The first pro circuit of the Major League Gaming 2011 season has concluded in Dallas, Texas and a lot has transpired. I wanted to go over some of the random articles, websites, pictures, and videos floating out of this event so you can find them all in one spot! Update will be continually added this week as I discover more and more content.
Stream Issues
The first thing I think we should address and something I’m sure a lot of people are sensitive about is the streams. Both Friday and Saturday were plagued with problematic streaming issues and lag at the venue. Our promised online eSports extravaganza took a turn for the worse as MLG was unprepared to handle all the traffic pouring into their website. Too bad really, I think a lot of people were extremely excited for this weekend and ended up somewhat disappointed. So what can we do? Well here are the important links so you can follow up on what MLG is doing to rectify the situation:
MLG News: MLG Addresses Site Stability Issues | Update #1 from MLG | Update #2 from MLG
MLG Forums: MLG Addresses Site Stability Issues
SK-Gaming News:Â MLG Dallas has chronic issues, MLG responds
I also want to make note that on Sunday, MLG’s Sundance DiGiovanni, the current CEO, made a live apology to the MLG audience, fans, players, and everyone else. It was heartwarming and I believe that the vast majority of MLG supporters are still behind him. The rational minds know that sometimes, shit happens, and I believe MLG and their staff did everything possible to fix the situation. So thanks for the effort, it was still a great weekend and I look forward to future MLG events!
I also want to throw in my appreciation for djWheat, day9, JP McDaniel and the rest of the commentators. You guys are amazing! Good job all weekend.
Brackets & Results
For those of you wanting to follow up on brackets and results, here is a list of resources for you to check out:
MLG: Championship/Pool Brackets – Starcraft 2 | Halo: Reach
MLG: Open Brackets – Starcraft 2 | Halo: Reach | Call of Duty: Black Ops
Team Liquid: Event Coverage
Match Coverage
Here are some match coverage links and resources so you can find all the games you missed, or want to rewatch:
MLG should be uploading VOD’s of the matches to their MLG TV section.
From what I was able to watch this weekend I thought these SC2 games were of notable importance:
Ret vs seleCT (SC2)
INcontroL vs TLO (SC2): Game 1 | Game 2 |Â GIANT QUESADILLA
NEW:Â EGidrA vs HuK – idrA’s infamous BM after HuK hallucination win, then the rematch later:
I think this video starring Hitler sums it up well.
NEW: Here’s another awesome idrA interview where he calls HuK “retarded”.
The finals between Naniwa and Kiwikaki we’re awesome! Had a lot of funny rooting for Kiwi to get to the 3-3 game and make Nani nervous, but awesome job anyways.
Obviously there are tons of great games that happened this weekend and unfortunately I will not be going over each and every one, because that’s not what I do on this website. But I will be providing as many helpful links and resources as possible so you can find and watch the best matches.
GosuGamers has uploaded some replays from the event in case you can’t find them elsewhere or the VODs aren’t available.
NEW: An interview with Naniwa.
Images & Galleries
Next let’s cover some of the great pictures coming out of the event:
Evil Geniuses: EG on yfrog
compLexity Gaming: Image Gallery
Team FNATIC: Image Gallery
Team Dignitas: Image Gallery
Sixjax Gaming: Article
Astro Gaming: Astro on Twitpic
WellPlayed.org: WellPlayed on yfrog
Root Gaming: A few uploads from Root Gaming on Zannel
Cyber-Sports Network – CSN on Twitgoo
ESFI World: Image Gallery
NEW:Â HuK getting frisky.
NEW: A victorious INcontroL.
NEW: AskJoshy’s Twitpic account.
NEW: JGrindal’s flickr
NEW: Joshtacular’s MLG Dallas collection
NEW: vVv’s Image Gallery
Videos & Channels
The last section I want to cover is the videos and channels coming out of MLG. There’s undoubtedly going to be millions of them, so this list will just contain the ones I keep seeing on Twitter (which are probably the best ones anyway). As always, I’ll throw up that fancy bolded “NEW:” text as I find more over this week.
Team compLexity:Â compLexityINSIDER on YouTube
AskJoshy:Â AskJoshy’s MLG Coverage on YouTube
SK-Gaming:Â SK-Gaming’s MLG Dallas Channel
EdwardStarcraft:Â EdwardStarcraft’s Channel on YouTube
Cyber-Sports Network – CSN on Youtube
Houie Louy – You won’t find these by searching on YouTube, or these: Root Gaming Forums
If there’s anything I missed, as always contact me on Twitter (@SpawnRoom), in the comments, or on Facebook. Also, if you have some favorite matches from this weekend, let me know which ones and I’ll add them to the post! Thanks.
day9 is surprised by JP McDaniel’s news.
Other Tags: COD BLOPS, MLG, Pro Circuit, StarCraft II, SC2