Former Champs, Close but Not Quite

Many people thought EG was the full package after their victory in San Diego, running Rogue Lock Druid along with several double melee group makeups with Azael as a swing player. I still wasn't sold on the fact that they could defeat the two Warrior Warlock Druid rosters in attendance and it turns out I was right. Following a scare against FDD, EG was set to play against Orz in the upper bracket finals. I liked the fact that they attempted to change things up, running an enhancement shaman and all, but it was clear they hadn't practiced it enough to beat a team as good as Orz. They went back to their normal lineup for round three, and the match played out as I expected. A new bane to this team turned out to be FDD's Rogue Priest Druid lineup. As they lost four straight rounds in their lower bracket rematch against a team they haven't worried about much in the past. Patch 2.4.3 may solve their RPD problems, but they must find an answer to WLD if they want to win another tournament in 2008.

Roster Changes Breath Life into Floundering Franchises

After poor performances at both San Diego and Paris, the community had just about given up on both Pandemic and Insurrection (Fnatic). Now Insurrection still fell short of where they would have liked to finish, (9-12) but they did manage to take down SK, proving that they still have the potential to turn things around. The addition of Elaglo to their roster brings a third motivated member to practice in the downtime between Orlando and Dallas, something that Insurrection has been suffering greatly from since their success in 2007.

Pandemic in Orlando

Pandemic's placement (5-6th) won't satisfy them either, but the addition of Teeb brings promise and stability to their roster that has been extremely volatile in 2008. The lack of practice with their new teammate was obvious though, as the team lost against GGW and FDD after putting themselves in a great place to be matchup wise. You can't ask for much more then zoning in against Rogue, Mage, Priest as Rogue, Rogue, Druid but Pandemic was only able to win one of the first two matches greatly weighted in their favor. The most important thing for this team is identifying what group makeup is going to be their mainstay, and then practicing it as much as possible. Additionally, Teeb needs to react a bit better when being swapped to, as he had some rather ugly deaths in Orlando. If they put in the time, you could see this team in contention for a championship come Dallas.

Set Others Back

Sodah and the rest of GotGame East really shook things up in San Diego, taking 3rd with their Double Rogue Druid lineup. Rather then sticking with Lycra and Cyberpsycho, Sodah opted to switch things up and form a team with longtime online teammates Venruki and Sonydigital, and rogue community hero Happyminti. GGE didn't do terribly in Orlando (7-8th place finish) but they did end up doing worse then the original GGE lineup at the first stop. Mage/Druid synergy isn't the greatest, so it will be interesting to see how this team prepares for their next event. After seeing Sodah's success in San Diego with RRD, and more recently on the tournament realm with the same group makeup, I would not be surprised to see GGE go back that direction for MLG Dallas. The cheat death 2.4.3 change could put a damper on this though, but more testing is required before we can say one way or another.

Local Teams Cannot be Ignored

Once again we saw some local teams come out and prove that having a sponsorship doesn't prevent you from losing to some of the undiscovered talent out there. Takes No Skill did an excellent job battling through the lower bracket after being knocked down early by Pandemic, with their Rogue, Enhance Shaman, Druid (SK) lineup. They managed to edge out GotGame East and had to play their sister team GotGame West for a spot in the lower bracket finals. I personally thought that TNS was crazy for running a mutilate rogue against GGW's Warrior, Rogue, Druid after round two, but they made it work somehow giving Hoodrych, Didy, and Greenranger a run for their money in a tight 3-2 series.

No Mods No Chance (aka The Super Gosu's / Veex and Valrath's team) also did quite well for themselves running Rogue, Warlock, Druid and Warrior, Mage, Druid throughout the majority of the tournament. They to were sent to the lower bracket early after facing up against the tournament champions in their first round match (3-1 Orz win). Hafu was quoted saying that NMNC was their most difficult fight the entire tournament. NMNC surprised the CGS and Arena Tournament 1 winners, MoB G Family, 3-0ing them sending a team many thought could win the tournament home much earlier then expected. Then came their marathon series against Pandemic, resulting in the first draw ever in a WoW tournament.

Pandemic would eventually win the series 3-1-1 after both teams switched to Warrior Rogue Druid in a quick, exciting final round. I openly criticized the defensive play of NMNC, and after rewatching the matches and thinking over things a bit more, both teams were playing hyperdefensively in the game. Pandemic could have easily swapped to the warrior multiple times throughout the match when the mage and druid of NMNC were both drinking, and the mage of NMNC had numerous opportunities to cast frostbolts and create pressure instead of running around trying to drink with 60 percent mana. Regardless, the match at least brought an issue out into the open that will be addressed before the next tournament. Props to both these teams for coming out and doing a great job, hopefully they may get a chance to play at MLG Dallas.

Marathon Match Incites Talks of Change

Someone asked if the matches that took place at MLG would have any impact on future changes in the arena and it seems as thought they just may. After witnessing some of the lengthy games, especially the Pandemic vs No Mods No Chance marathon match, insiders tell us that Blizzard has begun discussion on how to incorporate some sort of arena time limit. No details on this yet, but this is quite good news for arena fans, showing yet again that Blizzard is working hard to make WoW arena a more viable eSport.

We're now faced with a two and half month break until our next event, MLG Dallas. Teams must take advantage of this time period to workup new strategies, develop chemistry with new teammates, and test the effects of the recent 2.4.3 content patch. Nihilum will be back, along with some new European faces and who knows we may even see an appearance by Council of Mages. Practicing won't be easy, as the tournament realm so many players used to test new classes and group makeups is no longer available, but teams must get games in if they want to have a chance of winning. I'd put money on MLG Dallas being the most competitive tournament in WoW History. October 3rd-5th, mark it on your calendar. Do not miss out.

GotFrag eSports

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