This season of the MLG Pro Circuit has definitely lifted a number of new teams in a variety of newer games, as we are now at the conclusion of the season. From Gears of War and Shadowrun, we have seen some of the best gamers in the world take over the circuit and rank among the best of Halo 2 and Rainbow Six Vegas as well. Now that we come down to the last stop and the playoffs of this MLG season, we can look back at the past stops and see what had us on our feet as we traveled around the country to bring you coverage of every stop of this Pro Circuit.

The first stop of this season, North Caroline brought a number of upsets to the world of Major League Gaming as we saw the top teams of Halo 2 and Rainbow Six Vegas fighting each other for the win.

Charlotte, NC (Stop # 1)

Halo 2 - Having only two official games for the event, we had some of the most hardcore gamers show up for Rainbow Six and Halo 2. This season starting off with a bang, we were able to see some amazing gameplay by Final Boss and Carbon as they both set the bar with their amazing battle rifle and sniper skills. Although showing a high amount of skill, Carbon was knocked down into the lower bracket by FBI The Agency well into the championship bracket, causing them to really put up a fight against a number of teams. Ranging from Str8 Rippin to 5k, Carbon surely had a tough time making it through the lower bracket but they pulled it off. Into the finals for the lower bracket, Carbon was able to this time pull off a win against FBI The Agency to make up for their loss earlier in the bracket.

Heading into the championship, we headed into a fresh series between Final Boss and Carbon as they fought for control over every map. Each map going back and forth, we saw a 2-2 tie in maps by the end of four games. Being extremely close, the final map placed the two teams in Beaver Creek for a Team Slayer match up. Being one of Final Boss’s strongest game types, we saw them prevail above Carbon in dominating fashion (50-37) as they walked away from the first MLG Pro Circuit stop with $20,000 and a first place seed and points. A sign of things to come for upcoming stops? Nobody really knew what the future of Final Boss or Carbon would be as the two teams would have a determining match at every stop.

Rainbow Six Vegas - Being the first stop for this game in the 2007 season, we had only seen R6V competition online through a number of MLG hosted tournaments. Never had we seen true competition in the LAN environment, so this stop would make history for the game. Due to being the first stop, we only saw a handful of teams show up in comparison to the Halo 2 competition. Even with the limited number of teams, we saw the best R6V teams in perhaps the world show up and fight for nearly $17,000 in total cash prizes. Number one ranked team X was not able to hold out through the tournament as they quickly were whittled down to seventh place overall, giving them a minimal prize.

As we had gone through the Rainbow Six Vegas tournament in Charlotte, we saw some unlikely teams come out on top and make a name for themselves. Previously ranking 16th overall, team External Existence was able to grab a 3rd place win in Charlotte by topping out some of the best teams as they traveled through the lower bracket. Not being able to take out The Last Resistance, they fell into third behind TLR and XBLB as they brought home a decent sum and title of third. The Last Resistance and XBLB both put on amazing shows as they battled twice to see who would be number one in Rainbow Six Vegas. Through both battles, XBLB would be able to come out on top of TLR as they left Charlotte, NC with first place and $2,000 cash.

We saw a lot of strong play from other teams in the tournament such as great performances by 5k, Str8 Rippin, and Nice Like Rice in Halo 2 as well as decent show from future R6V champions ProFe$$ioNaL $Kill$. Charlotte would end up setting off a series of stops that would end in excitement and amazement.

Next stop, New Jersey.