GGL Wire

Dallas Venom vs. Carolina Core

Last night’s Championship Gaming Series competition would determine the champion of the North American region. After countless matches over the past month, only two franchises of the original six remained. In an upset, last year’s North American champs, the Chicago Chimera, did not make it to the play-offs. Last year’s runner-ups, the Carolina Core fared better, and despite a somewhat lackluster season managed to scrape their way into the play-offs. There, they beat 3D.NY and secured their place in the Final. They faced the Dallas Venom, who staged a dramatic comeback after its lackluster 2007 season to become one of the top teams in 2008.

The Forza 2 race opened the night. Carolina’s Phantom plowed into Dallas’s Muffinman early in the race, knocking him into fourth. He would stay in this placement for the rest of the race. Meanwhile, Dallas’s other racer Chaos held the lead, with the Core’s General E Live nipping at his heels. General E Live bided his time and finally in the third lap, pushed Chaos into a wall. General E Live took the lead and finished in first place shortly thereafter. Chaos would place second and Phantom secured one point in third. Carolina held an early 5-2 lead going into the second match. 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. Dallas Venom

Friday’s competition began with a FIFA 08 match between Dallas’s Barmoa and New York’s WiZaKor. Both players remained tied in the first half until WiZaKor scored an extra goal. Additional points eluded the players in the second half. As a result WiZaKor walked away with a 2-1 victory.

Initially it looked like New York would follow its FIFA 08 win with a victory in Forza 2. Dark Storm rocketed into the lead on the first lap. The race nevertheless stayed close. Dallas’s team eventually knocked Dark Storm out of the lead. This vehicular trauma caused the New York racer to finish fourth. Fortunately for New York, its other racer ComeBackDan sped into first place. Ultimately New York came out two points ahead, 4-2   New York’s winning streak would continue in Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) female as Coolsvilla soundly defeated Phoenix, 5-0 on the DWA Coliseum stage.

These victories culiminated into New York’s 11-4 overall lead going into Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S). Dallas would need a extremely strong showing to have a shot at victory. This desire came to frutition as Dallas overwhelmed New York in the first half as the counter-terrorists, winning 7-2. Dallas barely lost the second half as the terrorists, 5-4. Nevertheless Dallas won the match with its overall score of 11-7.Despite Dallas’s CS:S comeback, New York still held the lead, 19-14, going into DOA4 male. Dallas’s undefeated player Master needed to score 5-0 to tie the game. Cheppelle ended these hopes by beating Master in the first round. Master went on to beat Cheppelle, 5-2, but New York won the overall match, 20-19.

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…

Tonight’s episode of the Championship Gaming Series (CGS) featured the San Francisco Optx vs. reigning world champions Chicago Chimera and Los Angeles Complexity vs. Carolina Core. Both competitions featured one hitherto undefeated team facing another with at least one loss.

San Francisco Optx vs. Chicago Chimera

The Optx came into the match with a flawless 2-0 record. Meanwhile Chimera’s players were looking for a victory after their defeat at the hands of the Carolina Core on Monday night.

First up was the Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) female match between Vanessa of the Optx and Kasumi Chan of the Chimera. The match started out evenly with both women scoring a round each. This changed when Vanessa won the third round. From there on, Vanessa demonstrated why she is undefeated by dominating Kasumi Chan for the remainder of the rounds. Vanessa won a substantial victory for the Optyx with a score of 5-1.

Forza 2 was the next game in the pipeline. Chicago Chimera’s players, Jason-X and Ch0mpr, reportedly had some trouble adjusting from last season’s Project Gotham Racing 3 to Forza 2. Their loss on Monday night gave further credence to this statemment. They faced Optx and CGS newcomers Miximup and Sackamanjaro on the Diamondback racetrack. Continued…