Welcome back Gears! It’s been awhile with the holidays and now getting situated for what will be another great year of Gears Esports action. Over the weekend, we had a lot of different things that were happening in the scene and some of it is rather crazy to keep up with, while other parts are easier to pinpoint. So let’s start with the topic of Saturday’s NA Pro League Qualifier!

NA Pro League Qualifier Week 1

With North America having two different divisions in the Pro League, the tournament to finalize the two pro spots going into the Winter Quarter takes place over two weeks of play. This Saturday, twelve teams participated in what was entertaining matches that was played in a Swiss Bracket Pool to finalize the final six teams that would advance to next week’s double elimination tournament for advancement to the Pro League.

At the end of qualifiers, the final six teams that will advance to next week’s tournament is Oxygen Supremacy, Glory, Vision, Goated, Quantum Gaming, and Money May. Although a lot of these teams deserve their spots and I can’t wait to watch them play next week (since my former team lost out), a dark cloud will gather over PGL yet again for a huge issue that I believe needs to be noted or at least addressed.

Out of the twelve teams that played, one team never showed up to a single game. That team was Goonigans, who is a roster filled with lesser known amateur players that made the tournament from accumulating enough points throughout the fall quarter. Biggest issue was since there wasn’t a check in system, they were still put into the tournament and had games against Encrypted, #FreeBurger, Parallax (a team from my understand that stopped playing after their second game) and Oxygen Supremacy. So here’s the issue.

Money May who got the last spot over #FreeBurger had the same amount of games won overall as their opposition (2). It then goes to head to head tiebreaker, but neither of these teams went against one another. So it then goes to the third option, which is maps won. This is where it gets dicey because Money May won a total of five maps won. #FreeBurger on the other hand, could be said to won only three maps because of never playing against Goonigans who never showed up at the tournament. Let’s play Devil’s Advocate though. Let’s say that the forfeit allowed #FreeBurger to get the two map wins they would have got from Goonigans. Now we are back at a 5-5 deadlock for map wins. So now it comes down to rounds.

Rounds being the last tiebreaker is a statistic that in no way, shape, or form is easy for PGL to grab unless teams submit map proof. So let’s just say for the sake of argument, we try our best to find round wins between these two teams. How does one calculate rounds that #FreeBurger won against a team that forfeit? Do they get a free ten rounds win or do they get axed those rounds? It comes back down to the question of, how does PGL calculate the map and round wins since Goonigans didn’t show up at all? If we were speaking truth here though, Goonigans had a roster that wouldn’t have got a round off any team in the tournament most likely.

So now back to Money May. They do well through their first two games, but their third game is against a team that literally broke up and called it quits in the middle of the tournament because they were already on the verge of that before this tournament went off (Parallax Gaming). So did Money May just get a free 10 rounds of winning, along with 2 maps to that count for free? Or was there an actual match that happened (I honestly don’t know because I was playing my games for the tournament)? Overall, this one minor flaw for this tournament has now left a lot of questions that need answered.

Before we move on to the weekly tournament section, I’m going to predict that Oxygen Supremacy and Vision nab the last two spots for the Pro League.

NA Winter Quarter Week 1

Uncertainty is the word of the day. Why you ask? Simple. This tournament is a dud (from the way I’m reading the rules in the Esports handbook). According to Ru;e 7.2.7 Challenger Point Reset, the North American Challenger Point Standings will reset on the last day of Pro League Qualification. Since next Saturday is the last day of Pro League Qualification, that means that none of the points earn from this week should carry over to the overall standings that start next Sunday. Meaning, that this past tournament is likely only for seeding or even worse, just a warm up to the next 6-7 weeks of tournaments. Currently, I’m waiting for response on this matter from PGL Administrators, but going off how last quarter went, this above explanation is likely true.

