If the UA Tournament proves anything it's that the TWL Staff doesn't know what they're talking about. This tournament has been full of surprises, despite the outcome of the finals, and has been a pretty good ride for the underdog teams. Before we get to finals coverage, the division runner-ups deserve mention for their performance.
Masterful and Determined, aka. ")v(ad" pulled not just one of, but the top two major upsets this tournament by beating GR.^7o5 and -=QRF=-. No one saw this coming, and it required another darkhorse team to end their seemingly unstoppable rampage. Going Live (formerly Imminent Threat) was responsible for the first of a string of major upsets this tournament starting when they defeated Red Dawn. They continued by beating both {1stSOG} and Team-RtL. It took the juggernaut we know as -[cX]- to put an end to their amazing streak.
The Beast
Hopeful
JinxedTaj
Team Synergy was expected to get knocked out in the second or third round. Not that anyone thought they would get stomped; most figured that they would provide a good close match for Slow Reaction and that it could go either way. At the same time, assuming TS made it past Slow Reaction, well...they were going up against Fight Club. Then to cap off their amazing winning streak, they beat )v(ad. Normally, TS beaing )v(ad wouldn't be a major deal as they are both competent teams; but )v(ad was fresh off of two winning matches with GR.^7o5 and -=QRF=-. The top bracket had somehow become the war of the darkhorses. Both teams had come off of surprising upsets with solid teamwork and competent tactics, and some well deserved ego stroking. Team Synergy's momentum was enough to carry them through the finals[GatoR]
dansik
The_Abysswarpa1n
There is nothing new to be said about -[cx]-. They have dominated the ladders for months. They have had records of 40+ and 0. They won the last Summer Series Tournament. The word "defeat" is simply not in this team's vocabulary. Everyone agreed that this team had a good shot at winning the tournament, and most would bet money on this team to go all the way. The entire bottom half of the second division was pretty cut and dry as far as this team was concerned. Of the two divisions, the bottom half of the 2nd division was the hardest. -[cx]-, as usual, thrives in this environment and made their way to the finals.Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4 Round 6-[cX]- was stopgap the first half of the match. They would aggressively push to a certain point halfway up the map, and then stop and set up kill points for Synergy. All five of -[cX]-'s winning rounds in the first half played out the exact same which not only resulted in an almost insurmountable lead, but three rounds where they would only give up one death to Synergy and one round with no deaths. In rounds 2 and 3 The Bear was the only one to kill a -[cX]- (via nade both times) and in round 4 Hopeful was able to shoot Dansik. Rounds 1 was a shutout for -[cx]- making round 6 the only close one in the half. Round 2 was the round of the match--despite Bear being able to score a nade kill, this round was all about Abyss. He single handedly killed all four members of Synergy within a 40 second time frame.
Round 5
This is not to say that there was no hope in the first half. In Round 5 half of Synergy aggressively rushed the center on the west while the other half did a hard push all the way up the east alley killing three of the -[cX]- members in the first 25 seconds of the round. This move put them in position to trap gator in a 4 way crossfire that resulted in the only winning round for Synergy. As the first half finished it was 5-1 -[cX]- over Synergy. For Synergy to win the tournament they would have to win almost every round in the second half.
Round 7
Round 9
-[cX]- wins rounds 7 and 9 ending the tournament 7 to 2. Both round's were standard fare with each team moving slow and trading blows. In both rounds -[cX]-'s superior CQC skills were highlighted as all kills/deaths were the result of close ranged gunfights instead of grenades. -[cX]- suffered no more than two deaths per round while Synergy's newly built momentum stalled.
Round 8
Round 8 was Synergy's rallying round. At 1-6 there was no more room for error and the team threw the match into high gear. Despite both teams playing it close to the belt, Synergy was able to put each member of -[cX]- in a crossfire eliminating all 4 of them without losing a teammate making Round 8 Synergy's only shutout. This round showed Synergy to be capable of building the momentum to pull a comeback.
In the end, Team Synergy got stomped. Hard. They had showed themselves to be a powerful team in the tournament with good teamwork and complimentary movement, but the raw skill of -[cX]- put an end to their momentum and string of upset victories. Even at a 2-7 loss, Team Synergy was able to rally togther for a couple of rounds and put -[cX]- away hard. However, -[cX]- was, as always, -[cX]-. When observed they look almost like a bunch of very skilled Rambo's that happen to be at the right place at the right time to help a teammate. The surface unpredictability and lack of apparent order to their movements belies a team that is so in sync despite their individual skill that they, like a river, exorably cut their way through any obstacle. They've proved it before and they just proved it again taking both the WC and UA Summer Map Series championships. Look for both team's performance in the ongoing Summer Map Series Surpise tourney.