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| Meadowlands | San Diego | Orlando | Toronto | Dallas | Las Vegas Championships |
| MLG Las Vegas Championships 2008 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tournament Information | |
| Organizer | MLG |
| Format | 4v4 |
| Prize Pool | $280,000 |
| Location & Dates | |
| Type | Offline |
| Start Date | 2008-11-21 |
| End Date | 2008-11-23 |
| Broadcast | |
| Schedule | Spoiler-Free Schedule Calendar Export |
| Results | |
| Winner |  Str8 Rippin |
| Second |  Instinct |
| Third |  Carbon |
| Fourth |  Final Boss |
The MLG Las Vegas Championships 2008 were the sixth and final event of the 2008 MLG season, taking place at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada from November 21-23, 2008. Halo 3 was played in a 4v4 tournament, alongside Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 and Gears of War. For information on the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare tournament at MLG Las Vegas 2008, visit its CoD Esports Wiki page.
Overview
Going into the National Championships, all eight teams had something to prove. Str8 Rippin had been dethroned twice in the season by Triggers Down. Could they reclaim their crown when it mattered most? Triggers Down had proven that they could win an event without Snipedown on their team. Could they translate their recent success into a National Championship? Final Boss started the season off strong, but fell off as time went on. With the recent acquisition of Neighbor, they looked stronger. Would the Ogre twins be able to rekindle their past success and win their fourth National Championship? Instinct was competing with everybody, but had yet to win an event in 2008. Could Walshy lead them to a victory on the grandest stage? Classic, like Final Boss, started the season off strong, but fell off as time went on. After retooling the team with the former Instinct duo of Mackeo and Victory X, Classic's performance was noticeably stronger. Could they pull off an upset National Championship as the dark horse team? Carbon, having replaced half of its formerly unstoppable roster, was looking to perform on the biggest stage after a series of disappointing placings in 2008. In 2007, the struggling Carbon had managed to take 2nd place when everyone thought it was all between Final Boss and Str8 Rippin. Would Shockwave and GH057ayame be able to lead a similar charge and win their second National Championship? Ambush, a team composed of young stars with bright futures, was coming off a big event in Dallas and looking to build on it. Could they shock the world as the ultimate underdogs? Legendz, the team that qualified at the last minute, was a team of seasoned veterans looking to make a big splash in Vegas, but they had a hell of a bracket in front of them as the lowest seed.
When the event kicked off, Str8 Rippin repeated their showing against Legendz in Dallas, sweeping them out of the Winners' Bracket. Instinct took revenge against Classic for upsetting them in Dallas, sweeping them 3-0. Final Boss rolled over Ambush in a 3-0 sweep. In a shocker, Carbon took out Dallas Champions Triggers Down 3-2 in the opening round, giving TD a long road to the finals if they wanted to repeat. In the second round, Str8 Rippin won a close series over Instinct, while Carbon continued to upset, taking a 3-1 victory over Final Boss and advancing to their first Winners' Finals since 2007. With this, they had already guaranteed their highest placing of the season.
In Losers', Classic took a close series over Legendz, sending them home with a top 8 finish. Triggers Down, not done yet, plowed through Ambush with a 3-0 thrashing. Final Boss ended Classic's season with a 3-1 loss, while Instinct pulled off the upset over Triggers Down, sending the Dallas Champions home with a top 6 finish. Instinct continued to upset in the next round, ousting Final Boss 3-1 to guarantee a top 3 finish. In the Winners' Finals, Str8 were unexpectedly challenged by Carbon. Though they managed to take it to 5 games, Carbon would lose Game 5 by a large margin as the juggernaut Str8 Rippin squad moved into the Finals, awaiting the winner of Instinct vs. Carbon. Instinct had an easier time with Carbon, taking the series 3-1. Carbon would go home in 3rd, their best placing since the 2007 National Championships. In the finals, Instinct did everything they could, but were only able to take 3 games from Str8, who looked dominant en route to capturing their first National Championship.
Format
- 8 Teams invited based on performance over the 2008 season
- Double-Elimination, best of 5 series
- Extended Series rule: best of 11 series starting 3-0, 3-1 or 3-2 based on result of previous meeting
- Consolation matches take place for 5th, 7th place
- Double-Elimination, best of 5 series
Stride Championship Series
Triggers Down member Hysteria was named the 2008 Stride Championhip Series winner, winning $2,500 and a year's supply of Stride Gum.
