Game On Interactive: J21

Saturday 21st January, 2006
Halo 2 4v4 Tournament

By: Jooney 

Last Saturday, Game On Interactive held their very own first Halo 2 tournament. The format of the tournament was 4v4. Eight teams took up the challenge and fought for glory, honour, and over $1500 worth in prizes, which were kindly donated by the good people at Microsoft Australia and Game On. Some of Australia's biggest and best Halo 2 players were in attendance, including the Australian and New Zealand WCG Champions.

Sleek: Inside Game On Interactive

The sun shone early on Saturday morning as 32 sleepy-eyed-but-pumped-up Halo 2 fanatics made their way to Miranda for the first of many Game On Interactive Halo 2 tournaments. The morning proceeded with some practice FFAs, as people were getting adjusted to the equipment and getting their aim in. At 10am the tournament kick-started with the 7-game pool play. Each of the eight teams played each other team once. This led to some very interesting matches played throughout the day.

Practice Makes Perfect: Members of TBD and Green Beret get their eye in

The morning session started with a bang, as teams played hard to get the much needed early points to boost their confidence up. On Team Slayer Ivory Tower, Green Beret edged out The Drop Bears; VvR (Vicks Vapor Rub, featuring members of respected NSW clan DtP) had the better of CMX | BOXXDIN; The Business Decision (featuring members of Team Paradox and Team Immunity) narrowly beat the eventual dark horse team Threshold, and last but not least, the e-Gnomes (featuring members of Team Australia) were too good for The JoonStars.

The heavy weight teams continued their dominance in the following rounds of the morning session. A classic game of Capture The Flag was played between e-Gnomes and promising Sydney team CMX | BOXXDIN. CMX | BOXXDIN surprised a lot of people by holding e-Gnomes to 2-2. But in the dying minutes Cabel and Co showed their clutch skills by pulling a 3-2 victory.

Crowd Pleasers: The members of VvR pull a crowd wherever they go

At around 1pm, the group stopped for lunch. At this point, the heavyweight teams e-Gnomes, The Business Decision (TBD), and VvR were leading the pack, with the other teams chasing them for fourth position.

Take 5: Red Dingo chats with Chubackie, while the two big men discuss the day's action

After lunch, the action resumed in a way that was all too similar to the morning session. The drop bears were unlucky not to get TBD in Midship King of the Hill, with the Spectre SD10 Champs winning 3:46 to 3:06. Green Beret held their nerve against a resilient JoonStars, winning 3-2 on CTF Sanctuary. A game of Team Slayer Covenant on Warlock see-sawed between VvR and TBD, with each team gaining the lead in key moments of the match. TBD were too good in the end, winning that game 50-47.

After 7 rounds of action, the Sydney scene heavyweights grabbed the top 3 spots. However, unexpectedly, the race for fourth spot was deadlocked; three teams tied on 9 points after 7 games. This led to a 2 match playoff between the three teams Green Beret, CMX | BOXXDIN and Threshold. Each team played each other team once only on Team Slayer Midship. As it happened, each team won one match and lost one match apiece. It boiled down to kills, where team Threshold edged out CMX | BOXXDIN by the smallest of margins - 1 kill. That's right, in 2 games Threshold managed to get 96 kills; CMX | BOXXDIN, 95. There was not much between these two teams all day long, and it was sad to see one quality team not being able to make the double elimination finals.

Too Good: e-Gnomes were undeafeted during the Pool Play

With four teams knocked out and only four remaining, the day's play heated up as the top four teams entered in the double elimination rounds. The first match was on Midship Oddball, a gametype where teamwork and quick-thinking is paramount. e-Gnomes continued their excellent run of form by dominating Threshold 5:00 to 1:29. In the other match, VvR pulled off an upset by beating TBD 5:00 to 3:56.

In the 2nd round, the teams faced each other in one of Halo 2's most classic gametypes - Team Slayer on Lockout. The first game between VvR and e-Gnomes was intense. But in the end e-Gnomes beat VvR by a 9 point margin, 50-41, which granted them a spot in the finals.

If people thought that match was good, the face-off between Threshold and TBD was an absolute corker. The match started with the crucial Sniper Rifle being blown off the map, never to respawn again. This set the precedent, as it made it almost impossible to lock the enemy down. As the scores progressed, the lead see-sawed between the two teams. The teams retreated to safety; TBD to the sniper tower, and Threshold to the BR tower. This led to a long distance firefight, as players tried to out-BR each other from long distance. Grenades were thrown cross map in the hope of ensnaring a lucky frag. Each kill was more precious than the last. It all led up to a nail-biting 49-49 finish. The teams remained deadlocked for almost two minutes, sitting behind cover, exchanging fire. In the end, one TBD member fell to some long distance firing, which granted Threshold a chance to move to the finals. The dark horse had emerged, and the former champs had been eliminated.

