My name is Trevor “qu1k_sh0t” Henry, clan leader and captain for =BFB= and the laRd team, this is the second part of the MPLD competition that took place over the weekend of 5 – 7 September 2009!

The competition kicked off with some exciting games, in addition to the xP wins, sG beat UBS in commanding fashion, while sKy gaming beat the all girl line-up of Feisty Females. After a few games Synergy Gaming came up against sKy Gaming.

The game was greatly anticipated as sG were one of the favourites for the tournament, and the winner would qualify to face off against xP in the winner bracket final! As the game kicked off, sKy just never gained momentum, they struggled to find a grasp of the game and went down 13 – 3 to sG.

So that meant the last game in the winner bracket groups would be between xiR’s Pimps and Synergy Gaming. As the game kicked off, map elimination came into play with both sides removing two maps. The final battleground was decided to bemp_strike. This was the map that xP had bested Element on earlier in the tournament. With some confidence from that game, and the fact that sG line-up had trepidations going into the game it meant xP had the advantage when the game commenced.As the game started, once again xP was lucky enough to have the easier side of defence. The xP line-up waited for the sG players to push them, and attack them, however it seemed sG was playing very conservatively.  It almost seemed as though sG was afraid to push the experienced xP players. And as such, it allowed the xP players into positions they needed to get to. xP then managed to lock down the defensive half of the game and take a commanding lead into the attacking side. With the score sitting at 8 – 4 in favour of xP it was looking like yet another final was in store for qu1k and the boys!

Capunt Watching qu1k_sh0t Closely!

As the competition wore on, the rounds were hard fought and xP needed to convert some difficult rounds being one or two players down! However on the map, xP out played Synergy Gaming to win with a final score of 13 – 7.

This meant that xP was the first team to make it to the grand final, and that the team that would challenge xP would need to win two maps in order to be declared the winner of MPLD September!

So with xP making grand final’s who would they face off against? In the double elimination format in order for a team to be defeated in the tournament, they have to loose two games. So the remainder of the games to be played would be between the players in the Lower bracket. If a team lost here they are out of the tournament. After a few of the games leading up to the lower bracket final some big names were about the clash! The first big game was between UBS and Feisty Females. The game was played onmp_citystreets and after a draw of 12 – 12. They went into overtime, 3 rounds get played each way and the first to hit 4 is the winner. UBS got into the lead 2 – 1, however the ladies fought back with a score of 2 – 1 themselves. A Double Overtime was now to be played! This time however the UBS gentlemen bested the ladies to win 4 – 1. A final overall score of 19 – 16 to UBS meant they would go onto the lower bracket semi finals!

The next game was just as epic, with Element coming out on top beating UBS 13 – 11 in an extremely close game that came down to the wire! As this game was going on, xP was battling it out for bragging rights against sKy gaming. sKy had lost badly to sG earlier in the day and wanted some practise games against the veteran xP team. Both maps were extremely close xP only managing to win by a handful of rounds on the first map, and in fact drawing the second map! With some practise games out of the way sKy gaming felt stronger with some preparation leading up to their clash with Element and sG.

sKy Gaming beat Element fairly comfortably 13 – 5, and earned a spot in the lower bracket final. The loser would be knocked out of the competition finishing 3rd, whereas the winner would get another bit at the apple facing off against xP in the Grand Final!

The Lower Bracket final commenced, the map was mp_crash! sKy had some good practise games vs xP and had just beaten Element in a convincing fashion. They their heads up high as they went into the lower bracket final against a team that had beaten them extremely easy earlier in the day. As sKy won the knife round they got to defend first, once again the slightly easier side. However sKy was struggling to take a lead, and rounds went back and forth finally finishing 6 – 6. With the more difficult side over it looked like sG would be making it through to the grand final.

However sKy had something to say about that, attacking they had a drive and a focus that was not present earlier in the day. They pushed sG hard and took the lead for a few rounds. As the score drew to 9 – 9. At this point however, sG had seen what sKy were doing and shut them down. As the score reached game point at 12 – 9, sKy took one last round before falling prey to sG. A Good Game was called at 13 – 10. Synergy Gaming would face off against xiR’s Pimps in the Grand Final!

Part 3 will close off the grand final, as well as look at the goodies used in order to get to the grand final.

MPLD Filling up on the Friday Night