With that being said though, most of the teams that were in the Pro League Qualifier also participated in this tournament, leading us all further to believe that Oxygen Supremacy will make the pro league next week, as they also were the champions of this Sunday’s tournament. They beat out Goated 2-0 map count and look to stay on fire heading into final qualification this upcoming Saturday. Goated does look like a solid team and are also in the Pro League Qualifier next week, as they might be the dark horse of the tournament that will cause upsets and possibly get that second spot from what I believe is Vision. It is fair to note though, that Goated did beat Vision in the Sunday Tournament with a 2-1 map count. Rebel Gaming and Kings (some of Money May) on the other hand, also did extremely well in the tournament, taking the semi final spots of the tourney. The Top 16 ranks from the first tournament with rosters is below and includes who they lost too!

Results

1. Oxygen Supremacy (Xysho, Gearries, Lanarchy, Abo, Aspire Lurpsy)(Coach: Ruthless) Champions

2. Goated (HBM Perfections, ToXicTacTiX vZ, Birdy, SiahZ, RepTilian vZ)(Coach: LimiTs vZ) Lost to Oxygen Supremacy in Championship

3-4. Rebel Gaming (Krash, Sleepytime, Cellz, Rezik, ChrisBrxve)(Coach: Eskamani) Lost to Oxygen Supremacy in Semi Finals

3-4. Kings (FFragou7, Jarid, StraFey4971, Mental, Tristan Dougherty) Lost to Goated in Semi Finals

5-8 Team X (Sli Tree, oSo Smxy, JdoggTheOne, Namor, xI2ae)(Coach: SR Laxx Manager: xlL E G l O Nlx) Lost to Kings in Quarter Finals

5-8 Vision (Raidhn, Azuries, Homicide, Pulse, Suhduceful)(Coach: Great) Lost to Goated in Quarter Finals

5-8 IDK (Murhz, Slaughtems, REPSOLID, Ends, Flash Movez)  Lost to Oxygen Supremacy in Quarter Finals

5-8 Rip CancerRz (Crazel, Unreal Might, Cee Tips, K1ahnu, Gee Sticks)(Coach: Vo1kz) Lost to Rebel Gaming in Quarter Finals

9-16 #FreeBurger (Hudsonz, Eternity, Z Crushmo, Zenun, Speedy) Lost to Kings in Top 16

9-16 Grinders (Br Kenz, eden montes, Distract, Trillys, Kalamity) Lost to Team X in Top 16

9-16 NmE Esports (FYC Zuzu, FundZx, Jason, ChadHandlez, TraMa Said No) Lost to Vision in Top 16

9-16 Guh Bade (Vesi, hndles, Yachtyy, TwiSsta, AhToMiC) Lost to Goated in Top 16 

9-16 Papis (Chulo CA, 1704s, reborn, Wobb7726, Peaquat) Lost to Oxygen Supremacy in Top 16

9-16 Fire (Jahaad Morrison, Inflowes, Bokura, nipcy, HeardBuckle2390)(Coach: Kaio) Lost to IDK in Top 16

9-16 Bad Habits (BuR5tt, Exceedingz, niko TMC, DrollestPurse77, Ddevilz) (Coach: Supeingo) Lost to Rip CancerRz in Top 16

9-16 Inevitable (Avoid Hearts, Cusholicious, Perrycite, Generatixns, Chrisoligy) (Coach: Trioxy) Lost to Rebel Gaming in Top 16

Now that we got the Top 16 out of the way, we can make a few cliff notes from all the action we caught from the weekend. So here we go:

Cliff Notes

Public Enemys (Quantam Gaming) placed Top 32 after losing to #FreeBurger.
Two teams this week named “New Goons“. Both lost and placed Top 32 losing to Kings and Grinders.
Team Rock could of had a deep run into the bracket, but ran into Vision early on and placed Top 32.
TempZ Gaming who has a strong looking roster got taken out by BBB and was one of the only teams to finish outside Top 32 (38 total teams).
We Are Farmers is a mix of Hog Whippers, Parallax Gaming, and maybe another team. Yet, they lost right away to Guh Bade.
Jackson 5 has a lot of an old eUnited roster (Demo, Kyle, Clouts, Godplays), but they were knocked out by champions Oxygen Supremacy early in the bracket.
Technique came out cold and lost early. Threes and Sevens (Encrypted Gaming) lost early as well, with two substitutes in the game.
Rebel Gaming started outside the Top 32 Round and made it to Semi Finals before losing.

