halo national championship tournament, qualifying round – fredericksburg, va – 2002.08.10

for those of you who missed the tournament, 4 members of Team mSa… participated at the eXtraNet.CAFE in fredericksburg on saturday: steve(the plague), matt(BigMatySpcl), josh(CACAPINO), and miah(UDntGet2Liv).

all four of us had met every night that week to “train,” along with some other team members that couldn’t be there saturday (m.tanner), and some kidz (bruce lee) and (stiltz). we usually ran thru the first day’s game (slayer to 25 kills on sidewinder) a few times, then tried one of the second day’s games (king of the hill to 5:00 on bloodgulch; and snipers to 10 on sidewinder). we also threw in a few of our classic CTF to 5 on bloodgulch games for good measure.

friday afternoon steve and miah went down to the game center to check out the scene, and to see if we could get some more specifics on the tournament. the center was pretty tight, mainly set up for computer/online gaming with probably 100 or so comps, but they had 4 decent TVs set up in the back for console games. they also had some killer leather recliners, and sofas back there, and a little coffee bar/mini deli in the front along with a few widescreen hdtvs showing some games and some tv stations. there were 2 kidz playing halo who said they were in the tournament. we watched for a minute. we weren’t impressed. (we saw one kid the next day and his game name was (lucifer) and he got schooled.) we talked to the “halo manager” and didn’t get a whole lot of new info. we also got the feel that it wasn’t too organized or official.

later that day we held our last practice. it was also the first time we hooked up VCRs and recorded some team CTF games. going back and watching the tapes afterwards proved to be great for getting the replay on tight moves and plays, or finding out “what really happened,” and it finally gave teams a chance to see what the other team did during the match. at the end of the night we noticed definite improvement in our performance over the course of the week: better, more controlled combat; precision sniping; smarter gameplay and weapon management; headshots headshots headshots. the next morning we would see if our week of training and months of previous play would pay off. the prizes at stake: a 50″ widescreen plasma hdtv ($12,000); a bose surround sound system ($3,500); an xbox ($199); 4 xbox controllers ($140); and 11 games ($550).

steve, josh, and miah met a little early saturday and played a few quick warm up games of snipers, snagged some controllers, then met up with matt, and hit the road just after 8:00. we got to fredericksburg semi-on-time after getting stuck in some retarded saturday morning traffic on I95 south. there was a small line of geeks outside waiting to get in when we arrived. we lined up and signed in. and then we realized we just screwed up. during the week we had discussed spacing ourselves out when we signed up so that we wouldn’t play against ourselves. and we had just signed in all in order – and were assigned numbers 33-36.

then there was a lot of waiting. waiting for the people who were running it to get organized, and waiting for more people to arrive. only like 40 peeps had signed in when we got there. (and even tho 250 registered online, only a little over 100 eventually showed up, including walk-ins.) the game center would be holding both days of the competition all on the one day, since they were closed on sundays. but it worked out fine because not everyone that registered showed up, which sped things up a lot. and even after holding all 3 rounds the whole thing was over at about 5:00. during the waiting there were some ‘practice games’ going on in the back, and that’s where most of the crowd was gathering. we observed one game that had one or two pros, but over all we weren’t impressed. we got in on the next practice game, and miah and steve decided to play with the default controller settings so that we wouldn’t be “too good.” the controllers were all crusty and public (good thing we all brought good ones from home). we all 4 rocked it up. but not too much, cuz we didn’t want to scare people too bad.

after more waiting, some players made a ruckus about the fact that the halo manager said the games would be without radar, but they made him get out the “official” rules to show him where it said that radars were supposed to be on. it’s funny tho, because those same rules said that only official hardware provided by the sponsor could be used, and just about every other person had their own controller from home. (when we visited on friday, the halo manager even told us to bring our own in case some were broken or they ran out or whatever. so we did.) there was this team of geeks that had custom painted and tricked out controllers with LED lights and toggle switches that did who-knows-what. according to the official rules, the 8 players in each game were supposed to be randomly picked. but they weren’t. players were grouped in the order they signed in that morning 1-8, 9-16, 17-24, 25-32, 33-40, and so on. and Team mSa… was all clumped together #33-36. only the top 2 players from each first round match would move on, so only 2 members of our team had a chance to advance to the second round. but somehow, miah ended up in game 4, and the other 3 teammates were in game #5. (we later found out that player #11 got left out of the count bumping everyone up one spot.) but this still meant that either steve, matt, or josh wouldn’t get a chance to see the next round.

