Article by Jonas Alsaker Vikan, Berlin Allianz General Manager.


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5:45
This has been the LIVE action super duper Draft blog - if you found another live updated blog on the internet with live updated pictures you let me know people.

We hope you had fun and stay tuned to www.thecgs.com for more exciting content on the repercussions and consequences of this draft.

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5:43
Andy Reif closes out the Draft 2008 and reminds everyone that the North American season will start in June.

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5:39

Redeye gives the award for best draft to Dave Geffon while Fatal1ty feels Brian Flander has the best chance of winning in 2008.

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5:39
Swoozie, Rasberry Tea and Peekay are out. So is p0s, Phamtastick and Canada's most merited player Shaguar.

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5:37
Stryker just read out the final pick from Counter-Strike: Source:

It's Albert "hanh" Hanh.

This must be something of a surprise but "hanh" closes out the 2008 Draft.

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5:35
Flander has jotted down his last pick. Is it Sunman? Is it Shaguar? Is it Lee Harvey Oswald?

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5:34
Brian Flander has the last pick of the 2008 Draft. He needs to find his last CS: Source player for the Chicago Chimera.

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5:33
Stryker reads the last pick. DoA female. It's Kat "Mystik" Gunn and boy is she happy AND shaking at the same time.

MommyMystik you can cry again now ;o)

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5:32
The tension is unbelievable as it is either Rasberry Tea or Mystik, who won the Combine event. 30 seconds left to wait for Dolven's final pick. Hearts will be broken here no matter what happens.

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5:31
So far Dolven has switched out "ReX" (his last year racer) and "Peekay" from FIFA. Will he switch out Mystik also or retain his DoA Female?

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5:29
The OPTX' final Source player is Michael "paradox" Stanowski - someone is not happy in the crowd right now.

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5:28
Kat's last pick is Source - either "p0s" or "Phamtastick" is left out - or both. This is going to be though on her.

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5:28
Geffon and New York 3D is completed by Dead or Alive Male player Cardell "Cheppelle" Thomas - he played for San Francisco last season. Chepelle gives a promise from the stage:

"- I am kicking ass this year,"...then he gave Kat Hunter a hug - the Cheppelle show is back for season 2 - and sWoozie is left out of the Championship Gaming Series.

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5:25

Geffon has six seconds left on the clock to make his last pick - he will have to get a DoA male. Swoozie and Dave Cheppelle is also out there.

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5:23
LA Complexity has given away the last draft card. Jason Lake selects from Forza - it is CJ "GeeTeeOhh" Nelson - Lake now have his racing team from last season. His faith in his last season team that did not do well is phenomenal.

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5:20
Venom go for FIFA and Bardia Moayedi.

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5:18
The last round begins as Conroy is on the clock - there are six more players to be drafted to the 2008 North American CGS season.

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5:17

As we are waiting for the final round of the Draft here's a picture of a bewildered "Anomaly" as he is drafted to Mark Dolven's Carolina Core. This pick, along with Jason Lake's retention of "Belle" are the biggest upsets so far - and boy will they be debated in the following weeks and months.

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5:16
Brian Flander's final pick of this round is Yfran Garcia - "Eafra"


5:15
"- You can still feel the shock in the room," according to Redeye - and he is right. "Peekay" has improved but Dolven arguably drafted a better player for this year's season.

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5:14
Carolina Core select from FIFA 2008:

Andrew "Anomaly" Brock - Dolven just "stole" Brian Flander's FIFA player. Brock is visably surprised as he takes the stage to recieve his new jersey. WOW.

Chicago is back on the clock to reply now.

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5:12
Dolven needs FIFA and DoA female - this might arguably be two of the most controversial picks - should he chose NOT to pick up "Mystik" or TO pick up "Peekay" again. Those two are bound to be nervous as Dolven have 30 seconds left to make up his mind.

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5:10
San Francisco pick another racer. It is Chad "miximup" Neil - a San Francisco native.

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5:09

Kat Hunter and the San Francisco OPTX is now back on the clock. She lacks one racer and one CS:S player.

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5:08
Dave Geffon pick up Nick "nicknolt" Nowakowski, formerly of Team Pandemic.

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5:06
Complexity picked Javier "chavisan" Gutierrez - their PGR racer from last year.

