DYNASTYBLUE2
04-27-2011, 03:08 PM
By ElamiteWarrior
I have been home from Dallas for about a week now, and just trying to get caught up on the past few months of traveling and events. I went to Boston for PAX East and had a blast, pretty much hung out in the Gunnar Lounge the whole weekend. From there I had a couple busy weeks with school, life, then a LAN in Chicago. After a crazy couple of days leading up to the LAN where I hadn�t slept for days because of school and studying, I pulled off a little 7-hour drive where coffee and espresso shots became my best friend. Unfortunately, we had to play a series right away and we got a quick 11-0 by BTH. I am actually surprised I even remember that, considering how exhausted I was at the time.
The LAN went by fairly quickly, but we could tell we were getting better each day: not only getting better at teamwork but getting better by catching up on sleep and actually being able to function. After the LAN, Robbie B and StrongSide drove back with me and stayed at my house until we flew out for the tournament. Well, StrongSide didn�t actually stay, but he came over each day to practice; he only lives about 15 minutes away from my house.
We left early on Thursday for the tournament. It wasn�t too long of a flight from Cincinnati to Dallas. We stayed at the Crown Plaza for the first night but I ended up taking my parents� reservation at the Aloft when it turned out they weren�t able to catch any flights down there. (In case you were wondering, my dad is a pilot and my whole family flies standby just about everywhere) Enough with minor details, on to the tournament.
This tournament was the first time I have been part of a Pool Play bracket since back in 2005. We played our first match against Ambush and it went to Game 5, but we still managed to pull out a victory. Our next match was the one I was most anticipating. It was my shot at Instinct. Lunchbox and Roy kicked Cloud and me off the team at the start of the off-season, and [when that happened] I made it my goal to come back and beat them at the first Event. Roy and I have always had a big rivalry; he�s just one of those players that you try a little bit harder to kill than you do against everyone else. It has been like this with us for years. I used to joke around about how I was undefeated against him and Lunchbox until they finally took a series from me in Dallas in 2009. I lost a little bit of leverage then but I know we always love matching up against each other.
The series started off and we ended up losing the first game. It was a good game and we knew it was one of our weaker Game Types. We didn�t let the loss affect us and we ended up bouncing back, taking Game 5 in a tough-fought round. I was extremely happy at this point. It had been my main goal for the last few months. As most everyone knows, the schedule and streams started to go haywire around this time and so did the tournament schedule. We had our last match against GMM that night, and it ended up getting pushed back. We were already up 2-0 in our Pool and knew that we were looking pretty good for taking the #1 spot and a guaranteed Top 6 finish. We were the only team left in our Pool without any losses.
It was just after midnight on a long day that we sat down to play GMM. It was an intense series and we ended up making a few big mistakes right at the end of Game 5 to lose the series. We were all pretty tired and heated at this point, and we were even madder when we found out what this loss meant for us in the bracket. Instead of taking the Pool in a deciding manner, we had a 3-way tie for first and WE had the worst win percentage ratio because of the Game 5 shenanigans we always pull off. Instead of entering the tournament in the Winners Bracket, we dropped down to Top 16 and found ourselves having to play Final Boss for Top 8. We still had to make sure we beat Active Rush for Top 12, so we were taking things one step at a time. In the blink of an eye, we found ourselves down 2-0 in the series, on the brink of elimination. We rallied and pulled off two wins, one of which was a nail-biter CTF Zealot game. Game 5 was Countdown Slayer and we were not about to let that slip by. We dominated and won something like 50-25, and had our confidence back going into our match with FB.
Our series with FB was something for the record books. Those series are the ones you never want to be on the losing end of, trust me: I�ve been on both ends of them. This time, however, it wasn�t our time to go down. We lost Game 2 in an embarrassing fashion after being up like 16 kills or something ridiculous like that, but lucky for us, that didn�t end up mattering because we pulled off the Game 5 win. Zealot TS against Final Boss was probably the most epic game of the tournament. We had an early lead but lost it and were sitting with Lobby control down 46-42. In case you didn�t know, Gold is generally considered the more powerful spot to control on the map. I saw us sitting up 49-48 with almost no movement going on in the map.
At this point, I remember everything as if it�s [still happening]. I see StrongSide come up behind a no-shields FearItself and start yelling �Guys I got it, guys I got it, guys I got it!� then I hear �Guys I DON�T GOT IT, I DON�T GOT IT! I NEED HELP, HELP, HELP!� StrongSide is now running away no-shields and Snake Bite has just been killed by a grenade Ogre 2 threw top gold. The score is 49-49 when Robbie B and I sprint bottom center just in time to doubleteam Ogre 2 and take the game 50-49! I remember jumping out of my seat and hearing a loud crunch when I landed. Sorry, Coach�I just smashed your Astros in half! I had to go and get him another pair, but it was worth it. I can barely remember the last time I was on the team that came out on top of a 50-49 game, especially a Game 5 50-49 win. I want to wish the best of luck to all those guys, especially the new FB and The Agency.
