Beat The Staff
This week's SNF was a break from the norm, we looked a little closer to home and threw down the gauntlet to members of our own community. 3 teams arose to challenge us in MLG, Slayer and Objective disciplines respectively, and all 3 community teams came to play, but the Forge Hub Staff weren't taking things lightly either.
MLG
Staff MLG Team:
Insane54
Pegasi Delta
Roche178
rusty eagIe
SargeantSarcasm
Community MLG Team:
Given To Fly 93
DeathToll77
ScarFac3d
ZANDER1994
Game 1: MLG Team Slayer on Cynosure
Both teams can agree that this game did not start well, Insane was nowhere to be seen and the Community team was looking equally thin in ranks, but the gaps were soon patched up, and Sarge stepped up to the plate for the Staff. But even once the game eventually kicked off, wild lags ran rampant around the map, as did most of the players, any attempt at coordinated play being met with teleporting opponents on all sides and shields which apparently decided to take the night off. Things didn't really resolve themselves for the remainder of the game, despite some clearer spots in our networking woes, the suspension of disbelief required to endure Halo 3 at its laggiest remained a constant feature of the game. But somehow rusty managed to spend this time beavering away, and when the final horn was sounded we eventually worked out that we'd won, heralding a heartfelt, if somewhat confused, cheer from the Staff team.
Final Score:
Staff MLG Team: 50
Community MLG Team: 45
Game 2: MLG CTF on The Pit
Game one had been a close call, and we wanted to take this one in straight sets with Insane now finally back in our ranks. Game two took the form of an MLG classic in Pit CTF, and knuckled down to prove our credentials once and for all. Things started off well for the Staff with a series of solid initial battles and an early cap to set the tone. But set the tone it most certainly did not, and a strange combination of speedy action and rock hard standoffs formed the rest of this match, both teams trading caps but none getting home without a fight. With the exception of my mulge pro self, the Staff team were outslaying the community upstarts at every turn. But somehow they always managed to slip round behind us and bring our pushes to an abrupt halt with a sneaky flag pull, maintaining a frantic back and forth to push through and establish that solid set up which never seemed to materialise on either side. But it all came down the slaying for that all important last point, and eventually the brute force of the Staff team won through, sinking that final flag cap to seal a long overdue victory for the name of Forge Hub Staff.
Final Score:
Staff MLG Team: 3
Community MLG Team: 2
Game 3: MLG Ball on Expanse
We'd hoped that this third and final playoff would be a victory lap, and we'd got our wish, but the community team weren't done yet, and they were about to smash our dreams of a glory game, and smash them hard. We started game three with a confident swagger, and opening scores followed suit nicely with the Staff taking an early lead and maintaining their slaying prowess to break through any set ups that the Community team managed to establish. But our success would turn out to be the bringer of our ironic downfall, for little did we notice that our opponents were snatching more and more time in their relentless pushes. When they took the lead within 30 points of the finish, we knew we had to kick our focus firmly back on that objective. With the Community team 5 points from victory and us needing more than double that, it actually looked like we could make this a sweep series with a solid push to take the ball from them. But it was not to be, and a relentless charge of the respawn from our opponents knocked us firmly back down again to grab those last couple of seconds and take the last game for themselves. Just for the record, it was Insane's fault.
Final Score:
Staff MLG Team: 240
Community MLG Team: 250
Slayer
Staff Slayer Team:
Kapura
Shock Theta
Vorpal Saint
Community Slayer Team:
HomerSPC
pinohkio
Playerhata27
Whats A Scope
Game 1: Team BRs on Wishbone
The Staff side began this Slayer SNF on a bad footing, a man down and needing a replacement. But Vorpal Saint's brother was kind enough to step up to challenge, and things eventually began to take shape after a long wait preceding game one. Once things actually got underway with a solid choice of Team BRs to start the night, this looked like it might be an opportunity for revenge for the Community camp. Playerhata started strong and kept it up throughout the entire game, logging an impressive +10 k/d spread and dominating the Staff, half of whom barely managed to scrape past a negative k/d spread with a nice, round 0. Coming in with something to prove and the name of the grey members at stake, the Community team fought long and hard to take home victory in game one and offer hope of redemption against the corruption of the Staff teams.
Final Score:
Staff Slayer Team: 46
Community Slayer Team: 50
Game 2: Team Snipers on Gridlocked
The Staff had lost game one, their pride had been left dented, and the gloves were off going in to the second match. Focusing on long, sweeping lines of sight criss-crossed about the map, Gridlocked was a very interesting setting for this long range deathmatch. Scores would again be close in this game, and Playerhata stepped up once more for the Community team, putting in an impressive 23 kills for his side. But it just wasn't enough to counteract the slaying power of the Staff side, who played smart on this treacherous sniper terrain to snag victory by a mere 5 kills. Play was tense and tight, with almost half of all kills logged in the game taking the form of a bullet to the face. Precision was the watchword, and the Staff managed to edge out their opponents to regain some ground and tie up the series one to one. It all came down to the third and final game.
