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Ken and Isai Take Smash 2v2 National Title!
By AlphaZealot
November 19, 2006 - 6:58pm
Congratulations to Ken and Isai who once again captured the SSBM Doubles crown. In an unexpected upset, 6th seeded ChuDat and Manacloud overcame both King2King and Groom Blue to challenge the reigning champions. The victory over King2King seemed especially impressive considering King2King’s second place performance in New York. Throughout the Finals, ChuDat and Manacloud kept most of the games close and managed to pull a couple out in their first Championship appearance of the season. However, they fell victim to the most successful duo in Smash history, Ken and Isai, as they took their third consecutive MLG National Championship title. Stay tuned for a full event recap right here on mlgpro.com!

Championship Results:

Ken and Isai-Marth and Falcon: 3 Stock [Yoshi Story] ChuDat and Manacloud-Ice Climbers and Falco: 0 Stock
Ken and Isai-Marth and Falcon: 0 Stock [Pokemon Stadium] ChuDat and Manacloud-Fox and Falco: 1 Stock
Ken and Isai-Marth and Falcon: 1 Stock [Dreamland 64] ChuDat and Manacloud-Fox and Falco: 0 Stock
Ken and Isai-Fox and Falcon: 3 Stock [Rainbow Cruise] ChuDat and Manacloud-Ice Climbers and Falco: 0 Stock
Ken and Isai-Fox and Falcon: 5 Stock [Rainbow Cruise] ChuDat and Manacloud-Fox and Ice Climbers: 0 Stock
Ken and Isai-Falcon and Falcon: 0 Stock [Final Destination] ChuDat and Manacloud-Fox and Falco: 1 Stock
Ken and Isai-Falcon and Falcon: 2 Stock [ Final Destination] ChuDat and Manacloud-Fox and Falco: 1 Stock
Ken and Isai-Marth and Falcon: 2 Stock [Yoshi Story] ChuDat and Manacloud- Fox and Falco: 0 Stock

Ken and Isai win 6-2

Congratulations to the National Championship Winners!

1. Ken and Isai :: $10,000
2. ChuDat and Manacloud :: $5,000
3. Mew2King and King :: $3,000
4. Husband and Wife
5/6: Azen and Chillin
5/6: Rob$ and Caveman
7/8: KoreanDJ and JBlaze
7/8: PC Chris and Wes

Grinding the Gears - Tsquared leads squad to
GoW Victory!
By Trunkers
November 19, 2006 - 12:21pm
To show off the competitive prowess of the new Xbox 360 title Gears of War, GameStop hosted a special event Saturday night on Major League Gaming’s Main Stage in Las Vegas. The festivities began with a surprise charity exhibition match. Playing for the Autistic Society were Carbon’s top showman Gandhi and TNA’s very own undefeated Samoa Joe. Their opponents in the competition were Tsquared, the charismatic marksman from Str8 Rippin, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Forrest Griffin. The two would be joining forces to play for the USO.

Although playing for charity, the match was not without some light-hearted pre-game trash talk. Samoa Joe opened the banter by coolly pointing at a monitor’s display of Carbon’s 3 – 0 victory over Str8 Rippin, stating, “Looking at the score over there, it looks like I’ve got the better partner.” The crowd cheered at the statement, looking to see yet another chapter in the storied rivalry between Gandhi and Tsquared. Forrest Griffin was quick to retort with his own brand of smack talk: “Big words from someone whose fingers are too fat to push the buttons.” And so the stage was set.

The two teams would be competing in a first-to-five-rounds competition of Gears of War’s Execution gametype. Gandhi and Samoa Joe were quick to take control of the match, seizing the opening three rounds. The team gained their advantage by rushing to the sniper rifle spawning in the center of the stage and landing some key long range shots on their opponents.

It looked like it would be a landslide victory for the two men fighting for the Autistic Society, until Tsquared and Forrest Griffin hit their stride. Tsquared turned the tide in signature style, utilizing the rockets as his power weapon and taking control of the map. The two found continuing success as they stuck together and revived each other before an opposing player could land a life-ending curb stomp.

Bringing his own brand of flair to the match, Tsquared worked the crowd as he spiritedly acted out each of his chainsaw kills on the main stage. A roar from the crowd emerged as Tsquared decimated Gandhi with the shotgun to tie the match at four games each.

