i agree. IMO even if Ghost was on the team i dont think they would be higher than carbon. (carbon is my favorite but it really doesnt effect my opion on placements)
Tbh, I think you're right, at least for Anaheim. Even if they'd really gelled with Ghost and turned the team around, I still think Carbon would be just a little too much for them (again though, this is all if Carbon don't turn around and disappoint like Classic and BtH have in the past). I think the main chance they had with Ghost was to improve as a team long term, and I still reckon they'd have had a proper shot at the Championships if they'd stuck with him, a much better shot than they do now anyway.
very true i would probably rank them like 5th or 6th if they had ghost and if carbon continues with their momentum from dallas they could do really good
I don't think there is a second event. Unless it's in Anaheim as well, I doubt MLG would set up two events in a row like that.
The next event after Anaheim is Orlando in January, weekend of the 8th-10th. I don't know of anything on the 13th-15th, the only other event associated with Anaheim is the EA Sports thing, and I'm 99% sure that takes place on the same weekend as the Pro Circuit event, in the same venue.
1.Instinct 2.TD 3.Carbon 4.Str8 5.Classic 6.FB 7.UTI 8.HaE Instinct to take Anaheim. I just hope Neighbor has worked more on his teamwork and less on polishing an already stunning individual game.
Really? There's no way their going anywhere without Ghost. You can pretty much assume Neighbor's that guy that's really good, but just hard to play with, by the fact of how many teams he's dropped, players he's dropped, etc. Especially Ghost. (Edit: I had that backwards, ugh. I still don't think Instinct can go really anywhere teamwork wise. It's gotta be Neighbor and his traveling-band-of-three-other-team-members, unless Neighbor has made an amazing transformation) I'm seeing TD with another run for the tourney again also. Last time their lineup with Pistola looked awesome with the way he was fitting in the gameplay of the team instead of him running around randomly killing everything (*cough*Shanon, ;D), and they have one of the best balanced out teams skillwise IMO, along with Str8. Honestly, I think Str8 and Carbon have huge advantages this time around with Heretic now a major part of the circuit. The plasma grenade starts are totally benefitting Tsquared, but we all know how Walshy was in Halo 2 with Midship. It should be interesting, I think these plasma grenades and the older map is going to get Carbon far, but without Walshy's trickery, Str8 should be able to pwn with those plasma nades. I'm predicting Instinct much lower, maybe 6th-8th.
My confidence in Instinct is not with Neighbor, but with the rest of the team. Roy, Lunchbox, and Fear make up 3/4th of team 5k from the Halo 2 days. These guys know each other's thinking on a team level better than most on the circuit. Ghost is a decent player, but Fear in my opinion could outslay him anyday. With Lunchbox as the ultimate 4v4 player, and Roy and Fear's sick teamwork/slaying skills behind him I have a good feeling about Instinct. Neighbor just needs to pull himself out of his own little world and become a team player. If not I still think they will pull a top 4 finish no problem. The difference between a 1st and 4th place finish for Instinct will be Neighbor's ability to mesh with the team this time around.
Problem is that this isn't Halo 2 anymore. Halo 3 is ALL about teamwork play, that's why Walshy has sucked (more or less) until last event where something must have clicked with him and his team, because they were doing awesome. Ghost is way better than Fear slaying wise, too. I think it's more about teamwork now than it is the individual skill of Halo 2, and that's why Neighbor's going nowhere until he gets rid of the individual player attitude.
My point about them being old Halo 2 teammates was exactly that. They have excellent team chemistry going into this team change. The only x factor is Neighbor. From what I've seen Fearitself is a better slayer and a better team player than Ghost. Hopefully we'll get a definitive answer this weekend.
