Wednesday night’s Championship Gaming Series quarterfinal matches would determine the ultimate make up of next Monday’s semi-finals. In the first match, the Birmingham Salvo faced off against the Mexico City Furia. In the second, North American champions the Carolina Core fought the Wuhan Dragon. Of these four teams, only two would join the San Francisco Optx and Berlin Allianz in the semi-finals.
Birmingham Salvo vs. Mexico City Furia
Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) male opened the night with a match between Birmingham’s Messy and Mexico City’s player El Divino Xmas on the DWA Coliseum stage. The match began competitive, but things quickly went downhill for El Divino Xmas. His 2-5 loss to Messy was the result.
Mexico City’s Zerocero scored the first goal in the subsequent FIFA 08 game. The first and second halves flew by with neither player earning another point. As a result, Zerocero beat Birmingham’s Bazza, 1-0.
Birmingham led 5-3 going into the night’s first Forza 2 race. Any immediate hopes Mexico City had of taking the lead were quickly dashed as Birmingham’s racers, Picaso and Daveyskills, sped into first and second place. Birmingham now led 11-4 with two games remaining. Continued…
Berlin Allianz vs. Sydney Underground
Berlin’s player Liefje opened the night with a decisive 5-1 victory over Sydney’s Eileen in Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) female. The first FIFA 08 match of the evening followed this victory. Both players were tied, 1-1, at the end of the first half. Berlin’s Manyna scored his final point in the second. Despite his best efforts, Sydney’s Haroutig10 could not tie the game and as a result Manyna gave Berlin another win, 2-1.
With the score at 7-2 in Berlin’s favor, Sydney could not afford to lose badly in any of the remaining games. Unfortunately for Sydney, its player Berzerk experienced a sobering 0-5 loss to Berlin’s THE_TACTICAL in DOA4 male. Sydney’s bad luck continued with Forza 2. The Berlin racing team showed why they won the individual title on last Saturday by beating Sydney, 5-2.
Berlin now led by a dramatic 17-4 lead. The only hope Sydney had of winning was the long-shot chance that it could pull off a near perfect showing in Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S). Berlin dashed these hopes after beating Sydney in the first half, 5-4. Sydney performed better in the second half as the counter-terrorists and won the CS:S game by a narrow 10-9 margin. This was, however, a bittersweet victory for Sydney for the franchise had lost to Berlin, 26-14. Berlin now goes on to compete in the semi-finals.
| Franchise |
DOA4 Male |
DOA4 Female |
FIFA 08 |
Forza 2 |
CS:S |
Overall |
| Berlin Allianz |
5 |
5 |
2 |
5 |
9 |
26 |
| Sydney Underground |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
14 |
Continued…
The World Individual Competitions of the Championship Gaming Series took place this past Saturday. In this competition the best players from each region squared off against one another to determine, independent of their franchises, who was truly the best in their individual games.
Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) Female
In the first match on Seaside Market, Birmingham’s SarahLou defeated Sydney’s Eileen, 5-1. Meanwhile, in the second match, San Francisco’s Vanessa beat Mexico City’s Hitomi1 by a slightly closer 5-2 margin. This outcome meant that Vanessa would face SarahLou in the final match of the DOA4 female competition. SarahLou performed extremely well and led 3-1 going into the fifth round. Vanessa, however, won the next four rounds, and closed the game with a 5-3 lead.
FIFA 08
Rio’s Patan faced Wuhan’s ZZ in the first FIFA 08 game. Patan scored two points to ZZ’s one in the first half. Patan then secured this lead with a single point in the second half. This won him the match, 3-1. Next up was a match between Berlin’s Manaya and Chicago’s Eafra. By the end of the second half, both players were tied 1-1. This lead to a shoot-out, in which Eafra won by a single point, 3-2. Eafra now had to defeat Patan to earn the individual championship title. The match was considerably more one-sided than Eafra’s game against Manaya. The North American champ won 2-0 over Patan and claimed his title. Continued…
Jason Lake is a familiar face to professional and casual Counter-Strike players alike. Lake founded his Counter-Strike team, Complexity, in 2003 after a career in real estate law. The team achieved great heights under his leadership through winning multiple championships. As a result, Complexity quickly became a popular team with a fervent online following. Their fame eventually led them to become one of the six North American franchises of the Championship Gaming Series (CGS).
The second season of the CGS did not go well for the Los Angeles-based team. Complexity finished the season in last place with a sobering 2-10 record. GGL sat down with Jason Lake after his team’s last match of the season to discuss where Complexity went wrong and his role in the franchise.
GGL: You recently moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles. How is the transition going for you?
