GGL Wire

3D.NY vs Carolina Core

Forza 2 opened Wednesday night’s North American semi-finals.  Carolina’s racer, General E Live, quickly took the lead that he would maintain for the rest of the race.  His first place finish was followed by New York’s team, ComeBackDan and Dark Storm, coming in second and third respectively.  Carolina now held a small 4-3 lead.  By comparison, the Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) female match was much more one-sided. Mystik began the assault on New York’s Coolsvilla immediately and didn’t let up until she had won a comfortable 5-0 lead for Carolina.

As has been the pattern with FIFA 08 this season, neither player scored a goal going into the second half. However things changed dramatically from there, as Carolina’s Anomaly was the first to get on the board. WiZaKor then responded with a goal of his own.  Aomaly scored a final point, winning the match, 2-1.

With Carolina in the lead, 11-4, New York really needed their Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S) team to shine for any hope at achieving the franchise win. Unfortunately for New York, Carolina won the first half on de_inferno, 6-3.  New York came back 5-4 in the second half,  but ultimately could not win enough points to prevent Carolina’s win.

Even with a perfect 5-0 run in DOA4 male, there was no way New York could earn enough points to counter Carolina’s nine point lead.  Hypothetically if this situation were not the case, the outcome of the match may very well have placed victory in Carolina’s hands regardless.  OffbeatNinja soundly defeated New York’s Cheppelle, 5-1.  This 26-13 win is huge accomplishment for Carolina, and an equally disheartening loss for New York.  It is the second time in a row that the first place franchise has suffered defeat by a last place team.

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3D.NY vs. Chicago Chimera

Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) male opened the night’s first franchise competition. Cheppelle is arguably New York’s weakest link, as he holds a losing record for the current season (2-8). Nevertheless, he came out fighting and won the first round. Black Mamba responded with a devastating reprisal by winning the subsequent four rounds. Cheppelle brought home another win in the fifth, but Black Mamba won the match with a final point in the sixth. His victory gave Chicago an early 5-2 lead.

Forza 2 would determine whether Chicago could expand on its lead. ComeBackDan initially led the pack until a massive collision involving all four racers allowed Chicago’s Ch0mpr to zoom ahead. ComeBackDan would follow Ch0mpr for the rest of the race, but was unable to retake first place. The New York racer finished second while Chicago’s Jason-X came in third.

Chicago possessed a hefty 10-4 lead over New York going into FIFA 08. Chicago’s player Eafra scored goals late in the first and second halves. It looked like WiZaKor would remain pointless, until he finally got on the board with mere moments remaining in the second half. Despite this, Eafra still claimed a narrow 2-1 victory. Chicago now lead New York, 12-5.

Thing started turning around for New York as Coolsvilla soundly defeated Kasumi Chan, 5-1, in DOA4 female. This brought New York within striking distance of Chicago, 10-13. This meant it was anyone’s match going into Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S). Chicago was first up as the terrorists on the map de_season. New York narrowly won the first half, 5-4, closing the overall score to 17-15. The east coast team continued winning and tied the game up 19-19 after the sixth round of the second half. New York won the next three rounds, finally gaining the lead in overall points and claiming victory with 22-19. This narrow defeat is no doubt disheartening for Chicago, as it is now even harder for the franchise to reclaim its champion status.

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San Francisco Optx vs. 3D.NY

The night opened on a positive note for San Francisco. Vanessa made up for her startling loss on Monday by defeating New York’s Coolsvilla, 5-3, in Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) female. San Francisco continued this good fortune by achieving a 5-4 lead after the first half of Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S). The team did not fair as well as the counter-terrorists in the second half. Despite their best efforts New York won the CS:S match, 11-7.

San Francisco needed three points to regain the overall lead. Stermy put his franchise on the way with a goal in the first half of FIFA 08. New York’s WiZaKor responded by tying the score with his own goal in the second. Neither player scored for the rest of the game, thereby throwing the match into overtime. WiZaKor won the game, 4-2, after scoring three points during the shoot-out compared to Stermy’s one.

With only four points seperating the franchises, it was still anyone’s game going into DOA4 male. San Francisco’s NinjaCW and New York’s Cheppelle faced off in the Seaside Market stage. The players tied the game, 1-1, going into the third round. NinjaCW defeated Cheppelle in the next four rounds and won the match, 5-1.

The two franchises were tied, 19-19, with only Forza 2 remaining. The racers seemingly changed places with every lap. New York’s ComeBackDan and Dark Storm managed to smash their way into first and second respectively in time to cross the finish line. The resulting score gave New York its seventh win, 25-20. San Francisco now drops to fourth place behind Carolina.

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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.

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