GGL Wire

Jul

Jason Lake: I just failed as a manager

Filed under: Championship Gaming Series, Counter Strike, Counter Strike: Source, Jason Lake, Los Angeles compLexity

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…

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Interview, News, E-Sports

David Taylor

Jul

Championship Gaming Series June 30: Complexity defeats 3D.NY

Filed under: 3D.NY, Alex Conroy, brian flander, Carolina Core, Championship Gaming Series, Chicago Chimera, Counter Strike: Source, Dallas Venom, David Geffon, Dead or Alive 4, fifa 08, Forza 2, Jason Lake, Kat Hunter, Los Angeles compLexity, Mark Dolven, San Francisco OPTX

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.

Franchise	DOA4 Male	DOA4 Female	FIFA 08	Forza 2	CS:S	Overall	Record
Dallas Venom	2	5	3	4	10	24	9-3
Carolina Core	5	4	2	3	8	22	4-8

Jun

Championship Gaming Series 6-29-08: CompLexity ends losing streak

Filed under: Alex Conroy, brian flander, Carolina Core, Championship Gaming Series, Chicago Chimera, Counter Strike: Source, Dallas Venom, Dead or Alive 4, fifa 08, Forza 2, Jason Lake, Los Angeles compLexity, Mark Dolven

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.

Franchise	DOA4 Male	DOA4 Female	FIFA 08	Forza 2	CS:S	Overall	Record
Dallas Venom	5	5	0	1	13	24	8-3
Chicago Chimera	2	2	2	6	5	17	4-7

Jun

Championship Gaming Series 6-25-08: 3D.NY takes on Chicago,

Filed under: 3D.NY, brian flander, Championship Gaming Series, Chicago Chimera, Counter Strike: Source, David Geffon, Dead or Alive 4, fifa 08, Forza 2, Jason Lake, Kat Hunter, Los Angeles compLexity, San Francisco OPTX

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.

Franchise	DOA4 Male	DOA4 Female	FIFA 08	Forza 2	CS:S	Overall	Record
3D.NY	2	5	1	2	12	22	10-1
Chicago Chimera	5	1	2	5	6	19	4-6

Jun

Championship Gaming Series: Optx takes on 3D.NY, Chimera attack Complexity

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.

Franchise	DOA4 Male	DOA4 Female	FIFA 08	Forza 2	CS:S	Overall	Record
San Francisco Optx	5	5	2	1	7	20	4-5
3D.NY	1	3	4	6	11	25	7-1

Jun

Championship Gaming Series Season 2: 3D storms back, Complexity at 0-7

3D.NY vs. Chicago Chimera

The night began with a Forza 2 race on the Diamondback course. Chicago’s Jason-X and New York’s Dark Storm did their best to knock one another out of competition for first place. After several collisions, Jason-X pulled ahead in the last lap to finish first. New York’s racers finished in second and third, thus bringing the score to 4-3 in Chicago’s favor.

The point totals remained fairly consistent in the next two games. Black Mamba and Cheppelle were tied going into the seventh round of Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) male. Cheppelle won the subsequent two rounds, giving him his first win of the season and pushing New York ahead by one point. WiZaKor expanded on this lead slightly with a 4-3 victory in FIFA 08. The soccer match marked Chicago player Eafra’s first defeat of the season.

Although New York led by two points going into Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S), it was clearly still anyone’s match. New York’s team had an added incentive to do well. The franchise lost its undefeated status on Wednesday night largely due to a crushing CS:S defeat by the Carolina Core. In tonight’s match, both teams ended up scoring 5-4 in their respective turns as the counter-terrorists (CTs). Chicago won the tie-breaker round, giving it a close 10-9 victory.

Chicago needed a mere two-point advantage in DOA4 female to win the franchise match. Chicago’s player Kasumi Chan tied the overall score by winning the match, 5-4. However New York’s Coolsvilla came back and won the tie-breaker round. In doing so she handed her franchise a narrow, one-point victory.