All Star Classic
The 2008 All Star Classic featured fan-favorite players from the west and east coasts battling it out for bragging rights. The entire rosters of 1st and 3rd seeded teams Str8 Rippin and Final Boss were involved in the match. The East team was coached by Joseph "xXx" Festinger and the West team was coached by Jason "Mazsik" Vaughn.
West Coast
| ID | Name | Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FearItSelf | Justin Kats |  Triggers Down
| ||
| KGB Soviet | Dmitriy Gulyan | Instinct
| ||
| Karma | Ben Jackson | Triggers Down
| ||
| Walshy | Dave Walsh | Instinct
| ||
| Hysteria | Jacob Reiser | Triggers Down
| ||
| Neighbor | Mason Cobb | Final Boss
| ||
| Roy | Justin Brown | Instinct
| ||
| Snip3down | Eric Wrona | Str8 Rippin
|
East Coast
| ID | Name | Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gandhi | Scott Lussier |  LeGendZ
| ||
| OGRE1 | Dan Ryan | Final Boss
| ||
| iGotUrPistola | Justin Deese |  Ambush
| ||
| StrongSide | Michael Cavanaugh | Final Boss
| ||
| OGRE2 | Tom Ryan | Final Boss
| ||
| Legit | Bryan Rizzo | Str8 Rippin
| ||
| ElamiteWarrior | Kyle Elam | Str8 Rippin
| ||
| Tsquared | Tom Taylor | Str8 Rippin
|
The east coast won the All Star Classic 11-8.
Results
A total of $280,000 USD in prize money was awarded.
| Place | Prize (USD) | Seed | Team | Roster |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 1st |
$100,000 | 1 |  Str8 Rippin |
Tsquared • Legit • elamitewarrior • Snipedown • Ace |
 2nd |
$60,000 | 4 |  Instinct |
Walshy • Lunchbox • Roy • KGB Soviet • xXx |
 3rd |
$40,000 | 7 |  Carbon |
ShocKWav3 • GH057ayame • Cpt Anarchy • Naded |
| 4th | $28,000 | 3 |  Final Boss |
OGRE1 • StrongSide • OGRE2 • Neighbor |
| 5th | $20,000 | 2 |  Triggers Down |
SK • FearItSelf • Hysteria • Karma |
| 6th | $14,000 | 5 |  Classic |
Soldi3r187 • AnT • Victory X • Mackeo |
| 7th | $10,000 | 6 |  Ambush |
NtG NeXuS • iGotUrPisto1a • Heinz Almighty • -Cloud- |
| 8th | $8,000 | 8 |  Legendz |
Gandhi • Defy • [AsK]LeGeNd • BesT MaN |
Bracket
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Grand Final | |||||||||||||||
| Winner's bracket | |||||||||||||||||||
| Str8 Rippin
|
3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| LeGendZ
|
0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Str8 Rippin
|
3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Instinct
|
2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Instinct
|
3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Classic
|
0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Str8 Rippin
|
3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Carbon
|
2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Final Boss
|
3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ambush
|
0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Final Boss
|
1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Carbon
|
3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Triggers Down
|
2 | Str8 Rippin
|
6 | ||||||||||||||||
| Carbon
|
3 | Instinct
|
3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Loser's bracket | |||||||||||||||||||
| Final Boss
|
3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Classic
|
3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Classic
|
1 | Carbon
|
1 | ||||||||||||||||
| LeGendZ
|
2 | Final Boss
|
1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Instinct
|
3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Instinct
|
3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Triggers Down
|
2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Triggers Down
|
3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Instinct
|
3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ambush
|
0 | ||||||||||||||||||
- 4v4 Championship Bracket - mlgpro.com via archive.org
