Welcome to the first installment of the Week in Review! There are a lot of things that never make it to GotFrag. I’ll be posting news stories I come across that might have slipped through the cracks. Sometimes they’re stories that get buried under other news, but usually they’re Source stories that are left to rot on the CAL forums. (I don’t blame them. As a general rule, you should never go there after dark. If you absolutely, positively have to go after dark, make sure you have an admin with you.) Basically, I’ll be filtering news stories, bringing to light things that were left behind, and condensing team changes into one place.
CEVO-P Source is down to seven matches per round after x3o recently dropped out.every team faces each other once, so it makes sense to have two byes per week. It wouldn't be possible to reschedule all the matches and keep the schedules balanced.
x3o quit Source to focus on 1.6, but zEx is doing it the other way around.
If you can’t find your favorite team in the CEVO standings (and they haven’t died yet), they probably changed names. Distinct 5 became the One Eyed Zomblerz. Then they left that name behind when they became the Counter-Strike: Source team for rSports. By the time playoffs roll around, I expect them to be named Distinct Zomblerz Revolution.
Devastation also joined an organization, and now they’re Flow Gaming’s Source team.
The Intel Invitational is over, and it was a great exhibition. Congratulations to coL on the victory. Nightfall ended up winning the MVP despite Hyper’s loss in the Finals. The last two teams, 3D and EFG, didn't make it out of the round robin play. 3D played well -- they only missed the Finals by a couple rounds -- but EFG did not.
EFG's play is understandable given their roster issues, though. p0s didn't play due to some kind of argument with players or management. That came on the heels of the news of clowN's inactivity. (Before I go any further, I want to wish clowN and his father the best of luck. Family is much more important than eSports. I only hope that his father has a full, speedy recovery and they can both go back to doing what they love.) It’s not clear what happened with p0s or when (if) clowN will be back. The thing that’s clear, especially after Saturday’s performance, is EFG’s need for new blood.
juked “called it quits” in this forum thread, and then added people to their CEVO roster. This is either a HIP (hijack in progress) or they’ve been watching Michael Jordan’s instructional retirement video.
An old member returned to a storied European team.
SHG Open ended on a bad note due to reports of missing equipment. Players shouldn’t have to worry about their computer being stolen from a BYOC.
There’s some controversy about money in the 1.6 world. I’m not going to speculate on something I know very little about, but it’s safe to say that stories like this are a sign of how much eSports needs to grow.
CEVO-P 1.6 is more lopsided than a seesaw with a fat kid. The same thing happened last season. It's a shame that most of the matches late in the season don't end up mattering. Teams are already locked into their spot in the standings. In contrast, one of the most exciting things about professional sports is the end of the regular season. Teams are jockeying for position until the last game. Fan interest goes up, and it even makes the playoffs more exciting because it's an accomplishment just to get there. Right now CEVO just doesn't have those races.
Four Kings has a couple roster issues so they're using two ringers for the rest of the NGL tournament. I’ve always wondered who gets the shaft on 4Kings. They have five players but only four kingly slots to fill. Does the last one become a knight? Is he demoted all the way to jester? Or even worse … maybe he gets to be the Queen.
Blizzard has created a monster. Competitive PvP for WoW is like daring a heroin addict to take another hit. Neither will take much convincing, and both will be unresponsive for twelve hours a day.
That's it for now. I'll be posting these reviews periodically, although there isn't a set day for them. In the near future I'll be bringing you predictions for Round 12 of CEVO-P Source, and I'm looking forward to the slightly lower workload.