Tbh, I'd actually go with Insane and pick Ghost over FiS in terms of both slaying and team player. Now don't get me wrong, I think FiS is a great player, but frankly his strength is as an uber solid support player. A support player is not what Instinct need right now, not by a long shot. They need a leader, and Ghost really seemed to have the potential to be that. Listening to Ghost after the split, I really get the sense that the main bone of contention was between him and Neighbor in terms of meshing. It seems like Neighbor is trying to be the core of the team, and whilst I'd be stupid to deny that he is pretty much as beast as it gets, he's not suited to that role at all imo. It's like he's trying to be the kinda rock at the centre of the team that is epitomised by Walshy, and he just can't be that rock, if anything he himself really needs that rock in others in his team to really shine in both individual and team win terms. Look back over his H3 career: On Str8 he wasn't the core of the team, he was a part of it, allowed and encouraged to do his thing by the team but not relied upon as the pivotal point. Then he leaves, goes to FB, and pretty much inverts this. He's supposed to be their saving grace, but in the end he isn't what they needed at all. Imo he replaced a player who epitomises what he ironically needs the most on a team. To me, all the FB Neighbor pickup proved was that old FB shoulda listened to Walshy and adapted, that and that Neighbor just isn't that core player in optimal role terms. I've actually been happy to see him on Instinct, settling in finally, but I still see cracks in the team dynamic where his core role is concerned. I don't think either he, or Instinct, are ever gonna reach their potential with his current central role in the team. They need a leader, and Ghost coulda been that. I'm not gonna call them completely on that, much as things seem odd on the outside, we can't know whether the team dynamic just wasn't working for the other 3, in which case a change just has to take place. But either way, I just can't see FiS bringing what Instinct really need. I could well be wrong, but I got a real strong feeling in my gut on this one. Sorry, WAT? I honestly couldn't disagree more. Walshy left FB because he disagreed with them about how to play H3 over H2, and look what happened to them. Their individual skill was still undeniably high, they even picked up Neighbor bringing even more serious power to the line up. But the team play wasn't there, the H3 approach wasn't there, and the dynasty fell. Compare that with Walshy's tenure on Instinct, what he brought to that team in terms of team play, and I'd say it cements Walshy as still the classic brainbox of H3. I honestly think he was the first H2 giant veteran to really see Halo 3 for what it is as a more team oriented game, and if anything all the criticism around him over H3 has been the opposite of what you're saying: individual skill instead of questions over team attitude and strat mentality. Imo, Walshy's career since H3 started has been working towards Carbon as we see them now. On this new Carbon he has true veterans alongside him, but ones who seem to be willing to listen to his detailed thoughts on how to play H3 as a team game. I'm loving the new Carbon lineup exactly because it's the home Walshy has deserved all this time. Walshy is uber uber epic, always has been, always will be. As I said to SMG, agreed on the Ghost/FiS front, but I still feel that the even more key aspect is that FiS just isn't the kinda player that Instinct is really lacking right now. Agreed on Neighbor's attitude as well, I hate not seeing him place like we all know he has the potential to consistently do. That's actually a great idea, better than the LOLbox which gets laggy with more than a few peeps in constant conversation. I'd definitely be up for that.
Its true that Instinct is a team without a leader at this point. Honestly I think Lunchbox should step up and become that leader, but really I think if they could just reign Neighbor in, and make him more of a team player his raw talent combined with the teamwork and support/slaying skills of his teammates would be more than enough to make Instinct that top team. I really do believe the weak point of the team is Neighbor's loner playstyle and overconfidence in himself. He gets his hands on a sniper and he just sits back and slays. You'll notice if you watch the Dallas VoD that the team frequently did its best work when he didn't have a snipe and was up in the main action with his BR playing a more team happy position. Unlike most of the now shrinking number of Instinct fans out there I'm not a fan because of Neighbor and his impressive individual skill. I'm a fan because of the twins, and the potential I see in a team that just needs to use their best player to his fullest. Instinct as it is is a work in progress. Hopefully I'll get to see the Instinct I know is there this weekend.
Idk, I think Lunch doesn't necessarily have that magic quality that makes a great leader (that thing that separates captains like Walshy, SK, and T2 - despite the questions surrounding the last one's team of late). He's one of those great (truly epic if I'm honest) team players: supports, slays well, rock solid objective play, and selfless as you could ask for. But he just ain't a captain in my eyes. As far as reigning in Neighbor goes, I think the fact that this isn't happening is telling of the core problem with Instinct right now. From all outside accounts, it doesn't seem like the twins are in a position to do any reigning in, since Neighbor is looked to as the core single player on the team. Idk, maybe I'm reading too much in to what's seen and what little we've heard from Ghost, but still, I don't think it's just a case of reigning him in, but completely changing the team dynamic. They need a new leader, and all the 3 current guys, especially Neighbor, need to know that this guy is the leader in the important senses. Then all 3 can reach their own potential in what are really their strongest roles. It's true, there's almost a line drawn between Neighbor and the other two, and it just ain't working, your Dallas/Snipes example being very true as well. I gotta agree with you there in one key sense: the twins. I love those guys, Lunch especially, my favourite player is always a playoff between him and Pistola which I've never been able to decide. I must admit I was a big Instinct fan back when Walshy joined, seeing Walshy and the twins tearing up made me so happy. It's easy to be labelled as a bandwagoner of Walshy, but as I said in my previous post, I think I have pretty good reasoning for really liking him in particular. But what that really brought to my attention was how much I loved Lunch's play. He's everything that I aspire to be as a player, that selfless, rock solid support/objective player who does what it takes for the team to win.
