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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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.

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London Mint vs. Stockholm Magnetik

The night’s opening competition would determine the European region’s third place finisher. London got off to a early start in this regard as its player Strobe beat Stockholm’s Miss, 5-2, in Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) female. The following FIFA 08 match was even more one-sided. London’s ChrisyB scored his first goal on Istvan roughly half-way into the first half. ChrisyB followed this up with another goal in the second. Istvan was unable to make up the point differential, resulting in ChrisyB’s 2-0 win.

Stockholm trailed by five points, 2-7, going into the Counter-Strike Source (CS:S) match. The Nordic team was first up as the counter-terrorists on the map de_tuscan. London squeaked into an early lead with a score of 5-4 at the end of the first half. Stockholm likewise led 5-4 at the end of their tenure as the terrorists. This 9-9 tie resulted in an overtime round. With pistols blazing, London broke the stalemate and won the match, 10-9.

With two games remaining, London led by a margin of 17-11. Paddaman and SkatanMilla traded rounds in DOA4 male until the former gave London a 5-4 win. This brought the overall score to 22-15. Even with a perfect run in Forza 2, Stockholm would lose by two points. To add insult to injury, Stockholm’s iBrYce only placed second in the race while its other player MadneSS came in fourth. Meanwhile London’s NT 101 and Stune placed first and third respectively. This 5-2 victory brought the overall score to 27-17 with London victorious.

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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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Friday night’s franchise matches were the last two held at Electronic Arts development studios in Los Angeles. Next Monday the Championship Gaming Series begins the broadcast portion of its season on DirecTV’s Channel 101. The evening’s first contest between San Francisco and Dallas would determine which of these hitherto tied franchises would go into the broadcast season ranked second behind New York. The second match was a repeat of the season’s first contest between 2007 champs Chicago and Carolina. In their previous meeting Carolina defeated Chicago, 30-13. Tonight was Chicago’s opportunity for revenge.

San Francisco Optx vs. Dallas Venom

The match got off to a hectic start with Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) female. The fight was unique in that it pitted the number one player in the league, San Francisco’s Vanessa, against the second highest ranked, Dallas’s Phoenix. Vanessa solidified her position as number one by dominating Phoenix, 5-1, on the Gambler’s Paradise arena. This meant Dallas needed to place first and second in the subsequent Forza 2 race to take the lead. As it would happen, Dallas’s racers Chaos and Muffinman would move up from third and fourth to place first and second on the Atlanta Short track. This 6-1 victory gave Dallas a one-point edge over San Francisco.

A team’s performance in Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S) often decides the outcome of a match. Such was not the case with tonight’s first contest. Both teams were tied 9-9 at the end of the second half. The 10-9 victory ultimately went to Dallas after its meagerly armed players won the overtime round. Dallas now led San Francisco by two points going into FIFA 08.

Both FIFA players scored goals in the first half, tying the game 1-1. With no goals in the second, the game defaulted to a shoot-out. San Francisco’s Stermy carried the day, 4-3 over Barmoa. San Francisco had narrowed Dallas’s lead by one point. The franchise now had to do well in DOA4 male to secure a win. San Francisco’s fighter NinjaCW managed to tie Dallas’s Master going into the fifth round. Master then started living up to his moniker by winning the next three rounds and thereby securing a 5-2 victory. This outcome gave Dallas the win, 25-21.

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