Now we come to the Top 6. This was the first time that a team from the Loser�s Bracket has come back to play a team that was further along in the bracket, but was up in the series on them. We were up 3-2 and ended up knocking Instinct out of the tournament with a final score of 6-3. I was regretfully a little too happy about all this, as I may have rubbed it in a little too much on Twitter and in the talk during the series. I have mad love and respect for all those players and wish them the best.
We had a solid BTH squad for Top 3 and I think we were a little content with our current standing. We were all also a little exhausted from playing nonstop since 8:30 that morning, and we came out a little flat. After getting run over in the first two games, we managed to rally together,but we still ended up losing Game 3�but it was a good and close-fought game.
So there it is. Our trip through the Losers Bracket was one of my favorites to date. We knocked out some big names, including Final Boss, Swagger Like Us, and Instinct. After quickly brushing off our loss, I went immediately to go support Neighbor and my personal favorite, Status Quo. A quick history: in the off-season, Neighbor and I were hoping to team this Season and joined up with Heinz and Best Man on Triggers Down. Not too long after, Neighbor and I were kicked off in favor of Hysteria and SK. I was a little upset at first, but knew I would be able to bounce back. Neighbor and I teamed way back in H2 and the beginning of H3 and have been great friends since. I cheer for him all the way up until I have to go with the one and only Ace. It was great to watch those two teams in the Finals because those were two of the hardest working teams in the off-season. It was great to see Impact upgrade from �Combine kids� to an actual force on the Pro Circuit. As for Status Quo, I have been the number one Ace fan since he started playing back in 2005, and it was great to see him finally take home a win. I still joke with him and say �cool, you won one, come talk to me when you have seven tournaments,� but judging from the performance they put on in Dallas, he will be there in no time. He said we switched placings from the last few years, me always winning and him always finishing 4th, but I told him �I am not letting you have all the wins this year. I am going to snag me one for sure.�
Other than that, I am trying to be much more active in the community. I have a lot of stuff going on and I am really excited about this Season. If you haven�t heard yet, Best Buy is now carrying Gunnars in 55 stores across the country and I made it onto the packaging! This is one of the highlights of my Halo career and makes me proud of what I have been able to accomplish over the past few years, so if you haven�t seen them yet, make sure you go and check them out. I am also going to be blogging regularly, and doing video blogs here and there, with one coming out soon. I am becoming much more active on Facebook and Twitter so make sure you Like my page and follow me! Don�t forget to look for tons of Warrior Merchandise that we will be giving out in Columbus. Thanks everyone and a special shout out to all the fans!
I have been home from Dallas for about a week now, and just trying to get caught up on the past few months of traveling and events. I went to Boston for PAX East and had a blast, pretty much hung out in the Gunnar Lounge the whole weekend. From there I had a couple busy weeks with school, life, then a LAN in Chicago. After a crazy couple of days leading up to the LAN where I hadn�t slept for days because of school and studying, I pulled off a little 7-hour drive where coffee and espresso shots became my best friend. Unfortunately, we had to play a series right away and we got a quick 11-0 by BTH. I am actually surprised I even remember that, considering how exhausted I was at the time.
The LAN went by fairly quickly, but we could tell we were getting better each day: not only getting better at teamwork but getting better by catching up on sleep and actually being able to function. After the LAN, Robbie B and StrongSide drove back with me and stayed at my house until we flew out for the tournament. Well, StrongSide didn�t actually stay, but he came over each day to practice; he only lives about 15 minutes away from my house.
We left early on Thursday for the tournament. It wasn�t too long of a flight from Cincinnati to Dallas. We stayed at the Crown Plaza for the first night but I ended up taking my parents� reservation at the Aloft when it turned out they weren�t able to catch any flights down there. (In case you were wondering, my dad is a pilot and my whole family flies standby just about everywhere) Enough with minor details, on to the tournament.
This tournament was the first time I have been part of a Pool Play bracket since back in 2005. We played our first match against Ambush and it went to Game 5, but we still managed to pull out a victory. Our next match was the one I was most anticipating. It was my shot at Instinct. Lunchbox and Roy kicked Cloud and me off the team at the start of the off-season, and [when that happened] I made it my goal to come back and beat them at the first Event. Roy and I have always had a big rivalry; he�s just one of those players that you try a little bit harder to kill than you do against everyone else. It has been like this with us for years. I used to joke around about how I was undefeated against him and Lunchbox until they finally took a series from me in Dallas in 2009. I lost a little bit of leverage then but I know we always love matching up against each other.
The series started off and we ended up losing the first game. It was a good game and we knew it was one of our weaker Game Types. We didn�t let the loss affect us and we ended up bouncing back, taking Game 5 in a tough-fought round. I was extremely happy at this point. It had been my main goal for the last few months. As most everyone knows, the schedule and streams started to go haywire around this time and so did the tournament schedule. We had our last match against GMM that night, and it ended up getting pushed back. We were already up 2-0 in our Pool and knew that we were looking pretty good for taking the #1 spot and a guaranteed Top 6 finish. We were the only team left in our Pool without any losses.
