GGL Wire

Monday’s matches were the first of the season broadcast live on DirecTV Channel 101. The night’s events were accompanied by news that G4 will broadcast four 90-minute Championship Gaming Series (CGS) matches starting with the North American Final on July 16. The remaining three broadcasts will feature the World Final Quarterfinals (July 19), World Final Semifinals (July 26), and the 2008 World Final (August 2).

The first franchse competition pitted the San Francisco Optx (tied in third place with the Carolina Core) against the Dallas Venom (currently second place behind New York). The next contest marked yet another re-match between the Carolina Core and the Chicago Chimera. The latter franchise arguably came into the match with the most to prove. Although Chicago won the North American and World Championships in 2007, it is currently ranked fifth in the series. Furthermore the franchise has lost both of this season’s matches against Carolina.

Dallas Venom vs. San Francisco Optx

The event opened with a Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) male match between Dallas’s Master and San Francisco’s NinjaCW on the Crash Club stage. The two fiercely fought and wound up tied at the end of the fourth round. Master won the subsequent three rounds, thereby giving Dallas an early 5-2 lead and solidifying his undefeated status.

This put San Francisco in the precarious spot of needing four points to take the lead. This would not be easy given their tough opponent. Nevertheless things started turning around when San Francisco’s FIFA 08 player Stermy won, 1-0, against Barmoa in the night’s opening soccer game. Miximup and Sackamonjaro then gave San Francisco the lead by finishing the opening Forza 2 race in first and third respectively. This 5-2 victory put San Francisco one point ahead of Dallas, 8-7.

San Francisco sought to expand this lead in DOA4 female by utilizing their undefeated champ, Vanessa. Dallas’s Phoenix adeptly used Gen Fu to counter Vanessa’s aggressiveness by using numerous throws and grabs. Before anyone knew it, Phoenix had won three rounds in a row. Would tonight mark the end of Vanessa’s winning streak? Vanessa would come back wins in later rounds, but not soon enough to stop Phoenix from defeating her, 5-3. This is Vanessa’s first ever loss in a regulation CGS match.

The total franchise score going into Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S) was 12-11 in Dallas’s favor. San Francisco kept things close in the first half as the terrorists. The team only lost to Dallas by one point, 4-5. The results of the second eliminated any chance San Francisco had of winning. Dallas conquered San Francisco’s counter-terrorists, 8-1. This gave Dallas the win with a final score of 25-16. San Francisco fell to fourth place and Dallas is now within striking distance of New York’s number one spot.

Chicago Chimera vs. Carolina Core

The night’s second franchise contest opened with Forza 2. Chicago’s Jason-X pulled ahead after the usual series of collisons at the start of the race. Despite their best efforts, Carolina’s team still could not catch up to Jason-X. He would take first and his teammate Ch0mpr third, making the score 5-2 in Chicago’s favor.

Carolina almost closed Chicago’s three point lead with DOA4 female. By the sixth round both women were tied, 3-3. Mystik won the next two rounds, giving Carolina the victory. Unfortunately for Carolina, their competitors reversed this momentum in FIFA 08. Chicago’s player Eafra defeated Anomaly, 2-1.

Although down by two poitns, Carolina still had every opportunity to turn the tide in their favor with a successful CS:S run. Things initially looked good for Carolina. After the first half its the team led, 5-4. They followed this with a lackluster second half. This resulted in a total CS:S score of 11-7 in Chicago’s favor.

By the time DOA4 rolled around, Chicago had too much of a lead for Carolina to possibly overcome. Carolina’s OffbeatNinja and Chicago’s Black Mamba were playing for themselves. Both players fought a close match, as evidenced by their 4-4 score at the end of eigth round. OffbeatNinja won in the ninth by the skin of his teeth. This brought the overall score to 25-20 with Chicago victorious. This did little to change either franchises’s rank in the short-term. Chicago remains in fifth place while Carolina continues to be tied with San Francisco in third place, 4-4.