Forge Hub vs The Ghosts of Onyx
Well hello, my fellow Forge Hubbians! I'm rather glad you could join us today, because do I have an 8-month-old, moldy, rat-nibbled treat for you, an SNF! No, the banner is not a typo; we've decided to bring back Sunday Night Fights, but on a different day (Saturdays now), much to my jubilation, and hopefully to those that read this. Though, in hindsight, you wouldn't be reading this if you were not interested. Aha, threw you off with a conundrum! Now, if only I conjured this strategy while we battled the Ghosts of Onyx, then we might have won.
The Ghosts of Onyx (or GoO for short), our prey-turned-predator, is a small close-knit family of Halo fans and players who love to play customs and Matchmaking. Even though they are a smaller community, they do have prominent members from Forge Hub there (like me, for instance!). Ironically, however, for the first SNF on Halo: Reach, they came in droves. As I organized the party, what seemed to be the entirety of their community joined, as we struggled to find fellow mates to try to turn the tides of war. Sadly, even with a full roster, it didn't help, since members on our team had even more pressing matters to attend, and the GoO rotated positions to give everyone a chance to play.
[l-col]The Epic Tusk Experience feat. The Marvelous Mods
Iron Tusk - "I run these streets"
Black Theorem - "Gungigigigignir"
Reflex Ion - "JUST START THE GAME ALREADY"
Shock Theta - "WVGA Pro Gaming"
RedNeck - "He's ready for the big leagues, just look at those kills"
Whats A Scope? - "They call me El Diablo"[/l-col][r-col]The GoOligans
Furry x Furry - "I jog those roads"
philly100000 - "WTF... EYES!!!"
Devinish - "Cover my rear!"
R0CKET M00SE - "Aunt Jemima is the Devil!"
Ezekeil2Ofive17 - "..." (No mic for the whole time)
Tender Bisquit - "Playin it Black"[/r-col]
Game 1
Team Slayer on The Pit 1x1
After a rather lengthy wait for Shock to get his xbox up to speed, we flipped a coin to see who chose the first map, and after I emerged victorious in the toss, I decided we should start this "Best of 3" campaign with a pretty solid remake I found earlier that day. It being my favorite Halo 3 map, I had a strong performance, but I found a pretty sad truth when the dust settled eight minutes later: A rose looks less beautiful when surrounded by weeds and fungi.
We did hold onto some of the power weapons, but the map (and the GoOligans' teamwork) did a good job keeping us from controlling entire areas. Battles flowed all around the play-space, from the Overshield, to the Towers, to the Bases, Camo, and the Rockets. It was definitely a fun, fast-paced game, and a close one too, with The Epic Tusk Experience losing by only three points.
Final Score
The GoOligans - 50
The Epic Tusk Experience - 47
http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/GameStats.aspx?gameid=494664760&player=Black%20Theorem
Game 2
Team Slayer on Exodus
Game 2 was meant to be our grudge match, the clash that would even the playing field heading into the 3rd round. Unfortunately, we just couldn't keep together as well as The GoOligans. Victory for them, again.
The map, Exodus, had a very interesting layout: it was essentially a multi-layered ring, with a bordering rock and a massive water dam. I could recall Tusk saying it was a very aesthetically-pleasing map; nearly a viable excuse for our poor performance.
We split into fire-teams for this game. Teams of two or three engaged each other very often, with teammates from both sides helping out with long-distance DMR suppressive fire. For an open map, gameplay primarily focused on the gateways and hallways, leading to grenade spam and flying bodies galore (Insert "It's Raining Men" here. "Can't be done Black, but I appreciate the sentiment." -Sarge ). When the bodies settled, the GoOligans came out on top once again, with six points lauded over our heads.
Final Score
The GoOligans - 50
The Epic Tusk Experience - 44
http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/GameStats.aspx?gameid=494737656&player=Black%20Theorem
Game 3
Team Slayer on Powerhouse
With the chance of victory now gone, we had to revise our strategy to at least win one game. The GoOligans have established their place as the victors of our first SNF in a long time, but they will NOT have the last game! ...Or so we thought. Game 3 was Covy Slayer on Powerhouse, chosen by the GoO. They seemed really confident at this point, but I wasn't going to let that affect me.
This match was just for fun, since the GoOligans already defeated us two-nil, but we had to try. Of course, the GoO seemed to have a natural talent with plasma weapons, with four of them combined for 20 needle rifle kills to account for their victory again. I know, I'm starting to sound like a broken record.
After the match, R0CKET M00SE was quoted as saying he was a "plasma pistol god", and I, but a lowly peon with the same pitiful piece, spent half of the game trying to kill him with it after this happened:
YouTube - SNF Forge Hub vs. Ghosts of Onyx clip
Final Score
The GoOligans - 50
The Epic Tusk Experience - 47
http://www.bungie.net/stats/reach/gamestats.aspx?guid=8369147699468087031
Well we came, we saw, and The Epic Tusk Experience got squashed. The Ghosts of Onyx is quite simply a more formidable foe than we assumed, and we paid for it. To be fair, I did say they play plenty of customs. Don't worry, readers; we'll have more opportunities to pick up our faces and come out on top in future Saturday Night Fights.
Oh, Reflex, I want a cookie for covering you on this, and Devinish, you owe me $200.
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