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5:04
Jason Lake jumped off a cliff for the biggest leap of faith of his career with his last pick. This pick will be considerably less boring as he will pick a racer.

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5:03
The fourth round of the Draft just started. Alex Conroy select from CS:Source:

Carson "Classified01" Holt from Check 6.

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5:00
It's Pasha Lari for Chicago and Brian Flander.

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4:59
Brian Flander has one minute to make his next pick to round off the third round of the draft. Redeye and Fatal1ty speculate in him picking up "Lari" again.

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4:58
According to Stryker Mark "Masternook" Torrez is back in the Core.

Torrez said from the stage that "he was pretty confident as the Core was the best Source team last year."

Dolven smiles and seem very content to have his boys back in town.

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4:57
Lake's surprise pick leave Mark Dolven wide open to re-pick Kat "Mystik" Gunn, but he does also need a FIFA player and a Source player. Right now though he has the opportunity to redraft his entire Season 1 team and he might do that as they produced for him.

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4:56
Kat Hunter selects from Forza 2. It is Kevin "SACKAMONJARO" Uribe. She has her first driver now.

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4:55
Andrew Siciliano just said:

"- I think Kat needs a driver"

The crowd chuckled but he is absolutely right. The OPTX need to pick up a Forza player.

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4:54
Geffon picks Jonathan "juan" Mumm, formerly of Team Pandemic.

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4:53
Dave Geffon has two spots open on his CS:S team and need a DoA Male that can produce points. He will have to rebuild his CS:S team into the powerhouse it once was.

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4:53
Everybody is still stunned by Lake's pick here at the Draft - including Berlin's David "olander" Olander-Persson via MSN.

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4:52
Lake and Complexity LA's pick is:

Megan "belle" Ceder.

Lake has some mucho grande cojones I'll say as much. He wants to desperatly be able to tell everybody off with a successful "belle." However he runs the risk of repeating the mistake that clipped him last year.

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4:50
Jason Lake has picked up Warden and Perfect Legend. His third choice is either DoA Female or Forza Motorsport 2.

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4:48
The first pick of the third round is Alex Conroy and the Dallas Venom. He selects from Counter-Strike: Source. It is Kyle "Mustang" Cummings. He seems very pleased and says he will bring dedication.

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4:45

Live from the Draft venue.

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4:44

Flander picks up Eric "Da_Bears" Stromberg - a player that helped win him the Region 1 title last year.

Da_Bears says he is excited. Does this mean that Brian Flander is going back to his roots and will get Justin "Sunman" Summy as well?

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4:41

Stryker has Dolven's Draft card and the Core GM picks up "S0nny" again to fill 4 out of 5 spots on his CS: Source team.

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4:39

Mark Dolven has stacked up on drivers. He has to go for DoA Female now.

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4:38

The 4th pick of the second round. Kat Hunter picks up "GRT" for Counter-Strike: Source. The Chicago Chimera player from last year has found a new home. This is somewhat controversial and leave either "p0s" or "Phamtastick" out to dry.

Redeye comment on this being the first player "steal" from one team to another.

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4:36

3D New York selects Nick "Darkstorm" Brownrigg - Geffon has completly replaced his racing team from last season as Kat Hunter is back on the clock.

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4:35

Geffon is back on the clock. Fatal1ty thinks he should complete his Forza team.

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4:34

Lake brings Warden back!

This is a very gutsy move but the loyalty between the Lake and his Source team is already historical. Warden says he is glad to be home and Stryker replies by asking him if he tried to bribe Lake by offering him white shirts and red ties.

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4:32

Jason Lake is selecting again - will he pick Warden back up? Or will he play it safe and get a DoA female able to put rounds on the board for him?

4:30

Dallas Venom select Michelle "Phoenix" Pleet from Dead or Alive female to complete their DoA roster. "Phoenix" played great throughout the Combine which makes for an exciting Dallas DoA team.

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4:27
The first round is completed and Dallas Is back on the clock.

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4:26
“- The Chicago Chimera select from the game Counter-Strike: Source:
Matt Stevenson”

Flander picked up one of the top Source players in the League.

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4:24
Brian Flander will now make his pick. He will have to get four CS:S players and a FIFA star to complete his Chicago Chimera. This has to be Matt Stevenson – or will he complete his FIFA roster first?