@Peg: That's pretty much what I was saying...Walshy has probably among the best team gameplay stuff but he just hasn't been able to do it to the extent he always should have been able to like back on FB on Halo 2. Now his team seems to be geling with him, and they're undeniably a top team. Walshy is a real leader who if he has a good team will do awesome. On the leader front, that's not Lunchbox. I honestly think there are very few true leaders in the MLG area (top 8). Tsquared in particular sticks out to me as by far the best leader...I hate all the bashing for advertising or being "overconfident". You're supposed to be giving your team confidence, he does an awesome job of it. He's enthusiastic, he's vocal, and he's an awesome player. He's all you'd want in a leader, though Str8 has failed us lately (due to Snipedown and Elamite's impressive -10 performances). Neighbor is not that leader, nor is Lunchbox. Walshy and Ghostayame are both pretty good leaders, and having dropped both of them since leaves Neighbor as the leader. IMO they won't go anywhere unless Neighbor's magically changed his attitude since last event.
Fair chair, I can see where you're coming from. I'd personally go with SK tbh. I think T2 is good, but to be fair he hasn't be challenged as a captain in nearly the way that SK and, to an even larger extent, Walshy have. They've had team switches and roster changes to survive through, and SK in particular has just been amazing at consistently captaining his team perfectly. He's so underrated as a leader that it drives me mad, I can't believe that these guys are even watching tD play if they don't see how great a leader he is, even if he isn't the big personality of Walsh or T2 to the crowd. Though tD at large do consistently well and they don't receive love as a whole, so I guess the same happening with SK in particular isn't that big a leap. Still stupid imo. He won that Amp slayer game against Carbon in Dallas. You can show me all the stats you like, it don't mean squat, he won it, and did it by achieving the impossible and throwing Carbon off their game when it came down to the friggin' wire. SK = epic imo, though I ain't gonna begrudge you being a T2 fan. Like you say, 'overconfidence' is one thing, and whilst I would actually say that there is something there in criticism terms, one of the things SK has over T2 imo, he could never ever be called cocky in terms of attitude before events. But like you said, T2's a truly great captain and a key part of the beast that is Str8 when they're on. I just wana see him start performing again. I honestly don't know who I want to win WBR2, toughest call ever .
SK's a great leader, but I just don't see him as great as T2. I think being vocal and enthusiastic and giving confidence to your team is huge, he does it so well. To be fair, his team's been failing their events lately and I'm hoping he's pushing them all, especially Snipedown. I think cockyness is REALLY important, actually. Just look at any of the Tsquared videos on G4 (Tom Taylor...TOM TAYLOR!), he just...looks so confident I guess that you're sure you can do whatever he's showing (and then your hopes are crushed of doing that O2 to top mid jump on Construct after trying over and over for hours...). I really think that's where T2 excels over SK, leadership doesn't necessarily mean going through problems. Though SK's done an amazing job, I'd give just as much credit to T2 for keeping a group of teenagers together working well while everyone else's teams are freaking out. What I'm saying is...T2's got some awesome charisma, and that's really what you need in a leader, even if he's quiet (ex. Steve Yzerman), charisma spurs on a team to play to their highest potential. And if Str8 plays to their highest potential, they can NEVER be beat, they have by far the most skill of all the teams.
Thing is, I keep hearing stuff like this, about how vocalisation and drive are essential to be a great captain, keeping SK short of guys like Walsh and T2 (well, I say 'guys like', but basically just them tbh). But seriously, I'm gonna go back to my point about seriously questioning whether I'm watching the same tD as every one else. They win. A lot. They win with different rosters, they do well after low and high placings alike from the last event. They are notorious for keeping practice regimens tight and dedicated, of never letting cockiness get the better of them. That, all of that, comes in major part from SK. He keeps their heads in the game, he is the definition of coolheaded but insanely driven as well. Both in the heat of the game, and in the cool of in between events/off season, he makes tD the team they've consistently been over H3. I used to be more sympathetic to the idea that he was quieter and this brought him down as a captain, but actually that's just not how it works with the tD dynamic as it seems to me. Hysteria does the trash talking, Heinz gets angry, and actually, come to mention it, SK does his thing too. Just because the crowd at Dallas were showing absolutely no love, doesn't mean SK wasn't going crazy. He was screaming for the overkill, and also being pretty vocal in pointing out that 'nobody likes us!' when he gets a sick triple and there's silence from the crowd (more than fair enough imo, bandwagon crowd were bandwagoners). It honestly mystifies me why SK and tD get the stick they do. They do everything right, consistently and with modesty, and everyone hates them? Everything about tD is epitomised in SK imo, he has made the team what it is over 08 and 09, and with the new solid roster just going from strength to strength, I think Str8 need to seriously watch their asses when it comes to being the only All-Star team that isn't just a 2-3 event roster.