first round – slayer, 25 kills, all vehicles, sidewinder:
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they ran 2 matches at once – each with 8 players on 2 screens. the halo manager called out screen names and assigned controller positions for each game. while watching the first few games we noticed that most players threw grenades spastically when engaged in close combat, and we didn’t really notice any snipers. most games averaged around 15-20 minutes. finally (UDntGet2Liv) was the last name called for the third game. miah was up. he plugged in his controller and sat down next to 7 other gamers. after customizing his profile, he waited for the game to start, with his 3 teammates looking over his shoulder. the game started, and he had an assault rifle in his hands. not a pistol, like with the game settings we practiced with. he was also nervous and twitchy. playing that practice game at sensitivity 3 instead of his usual 6 might have thrown him off. even so – (UDntGet2Liv) jumped to 1st place with about 10 kills after a few minutes; 2nd place had just 6 or 7 kills. the battle to 25 points heated up as he fought with (Hostile) and (Blade); all 3 had 18-19 points; the rest of the field with only 10 or less. then Blade took 1st and jumped up by a few kills. now it was a battle for 2nd place between (UDntGet2Liv) and (Hostile). 3rd place is the first loser. in the last moments of the game all 3 were tied with 24 kills. the game would go to who ever scored the next kill. (Blade) took it. (UDntGet2Liv) scraped by with 2nd place. he tied (Hostile) across the board with 24 kills, and about 10 deaths. but (Hostile) only had 4 assists, to UD’s 7. miah won 2nd place by 3 assists. he would move on to round 2. and then game 5. (the plague), (BigMatySpcl), and (CACAPINO) pulled out their own controllers, sat down, and plugged in. and once the game started, they owned it. (CACAPINO) jumped with a ridiculous lead – 14 to 6 at one point. all 3 were in top positions along with one or two other decent players. but the final score had (CACAPINO) and (the plague) with the top 2 spots. it was the end of the day for (BigMatySpcl).

and then the announcement.
the halo manager at the game center decided to have double elimination rounds. all the losers from the games in the first round would play one more time, but only the one person who won 1st place would move on to the next round. Maty had one more chance to advance.

we dipped for lunch around 11:30, and discussed BMS’s chances of moving on to the next round by grabbing the top spot in the elimination match, and they didn’t look too bad. he was, after all, going to be playing all the losers; and the only reason he didn’t make it in the first round is because he had to play in a game with his own teammates who took the top 2 positions. we had confidence in (BigMatySpcl). he was a winner among losers.

there were a few more games left from the first round when we got back. the most entertaining was a game with a girl who registered as (AsianPersuasion) but played as (laura croft). everyone was cheering for her. and she was good. probably better than (stiltz). watching was almost more fun than playing. she ended up ranked in the middle of the field. but it was a field of guys, with a few really good guys. all the dudes that ranked below her never heard the end of it. there was another girl (Princess) that played earlier, she wasn’t as impressive, but it was still interesting to watch. never thought you would see girls at a halo tournament. finally the last of the first round games wrapped up, and there was more waiting.

and then the losers got another chance.
two games worth of losers played before BigMaty got the call. he was in the first slot on the first screen in game 3 of the double elimination round. with his teammates watching and cheering him on, BMS proved he wasn’t a loser when he ripped through double-digit kills without a death while almost everyone else still had zero. he continued to crush them all the way to 25 points and 1st place, suffering only a few deaths; the 2nd place player had only 14 points. he took those young men over his knee and spanked them. it was beautiful. BMS unplugged and wrapped up his controller like a champ. and just like that – he had put himself right back into the competition. all 4 members of Team mSa… advanced. (laura croft) put on another good show in her elimination game, by leading a bunch of trash-talkers halfway thru the game. she almost had the win, but towards the end she got stuck out away from everyone, couldn’t find anybody to kill, and some other guys jumped ahead. once again all the guys that ranked below her were reminded that they: “lost to a girl.” some of them perhaps for the second time.