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4:23
Andy Reif announces Mark Dolven and Carolina Core’s pick:
Eric “General E Live” Earley from Forza. That completes Dolven’s racing team – he can focus on CS:S and Dead or Alive female.

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4:22
Dolven has given up his draft card. Redeye speculates into Dolven picking Forza or CS:S.

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4:21
Nobody knows what Mark Dolven is going to do but Mark Dolven. He has a racer, a DoA Male and three CS:S players protected.

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4:20
Kat Hunter selects from Dead or Alive: Male, she drops “Cheppelle” and pick Chris “NinjaCW” Harris.
This gives her a strong DoA team.

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4:19
San Francisco and Kat Hunter have 40 seconds left to make her first pick. Stermy, Vanessa and 3 CS:S players were protected for the OPTX team. She needs to complete her DoA team or a racer.

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4:17
Geffon handed in his card early. Reif announce a Forza pick:
Daniel Otto - XXXDanXXX1337
This is a surprise – both to the crowd and to Redeye and Fatal1ty as they are baffled right now. Andrew Siciliano labeled it a “pick out of nowhere.”

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4:16
As Redeye discuss how good White is the clock is running on Dave Geffon who has 1 minute and 30 seconds to make New York’s first pick. Geffon does not have any racers, he lacks a DoA Male and has two spots open still on his famed CS:S team.

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4:14
Andy Reif announce that LA Complexity pick:
Carl “Perfect Legend” White.

No surprises here – Jason Lake will now have one of the strongest DoA Male players. The question on everybody’s lips though is can the two get along? They have had some tussles in the past.

4:13
Lake has given away his Draft card.

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4:12
Redeye and Fatal1ty praise Conroy’s pick. Jason Lake is next and everybody knows he will need to get a working Dead or Alive team – Lake is now on the clock – will he pick Perfect Legend or throw a curveball?

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4:11
The first pick of the 2008 Draft is:

From Forza: Justin “Muffinman” Anderson

This is a good pick by Conroy – he has secured a strong Forza team for his franchise with Muffinman and CHAOS. Muffinman was just asked how he would take Dallas from last year’s last position to the top. His answer:

“- By dominating.”

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4:10
Venom’s time is up. Conroy has given his Draft card to Stryker. The first pick of the 2008 Draft is:

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4:09
Dallas Venom protected 3 CS:S players (brawwr, Dominator, Z1D), one DoA Male (Master) and a racer (CHAOS).

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4:07
Reif is now giving a general overview of the Draft rules. The biggest difference from last year is happening in CS: Source where the GM’s have to draft five players individually.

“GM’s good luck – the 2008 North American Draft is now open. Dallas Venom is now on the clock.”

Alex Conroy has 1 minute and 30 seconds to do his first pick of this draft.

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4:04
Andy Reif is giving his welcome address. He is kicking off by introducing the six General Managers and their respective teams to a roaring applause.

The GM’s are now on the different monitors for an introductory feature where they talk about how hard it is to let some players go. Kat Hunter said “- This is business, I have a responsibility to get this team to the World Final.”

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4:03
Stryker hit the stage to welcome everyone to the Draft.

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4:00
The music booms out as the 2008 North American Draft is going live to a emotional video from last year’s season.
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3:59
“30 seconds”

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3:59

A shot of the stage.

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3:59
“The draft is starting in 1 minute.”

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3:58
In the understatement of the day the stage manager reminds everyone that there is a lot at stake.

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3:57
Andy Reif was introduced to the gamers in the crowd. Dolven is chewing on his pen, Geffon is getting some more makeup and Jason Lake is staring into his computer screen.

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3:55
Dolven arrived as well and Kat Hunter is up there – as is Alex Conroy. The General Managers seem ready but I do know for a personal and historic fact that they are very nervous despite representing the opposite.

One of the Direct TV just introduced Stryker and they are taking turns warming up the crowd.

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3:54
Brian Flander, Dave Geffon and Jason Lake are now on stage. They seem focused and extremely concentrated as they are jotting down last minute notes to their Draft strategy.

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3:43
We are LIVE at the Draft venue. The players are coming through the doors by the dozens finding seats they are sure to be sitting at the edge of for the next couple of hours. The CGS staff and top brass is also on hand and right now Andy Reif, the League’s Commissioner and CEO is on stage doing dry runs of his welcoming address.

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RELATED: Complete Combine Coverage



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