Dallas Venom vs. Chicago Chimera
A rather uneventful Forza 2 race opened Sunday’s first franchise competition. Chicago’s team of crack racers, Jason X and Ch0mpr, almost immediately sped into first and second place respectively. Dallas’s players, Muffinman and Chaos, made a few futile attempts to knock Ch0mpr out of his second place position. Ultimately they were unable stop Chicago from finishing in first and second place. These standings gave the Windy City franchise an early 6-1 lead.
Next up was a Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) female bout between Phoenix and Kasumi Chan. Using Gen Fu, Phoenix schooled Kasumi Chan, 5-2, on the Seaside Market stage. This win allowed Dallas to close the score to within two points, 8-6. Undefeated DOA4 male powerhouse Master then pushed Dallas over the top with his 5-2 defeat of Black Mamba. Dallas was now winning, 11-10, after this pair of DOA4 victories.
With two games left, it seemed Counter-Strike: Source would be the remedy to this near deadlock. Dallas was first up as the counter-terrorists on the de_nuke stage. After the first half, Dallas led by a dramatic 7-2 margin. While the side playing counter-terrorists typically holds the advantage, this phenomenon seemingly did not apply to Chicago in the second half. As a result, Dallas won 5-3 as the terrorists. The overall CS:S score pushed Dallas to a whopping 24-15 lead. Even with the FIFA 08 game in the hopper, Dallas had effectively won the franchise match.
Despite their foreseeable loss, Chicago’s player Eafra managed to win FIFA 08, 2-0, over Dallas’s Barmoa. This win brought the overall score to 24-17 in Dallas’s favor. Chicago’s loss makes it extremely unlikely that the 2007 champs will regain their prestigious status in the second season.
| Franchise | DOA4 Male | DOA4 Female | FIFA 08 | Forza 2 | CS:S | Overall | Record |
| Dallas Venom | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 24 | 8-3 |
| Chicago Chimera |
2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 4-7 |
Los Angeles Complexity vs. Carolina Core
The second franchise match opened with FIFA 08. Carolina’s Anomaly was first on the board with a goal in the opening half. Neither Anomaly nor his Los Angeles competitor KreeganBG scored during the remainder of the match. As a result, Anomaly carried the game 1-0.
The subsequent DOA4 female match marked one of the biggest surprises of the season. Los Angeles’s winless player Belle faced off against Mystik on the Crash Club. As her staple character Kokoro, Belle came out fighting and managed to take both the first and second rounds. Mystik then fired back and won the third and fourth, tying the game going into the fifth round. This 2-2 score would not last long, as Belle continued her streak of good fortune and beat Mystik, 5-3. Belle had achieved what some thought unlikely — her first win of the season.
Los Angeles now lead 5-4. It would be up to the franchise’s CS:S team to solidify its remarkable lead. Los Angeles absolutely dominated as the counter-terrorists, and emerged from the first half in the lead, 8-1. Carolina responded by winning the second half, 6-3. Nevertheless Los Angeles held the higher point advantage and won the CS:S match, 11-7.
With at 16-11 lead over Carolina, it looked as Los Angeles might be heading to its first victory of the season. However, as the Forza 2 race proved, it was still anyone’s game. Carolina’s General E Live almost immediately zoomed ahead to first place, with L.A.’s Chavisan and GTO in hot pursuit. Neither L.A. player was able to overtake General E Live’s lead. As a result, General E Live finished first, Chavisan second, GTO third, and Carolina’s other player Phantom brought up the rear in fourth.
DOA4 male would decide the ultimate victor. With Los Angeles leading, 19-15, OffbeatNinja needed to score a 5-1 or better for Carolina to have a shot at victory. He got off to a great start with a win over Los Angeles’s Perfect Legend in the first round. However Perfect Legend won the next two rounds. This made it impossible for Carolina to win the franchise match. Nevertheless, OffbeatNinja still carried home a DOA4 male victory, 5-3.
In a dramatic turnaround Los Angeles won its first victory of the season, 22-20. This win, combined with Belle’s success, marks a bittersweet end to the season for the west coast franchise. Meanwhile Carolina, like Chicago, has with all likelihood lost its chance at returning to the World Finals.
| Franchise | DOA4 Male | DOA4 Female | FIFA 08 | Forza 2 | CS:S | Overall | Record |
| Los Angeles Complexity | 3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 22 | 1-10 |
| Carolina Core | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 20 | 4-7 |