the top 2 players from each first round game and the 1st place winner of the elimination round games advanced. they would be combined into 8 player games for the second round. the top four players from the games in the second round would proceed to the third, and would be given points based on their rank:
8 for 1st
7 for 2nd
6 for 3rd
5 for 4th
4 for 5th
3 for 6th
2 for 7th
1 for 8th
so with 4 winning spots it was a little easier to move on – in theory; but this was a more difficult game type, being played against all the winners from the previous round. doing the math based on how many players were left, we figured that we’d probably end up playing in a game with one of our teammates. so we created a strategy to help each other out, by protecting the teammate that was in the hill as he racked up time, then trading off. it was a decent plan, and it sounded like it would work. but we also forgot to not sign up next to each other.

second round: king of the hill, 5 minutes, all vehicles, blood gulch
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for the second round they randomly placed players in teams. (the plague) and (UDntGet2Liv) ended up being together in the first game. (BigMatySpcl) and (CACAPINO) weren’t as lucky. the first king of the hill game saw (the plague) and 3 others on one screen, and (UDntGet2Liv) and 3 others on the other screen. there’s nothing in the rules against teamwork or cooperation among players. they are, however, forbidden from talking during a match. the first few moments of any king game are crazy, as up to 8 guys spawn all in the same spot with the same weak weapon. once the plasma died down, along with a few players, people started racking up time in the hill. and after the first few minutes (the plague) already had about a minute, with other players having only a few seconds, if any. then (UDntGet2Liv) finally nabbed a hill and put some time in the bank. after not too long, plague and UD had about 2:00 each with all other players only around 0:30 or less. then (DedlyBIGuns) quit out of the game with only 21 seconds (sounded like he was frustrated). the Team mSa… players inched passed 3:00, but other players began to catch up. then (Redeemed) stopped playing. as plague passed 4:00, UD was struggling to get more than 3:00. with only 6 players left in the game, there were less side battles and distractions, so it became much harder to hold the hill. UD never intentionally killed plague during the game, and sniped off people moving in on hills occupied by plague. it seemed like every time UD advanced on a hill, and it was occupied by plague, plague would kill UD right when he got in the hill, without waiting for a name to show up. this confused and frustrated UD, who was now in a battle with (Blade) for 2nd place. eventually (the plague) hit the 5 minute mark to end the game. (Blade) took 2nd place with 4:21, and (UDntGet2Liv) scored 3:34 for 3rd with (Pirate) only 14 seconds behind in 4th place. so our protect-the-other-teammate strategy didn’t quite pan out. regardless, plague moved on with 8 points for his 1st place win, and UD took 6 points to the next round for securing 3rd place. the Team mSa… members both had dramatically more kills and fewer deaths than all others in the game – plague with 94/37, UD with 75/38 – all other players averaged about 55/70. (BigMatySpcl) played in game 3 without any aid from his teammates, and landed a very nice 4th place with 3:42, and an amazing 105 kills. he advanced with 5 points. (Killer) won the game going all the way to 5:00 with 124/56 kills/deaths. game 4 had only 7 players. like BMS, (CACAPINO) had no teammates to get his back, and he struggled for a lot of the game. every time he reached the hill he would get dropped. but he still managed to gather 3:24 of hill time with respectable stats, and pulled off 3rd place, giving him 6 points heading into the final round. the king of the hill games lasted about 30 minutes each. once again, all 4 members of Team mSa… moved on to the next round. after the second round, half of the remaining players had been eliminated. there were only enough left for a few games of snipers in the last round. plague and UD would play in the first game of 8 players. cacapino and BMS would play in the second. there would be no elimination or advancement after this round. all 8 players would receive points based on their rank as in the previous round, and the points they earned from the two rounds would be combined. the 4 players with the most points after the last round would move on to the tournament’s regional playoff round the following weekend. in the event of a points tie, the tied players would face off in a tiebreaker snipers game with the same rules as the third round.

