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With over $275,000 on the line, every team wanted a piece of that pie. The team that would prove the hungriest were the winners of our 2009 National Championship, Believe The Hype. Just like they opened the season back in April, BTH ended the season in an even more surprising fashion. Starting off with the 7th seed and finishing in 1st place is no easy feat.
To start off their incredible run they would play Final Boss in WBR1 where they took the series in five games. Next on their plate was Instinct. Once again, the series went to five games and BTH had come out on top. The turning point in Game 5, which was Pit TS, was when Cloud was jumping up and down on the BTH tower with their Sniper and yelled to Instinct, "Someone contest me!" His quote could be the theme of the weekend for BTH as they went on to win it and send Instinct to the Losers Bracket. Cloud also lead his team in kills every game but one and amassed 104 kills over the series.
WBR3 had finally arrived and many were eager to see if Believe The Hype could carry their momentum and drive it past the defending National Champs: Str8 Rippin. Before the match, MLG had a chance to catch up with Cloud and asked him how he felt about his next match against Str8. He simply replied, "We're going to win and I'm not even sure what gametypes we're playing."
Like Cloud said, BTH did just that. They now found themselves in the Winners Bracket Finals against Classic. Wait, wait, wait...Classic? What happened to Status Quo, Carbon and the obvious: Triggers Down?
Classic's run in Orlando started off in WBR1 against Status Quo where they defeated them in a quick three game sweep. Using this momentum, they next met up with Carbon and steamrolled them just like they did SQ in another three game sweep. Their next opponent would be none other than Triggers Down, who were of course heavily favored to win the match. In a grueling and very dramatic five game series, Classic managed to pull out the win and earn their spot in the Winners Bracket Finals against Believe the Hype.
Believe The Hype took the Winners Bracket Finals 3-1 and in doing so, secured themselves a seat in the Finals and at least $60,000 in their pocket. Classic would now wait to see who they would play in the Losers Bracket Finals. Carbon charged right through Str8 Rippin while Instinct took down Triggers Down. The defending National Champions and the team who was trying for a three-peat Championship win were both out of the biggest tournament of the year, settling for a consolation match against one another to determine fifth place. Carbon and Instinct then both met up in the Losers Semi-Finals, where Carbon took down Instinct and now were face to face with Classic. Because Classic had already defeated Carbon in the Winners Bracket 3-0, their series in the Losers Bracket was extended to a best-of-11 match, with Classic retaining their 3-0 lead. This challenge would prove too much for Carbon as they were toppled by Classic in the series 6-2.
The seventh seeded team versus the fifth seeded team would now play for $100,000 and the title of the 2009 MLG Pro Circuit National Champions. Neither of these teams had ever won any sort of Championship before, and only one player of the eight had ever won a National Championship (Ghostayame, 2006 with Carbon).
Believe the Hype was already leading Classic in the eleven game series, three games to one, after their win in the WB Finals. With the help of Demon D's impressive performance, which also included a ridiculous 22-6 showing in Game 7 of Construct TS, BTH took the series and the National Championship 6-2.
Following in last year's fashion, Carbon ended up placing third. However, this year's placing didn't seem as surprising as last year since this year they were actually placing in the Top 4 for the majority of the season. This year also marked the first year in MLG history that Walshy was not in a National Championship Finals. His run is certainly impressive and it will be interesting to see if anyone can surpass him someday.
Coming in at the 4th spot was Instinct. Many people were very curious to see how this team would place after their 7th place folly at the Anaheim competition in November. Many said Neighbor would be the X-Factor of this team's success come Nationals. He was also quoted in saying that he was playing better due to his new switch to Default controller settings. Whatever it was, the team definitely improved. Let us not forget that they were the ones who knocked Triggers Down out of the tournament, which is an impressive feat in itself.
Triggers Down placed 5th which marked their lowest placing since last year. Many will argue that their mental game was thrown off ever since Hysteria's Xbox malfunctioned in WBR3. Other's will retort that TD should have been able to beat Classic in the replayed game and then the deciding Game 5. Whatever the case may be, the Nationals left a bitter taste in their mouth and TD will be gunning harder than ever come the 2010 opener.
Another disappointing finish was of none other than the defending National Champs: Str8 Rippin. Coming in at 6th, many fans are still baffled at how this happened. After being shocked by BTH, the team could not rebound and were quickly taken out by Carbon. Str8 Rippin's 2009 Season had a glimmer of hope in Columbus, but they never really found true success like they had last year. Many wonder what the team will do to get back on top in 2010.
Dynasty arrived at the number 7 spot. Coming off their 4th place finish in Anaheim, no one knew how they would fair in Orlando. While they did not improve or repeat their placing in November, it is still impressive that this new team proved that they weren't just a one hit wonder and could hold their spot in the Top 8.
Last, but certainly not least, Final Boss came in 8th. To think that this team (although containing two different players) won a National Championship just two years ago and now were on the brink of falling out of the Top 8 is saddening. In their defense, the team had only about a week of practice when they found out Soviet would not be able to attend the Nationals and had to pick up Sypher. OGRE 2 is still one of the most revered players in MLG History, and if there is any player who could turn a team around it is him. Will FB ever be able rebound and get back on top and take another National Championship? Only time will tell.
Looking ahead, the question on everyone's minds is of course what is going to happen over the off-season. The rumor mill has certainly already started and many team change ideas are being thrown around. We will just have to sit tight and wait to see what happens in the coming months.
When someone looks back on Orlando, you're likely to hear them describe it in one word: "Upset." Though this is true, Orlando also proved that no team is ever safe. Believe the Hype and Classic are prime examples of this theory. New teams and talents are out there and now with the Doritos Skills Combine, they will rise through the ranks even quicker. The 2010 MLG Pro Circuit is already setting itself up to be a very exciting year.
Källa: mlgpro.com