As usual, there was a lot of talk about the European teams attending the event. Once again, the Power four-some made the trip over. Power were coming into the event after a mediocre/impressive placement at the Nashville pro-combine, depending on your take on the event. However, this time they were joined by Team-dignitas. This also meant that there would be no LowLandLions or Fnatic in attendance at the event. For Power, this was another chance to try and achieve their first ever pro placement, a task that has so far evaded them. Team dignitas on the other hand were coming into the event with no real expectations. Once upon a time dignitas were more-or-less the undisputed champions of Europe but with a roster barely resembling their once dominant line up and their last event win being at the less than competitive GameLand in Rome, 2008, times are very different in European Halo 3 and expectations were significantly lower than those levelled at the Power side.
Both European teams played well in the Open Bracket, and despite both teams dropping a game, they managed to make their way through the Lower Bracket and qualify for the Championship bracket. An impressive performance by dignitas who entered the tournament completely unseeded. This now meant that both teams had placed top 32. Team dignitas unfortunately met their match in the first round of the Championship Bracket when they came up against the North of 49, a Canadian line up that are now relative veterans of the MLG scene. Although this meant that Team dignitas' MLG dream had come to an end, there were a lot of positives to take from this event. I'll be the first to admit that they exceeded my expectations and I hope that they managed to attend further events.
Team dignitas make an impressive MLG debut in Orlando (Picture courtesy of team-dignitas.org)
Meanwhile though, Power were trying to prove that they had the pedigree to mix with the big guns, as they began to find their feet in the Championship bracket. Despatching of opponents with relative ease until they came up against the Pro-Combine winners, Adrenaline Rush. Adrenaline Rush not only won the combine but they did so in fairly convincing fashion and this match was undoubtedly going to be a big test of Power's ability. Adrenaline Rush took Narrows CTF 3-1 and already this looked like the beginning of the end of Power. Power then bounced back in the next game with a 50-25 destruction of AR on Construct TS. To say this was a dominant score line would be an understatement and suddenly the momentum looked to be in Power's favour. Power then won the next game on Oddball inching them towards victory going into the 4th map. By this point, Power looked to be in cruise control as they built a strong lead on CTF taking the first two; only to let it slip and allowing AR to tie the game up at 2 maps each. So Amplified TS was the setting for the finale. Amplified has a habit of creating extremely open exchanges and this was no exception as the map lined up a photo finish. Almost simultaneously Buk20 assassinated a member of AR while a member of AR gave Reaction the same treatment, but which was first? Apparently, there was as little as 0.1 seconds in it. 0.1 seconds was the difference between winning or losing for one of the two teams. Unfortunately for Power, it was Adrenaline Rush who emerged victorious which meant that Power would achieve their lowest MLG placement to date. For both teams a series of placement matches followed which both teams won fairly easily meaning that Team dignitas placed 29th while Power finished 21st.
So onto the main event. Looking at the team changes, it was very hard to say where my money would lie. From the start I believed that Triggers Down had made a mistake bringing in Neighbor. They had the perfect balance before and beyond SK improving or their strats getting slightly better, I couldn't see how they could actually improve, but that's most because they didn't need to. On their day, they were the best and as soon as the changes were announced, I sensed that this balance may have been compromised. On the other hand, I thought that, on paper, the addition of Heinz for Elamite would actually significantly improve Str8, providing they continued to improve. If the team change worked, I expected them to take the event. Instinct were some what of a dark horse. I didn't really know what to expect from them going into the event. Roy is undoubtedly a great talent and so is Cloud but I still didn't think they'd have the cutting edge to take the event. Are Final Boss back to best? Carbon are a team I just cannot decide on. Walshy, individually just doesn't cut it for me, but then you hear him talking about Halo 3 and you realise how well he understands the game. There's no doubting that Strongside still has it but would their new line up work?
In many ways, MLG is starting to stagnate a little bit for me, similar to the English (Football) Premier League. Although we have seen some variety in the winners/top teams, it seems like there are only a select few protected players who have the potential to win an event which spoils the whole thing a little bit. That's why it was nice to see a major upset early on into the event. This came in the form of the Str8 Rippin vs Carbon match. This meant that one of the two longest running teams in MLG history were going to have to settle for a top 12 finish in the opener. Bad for them, good for the fans. After a tight series, Str8 Rippin managed to edge out Carbon.
