(GotFrag) - The second stop of the 2008 MLG PC Circuit has come and gone. Many questioned just how competitive the field would be, after seeing just how well the international competition fared at Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational. America's best put on a great show though (keep in mind only 1 team out of Orlando's top 8 finishers was even present for the tournament in Paris) despite the lack of foreign teams. Heads were turned, jaws were dropped and a new champion was crowned. Let's take a look back at just what went down.

Orz Wins, Glick MVP

After parting ways with their sponsor, having played only one event, many wondered if Hafu and Co. would even be attending MLG Orlando. A few days before the tournament, Glick confirmed that they would be paying their own way for another shot at bringing home the gold. Despite a severe lack of practice between San Diego and Orlando, Orz came out on fire, knocking off big name team after big name team on their way to the championship, remaining in the winners bracket the entire event. Their entire squad all played quite well throughout the tournament, but Glick's performance really stood out. In the series against SK.usa, he showcased his versatility, playing a ret paladin en route to a 3-0 win over the star studded lineup.

It was in the later rounds though, against GotGame West and FD Duelists, that we got the privelege of seeing his warlock game in action. In their Warrior Warlock Druid mirror match against GGW, Didy admitted to "just getting totally outplayed" as Glick posted up an average of 20k more damage per round, keeping up a massive amount of pressure, making it difficult for Greenranger to heal everyone taking damage on his team. Then, in the finals, he managed to finally lead his WLD team to a victory over the talented Duelist's Rogue, Mage, Priest roster.

Most people, including myself, were quite confident that FDD would come out on top in the championship match, especially when you consider the teams history and the interview Glick gave shortly before the finals. Orz wouldn't be denied though, as Glick managed to somehow break free from Duelists early game onslaught, doing a great job of minimizing the damage of Celex with good kiting and LoSing. I said before the tournament in my preview article that I consider Glick to be one of the best warlocks around, and he certainly lived up to my expectations in Orlando. With patch 2.4.3 doing nothing but making the Orz Warrior, Warlock, Druid group makeup stronger, look for Glick to be a menacing impact player for many tournaments to come.

Most Improved Player - Hafu

Following a disappointing finish in San Diego, critics were quick to point out how carelessly Hafu played, paying little attention to positioning in quite a few matches. She acknowledged her poor performance, and it was clear that it was on her mind coming into this event. From the initial rounds, she was playing much more defensively, floating on the outskirts of the fight rather then running aimlessly into the middle of the arena. What most impressed me was the excellent job she did avoiding fears in Orz' unlikely win over MoB G Family. Each round turned out extremely close, even though Hafu ended up only getting feared once or twice the entire series. Orz must be careful when playing this squad in the future, as their margin of error for victory is extremely small. They played it near perfect in Orlando, so one or two mistakes the next time they meet could result in a loss.

Best Switch Hitter - Celex

We saw a great many people playing alternate classes in Orlando, some good, some bad, most ugly. The one person who I think pulled off playing two classes at a top tier level has to be Celex. Apparently, he is a Vengeful Gladiator on his druid along with all the success he's had with his mage, and it really showed. If I didn't know better, I would have assumed that the guy played druid as his main class, especially after seeing some of the offensive cyclone into nuking combinations he had to win rounds. I'd go so far as to say he played better then quite a few other longtime druids who attended the tournament. Players attempting to multiclass need to take a note from Celex, who's obviously put in quite a bit of time on both of his characters. Some dismiss online ladders to be trivial, but the knowledge you gain from making a push to the top ranks cannot be taken for granted. With two and half months until the next tournament, here's to hoping we can see players polish their alternate classes much more then we've seen so far this year.

Biggest Let Down - SK Gaming

Fourth place in San Diego, then Third place in Paris, this was supposed to be Neilyo and Serennia's moment. Their 12-16th finish after losing to Orz and Insurrection, is without question the biggest disappointment of MLG Orlando. Not to beat a dead horse, but their biggest problem here was most certainly Serennia's decision to play a paladin in so many of their matches. While something might sound good on paper, if you haven't seen it work in action, probably not the best idea. SK finds themselves at quite the crossroads now as they must decide what to do in the future. Shaman, Rogue, Druid is clearly out, as 2.4.3 was a big hit to the viability of this lineup. They got weaker against the double melee teams they were already weak against and lost strength against mage and warlock teams thanks to undispellable Fel Armor/Ice Armor.

Neilyo needs to be playing his rogue at these tournaments, and thats the bottom line. If he wants to remain with Serennia, they need to find some combination of Warrior, Warlock, and Druid to add to their roster. A perfect fit for the team would be Neilyo's former pal Gumbot and his current druid Wojo, but I'm not sure if Serennia and Wojo can co-exist. Time will tell what this team ends up doing, but they need to act soon, rather then wait until last minute to make a decision like they have in the past.

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