GGL Wire

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.

Continued…

Dallas Venom vs. Carolina Core

Yesterday’s set of franchise matches continued with the pattern of surprises that began with Sunday’s competitions.  Notably, OffbeatNinja beat Master, 5-2, in the opening Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) male match.  OffbeatNinja’s win brings an end to Master’s undefeated second season record (now at 11-1).

Next up was a FIFA 08 match between Dallas’s Barmoa and Carolina’s Anomaly.  The score held at 0-0 until Anomaly made a goal in the second half.  Barmoa responded by again tying the game with a goal of his own.  Neither player could break this 1-1 tie.  As a result the match went to a shoot-out with Barmoa emerging victorious, 3-2.

Carolina still lead Dallas, 7-5, going into DOA4 female.  Phoenix and Mystik played out a furious battle on Gambler’s Paraside.  A few car hits and bruised knuckles later and both players were tied, 3-3.  The score remained close for the rest of the game with Phoenix eventually winning by one point, 5-4.  Her victory brought Dallas within two points of overtaking Carolina’s 11-10 lead.

Dallas absolutely dominated as counter-terrorists during the first half of Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S). As a result, the Texas team scored a decisive 8-1 victory.  However Carolina came back during its turn as the counter-terrorists and nearly matched Dallas’s score, achieving 7-2, in the second half.  Nevertheless Dallas still won the CS:S match, 10-8.

For the first time Dallas held the lead, 20-19.  However a strong showing in Forza 2 could still put Carolina over the top.  The race featured a notable number of collisions and pile-ups. Eventually Dallas’s Muffinman managed to limp into first place, followed by Carolina’s General E Live and Phantom in second and third.  This 4-3 win for Dallas led the franchise to victory with a slim 24-22 margin.

Continued…

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.

Continued…

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.

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…