Str8 Rippin celebrate as they avoid an embarrassing top 12 finish (Picture courtesy of MLGPro.com)
Str8 then fell at the next hurdle as they were then eliminated by Status Quo. For the top seeded Str8 Rippin, this demonstrated that they had a lot to work on if they want to get back to the top. Triggers Down also had a relatively early exit from the tournament as they had to settle for a rather mediocre 6th place finish. The 2009 National Champions, Believe the Hype managed to achieve their seed going one better than Triggers Down and placing 5th. Now we were heading into the business end of the tournament. Instinct comfortably booked themselves a place in the winners bracket final and then it was left to Final Boss and Classic to battle it out for the other winners bracket final slot.
As much of a fan favourite Final Boss still are, even with the commentary team some what on their side, they simply weren't as good as Ghostayame's band of merry men, and this meant that Classic had a date with Instinct while Final Boss had to play off against the surprisingly impressive Status Quo. Championship Sunday often throws up some dramatic series, but the Instinct vs Classic game was not one of them. Not even Tizoxic's gunnar glasses could prevent Classic from getting signed, sealed and delivered to the lower bracket by a team that had really come into their own.
Meanwhile, Status Quo had met their match at the hands of Final Boss to set up a rematch between the Halo 2 dynasty and of course, Classic. Classic's earlier 3-1 victory over Final Boss meant that they came into the series with a 3-1 lead, needing a further 3 maps to win compared to Final Boss' 5 required maps. Here we were treated to possibly the best Halo series of the entire event. Final Boss battled back and momentum swung back and forth between the two, relatively evenly matched sides. Eventually, Classic reached the 6 map target with the series finishing 6-4. Classic earning their deserving place in the grand final after undoubtedly being the second strongest team at the event.
So now a rematch between the very impressive Instinct and Classic, the best of the rest. Despite Classic's all round impressive performance, few would have bet against Instinct, and as expected, Instinct polished off their fine weekend display in fairly undramatic fashion and notched their first ever event win. This concluded the Halo 3 4v4 and the top 8 was as follows...
Instinct - Undoubtedly worthy winners on the day (Picture courtesy of MLGPro.com)
MLG Orlando Halo 3 4v4 Top Eight:
1st: Instinct - Roy, Lunchbox, Cloud, Elamite 2nd: Classic - Soldier 187, Chig, Ghostayame, Tizoxic 3rd: Final Boss - Ogre 2, Victory X, Totz, Fearitself 4th: Status Quo - Flamesword, Ace, Enable, Assault 5th: Believe The Hype - Demon D, Maniac, Destin, a Pure Gangster 6th: Triggers Down - SK, Neighbor, Pistola, Hysteria 7th: Darkest Hour - Twylight, Ant, Legend, Cpt Anarchy 8th: Str8 Rippin - T2, Heinz, Legit, Snip3down
Congratulations to Instinct on their first win as a team in what was a solid all round Halo 3 performance. But, were they really that good? After the event I couldn't help but feel that they weren't really tested. If anything, they were the only team that performed to the level that they should have been. Classic, Final Boss and Status Quo all exceeded expectations but this was in a lot of ways down to the lacklustre performance of some of their rivals.
Therefore, I would like to round this article off with my predictions for the next event. MLG Columbus will take place in about a month and a half which leaves teams plenty of time to improve and iron out the various creases their team still have. My top 8 predictions for the next event are as follows:
1st: Str8 Rippin - I still think they have the talent and pedigree to win tournaments if they can re-capture what they had in the back end of 2008 and providing they can bring Heinz into the team properly. 2nd: Instinct - I wouldn't be surprised if they won again, especially if the field is as weak as we saw in Orlando but from past experience, but for this event, I fancy Str8 to improve enough to win. 3rd: Classic - The second place team clearly have something to offer going forward and I hope they can continue to improve. 4th: Triggers Down - If they can work out their team dynamics they should be back near the top again but I don't think they have the right kind of balance to challenge for the top places. 5th: Final Boss - For me, I think their placement was somewhat of an anomaly and despite playing relatively well, I just don't think their team will be strong enough going forward. 6th: Carbon - I expect that team Walshy will bounce back and place somewhat better at the next event. 7th: Believe the Hype - On paper this team is weaker than we have seen in the past and much like a number of other teams, I think their position flattered them, mostly because a number of the big guns misfired. 8th: Status Quo - This team could place anywhere from 5th-8th but with the other top teams stepping it up, I don't think they're good enough yet to consistently place above 5th.
And that concludes this write up. The next MLG Pro Circuit stop will take place June 4th-6th in Columbus so stay tuned for more updates and write ups on the console world's biggest events! As well as updates on the progress of the European teams.
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