MLG Orlando National Championship Discussion

​

I'm throwing this up well in advance in hopes of getting some serious discussion started which will continue until the event. With rosters now locked we're able to get our brains going without a last minute team change screwing with predictions close to the event. I'm gonna try and keep on top of any notable LANs that go down before Orlando, but if you find out any scores before they appear here then please post them and I'll edit them in here with due credit.

But as for some basic discussion topics:

With Str8's run of win-get cocky-lose-practice-win finally broken, what does Orlando hold for the defending National Champs? Will they rally to overtake their long time rivals tD when it really matters?

And tD themselves, does this first ever back to back win cement them as top dogs in the struggle with Str8 for number one which has characterised MLG Halo 3? Or will an even more determined Str8 deny them the season win once more and kick off the back and forth run all over again?

And what of Carbon? Will this inter-event break seen them continue to solidify as a new top 3 force, possibly pushing them past their current two obstacles of tD and Str8 and grabbing that first place spot?

What will this promising new Dyanasty lineup do after quickly working their way to a 4th place finish in Anaheim? Will the household name top teams find themselves edged out at the hands of this new powerhouse if they slip up, maybe even if they don't?

And lastly, what of names like Final Boss and Instinct? Teams which once commanded top 4 placings in the majority of predictions but now invoke serious questions about their solidity even in the top 8, how will they fare as the season comes to a close?

Thoughts?

 

Agreed, completely. But think about this, Str8 always go away and put in time when they lose, to come back and play like they know they can, basically definitely winning the tournament, hence the whole on-off-on-off thing with tD. At Anaheim they showed much more than at Dallas, they took Carbon down a peg after an embarrassing 3-0 only one event before, yet tD have really solidified recently and it's become clear that Str8 not only have to play good, but great if they want to beat them in the current climate.

But if every time they lose they get serious face and come back to win, what about when it didn't work? Some say it'll knock 'em for six, but imo all it's gonna do is make them more determined to win. No one is more hungry for the win than Str8 after just losing, and after losing twice you can bet they're thinking of little else than winning Orlando beyond any question. If they really turn up and play the best that they can play, history says that no one can stand in their way.

But then, is that true anymore with tD reaching the point they have, and undoubtedly going further by the time Orlando comes around? Hmm....

 

Snipedown is still in college, I'll bet that gets in the way. Though I think Shockeave is as well, and maybe even Hysteria as far as tD go. As for Pistola, I hear kindergarten gets pretty stressful around Christmas .

 

I'd say that Str8 are stronger than that as a team, and T2 in the middle of a series is a completely different person from how he is week to week between events, we're never really gonna see that side of T2 properly to know. Fact is, Str8 could have played a decent amount better than they did at Anaheim and I think they know it. Elamite was the showstealer, and whilst that did make me particularly happy after all the 'Elamite is the weak link' bs following Dallas, to me that says that maybe Snipedown and Legit weren't quite in form. We certainly didn't see as much raw slaying power out of Snipedown in particular as we're used to when Str8 are really dominating.

So I think they know that they should be aiming higher than their performance in Anaheim, and that it's far from an unreasonable target to be taking number 1 with just that last, oh so important push from being good to great on the day. With this in mind, I don't see the panic setting in for Str8, just the realisation that tD are now at a stage where they pose an actual threat to Str8 even when they're trying properly, they can't just waltz to a first place finish after ever 2nd or 4th placing, they really have to work now. I think this will give them drive, T2 in particular, and as I said above, I think basing estimations of his mentality as a team leader over the next month and a bit on how pumped he is in the middle of a series is pretty tenuous,

 

I think that was rather my point. I didn't think that Elamite going negative reflected specifically badly on him as the player that he is, but on Str8 at large (though obviously he is included in that as much as any other), yet everyone focused on it. Tbh, I thought that his decision making was about as good at Anaheim as it was at Dallas, which was my point about him all along. It was nice to see really because it was just a chance to put down criticism of Elamite's skill even though it wasn't actually the thing that mattered most. Even when people are taking the wrong path of reasoning completely, he can go off and show them that they're wrong even in this irrelevant sense.

Dear good, did you just secretly reveal yourself to be DMaq? Numbers galore . You're right, though, on form wasn't the right term to use. It's more about leading the way, and not leading the team in the sense that T2 obviously does, but being the slayer the team looks to for that integral push or re-take during important games. It seemed like, when it really came down to it, it was often Elamite doing these things, even thought overall stats may not reflect it, making those pushes or inroads in a clutch game didn't see Snipedown quite going off the way I think him well capable of.

 

I know what you mean. It seemed at times that Roy and Lunch were being dragged two ways just a little between Instinct and Neighbor and the 5k dynamic with FiS I guess. Though overall it looked like they stuck to being instinct alongside neighbor, which IMO speaks volumes even with the poor placing.

Agreed, I'd no idea that he'd made that switch but it says a lot in itself. Instinct just break my heart, as I've said countless times I rate every player on the squad amongst my favourite in the league, but crushing disappointment is all that ensues. The Neighbor situation in particular is very sad to see, after leaving FB you could really see that he'd realised the mistake in leaving the kind of environment he really thrived in with Str8, and that he wanted to make good on getting headstrong and going to FB by sticking with Instinct through thick and thin. No one can deny that he's done this, and to all those who hated on him for leaving Str8 (which, I'll agree, was obviously a case of big ideas getting the better of sense), look at Neighbor now. Sure he may be placing lower than seeds and suchlike say he should, but he's come a long way from the cocky player that left a team just after placing first.

I just hope he's rewarded in this attitude, and the kind of mental dedication he's clearly putting in to try and overcome his difficulties in playing to what we all know is his potential. I mean, let's face it, the only reason he's getting so much stick right now is because people remember what he played like on Str8, when he had that key right environment, and it's the obvious basis for comparison. I only hope that he finds that environment again, be it with Instinct or not. Tbh, I think Instinct are sketchy right now but the twins will find their feet either way, all eyes are on Neighbor right now. To see him playing like he has the potential to do once again would be amazing, not necessarily because he's the undisputed king that he used to be, but because even the power slayers that have come to the fore since, like Hysteria and Snipedown, don't play in quite the same way. Watching Neighbor play in his element is a unique thing, and c'mon, who honestly doesn't want to see it again?