Trivia
VoD
- MLG Pro Circuit - Episode 6
- Playlist of Event VoD
- Pregame Show
- All Star Classic
- WB Round 2 - Str8 Rippin vs. Instinct
- Legit Interview
- WB Round 2 - Final Boss vs. Carbon
- LB Round 3 - Final Boss vs. Instinct
- Walshy and Lunchbox Interview
- WB Finals - Str8 Rippin vs. Carbon
- Shockwave Interview
- LB Finals - Instinct vs. Carbon
- Grand Finals - Str8 Rippin vs. Instinct
Media
Articles
- 2008 All Star Classic Details - majorleaguegaming.com
- Behind the Match-Up: Instinct vs. Classic - majorleaguegaming.com
- Behind the Match-Up: Final Boss vs. Ambush - majorleaguegaming.com
- Behind the Matchup: Triggers Down vs. Carbon - majorleaguegaming.com
- Behind the Match-Up: Str8 Rippin vs. Legendz - majorleaguegaming.com
- Obii Gives His Predictions for Vegas - majorleaguegaming.com
- 2008 National Championships Halo 3 Preview - majorleaguegaming.com
- Dr Pepper Unveils MLG Themed Bottle — 175,000,000 to be Sold Nationwide! - majorleaguegaming.com
- Intheclutch and Wooooly Give Their Vegas H3 Predictions - majorleaguegaming.com
- Hysteria Wins Stride Championship Series Player of the Year - majorleaguegaming.com
- All-Star Classic: Halo 3 Rounds 1 and 2 Wrap-Up - majorleaguegaming.com
- All-Star Classic: Halo 3 Rounds 2 and 3 Wrap-Up - majorleaguegaming.com
- Snipedown Wins the Old Spice Rising Star Award! - majorleaguegaming.com
- All-Star Classic Game-by-Game Final Results - majorleaguegaming.com
- All-Star Classic: Halo 3 Rounds 5, 6 and 7 Wrap-Up - majorleaguegaming.com
- 2008 All-Star Classic Wrap Up - majorleaguegaming.com
- Halo 3 WB R1 Str8 Rippin vs. Legendz Game By Game - majorleaguegaming.com
- Halo 3 WB R1 Instinct vs. Classic Game by Game - majorleaguegaming.com
- Halo 3 WB R1 Final Boss vs. Ambush Game by Game - majorleaguegaming.com
- Halo 3 WB R1 Triggers Down vs. Carbon Game by Game – UPSET! - majorleaguegaming.com
- Halo 3 LB R1 Classic vs. Legendz Game by Game - majorleaguegaming.com
- Halo 3 LB R1 Triggers Down vs. Ambush Game by Game - majorleaguegaming.com
- Halo 3 WB R2 Str8 Rippin vs. Instinct Game by Game – 5 Game Nail-biter! - majorleaguegaming.com
- Halo 3 WB R2 Carbon Upsets Final Boss 3 – 1! - majorleaguegaming.com
- Halo 3 LB R2 – Instinct Upsets Triggers Down! - majorleaguegaming.com
- Halo 3 LB R2 – Final Boss Eliminates Classic - majorleaguegaming.com
- Instinct Eliminates Final Boss 3 -1! - majorleaguegaming.com
- Halo 3 Winners Finals – Str8 Rippin Edges out Carbon 3-2! - majorleaguegaming.com
- Instinct Advances to National Championship Match - majorleaguegaming.com
- 2008 MLG Las Vegas Hall of Champions - majorleaguegaming.com
- Str8 Rippin Wins the 2008 MLG National Championship! - majorleaguegaming.com
- Halo 3 National Championship Recap - majorleaguegaming.com
- MLG Halo 3 2008 Pros’ Choice Awards - majorleaguegaming.com
Interviews
- Timeout With Gandhi - majorleaguegaming.com
- Timeout With Heinz - majorleaguegaming.com
- Timeout With StrongSide - majorleaguegaming.com
- Timeout With Walshy - majorleaguegaming.com
- Timeout With Tsquared - majorleaguegaming.com
- Post-Str8 Rippin vs. Instinct - Legit Interview - youtube.com
- Post-Instinct vs. Final Boss - Walshy and Lunchbox Interview - youtube.com
- Post-Carbon vs. Str8 Rippin - Shockwave Interview - youtube.com
- Timeout With ElamiteWarrior - majorleaguegaming.com
- Meet the Champs: MLG Interviews Str8 Rippin - majorleaguegaming.com
- Timeout With Shockwave - majorleaguegaming.com
- 2008 Pro Circuit Memories: FearItSelf & Heinz - majorleaguegaming.com
External Links
- MLG Vegas Halo 3 Results - majorleaguegaming.com
- Vegas Teams, Seeds and Predictions - gamebattles.majorleaguegaming.com
- 2008 Major League Gaming Pro Circuit Las Vegas (Halo 3) - esportsearnings.com