Jason Lake: The last nine weeks of my life have been incredibly difficult. We had a 9,000 square foot house in Atlanta that we had to pack up ourselves. That took weeks to do. Then I drove across the country with my two dogs and cat. I had to fly back to Atlanta for a meeting, and then fly back to L.A. The moving truck showed up, dropped off our boxes, and then I came down to the CGS. So I’ve been in L.A. for around a month and I haven’t even lived in my house. The move is a positive thing. We’re really excited about it for Complexity and for my family, but it’s been a really difficult few months, especially considering our 2-10 record.
GGL: Was the decision to move to Los Angeles primarily based on the CGS?
JL: My wife is originally from L.A. and since the day we were married she has always wanted to come back. When I sold Complexity to the CGS, one of my requirements was that we’d become the L.A. Complexity. I always hoped and dreamed that I could move out of law and do this full time. Real estate started taking a downturn, so I took a gamble based on making my wife happy and moved to the west coast to run the L.A. Complexity. After going 2-10, I’d be lying if I wasn’t questioning myself and thinking it was a mistake. But I’m a long-term thinker and despite how horrible this summer was, I still believe in my heart it was the right move for my family and me. We’re going to try to make the most of it. Continued…
Los Angeles Complexity vs. Dallas Venom
Last night’s first Forza 2 race began without the collisions fans have come to expect. Los Angeles’s Chavisan and Dallas’s Chaos traded first and second place early in the race until Chavisan eventually took the lead he would hold until the end. Los Angeles’s other racer, GTO, tried hard to maintain second place, but after a fateful encounter with a wall he was forced to settle with fourth. Dallas’s team came in second and third, bringing the score to 4-3.
Los Angeles led by a single point going into the Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) male match. Any hope the franchise would increase its lead was quickly dashed as Dallas’s undefeated player Master made quick work of Los Angeles’s Perfect Legend, 5-2. Los Angeles made up a little bit of lost ground with the subsequent FIFA 08 game. In it KreeganBG scored his first win of the season over Dallas’s Barmoa, 1-0.
With one point separating their totals, it is safe to say both franchises were looking for Counter-Strike to make or break their respective chances. The reality played out differently. The match’s results gave further credence to the theory that those playing as counter-terrorists (CTs) hold an advantage. Both teams made out with 6-3 after their half as the CTs. This tied score of 9-9 led to an overtime round in which Dallas emerged triumphant.
Dallas still led Los Angeles after Counter-Strike, 18-16. The DOA4 female match would determine whether or not the Los Angeles franchise would continue its losing streak. What might have been a suspenseful fight turned one-sided as Dallas’s Phoenix cleaned Belle’s clock round after round, emerging victorious 5-0. As a result Dallas won the franchise match, 23-16, and Los Angeles claimed its sixth straight loss.
| Franchise |
DOA4 Male |
DOA4 Female |
FIFA 08 |
Forza 2 |
Counter-Strike |
Overall |
Record |
| Los Angeles Complexity |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
9 |
16 |
0-6 |
| Dallas Venom |
5 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
10 |
23 |
4-2 |
Continued…
Dallas Venom vs. Carolina Core
Two of the season’s most gifted female Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) players ratcheted up the competition early on with a furious bout on the Kyoto in Bloom Stage. The intense fighting culminated with a 3-3 tie in the sixth round. Carolina’s Mystik ultimately defeated Phoenix after achieving solid victories in the subsequent two rounds.
The FIFA 08 match ended in yet another 1-1 tie between Carolina’s player Anomaly and Barmoa of the Dallas franchise. Barmoa triumphed in the following shootout, giving Dallas an early but narrow lead. This narrow win mirrored the Forza 2 race. In it, Carolina’s General E. Live took an early lead only to have Muffinman, one half of Dallas’s team, knock him out and finish in first place. Heavy competition in the lower ranks resulted in Carolina finishing both second and third.
The outcome of Forza 2 resulted in a tie in the overall score. Counter-Strike would serve as the tiebreaker. Dallas began at the counter-terrorists and as expected reaped the inherent advantage. The first round ended with 7-2 in Dallas’s favor. One would expect Carolina to push back equally hard in the second half. However, Dallas proved that the counter-terrorist advantage is not a constant truism, and won enough rounds to earn them first placed in the Counter-Strike match.