Goonigans and Parallax Gaming did no shows or stopped playing in the qualifier tournament. With both teams disbanding from another. Encrypted Gaming had a player leave at the end of the weekend and now all eyes are on what moves they will make. Quantam Gaming is in next week’s qualifier after weeks of saying they had internal problems and wouldn’t play, but luckily they did and showed up as we were hoping to see.

Ashcast Online

I’m proud to announce that I will be a special guest on a podcast by one of the best coaches in the Esports Scene, Ashes on January 14, 2019. We will be recording the episode at 9:00 PM EST. Truth is, I’m not sure if it will be live or pre recorded, but I look forward to the opportunity to answer some questions about the scene. It’ll be an organic conversation and one that I believe will go between talking about the good and bad of the scene from my perspective. I’m excited for the opportunity and look forward to having conversations about the Esports and Franchise that I’ve held dear to my heart over the last decade, like a lot of other players that I’ve come to grown along with and know. So stick around for details on if it will be live or when it is published.

#CaseClosed

At the end of the crazy weekend, we got a sense for what is to come. New rosters on the come up, many rosters splitting and finding new teams to form a bond and skill with, as well as a few old favorites still trying to make the pro league for the Winter Quarter.

Meanwhile, for the first time in almost a year, I myself as a player am in limbo. I made the hard decision as of yesterday to leave the team I went to San Diego with and the players that will always remind me of one of the bright spots for a Gears LAN event I had in years. I haven’t had much success as a player in regards to the new trilogy, but it was an exciting and amazing feeling being able to grow up talent and watch them succeed around me. I’m currently trying out a new roster that combines the players on our old squad that put in all the work and effort to be a true teammate and trying to bring on a few additional players to fill the void left behind.

The truth for me and advice I can give to you all is this. Find five people that you bond with as friends, brothers, and sisters. Stick together by playing games with each other, communicate regularly like you are family. hold one another accountable, and by all means, take the time to grow your skill and craft.

Watch VOD and discuss where things went wrong and how you can fix them, use scrims to practice new techniques and learn more in depth about each level and how you can exercise your strategies on it, go into private lobbies and run drills on where you need to improve, come prepared to learn, take criticism, and grow. Be coachable, punctual, and ready to roll when you sit down and play with your team for the night.

If at any point these things are questioned from a player on your team, talk to them and figure out if it is something within the game or something with their mentality. Give them the options and answers to fix these issues so they can grow with you and the team again. If the player doesn’t reciprocate this information, doesn’t appreciate how you are trying to grow them into a better overall player and individual, as well as a team player. or they refuse to learn from their mistakes, you might have to make a decision that I’m not fond of doing, but sometimes has to be done.

For the first time in what feels like years, I had to make that decision myself to back up because I didn’t feel things were right with parts of the roster. Everyone on my roster has skill, moments of excellence, and could be amazing players and I still believe that as I write this. However, you can lead a horse to water and if it doesn’t take in the resources you give it, it could potentially die. That’s where this chapter of my Gears history ends, with me feeling multiple times I gave the resources on how we could function better, but had multiple players not taking the practice, scrims, or time seriously since we got back from San Diego. It was time for me to make a decision that would give the roster a chance to look at themselves and see what they wanted next, but allowed me to not stay in a situation that disappointed and depressed me because what we could have had, was lost within a month or more of preparation issues, tardiness, excuses, and a very few times, lies.

So that’s my story, as I take a breath to figure out how I’m going to try and come back stronger not only for myself, not only for my teammates that will join me on the next adventure, but for the community. You truly all are amazing, I love you all as players, competitors, fans, casters, coaches, and everyone involved. Through it all, I feel thick as thieves with all of you even when we agree or disagree with one another. It is truly and honor that I still get to be part of something this special after a decade and still feel I have an impact for the community that brings a positive light and information. Until next time….

#GETJIPPED!