3D.NY vs. SAN FRANCISCO OPTX

FINAL

CS:S

FZA

FIFA

DOAF

DOAM

SCORE

3D.NY

10

2

2

2

1

17

San Francisco OPTX

8

5

0

5

5

23

Dead or Alive 4 (MALE)

The battle for an outside chance to compete in the World Final began with NinjaCW, hot off of a win over Master, taking on Cheppelle, on Temple on the Mountain. NinjaCW, playing as Gen Fu, took a quick first round over Cheppelle, as Ayane. Cheppelle picked up a round of his own before NinjaCW won three straight rounds, setting himself up for the win at 4-1 game point. NinjaCW abused Cheppelle with catch throws, shoulder slamming him repeatedly to a chorus of “BOOMS!” from the OPTX bench. The OPTX took a 5-1 lead after the first game.

Dead or Alive 4 (FEMALE)

Coolsvilla, searching for redemption after a huge loss to Mystik last night, headed into a battle against Vanessa with new found determination. Vanessa, playing as Hitomi, won a well played round over Coolsvilla, as Christie, to start off the match on DWA Coliseum. Coolsvilla then stayed on top of Vanessa for the following round, earning a second point for the 3D.NY camp. Vanessa blitzed through two more rounds, when Coolsvilla was able to take another tight round from Vanessa, moving the score to 3-2 in the favor of the OPTX. Vanessa switched back into top form, destroying Coolsvilla for two straight rounds to win the game 5-2.

Counter-Strike Source

Next in line, 3D.NY looked to make up the match point differential in one of their strong points, Counter-Strike Source. 3D.NY went on defense first as Counter-Terrorist, on de_nuke. 3D.NY defended the lower B bomb site with ease for the first round, but the clutch, round finishing power of GRT allowed the OPTX to move into a 2-1 lead. 3D.NY’s strong play as CT moved them to 5-3, still struggling somewhat with the pacing of the OPTX’s moves. 3D.NY looked to have lost the final round of the half when the OPTX turned it into a 3vs5, but a pair of spectacular shots from Ksharp with 17 health helped win the round for 3D.NY, making the score 6-3 at the half.

The first round of the second half was strange, but still a success for 3D.NY. Juan moved into a vacant upper A bomb site, planting the bomb, where Ksharp was able to keep the bomb covered long enough to take the round. Juan, with his father spectating, began fragging his way into every bomb site for the 3D.NY, sending the OPTX team into shambles. 3D.NY began struggling to close, sitting at game point with nine rounds as the OPTX started to put up a solid fight. 3D.NY was able to close after Method fragged two in Upper A to open up the bomb site. For the final round, moE won a 1vs1 against the rookie of the year, nickn0it, closing the score gap of the Counter-Strike Source match 10-8.

FIFA 08

Fighting back from the point deficit, the FIFA 07 Individual World Champion, WiZaKoR, as Spain, went up against Stermy, as France. Both players battled back and forth through the mid field, leading to a scoreless half. WiZaKoR was in a tight position in the game, where losing to Stermy by even a single point would take 3D.NY’s FORZA team completely out of the match. WiZaKoR, with under a minute left, battled through three defenders to fire a shot into the back of the net, moving into a decent 1-0 position. WiZaKoR then enabled FORZA a fighting chance, by scoring a second goal in the Injury Time after a rebound.

FORZA Motorsport 2

For the final game of the match, ComeBackDan and Dark Storm were faced with the challenge of placing at least first and third to tie the match. After a battle on the starting grid, Miximup moved into first, with Sackamonjaro fighting the 3D.NY racers in the back. Sackamonjaro caught the 3D.NY racers at the S’s, slamming both of them into the sticky sand, slowing down any chances of catching up. By the time ComeBackDan was able to pull away from the fight for third, Miximup was just too far ahead to possibly catch without an unforced error. Miximup took first, with ComeBackDan in second, Sackamonjaro in third, and Dark Storm in fourth. SAN FRANCISCO OPTX then moved on to battle LONDON MINT for a chance to compete at the World Final.

LONDON MINT vs. SAN FRANCISCO OPTX

FINAL

CS:S

FZA

FIFA

DOAF

DOAM

SCORE

London Mint

10

2

3

2

4

21

San Francisco OPTX

8

5

2

5

5

25

Dead or Alive 4 (FEMALE)

Vanessa, hot off of a win over Coolsvilla merely two hours prior, opened the Wildcard match up by storming through the Mint’s Strobe for two straight rounds on Crash Club. Strobe, as Ayane, found success of her own, plucking a close round off of Vanessa, as Hitomi. The two traded rounds, with Strobe picking up two rounds to Vanessa’s four. At match point, Vanessa made short work of the MINT’s Female player, opening the first game up 5-2.

FORZA Motorsport 2

Right off of the grid of the race, the cars began drilling through each other all the way into the triple hair pin turns. The cars, although identically colored, seemed on target with their opponents, plowing into each other repeatedly. It almost looked as if the cars wouldn’t even be able to limp over the finish line. With Stune and NT 101 battling Sackamonjaro in a similar situation as the previous match, Miximup had locked down first place while showing no signs of an unforced error. Miximup took first, with Stune in second, Sackamonjaro in third, and NT 101 in fourth.

FIFA 08

Stermy was given a second chance at success for the day, taking on the UK’s premier FIFA player, ChrisyB, as England and France respectively. Again, with the repetitive results of the day, the first half went scoreless for both players. ChrisyB repeatedly set up for moves in front of Stermy’s goal, but his keeper was working overtime, moving every possible pixel to rob the MINT of points. The game moved into penalty kicks, with ChrisyB scoring three goals to Stermy’s two, giving the MINT something to be proud of.

Counter-Strike: Source

SAN FRANCISCO OPTX had another chance at redemption, this time in Counter-Strike Source, taking Offense as Terrorist on de_dust2. The underestimated LONDON MINT squad shut the OPTX down for three straight rounds before the OPTX found success in the B bomb site, and even then, Hughsy nearly retook the site in a 4vs1. Hughsy dominated the first half, with Ritch a close second for the MINT, while GRT, one of the OPTX’s standout Source players, struggled through the first half. The MINT’s aggressive play led them to a 7-2 score heading into the half.

The MINT stomped into B for the first three rounds, finding success in the first round, and barely losing the second and third. While the OPTX were able to retake B, they struggled to hold it on the initial rushes. Hughsy nearly won a 3vs1, after fragging the first two frags of the round to begin with. He moved it back to B from cat walk, where he picked up a third frag and planted the bomb, before being overwhelmed by the OPTX on the retake. The MINT won the match at regulation 10-5, and began to attempt to pick up enough rounds to enable Paddaman to clinch the Wildcard slot. The OPTX still managed to pick up all three of the extra rounds, giving them the overall lead, despite losing Counter-Strike Source 10-8.

Dead or Alive 4 (MALE)

NinjaCW was set up to close out the match and send the OPTX into the World Final, playing as his customary Gen Fu against Paddaman as Kasumi on Gamblers Paradise. NinjaCW won the first round convincingly, but Paddaman then picked up four straight rounds with unbelievably tight play, setting up match point at 4-1. NinjaCW finally decided to stop fooling around, winning three rounds to tie the battle, and clinch the overall match for the OPTX. While Paddaman had played a strong match, he fell short at the exact moment that he needed to step it up and close the match. NinjaCW took the match 5-4, as SAN FRANCISCO OPTX secured the Wildcard seed heading into the World Final.