The Surprise Pack: 3rd placed Team Threshold

All that was left now was to see how would face e-Gnomes in the finals. A nasty game of Neutral Bomb Midship was to be the deciding game. Unfortunately, Threshold were unable to pull off their previous game heroics, succumbing to a smart and well organised VvR team 3-0. VvR advanced to the finals. Could they beat the hot, undefeated team of the day?

The short answer: no. The first finals match was the Classic CTF Beaver Creek. The e-Gnomes must know this gametype inside out, as they too good against a battling VvR. Grim Wally played like a man inspired, he was a one man defensive juggernaut  who took on any VvR member who dared enter his base. Berserka racked up the kills and showed why he is one kid to watch out for. And Senyo and Cabel just did their usual tandem slaying routine. Despite VvR best efforts, the match went 3-0 to the e-Gnomes.

The final and what was the deciding game of the tournament was played on Lockout - King of the Hill. The lead was taken early by the e-gnomes, and they never looked back. They control the Sniper and BR towers to get the crucial hill time early in the match. VvR were able to grab some precious hill time in the other hill spawns, but it was too late. e-Gnomes had set the agenda early and it was too late to claw their way back. The undefeated team of the day continued their winning streak and won the match 5:00 to 2:48.

Runner's Up: 2nd placed VvR

Congratulations to the e-Gnomes, who are the deserved winners of the day. Because of their efforts, their took home a special Microsoft prize pack, which included games, console bag, merchandise, as well as Game On Interactive yearly memberships complete with free hours. Once again, thanks to Microsoft Australia and Game On Interactive for providing the prizes.

Champions: 1st placed e-Gnomes were undefeated all day

The Final Results were:
1st - e-Gnomes
2nd - VvR
3rd - Threshold
4th - The Business Decision
5th - CMX | BOXXDIN
=   - Green Beret
7th - The Drop Bears
8th - The JoonStars


All in all, it was a great day. I just want to say a big thanks to everyone who came down to play, it is you guys that are keeping the game and scene alive. Special mention has to go to Nana and Spanner for coming all the way down from Newcastle to play. Also, one of Threshold's members came from interstate to play as well. Awesome effort that. Anyways, I hope you guys had an awesome time, and I'm sure there will be more tournaments held at Game On very soon .

The Players: Unsurprisingly, we didn't stop traffic

Photos

Photos of their events can be seen by clicking here.

Videos For Download

Courtesy of Game On and XboxZone, there are videos to be downloaded of the day's play. Thanks to Sam and Remorhaz for editting and uploading the videos.

We hope that you enjoy them.

Game On J21 Video 1
Pool Play: Teamball - Lockout
e-Gnomes vs The Business Decision
Point-of-view: Grim Wally
Download link: Game On J21 Video 1

Game On J21 Video 2
Pool Play: Team Slayer - Beaver Creek
e-Gnomes vs VvR
Point-of-view: Grim Wally
Download link: Game On J21 Video 2

Game On J21 Video 3
Pool Play: CTF Big - Sanctuary
The Business Decision vs CMX | BOXXDIN
Point-of-view: iM | Xant
Download link: Game On J21 Video 3

Game On J21 Video 4
Double Elimination: Teamball - Midship
The Business Decision vs VvR
Point-of-view: pdx Satiex
Download link: Game On J21 Video 4

Game On J21 Video 5
Double Elimination: Team Slayer - Lockout
e-Gnomes vs VvR
Point-of-view: Grim Wally
Download link: Game On J21 Video 5

Game On J21 Video 6
Double Elimination: Neutral Bomb - Midship
VvR vs Threshold
Point-of-view: MLG Smooth
Download link: Game On J21 Video 6

Game On J21 Video 7
Finals: CTF - Beaver Creek
e-Gnomes vs VvR
Point-of-view: Berserka
Download link: Game On J21 Video 7

Game On J21 Video 8
Finals: KOTH - Lockout
e-Gnomes vs VvR
Point-of-view: Berserka
Download link: Game On J21 Video 8

Game On J21 Video 9
Finals: KOTH - Lockout
e-Gnomes vs VvR
Point-of-view: Berserka
Download link: Game On J21 Video 9