3D.NY vs. CAROLINA CORE

FINAL

CS:S

FZA

FIFA

DOAF

DOAM

SCORE

3D.NY

8

3

1

0

1

13

Carolina Core

10

4

2

5

5

26

FORZA Motorsport 2

Opening up the Semi Final, two of the top FORZA duos in the league faced off against each other, The CORE’s General E Live & Phantom against 3D.NY’s ComeBackDan & Dark Storm. After a bit of battling off of the grid of Inland Taipan, General E Live took off in first, with Dark Storm and ComeBackDan trailing behind. The race played out in that order for all three laps, with each racer having about +100 meters on the following racer. The Final standings reflect the same order, General E Live in first, ComeBackDan in second, Dark Storm in third, and Phantom in fourth.

Dead or Alive 4 (FEMALE)

Next in line, CAROLINA CORE’s Mystik found herself with the challenge of taking down a rampaging Coolsvilla, as Hayate and Christie respectively on Seaside Market. Coolsvilla, whose past four matches earned her a total score of 20-2, found herself on the receiving end of a seemingly non-stop offense for five straight rounds from a vastly improved Mystik. It looked as if Mystik knew every possible way to stay on top of Coolsvilla, giving her no real openings to reply with any offense of her own. CAROLINA CORE walked away with a comfortable 5-0 on the scoreboard.

FIFA 08

For the soccer action, the 2007 Individual World Champion of FIFA, WiZaKoR, took on Anomaly, as France and Brazil respectively. Anomaly, who has struggled in the shootout play that has been so common in the 2008 season, was looking to get an early lead to avoid another potential shootout loss. Things looked bad for both teams at the scoreless half, with WiZaKoR missing the points he needs to impact the scoreboard, and Anomaly inching closer towards the unforgiving shootout. It wasn’t until the 1:20 mark of the second half that Anomaly found a goal after back and forth rebounds in front of WiZaKoR’s net. It did not go unanswered, WiZaKoR capitalized on a botched free kick from Anomaly, moving the ball down to a breakaway, thundering in a goal from miles away. Anomaly, who had been desperately fighting to end the game at regulation time, managed to find an inch gap between the bar and the keeper, giving the CORE the 2-1 lead, which stuck until the end of the game.

Counter-Strike Source

With the 3D.NY team backed into a corner, and forced to just about shut out the CORE, things didn’t seem easy on de_inferno as 3D.NY had started on offense as Terrorst. 3D.NY found themselves in a four-on-five after a player was swiftly picked down banana by Devour, sending them promptly into the B bomb site. The CORE took the site back with relative ease, making it that much harder for 3D to score a win. 3D.NY then decided to take a heavy rush into the banana towards A, which actually worked out, tying the match up 1-1. The match ended for 3D.NY before the half time, with the CAROLINA CORE overpowering them at every side of the map. The CORE proved to be just too strong on defense, ending the first half 6-3.

The second half played out a bit better for 3D.NY, but better is a relative term when you’ve lost a playoff match. The steam had been completely taken out of the battle, as 3D.NY had already fallen. After a huge round from Juan the eco cobra, 3D.NY had hoped to take the match into overtime, as the score sat at 9-8 in the CORE’s favor. Devour then decided to show the fans that he hadn’t faded into obscurity with the influx of new AWPer’s in the CGS, by winning an impressive 2v1 inside of the B bomb site, to give the CORE the 10-8 win.

Dead or Alive 4 (MALE)

For the Male fighting competition, Cheppelle was put in the pressure position of needing a strong win over the man that ended Master’s perfect season, Offbeat Ninja. Cheppelle was playing his standard Ayane, against Offbeat Ninja’s Ein, on Crash Club. It looked as if Cheppelle would be capable of being somewhat productive, losing two extremely close rounds to Offbeat Ninja. Offbeat Ninja slowly began gaining momentum on Cheppelle, winning three straight rounds before Cheppelle managed to pick up one of his own. Still, Offbeat Ninja was able to edge Cheppelle out on the following round, before destroying him in the final round, ending the match at 5-1 for the CORE.