third/final round: snipers, 10 kills, no shields, no radar, sidewinder
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the countdown ended, game 1 began, and once again, we were thrown off – the game settings had been created incorrectly and we started with pistols only, and had to go find sniper rifles. UD struggled the whole game and was twitchy. the tvs were dark, and in the shadowy areas in front of the bases where most people were spawning, it became a mess of grenades, and people shooting in the dark, hoping their scopes found red. plague faired well, but UD couldn’t get posted up to snipe, and always ended up spawning in or near a battle in progress. and then ended up getting pecked to death, loosing many of the pistol battles. (the plague) pulled 4th place earning 5 points; final total: 13 points. UD took 6th place and 3 points for a total of 9 points. in game 2 (CACAPINO) and (BigMatySpcl) faced off against 6 other finalists. cacapino owned the first few minutes of the game, by posting up on a doorway to a warp, and racking up 6 kills without a scratch. but then his luck changed. BMS scored up a gang of kills – many of them off of cacapino – and pushed on to first place. meanwhile, cacapino couldn’t get past 6 kills, and (Blade) and (Sean) were moving up with 6 and 7 kills. finally (BigMatySpcl) won the race to 10 and stole 1st place and 8 points with 10/0/3 (kills/assists/deaths). (Sean) took 2nd with 7/0/9. (Blade) took 3rd and earned 6 points with 6/1/3. (CACAPINO) took 4th and 5 points with 6/0/7. cacapino missed 3rd place by only 1 assist and 3 deaths. adding these 8 points to his 5 from the previous round, Maty ended up with 13. cacapino ended up with a total of 11 points. this marked the end of the tournament.

after a few minutes of tabulation, the halo manager announced that there was a 3-way tie for 2 of the final 4 spots. (the plague), (Blade), and (BigMatySpcl) had all gathered 13 points. there would be a tiebreaker. the 3 soldiers would play this final game on one screen, with the top 2 moving on, the 3rd going home empty handed. then there was the matter of the wide screen the player in the 1st slot would have. the halo manger decided the players would rock-paper-scissors for the bigger screen. Maty opted out, content with a smaller screen. so plague and blade threw fists, and blade’s rock defeated plague’s scissors. (Blade) won the big screen. but could he put it to use?

the tiebreaker.
Team mSa… has several precision snipers, with (m.tanner) owning top honors, but we can all handle a sniper rifle with deadly results. today would be no exception. to put it short, (the plague), with his small screen, dominated the game. with only one death throughout the whole game he laid down his opponents 10 times to take 1st place, and securing one of the top 4 spots going to the regional playoffs. the postgame carnage report told the tale: 1st (the plague) 10/1, 2nd (BigMatySpcl) 4/7, (Blade) 3/9. apparently a double size screen doesn’t help if you can’t snipe. or maybe it was just that (Blade) was up against members of Team mSa… in any case, plague and bms earned spots in the regional round of the halo national championship tournament. amazingly, bms went from losing his first round game, to owning the double elimination round, playing strong all the way to the end, and taking one of the 4 top spots in the local competition.

the irony.
all in all – an incredibly fun and successful day for Team mSa…. we had never played against anyone outside our team, so it was sort of a test to see how we would measure up. and going into it we knew it was all going to be for nothing. other than getting a feel for the local competition, it would just be a big waste of time no matter the outcome, because all of us would be attending a wedding the weekend of the regional playoff round. we were even missing 2 members of our team – (m.tanner) and (*BuckShotz*) – who both had to be out of town during the tournament. and who gets up at 7:30 in the morning to play halo anyway? we didn’t even have slurpees. and miah didn’t get any sleep the night before.

we knew there would be some kidz and clownz, but we also knew there would be some decent competition. we knew we had to be good. but we just didn’t know how good. we didn’t know we would crush. we’ve only been playing the game for about 6 months, and only recently with a decent multiplayer setup. and most of the team has never even tried the solo campaign. but we’ve managed to learn the game fairly well, mastering weapons and game strategies, and developing a few tricks of our own. add to that a week of solid training, and Team mSa… owned the local tournament, and dare we say northern virginia, or even the whole mid-east coast? yes… we dare.

jeremiahzabal
(UDntGet2Liv)
Team mSa…
2002.08.14

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