It was just after midnight on a long day that we sat down to play GMM. It was an intense series and we ended up making a few big mistakes right at the end of Game 5 to lose the series. We were all pretty tired and heated at this point, and we were even madder when we found out what this loss meant for us in the bracket. Instead of taking the Pool in a deciding manner, we had a 3-way tie for first and WE had the worst win percentage ratio because of the Game 5 shenanigans we always pull off. Instead of entering the tournament in the Winners Bracket, we dropped down to Top 16 and found ourselves having to play Final Boss for Top 8. We still had to make sure we beat Active Rush for Top 12, so we were taking things one step at a time. In the blink of an eye, we found ourselves down 2-0 in the series, on the brink of elimination. We rallied and pulled off two wins, one of which was a nail-biter CTF Zealot game. Game 5 was Countdown Slayer and we were not about to let that slip by. We dominated and won something like 50-25, and had our confidence back going into our match with FB.
Our series with FB was something for the record books. Those series are the ones you never want to be on the losing end of, trust me: I�ve been on both ends of them. This time, however, it wasn�t our time to go down. We lost Game 2 in an embarrassing fashion after being up like 16 kills or something ridiculous like that, but lucky for us, that didn�t end up mattering because we pulled off the Game 5 win. Zealot TS against Final Boss was probably the most epic game of the tournament. We had an early lead but lost it and were sitting with Lobby control down 46-42. In case you didn�t know, Gold is generally considered the more powerful spot to control on the map. I saw us sitting up 49-48 with almost no movement going on in the map.
At this point, I remember everything as if it�s [still happening]. I see StrongSide come up behind a no-shields FearItself and start yelling �Guys I got it, guys I got it, guys I got it!� then I hear �Guys I DON�T GOT IT, I DON�T GOT IT! I NEED HELP, HELP, HELP!� StrongSide is now running away no-shields and Snake Bite has just been killed by a grenade Ogre 2 threw top gold. The score is 49-49 when Robbie B and I sprint bottom center just in time to doubleteam Ogre 2 and take the game 50-49! I remember jumping out of my seat and hearing a loud crunch when I landed. Sorry, Coach�I just smashed your Astros in half! I had to go and get him another pair, but it was worth it. I can barely remember the last time I was on the team that came out on top of a 50-49 game, especially a Game 5 50-49 win. I want to wish the best of luck to all those guys, especially the new FB and The Agency.
Now we come to the Top 6. This was the first time that a team from the Loser�s Bracket has come back to play a team that was further along in the bracket, but was up in the series on them. We were up 3-2 and ended up knocking Instinct out of the tournament with a final score of 6-3. I was regretfully a little too happy about all this, as I may have rubbed it in a little too much on Twitter and in the talk during the series. I have mad love and respect for all those players and wish them the best.
We had a solid BTH squad for Top 3 and I think we were a little content with our current standing. We were all also a little exhausted from playing nonstop since 8:30 that morning, and we came out a little flat. After getting run over in the first two games, we managed to rally together,but we still ended up losing Game 3�but it was a good and close-fought game.
So there it is. Our trip through the Losers Bracket was one of my favorites to date. We knocked out some big names, including Final Boss, Swagger Like Us, and Instinct. After quickly brushing off our loss, I went immediately to go support Neighbor and my personal favorite, Status Quo. A quick history: in the off-season, Neighbor and I were hoping to team this Season and joined up with Heinz and Best Man on Triggers Down. Not too long after, Neighbor and I were kicked off in favor of Hysteria and SK. I was a little upset at first, but knew I would be able to bounce back. Neighbor and I teamed way back in H2 and the beginning of H3 and have been great friends since. I cheer for him all the way up until I have to go with the one and only Ace. It was great to watch those two teams in the Finals because those were two of the hardest working teams in the off-season. It was great to see Impact upgrade from �Combine kids� to an actual force on the Pro Circuit. As for Status Quo, I have been the number one Ace fan since he started playing back in 2005, and it was great to see him finally take home a win. I still joke with him and say �cool, you won one, come talk to me when you have seven tournaments,� but judging from the performance they put on in Dallas, he will be there in no time. He said we switched placings from the last few years, me always winning and him always finishing 4th, but I told him �I am not letting you have all the wins this year. I am going to snag me one for sure.�
Other than that, I am trying to be much more active in the community. I have a lot of stuff going on and I am really excited about this Season. If you haven�t heard yet, Best Buy is now carrying Gunnars in 55 stores across the country and I made it onto the packaging! This is one of the highlights of my Halo career and makes me proud of what I have been able to accomplish over the past few years, so if you haven�t seen them yet, make sure you go and check them out. I am also going to be blogging regularly, and doing video blogs here and there, with one coming out soon. I am becoming much more active on Facebook and Twitter so make sure you Like my page and follow me! Don�t forget to look for tons of Warrior Merchandise that we will be giving out in Columbus. Thanks everyone and a special shout out to all the fans!