DALLAS VENOM vs. SAN FRANCISCO OPTX

FINAL

CS:S

FZA

FIFA

DOAF

DOAM

SCORE

Dallas Venom

10

4

1

5

4

24

San Francisco OPTX

8

3

3

3

3

22

Dead or Alive 4 (MALE)

Starting off the second match of the Semi Final, DALLAS VENOM’s nearly undefeated superstar Master, faced off against NinjaCW. Master, playing as Hayabusa, lost a close round to NinjaCW as Gen Fu, on Temple on the Mountain. NinjaCW nearly won the second round with a Greatest, dominating the #1 Dead or Alive Male. Master finally decided to flip the switch, going on a brutal four round streak over NinjaCW, before NinjaCW captured two more rounds, making the score 4-4. NinjaCW captured his first win over Master in 2008, staying a step ahead of him with pinpoint accuracy in countering the repetitive moves, enabling a 5-4 score to start the OPTX’s night off.

FIFA 08

With the VENOM’s MVP, Master, falling in the opening battle, Barmoa was then tasked with the challenge of taking down this season’s surprise FIFA superstar, Stermy. Barmoa, as Brazil, had a number of attempts inside the zone of Stermy, as France, but had trouble finishing on any of the opportunities. Stermy, in his own right, had a few close long balls, but was similarly unable to sink a shot. With a scoreless game, the match moved into penalty kicks, where Stermy came up big with three goals to the single goal by Barmoa, ending the game 3-1 for the OPTX.

FORZA Motorsport 2

The VENOM racing duo moved into position to help close the gap for the overall match, and if the #1 Draft pick was ever going to make an impact, it was in this match. Muffinman took an early lead off of the grid, with Sackamonjaro in second. Sackamonjaro attempted to bully Muffinman into the wall, but CHA0S was able to hit both of the OPTX racers to free Muffinman up, and take third place in the process. Miximup battled CHA0S in the back for third, finally making a move to position the OPTX to at least pick up three points. Muffinman managed to end the race in first, with Sackamonjaro in second, Miximup in third, and CHA0S in fourth, a 4-3 win that the VENOM desperately needed.

Counter-Strike: Source

The #1 Counter-Strike: Source team in the league, the DALLAS VENOM, faced off against the team tied for fifth place on the standings, the OPTX, on de_tuscan, taking defense as Counter-Terrorist. The VENOM took the first round by the clock, as GRT was unable to frag the remaining player or get the bomb down in time. Sunman picked up three frags to give DALLAS VENOM a second point on the scoreboard. GRT replied to the VENOM with two entry kills, and a third grenade kill, to get the OPTX on the board, making the score 2-1. Zid began to dominate for the VENOM, but GRT’s solid first half allowed the OPTX to score three more rounds, making the score at the half 5-4 for DALLAS VENOM.

DALLAS VENOM started the second half off incredibly strong, storming into both the B and A bomb sites with ease. Chaos ensued in the third round of the half, when clown fragged a teammate with a grenade, followed instantly when zid executed a teammate with an AWP headshot. The OPTX used the insane opportunity to win the round, when GRT fragged two DALLAS VENOM players like clay pigeons from inside the A bomb site with an AWP. The teams traded rounds before the OPTX began to make a comeback, picking up two consecutive rounds after retaking the site to defuse. The VENOM fought back, moving into match point, when GRT pushed through the sewers to flank the VENOM, picking up two desert eagle frags, followed by two AWP frags. The VENOM moved up below the B window to split into B , fragging their way to the North American Final, by winning the Counter-Strike Source game 10-8 over the OPTX.

Dead or Alive 4 (FEMALE)

Vanessa battled against the only female to ever beat her in CGS competition, Phoenix, as Hitomi and Gen Fu respectively, on Gamblers Paradise. Vanessa picked up two convincing rounds before Phoenix was able to counter her way to two points for the VENOM. Vanessa took the lead back briefly, before Phoenix won a third round, tying the match 3-3. Phoenix moved herself into game point position with a fairly one sided round over Vanessa. They both fought an extremely close ninth round, where Phoenix’s patience paid off, earning her the second win over Vanessa in CGS history, against two separate characters.