Season 1 Call of Duty 4 - Wrap Up

Feature from Starks - Friday, 10 October 2008 @ 12:11am

It is with great pleasure that I report on the first successful GotGames.com.au Xbox 360 competition - Call of Duty 4, Season 1. After many, many months of matches, the final series has been played over the past few weeks before last Wednesday and Thursday evening, in the wee hours of the morning, I announced the winners of both the Professional and Intermediate ladders.

Amazingly, multi-gaming clan Malice managed to take out both ladders, adding to their growng tally of successes, whilst teams 1SK and NMA both placed second in the Professional and Intermediate divisions respectively. Broadcasting live on to netGameRadio, both Shieldsy and I called two of the best Call of Duty 4 games I think Australia has seen, and it is with great pleaure that I can give you a run down of the finals series below.

Intermediate

Intermediate only in name, the 8 teams in this ladder battled it out ferociously to try and take the money. With the Round Robin Finals system determining the Top 4 and seeding for the Double Elimination Bracket, the competition was tight and teams did anything the could to ensure they made the cut.

Below is the final standings of the Intermediate ladder:

Intermediate League Standings

With No Monkeys Allowed (NMA), [Malice] ([MLC]), Velocity (VeL) and Krazy Killaz (KK) in the Top 4, the Double Elimination Bracket commenced. These teams, separated only by points differential, fought hard and bitterly to secure a place in the Grand Final. Below is a break down of the games:

Quarter Finals

NMA def VeL

- Game 1: Strike 11-5 NMA Win

- Game 2: Backlot 11-6 VeL Win

- Game 3: Crash 14-10 NMA Win

[MLC] def KK

- Game 1: Strike 11-9 [MLC] Win

- Game 2: Backlot 14-11 [MLC] Win

Semi Finals

[MLC] def NMA

- Game 1: Overgrown 11-8 [MLC] Win

- Game 2: Backlot 14-10 [MLC] Win

KK def VeL

- Game 1: Overgrown 11-3 KK Win

- Game 2: Backlot 11-7 KK Win

Velocity is eliminated.

[Malice] move into the Grand Final.

Preliminary Final

NMA def KK

- Game 1: Crossfire - 11-5

- Game 2: Strike - 11-6

KK are eliminated.

NMA Move into the Grand Final.

With the lead up to the Grand Final, both teams were extremely difficult to pick apart. Although NMA had seeded higher for the Double Elimination Bracket, [MLC] had defeated NMA to gain entry to the Grand Final. The tipping was effectively even, and no one could pick who would win.

Both teams, determined to put on a good show, then played one of the best (And quite possibly the longest!!) Grand Finals in eGames history by going to a 5 game killer that spanned just over 5 hours on the Thursday night. Of course, yours truly and my faithful co-casters in Shieldsy and RD managed to keep up only through excessive Red Bull and occasionally the injection of a little vodka to keep us on our toes. The results are below:

Grand Final

- Game 1: Crossfire - 11-8 NMA win

- Game 2: Crash - 19-16 NMA win

- Game 3: Strike - 16-13 [MLC]

- Game 4: Overgrown - 11-7 [MLC]

- Game 5: Backlot - 11-5 [MLC]

I have no doubt in my mind that this is truly one of the great Grand Finals of all time. Congratulations to [Malice] who came from 2 maps down to win the the Intermediate ladder and take the prize.

Professional

The Professional comp saw some of the more recognised console clans in Australia compete for not only bragging rights but quite a large sum of cash as well. Some teams, such as Disturbing the Peace, Malice, Kill Army Elite and 1 Shot Kill are clans that have been around for in some cases years and have a recognised reputation within the community. This, of course, only adds to the desire to win as teams who stamp their authority as winner of the Professional ladder would without a doubt allow them to be seen as the crème de la crème for Call of Duty 4 on Xbox 360.

With the Top 8 decided, all 8 teams battled it out for the chance to make the Top 4 cut and play for a position in the Grand Final. The final standings are below:

Professional Ladder Standings

The Top 4 was definately a group of colourful sides. With bad blood and bitter resentment between MLC, DTP and 1SK, KL** took 'The Peoples Team' tag after not only surprising the rest of the community with their Top 8 position, but then denying strong Call of Duty 4 clans in KAE, GT, NiP and AA.

Never the less, the Top 4 Double Elimination Bracket was full of tight matches, and the results are listed below:

Quarter Finals

MLC def KL**

- Game 1: Strike 11-2 MLC Win

- Game 2: Backlot 11-9 MLC Win

DTP def 1SK

- Game 1: Strike 11-5 DTP Win

- Game 2: Backlot 11-9 1SK Win

- Game 3: Crash 11-3 DTP Win

Semi Finals

MLC def DTP

- Game 1: Overgrown 11-6 MLC Win

- Game 2: Backlot 14-12 MLC Win

1SK def KL**

- Game 1: Overgrown 11-7 1SK Win

- Game 2: Backlot 11-6 1SK Win

KL** are eliminated.

Malice move into the Grand Final

Preliminary Final

1SK def DTP

- Game 1: Crossfire 11-8 1SK Win

- Game 2: Strike: 11-7 1SK Win

DTP eliminated.

1SK move into the Grand Final.

The Professional Grand Final was one of the most highly anticipated matches of the season. Both Malice and 1 Shot Kill are known to share a deep seated dislike for each other. Frankly, it only added to the intensity of the game and allowed both Shieldsy and I some fun in the commentary box! I have no doubt that anxiety, tensions and stress levels were at their highest when these two teams faced off and from a spectators point of view this meant both teams were at their peak performance when playing.

Although the series only went for three maps, they were all extremely close and belied the intensity of the game. Highlight of the match was the incredible marathon on Crash, where both teams were like two prize fighters in a war of attrition where neither were willing to take a backwards step. At the end of the series, Malice just managed to sneak ahead with a few clutch plays and took home the money, the bragging rights and the title 'Best Call of Duty 4 team in Australia' for Season 1. I'm sure, however, that 1SK will happily challenge for that title in Season 2 and may even take it!

Grand Final

- Game 1: Crossfire 11-8 MLC win

- Game 2: Crash 23-21 MLC win

- Game 3: Strike 11-9 MLC win

With that, the winners were crowned and the runners up consoled. Both teams played fantastic, and should be applauded for both their sportsmanship and their skillful displays. For those wishing to listen to the rebroadcast, pop over to here and have a listen to Shieldsy, RD and I waffle away on the game. The captured footage for both Grand Finals and hopefully more games will all be published soon, as Hybrid from GotGames.com.au is liasing with a movie maker to create a montage for the season.

Finally, a big thanks to the following people:

* Activision for their wonderful support of the season and contribution to the pize money

* RD and netGameRadio for letting two loons like Shieldsy and myself commentate the game

* All volunteers who capped footage during the Grand Finals; I STURTY I, xTh3 Saint and DallaPro

* GotGames.com.au and Hybrid for allowing me to start what I hope is the beginning of consistent professional console gaming in Australia

Season 1 is now over. Season 2, where teams will seek to get their revenge, is now currently in the process of starting as moor3y is now going to be senior administration for thta game. I myself will be helping to run both the Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 competitions, whilst also looking to expand and generate some new competitions on the site for more games. Stay tuned, because Call of Duty 5 and Gears of War 2 will definately have some ladders starting and I will be gearing up to report on them also!

Starks out.