However, the show would belong to Samoa Joe, whose match-leading kill count sealed the ninth and final game for his squad. For their efforts, the team won a generous donation from GameStop for their charity of choice, the Autistic Society.

Next up was a Pro-Am event which pitted eight pro players against each other alongside amateur partners chosen through various raffles and preliminary competitions. Saiyan, Karma, T2, Ogre 2, Gandhi, Walshy, Foulacy and Cpt. Anarchy had been chosen to captain the eight teams, and were each joined by three members of the audience and community to fill out their four man squads. The audience members were selected via raffle, and would be fighting for the $5,000 put up for grabs by GameStop.

The single-elimination bracket opened to a match between Team Karma and Team Saiyan, where Karma’s squad stuck tightly together and revived their way to a 3 – 0 victory. The next first round match-up pitted Team Tsquared against Team Ogre 2. Although Ogre 2 produced a valiant effort to force a draw, his team was ultimately winless, and quickly exited the tournament.

Team Gandhi continued the action with a sweep over Team Walshy. The result completed a trio of winless matches for the members of Final Boss, a sign that they likely won’t be dropping their Halo colors for Gears of War any time soon. Team Foulacy rounded out the results with a sweep over Team Cpt Anarchy.

In the semi-final round, Team T2 topped Team Karma to advance to the Championship Match and secure their place in the $5,000 prize pool. Team Foulacy edged out Team Gandhi, completing a duo of Str8 Rippin victories over Carbon members. The wins were a small consolation for the loss they had suffered in Halo’s Winners Bracket Round 2 match.

In the Championship Match, Tsquared’s side forcefully declared their dominance, taking home a cool $4,000 check. Runners-up Team Foulacy were awarded $1,000 for their efforts. In the first live competitive display of Gears of War, we saw an interesting mix of strategy and combat that proved the game to be an able and intriguing competitive title. With Xbox Live traffic for the game skyrocketing, it will only be a matter of time before people really refine the multiplayer side of this game, which will help greatly to mature the competition and strategy in this exciting new game.


1st Place - Team Tsquared: $4,000
Tsquared
Tim Golden
Nick Enari
Lester Brooks

2nd Place - Team Foulacy: $1,000
Foulacy
Victory_X
Sarah Nye (Lelu)
Shawn

3rd Place - Team Karma:
Karma
Jason Gates
Tony Syphus
Jordan Eustaquio

3rd Place - Team Gandhi:
Gandhi
Dark_Vegetto
Jeremy Escalante
Ingrid Festin

5th Place - Team Ogre 2:
OGRE2
Shook_On3
Tim Bagen
Anthony Demaeo

5th Place - Team Saiyan:
Saiyan
Greg Gollin
Joe Naves
Devon Byford

5th Place - Team Walshy:
Walshy
Ramby
Jake Garlie
Sarah Robertson


5th Place - Team Cpt Anarchy:
Cpt Anarchy
Triple007
Tim Lakes
Gabriel Ochoa

One King to Rule them All - Karma Wins 1v1
National Championship!
By Trunkers
November 18, 2006 - 5:57pm
Entering the National Championships as the reigning seven-time 1v1 champion, Karma was the clear favorite. Looking to dethrone him were seven of Major League Gaming’s top singles artists who had earned their invitation to MLG Vegas through their consistently stellar performances throughout the 2006 Boost Mobile Pro Circuit.

The first round of the competition opened with a tense tone, as each of the eight contestants appeared hesitant to make an overly aggressive strike, with the chance of surrendering an early lead. Most notably, Legit maintained a 1 – 0 advantage for the opening six minutes of his match against Walshy, hiding in green base before Walshy ultimately flushed him out with a well-placed grenade. Legit continued to retreat after gaining a single-point margin over the Final Boss captain until Walshy earned his first lead and increased the match’s tempo, pushing his advantage to a 15 – 12 victory.

Meanwhile, Strongside slipped early against Naded in his opening match, trailing at one point by the count of 6 – 2. However, Strongside rallied with a relentless pursuit, gaining the lead after a quick killing spree and taking the match 15 – 8, ending the game on a 13 – 2 streak. Ogre 2 made quick work of first-round opponent Fonzi, as he racked up kills from the map’s perimeter and ended the match with an effortless stick, closing the score at 15 – 7.



Winning every single 1v1 event of the season, Karma has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is truly the greatest individual player on the planet. That $10,000 check will look great on his wall, reminding him and all who see it who the king really is.



