Championship Gaming Series 7-7-08: Carolina wins North American championship

Dallas Venom vs. Carolina Core

Last night’s Championship Gaming Series competition would determine the champion of the North American region. After countless matches over the past month, only two franchises of the original six remained. In an upset, last year’s North American champs, the Chicago Chimera, did not make it to the play-offs. Last year’s runner-ups, the Carolina Core fared better, and despite a somewhat lackluster season managed to scrape their way into the play-offs. There, they beat 3D.NY and secured their place in the Final. They faced the Dallas Venom, who staged a dramatic comeback after its lackluster 2007 season to become one of the top teams in 2008.

The Forza 2 race opened the night. Carolina’s Phantom plowed into Dallas’s Muffinman early in the race, knocking him into fourth. He would stay in this placement for the rest of the race. Meanwhile, Dallas’s other racer Chaos held the lead, with the Core’s General E Live nipping at his heels. General E Live bided his time and finally in the third lap, pushed Chaos into a wall. General E Live took the lead and finished in first place shortly thereafter. Chaos would place second and Phantom secured one point in third. Carolina held an early 5-2 lead going into the second match.

Dallas’s Barmoa faced off against Carolina’s Anomaly in the following FIFA 08 match. Anomaly scored his single point of the game mid-way through the first half after launching the ball above Barmoa’s goalie. Neither player would score any addition points for the rest of the game. As a result, Carolina won 1-0.

The Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) male competition featured one of the most hyped matches of the night. Dallas’s Master went mostly undefeated for the season. However, one of the men who defeated him was the Carolina’s OffbeatNinja, who held a nearly flawless record in 2007. It became abundantly clear while the competitors were fighting that both were looking for the other to make a mistake. It was almost as if they were playing virtual chess. Master took the first round despite being pummelled in a corner. OffbeatNinja then took the subsequent five rounds, winning the match 5-1.

With Carolina in the lead, 11-3, Dallas needed to make up some serious points in the last two games of the night. The franchise began this task with DOA4 female. Dallas’s Phoenix, the only woman to beat DOA4 champ Vanessa, faced off against Carolina’s Mystik on the Kyoto in Bloom stage. Mystik used Hayate’s speed and juggling ability to her advantage, while Phoenix played more defensively and won rounds by countering Mystik’s attacks with Gen Fu. By the end of the eighth round, the fighters were tied 4-4. Phoenix won the final round, giving Dallas a 5-4 victory in the wake of this suspenseful match.

The outcome of DOA4 female allowed Dallas to close the gap in points between the two franchises. Nevertheless, Dallas would need a great performance in Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S) to secure a win. The match on de_dust2 began incredibly well for Dallas. As the counter-terrorists the Lone Star State team won the first half, 6-3. The score was now 18-14 with Carolina still leading. Dallas took the first five rounds as the terrorists in the second half until Carolina finally scored a point in the sixth. The overall game was now tied 19-19. Dallas needed only one more point to clinch the victory after it won the seventh round. However, Carolina, perhaps realizing they would become the Buffalo Bills of the CGS if they lost the match, stepped up to the plate. The Carolina Core won the remaining two rounds of Counter-Strike and as a result the North American championship by a narrow score of 21-20. To say that Carolina’s general manager Mark Dolven looked elated would be a gross understatement.