Final Score:
Staff Slayer Team: 50
Community Slayer Team: 45
Game 3: Teamwerks Slayer on Teamwerks Arena 2
This was it, the decider. Teamwork was the name of the game here, in a rather more poetic and literal way than is normally the case with such things. If the Community team wanted to secure victory, glory, and a sexy custom title then they had to end it here and now. And if the Staff wanted to retain their dignity and break this trend of SNF defeat then they had to make damn sure that this plan never came to fruition. Enter: Vorpal's brother. Don't let that little 'G' next to his name fool you, nor the fact that 'Vorpal's brother' may not be a name you immediately associate with Forge Hub. This Was Family. The Staff lined them up and he knocked them down with his devastating BR, Vorpal himself doing solid work on the ground to spread the kills around. However, that's not to say that the Community team just lay down and took it without a fight, pinohkio wielding an equally impressive BR to keep the two teams' boxes level in score. But the Staff were able to exploit the holes in their opponents' team and slide home to a resounding victory in both this match and the overall series.
Final Score:
Staff Slayer Team: 142
Community Slayer Team: 135
Objective
Staff Objective Team:
chrstphrbrnnn
Shad0w Viper
thesilencebrokn
TransactionZero
Community Objective Team:
AZN FTW
Bartoge
Conkerkid11
Null Parameter
Game 1: One Flag CTF on Conduction
The Forge Hub Staff started off the objective series on homeground, Conduction. Having the creator of the map on your team is always a plus, and the Staff used this to their advantage and brought home the flag in the first round with little trouble, securing an early lead and bolstering confidence. Defense followed suit with the Staff maintaining an iron fisted set up to lock down the map and keep their flag snug and warm against the force of the Community team. This looked like an easy win to start off the series, but the Community team had more to give and secured a late cap to show that they were far from beat, and snapping the Staff team firmly back in to reality, this game wasn't won by any means. But this new found focus won through, and though the Community team kept up the heat until the very end, the Staff managed to hold out and secure a 2-1 victory.
Final Score:
Staff Objective Team: 2
Community Objective Team: 1
Game 2: Team King on Ravinia
Since the Staff had gotten the homeground advantage in game one, the choice of map was left to the Community team to keep things even, and Ravinia was picked as the setting for game number two, taking the form of a friendly game of Team King. The Staff team were expecting a tough game, Ravinia was familiar stomping ground for the Community opponents and no one on the Staff side was expecting an easy run. But Shad0w and chrst formed a destructive duo and kept a keen eye on the objective, fighting hard to hold the hill for as long as possible and grab significant chunks of time. But silence and Tz kept up their end of the bargain and set their minds firmly to slaying, keeping the pressure on their opponents to make sure they never even got as far as the hill where possible. This 2 and 2 approach paid off with slaying staying strong throughout and any significant enemy pushes on the hill being either nipped in the bud or softened up for the hill guys to clean up. The Staff weren't expecting a victory on this map, but shook that off and kept their heads in the game to take their lead further and further, eventually sealing victory through sheer blood and tears.
Final Score:
Staff Objective Team: 150
Community Objective Team: 114
Game 3: Multi Flag CTF on Gridlocked
Game three saw the Staff team firmly back on home soil, with the fan favourite Gridlocked playing host to the final game of the night for the objective lot, Multi Flag CTF. As always seems to be the case when the victor has already been decided, the downtrodden felt they had something to prove and went in with force. The Community team proceeded to tear through the Staff from the word go, keeping the formerly superior slaying power of the Staff at bay and taking home a cap early without apparently breaking a sweat. The Staff were keen to rectify this situation and made constant attempts at pushing back out and taking control of the game, but such attempts amounted to naught with the Community team maintaining their set ups to an unbreakable tee, taking home another cap to grab a 2-0 lead. Things looked grim for the Staff, but Shad0w Viper stepped up to the plate and stayed true to his reputation as a master of come backs and clutch plays, but his 3 team mates were hardly sitting on their laurels, locking down their base beyond any doubt to ensure that the Community team didn't work their way to that final cap and cut this new found fire short. 3 caps later, all of which were firmly under his belt, Shad0w and the rest of the Staff team had managed to wrestle victory from the jaws of defeat, taking all three games and securing another victory for the Staff compliment.
Final Score:
Staff Objective Team: 3
Community Objective Team: 2
This article may have seemed a little slim on the typical eye candy, but to the aesthetic minded amongst you, never fear. thesilencebrokn was kind enough to whip up some sumptuous screens for us:
We'd like to thank all of the guys who came out to play last sunday, all of the teams had a great time and we managed to regain our dignity and secure wins for the Staff across the board. Much as we enjoy reaching out to other communities and meeting new people across a nice, friendly field of slaughter, it was fun to get back to our roots and go head to head with the guys who really matter, our own community right here on Forge Hub.