Arguably, the marquee match of the first round occurred between Karma and Level One Playoff winner KillerN. When the two met in the 2006 season opener, KillerN relegated Karma to the Losers Bracket in the opening round. Although Karma ultimately rebounded to take the title, KillerN had proven his proficiency at countering Karma’s top-center tactics. Prior to Vegas, Karma noted that he would abandon his top-center strategy against KillerN and Strongside in favor of an alternate approach. The result was a decidedly slower paced match, as Karma took great measures to keep distance between himself and KillerN. Utilizing his host advantage, Karma picked apart KillerN with cross-map shots and advanced to Winners Bracket Round 2 with a 15 – 10 victory.

Karma’s dominance continued into the second round. Buoyed by Gandhi’s cries of ‘Karma is unstoppable’, Karma dictated the opening minutes and tallied a killing spree against Ogre 2. The end result was a landslide victory of 15 – 2 in favor of the reigning champion.

On the other side of the bracket, Walshy and Strongside produced a much closer affair. Their skirmishes ranged all over the map, with each player forfeiting their upward positioning to engage in pursuit. The two combatants remained deadlocked for much of the match, drawing level at 10-10. However, Strongside gained an advantage as he sneakily landed behind Walshy’s watchful guard and landed an assassination on his unsuspecting opponent. The move propelled Strongside to a 15 – 11 victory and sealed his position in the Winners Bracket Finals, as well as the prize pool.

The Winners Bracket Finals match up was a familiar one between former teammates Strongside and Karma, who met in the finals of both Orlando and New York. Knowing that Strongside could counter his bread-and-butter top-center strategy, Karma employed the sneakier approach he successfully used against KillerN in the opening round. While Strongside patrolled the lower routes of the map, he appeared generally unable to locate Karma and land the opening shots. Although notoriously crafty in his efforts to avoid fire and stay alive, Strongside could not overcome Karma’s warping assaults. Karma’s unparalleled long range Battle Rifle and Carbine proved to be insurmountable, as Strongside fell to Karma 15 – 7.



Karma took on all challengers with his trademark cool confidence, finding his way to his second MLG National Championship Title.



Strongside awaited the victor of the Losers Bracket Semi-Final meeting between teammates Walshy and Ogre 2. Despite their camaraderie in team play, the tone of the match was nowhere near friendly. The teammates fiercely battled for their ticket to the Losers Bracket Finals. Walshy gained an early edge, and was carried throughout the match by his overwhelming focus. The Final Boss captain formulaically weakened Ogre 2’s shields with deftly placed grenades and finished with precision headshots. Walshy maintained his solid advantage for much of the match, before Ogre 2 clawed his way back, tying the score at 13 kills each. However, Walshy’s unrelenting determination prevailed, as he took the final two kills of the match and advanced to face Strongside.

Strongside dominated the opening minutes of his rematch with Walshy. Strongside’s patient playing style earned him an early advantage, as Walshy left his back exposed after running past a motionless Strongside. The Legendz marksman added two more kills to his tally before perplexing spectators with a uniquely crafted spawn trap. Walshy appeared flustered as he spawned into Strongside’s reticle three consecutive times, yielding a 6 – 0 advantage. Although Walshy proceeded to gain brief control, he eventually surrendered it when he attempted to implement Strongside’s spawn trap. Strongside spawned with guns blazing, taking down Walshy with his lightning quick carbine. While Strongside has a tendency to lie low with significant leads, he pressed his advantage to a fast-paced 15 – 4 victory.

Entering the Championship Match at a 1 – 0 deficit, Strongside faced the daunting task of taking two consecutive games from Karma. Encouraged by his single-game victory over Karma in Orlando, Strongside looked to find the key to reproducing such a feat in Vegas. Determined to cap his unbeaten 2006 tournament run, Karma applied early high-pressure tactics to gain a 4 – 2 lead. Uncharacteristically, the champion relented his aggressive pursuits, retreating from Strongside’s attempts to draw level. Ensuring that a significant distance separated the two combatants, Karma forced Strongside to approach through exposed lines of fire. Closing the match 15 – 8, Karma proved that he is truly an unparalleled talent on the Major League Gaming Pro Circuit. In what has truly been a dynastic run, Karma took home the first-place check for each of MLG’s seven events in 2006.

Congratulations to the Halo 2 1v1 Prize Winners!
1. Karma - $10,000
2. Strongside - $5,000
3. Walshy - $3,000