This Sunday saw our largest ever Halo3 tournament at gamerbase Manchester! This time around the event filled up over a month and a half before the event was scheduled, which left plenty of time for winner prediction and trash talking. This was our third instalment of Overkill here in Manchester and each time we have had to add more and more Xboxes to meet the demand, which just goes to show how much its popularity and reputation is growing.
The discussion on which team would walk away with the much sought after Xbox live points and 12 month subscription, not to mention bragging rights, was ongoing for a week or two with everyone having differences of opinion. That was all until one team signed up. This team was made up of some of the very best players in the EU scene, making them the clear favourites from the start.
Reactions Minions - Reaction, AdamsKi, Endead & Pyronox – didn’t disappoint anyone and showed why each player in the line up deserves their reputation. Despite some very good teams and players being in attendance, no one could give them a close game and they walked away the winners without even reaching second gear. Let’s hope that next time someone can present them with a real challenge!
AtP made a name for themselves by refusing to lay down and die. They were knocked into the losers bracket by Reactions right at the start of the event which left them with no margin for error. They managed to beat just about every other team here, winning five games in a row to make it to the grand final where they were beat yet again by Reactions. A very good performance by them.
Decode: Overkill Mark III Write Up
Well this has been my first LAN, and I've enjoyed it more than ever. I met my team in person (In Fates Hands) for the first time and they're all sound. I also met some people I've played with online, such as Wilm, ILL3GALSOUL, Woody, Mockla, Jordshi and Shu7down, just to name a few!
We played a warm up game against 'Its Not Going To Rain Mockla'. We are Xbox live rivals so there was a hint of bad blood between us. We beat them 50-46 Narrows slayer. Coming back from a 10 kill defecit, I found it hard to concentrate with (I think) Reaction and Co commentating behind me
Our first tournament game was against Havoc Gaming (BunchyGlorii and co). We had never really heard of these guys so we didn't know what to expect.
The first gametype was Pit Slayer. The start of the game was pretty close, we were trading kills back and forth to about 19 kills, til (iFh) Razzio got what can only be described as a beastly Kiltacular on them, letting us set up on their side and dominating the rest of the game. We finished up with all going positive, with 44 assists between us.
The second gametype was Narrows flag, we were very confident coming in as Narrows (along with Heretic) is one of our stronger maps. We got an early cap with us pushing hard at the start, getting them 3 down and Fallen pulling flag bottom mid and us catching them on the spawn, however one of them got through and stopped Fallen but luckily I was there to put the flag in, which allowed us to cap and relax, letting them charge so we could catch them on the break. Unfortunately this didnt pan out as well as we had hoped, as they played it smart, and passive. This allowed me (Decode) to sneak behind and carry the flag through top mid all the way to our flag before being stopped short. Luckily Fallen converted it. The third cap was the same as the first, we pushed their lobby getting them 3 down, Razzio this time pulling the flag, and running it all the way and putting it in for a 3-0 victory.
Now we were in the winners bracket, and sods law would have us come up against Reactions Minions, the clear favourites to win. We got to play on the 'Main Stage' which was pretty cool to be honest, and a kind member of AtP lent their headset to Fallen and I believe another member lent his to Razzio which was really cool of them.
The first game we had was Pit Flag. We came out really strong at the start, holding them to their side of the map for a good 3-4 minutes. But their skill proved too much for us, with them battling out of their base numerous times and catching us on the counter for 3 successful caps.
Our second game against them was Narrows slayer. Although we were up against some of Europes best players, we were still confident, coming out strong at the start and keeping the score to no more than 2 kills between us for the first 20 kills or so. Then we started to back down when they had a sniper which allowed them to push our lobby and team shot the s*** out of us. But we didn't give up and refused to get staked by them and the score finished 50-32.
This now sent us to the losers bracket, where we were hoping for an easy game.
Mocklas team. But it came to our attention that we couldnt even scrim them as they left after two straight losses, getting knocked out.
Anyway back to the point, we came up against 'In Depth' (Wilm, Woody, ILL3GALSOUL, Cavel) who are an extremely strong team. But we stayed confident; even though we've only been teaming for a month we have very good chemistry between us, and a good teamshot and map positioning. The first game was Narrows slayer, and again we came out strong, gaining the lead into 20/30 kills of the game. Unfortunately we had forgotten to time rockets and this allowed them to get us off top mid and get weapon control over us (snipers) this pushed us back into our lobby allowing them to push and getting a few kills on us bringing the score to 41-35 to them. We pushed out of our lobby at the expense of a few more deaths but it was too late, with us having top mid control and the score being 48-42 to In Depth. They only needed two more kills to win, and they got them, the score finishing 50-46 to In Depth.
This meant we had to win our next game to stay in the losers bracket. The game was onslaught flag. We were confident as we all have strong Br's and being on LAN gave us that extra confidence knowing no one would sponge. In Depth came out strong gaining top control early, allowing them to convert a cap. But we didnt let our heads drop, and within 3-4 minutes of fighting for top control we managed to get a cap. But they got us 4 down, allowing them top mid control. But we played it well, and got a 2-1 lead on them. The next 5 minutes were a constant battle for top mid. In Depth coming out on top, and converting a 3rd and a 4th cap, knocked us out of the losers bracket.
All in all, I had a great time. In Depth and AtP stood out for me, both brilliant teams. Wilm and ILL3GALSOUL both being good sports and saying good game to our team.
Top four
1st - Reactions Minions - AdamsKi, Reaction, Endead, Pyronox
2nd - AtP - Kable, Legacy, Squirrel, Angel (second)
3rd - Homeslice, Be Nice- zTimmy, TJ lulz, uG Immortality and IOneStepTooFarI
4th - In Depth - Wilm, Wooody, Cavell, ILL3GALSOUL
Thank you to everyone who attended, I hope to see you all at the next one in a few months! Let's hope we can take this thing to another level. Special thank you to www.halo3forum.eu who help promote all of our Halo3 events.
Click here for Photos
Kumba
Gamerbase Manchester