It was up to the DOA4 male players to decide the winning franchise. The match was made even more climatic by the fact that these two players, Master from Dallas and OffBeatNinja from Carolina, were two of the highest-ranking fighters of the 2007 season. As expected, the match was close. As with the female fighters, Master and OffBeatNinja tied it up in the sixth round. Master had already won the franchise match for his team, and went on to defeat OffBeatNinja with a slight 5-4 win.
| Franchise |
DOA4 Male |
DOA4 Female |
FIFA 08 |
Forza 2 |
Counter-Strike |
Overall |
Record |
| Dallas Venom |
5 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
11 |
27 |
3-2 |
| Carolina Core |
4 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
22 |
2-3 |
Continued…
Last night’s Championship Gaming Series (CGS) event opened with the L.A. Complexity going head-to-head against the Dallas Venom. Complexity was eager to achieve a victory after three straight losses. Meanwhile the Venom sought to continue the winning streak it began after its recent defeat of 2007 champion the Chicago Chimera. In the second match, 3D.NY went up against the San Francisco Optx. The New York team vied to maintain its status as the only undefeated franchise of the season. The Optx players wished to make up for their close loss to the Dallas Venom on Wednesday night.
L.A. Complexity vs. Dallas Venom
The Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) female match-up opened the night. The popular new Venom fighter Phoenix faced Belle of the Complexity on the Waterfall Valley stage. Phoenix chose Gen Fu as her character. Belle stuck with her usual choice of Kokoro.
By the third round each player had won a single victory. The score was tied 1-1. Phoenix began to dominate in this third battle. This continued through the remaining rounds. Despite putting up a decent fight in later rounds, Belle was unable to achieve another win. In the end Phoenix was victorious, giving Venom an early 5-1 lead.
FIFA 08 pitted KreeganBG of Complexity against Venom’s Barmoa. Much like his team, KreeganBG needed a win. While he held a nearly flawless training record, KreeganBG has yet to make the same splash during the current season. The first half of the match featured a lot of back and forth until one of Barmoa’s strikers lucked out and managed to get the ball through three of KreeganBG’s defenders. This brought the score to 1-0 in Venom’s favor at the end of the first half. Continued…
Last night’s episode of the Championship Gaming Series featured two matches with franchises holding almost diametrically opposed standings. The first pitted two undefeated teams, the Carolina Core and 3D.NY, against one another to see who could maintain their perfect record. In the second match, the Dallas Venom went up against the Chicago Chimera. The Venom were eager to finally win a match, having lost by narrow margins their previous two contests. Meanwhile, last year’s North American champs, the Chimera, continued their effort to earn the title two years in a row.
Carolina Core vs. 3D.NY
The Forza 2 match began with several place changes in the first 300 yards. 3D.NY’s player ComeBackDan took the lead, only to be knocked out of first by General E. Live of the Core. Despite 3D.NY’s best efforts, General E. Live maintained his lead throughout the race and finished first. ComeBackDan came in second followed by the Core’s second racer Phantom. The result gave the Core an early 5-2 lead.
Counter-Strike took place on de_season. Tonight marked the map’s debut at the CGS. 3D.NY showed why they are known for Counter-Strike by dominating Core’s terrorist squad in the first half, 8-2. Core hoped to make up for their loss in the second half, only to find more of the same. New York came out of the Counter-Strike match with a hefty 15-3 lead. Continued…
Today Valve released their new service, Steamcloud. This new service allows players to access their saved games, retrieve their control schemes, and download purchased games from anywhere in the world. All of this comes incorporated in the newest steam update. According to RPS writer, John Walker, “Your games are now available on any PC and you can play exactly where you left off, without having to invert the mouse and disassemble your friend’s lunatic configuration.”
Sounds pretty cool. I really think Valve is one of the best software developers. They are always innovating and delivering quality products.
Read: Valve puts saves and player identity online with Steamcloud.
GGL received the Steelseries Ikari laser mouse many moons ago, but due to a review backlog, we were only able to open it up recently. Heidi Klum helped me with the review, and pardon the bad lighting, eh?
Valve seems to have a handle on what they are doing when it comes to games. With Team Fortress 2 being such a success, they’re thinking about Counter-Strike 2.
According to Valve’s marketing director Doug Lombardi: “With Counter-Strike 2, there’s a big question between, do we go start over from scratch and build a whole new game, do we do something that looks more like Team Fortress 2 that is rooted in the old game but has a ton of new stuff, or do we just sort of take everything that’s new that we’ve released and put that out in a new box.
I think we’re leaning more towards the two more radical places than just sort of rolling up the new box and re-skinning the box and putting out all the new stuff. “
As someone who has by far dedicated more time to Counter-Strike (Source and 1.6) than any other game in my life, this story is really important to me. One part of me wants the game to remain the same so I can still boast about all my accomplishments in leagues and tournaments. However another part of me knows that in order for the game to survive it must evolve. I can rest assured because I have the utmost faith in the guys at Valve. They haven’t really disappointed me yet.
Read Valve Still A Little Unsure On Counter-Strike 2.
