“How was DC?” was the first question that I got when walking back into the ASTRO Gaming office after the event. The first answer that came to mind that I could give is “Insane. There were all kinds of crazy upsets.”. As with any event, there are winners, which also sends some teams home packing. For some of the teams, this was a final shot at making it to the MLG Finals in just a few short weeks after three years of pouring their hearts and souls into Halo 3. Some of the teams and players we’ve been watching for years won’t be attending the finals, and with the transition to Reach, the lingering question is: who will move on, and who will be see reborn for the 2011 season?
Reach brought a flood of new faces, as well as some very familiar folks we haven’t seen in over a year. Many of the Gears and Rainbow teams have jumped onto the Halo bandwagon longing for another shot at the MLG main stage. One of the most familiar of these teams were the 2009 Gears champions the Nsanez. Another familiar face, Amish Acorns, dominated the Doritos Combine Reach FFA, pulling down yet another win. Personally, I’d love to see Amish Acorns and Pistola 1v1 on the main stage. That would be a tough one to put a friendly $5 on.
After checking out the WCG Grand Finals, and watching the Korean Tekken player Knee bring home the world championship, it was no surprise to see him competing for the top 2 in the Tekken tournament this past weekend. What was surprising was the fact that he was already humbled so soon after taking the title of world champion by Kor_Nin who bumped him down to a second place finish.
If you watched the Halo 3 stream at all, you saw the hard fought battles that defined this event. Many of the consistently top placing teams slipped down on the bracket this weekend. Both Instinct and Status Quo both had disappointing finishes, and members of both teams have sent out messages on their social networks telling their fans that these finishes have only fired up their teams for Dallas and to expect a strong show in the next few weeks. Carbon was able to sneak in the final 8th spot for the finals, knocking out Heaven and Earth, and long time champions Str8 Rippin’ by a matter of only a few points. Both Dynasty and Warriors had amazing events, securing their spots in the finals, as well as assuring that they are still in this competition to win it. In the end for DC, it was Triggers Down and Final Boss on the championship stage after FB fought their way through the losers bracket with some tight games against many of the teams. The momentum on Championship Sunday was definitely with FB as they slugged through some close games, but finally locked in back to back wins.
To get more information and throw in your 2 cents, check out the Dallas Teams, Seeds, and Predictions on the MLG forums here!
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