Franchise	DOA4 Male	DOA4 Female	FIFA 08	Forza 2	CS:S	Overall	Record
3D.NY	5	5	4	3	9	26	6-1
Chicago Chimera	3	5	3	4	10	25	2-4

Jun

Championship Gaming Series Season 2: Core stop undefeated 3D.NY

Filed under: 3D.NY, Alex Conroy, Carolina Core, Championship Gaming Series, Counter Strike, Dallas Venom, David Geffon, Dead or Alive 4, fifa 08, Forza 2, Jason Lake, Los Angeles compLexity, Mark Dolven

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

Jun

Championship Gaming Series Season 2: L.A/N.Y showdown, San Fran vs. Dallas report

Filed under: 3D.NY, Carolina Core, cgs, Championship Gaming Series, coL, Counter Strike: Source, Dallas Venom, Dead or Alive 4, fifa 08, first person shooter, FPS, Los Angeles compLexity, PC, Phantom, racing game, San Francisco OPTX, soccer game, xbox 360

Tonight’s episode of the Championship Gaming Series (CGS) featured a pair of highly competitive matches: the eternal rivalry of Los Angeles Complexity vs. 3D.NY and San Francisco OPTX vs. Dallas Venom.

L.A. Complexity vs. 3D.NY

Complexity went into the match against 3D.NY badly needing a win after suffering defeat at the hand’s of OPTX the first night of the competition. On the other hand, 3D.NY was looking for another victory after barely squeaking by the Dallas Venom the previous night.

The Forza 2 competition opened up the match. The race was to be waged on the Maple Valley Short track. 3D.NY’s Dark-Storm took the lead almost immediately and maintained it until the end. The other racers went back and forth in their position, with ComeBackDan spinning out near the end of the race. This resulted in Complexity’s players, Chavison and GeeTeeOh, coming in second and forth respectively. The final score was 4-3 in 3D.NY’s favor.

Next up was the Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) female competition. Belle from the Complexity fought 3D.NY’s Coolsvilla. Both women’s strategies seemed to be to wait patiently for the other to make a mistake. By the sixth round, both players were tied 3-3. Finally, Coolsvilla’s Christie beat Belle’s Kokoro two times in a row, cementing another win for 3D.NY with a final score of 5-3. Continued…

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News, E-Sports

David Taylor

After a six-month hiatus, the Championship Gaming Series (CGS) is back for its second season. The 2008 North American competition began today at Electronic Arts’ headquarters in Los Angeles. As with the 2007 season, six franchises will compete against one another in four video games. The two finalist franchises at the end of the two-week competition win the chance to continue to the World Finals.

There are a few changes to the games lineup this season. CGS fans will be glad to hear that fan favorites Counter-Strike: Source and Dead or Alive 4 both return. The popular soccer game FIFA has been upgraded to this year’s version, FIFA 08. Perhaps the biggest change is the choice to replace last year’s racing game, Project Gotham Racing 3, with the more simulation-oriented Forza 2.

Three matches took place tonight. As with last season, the CGS divides each match into five rounds relative to the four featured games (there are five rounds because male and female DOA 4 players fight seperately). Each team has ten members: five Counter-Strike players, two DOA 4 players (one male, one female), two Forza 2 players, and one FIFA 08 player. Both the Counter-Strike and Forza 2 players act as a team to achieve victory.

Chicago Chimera vs. Carolina Core

First up was a re-match between rival franchises the Chicago Chimera and Carolina Core. This rivalry is no doubt due to the fact that Chimera won both the North American and Worldwide championships over the Core in 2007. Fans will remember that the outcome of both matches depened upon the results of the Project Gotham Racing 3 competitions. Ironically enough, Forza 2 was the opening game of 2008 season. Unfortunately for the Chimera, their star players Ch0mpr and Jason-X were almost immediately knocked out by Core players GeneralELive and Phantom. The Chimera could not recover from this start and lost the race, 6-1. Continued…

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News, E-Sports

David Taylor

September 2008
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