Council-of-Mages
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Victory from the jaws of defeat
Hate Arenas all you want, but I love it for the fact that you will sometimes see the grandest display of skill and mastery of the game in PvP and when those moments happen... it's magic. How appropriate then, that the most magical moment in quite possibly all professional Arena Tournament history was performed by none other than a Mage. It's a phenomenal comeback tale that ranks right up there with the greatest comebacks in sports -- and not just eSports.Team H O N was down 1-2 against SK-Gaming Asia, better known as the Council of Mages, winners of the Worldwide Invitational in Paris. Both teams from Korea sported the same RMP comps, with some spec changes in between matches to keep everyone guessing. In the fourth match, played in the Ruins of Lordaeron, SK-Gaming showed superb control despite H O N going offensive in the first few minutes... so superb, in fact, that at one point the shoutcasters were already congratulating SK-Gaming. If you've kept abreast of the tiny bits of the ESL Global Finals here at WoW Insider, you'd already know that H O N won the tournament so it should be no spoiler that they escaped from being down 1-2 to tie and eventually win it all.That's not the magical moment, though. You have to see it for yourself. Don't worry, the video might be long (that's just the first part of the match) but the most jawdropping moment happens right before the four minute mark. The movie may well be Moviewatch material if only because it's so unbelievable you're tempted to think it's all machinima. But the coolest thing about it is that it's not, and OrangeMarmalade will be celebrated as one of the greatest PvP Mages of all time.
[UPDATED] WoW Arena Tournament down to top three teams
After three straight heartbreaking losses against American team Selective Queuers, Worldwide Invitational champions Council of Mages bowed out from the tournament today leaving only three teams to battle it out for the prestigious -- and kingly -- prize of $75,000. The Korean team of Hyoga, Snowstorm, and Student, considered by many to be the best RMP in the world, was the last Asian team in the tournament. They were also the last non-WLD (Warrior, Warlock, Druid) team to be eliminated, as the top three -- Europe's Nihilum Plasma, and the United States' Selective Queuers and Fnatic Orz all predominantly ran WLD throughout the competition.Selective Queuers ran a soft counter comp to Council of Mages' RMP by swapping in Rogue for Warrior, but otherwise performed as expected as RMP do not handle WLDs (or RLDs in this case) very well. Although the matches that managed to get streamed were fine examples of professional Arena play, the dominance of WLD teams showed just how strong the comp is in the 3v3 format. Despite brilliant play from Council of Mages, they simply couldn't get over the hump of a well-played WLD team. Props must be given to Glick of Fnatic Orz, back-to-back winners of the MLG series, who played a Retribution Paladin in a double melee comp during one match against Made in Taiwan... and won. Hunters will also be pleased to know that Made in Taiwan skillfully fielded a Hunter against Fnatic Orz, splitting those matches 2-2. The remaining matches of the tournament will be played tomorrow, with the winner of the upper bracket match between Fnatic Orz and Nihilum Plasma heading straight to the Grand Finals. The loser of that matchup will face Selective Queuers in the semi-finals. With any luck, the matches will be streamed without hiccups on Blizzard's BlizzCon tournament coverage and maybe we'll see if Fnatic Orz truly is the best team in the world. [UPDATE: Nihilum Plasma beat Fnatic Orz in the upper bracket finals, sending Nihilum to await the winner of the match between Fnatic Orz and Selective Queuers in the semis. This guarantees a Finals match versus Europe and the United States. Should be exciting to watch.]
BlizzCon 08 tournament brackets revealed
The other day, Blizzard posted the brackets for the upcoming Starcraft, Warcraft III, and World of Warcraft Arena tournaments at BlizzCon.I don't follow every little motion in the WoW Arena community, but there is one team that jumped out at me immediately: Orz. They've won a few tournaments already, and in a way they're the 'face' of the Arena, if that makes any sense. As Zach Yonzon mentioned awhile back in one of his columns, every sport, no matter how big or small, has its stars. Even eSports. Here in the states, Orz is one of those star teams. Rhaegyn, Glick and Hafu are definitely the players to watch in this tournament. It looks like they've picked up a new sponsor since I last saw them in action, so I'd like to extend a belated congratulations to them on that. Of course, this tournament also includes the Korean team Council of Mages, which won the tournament at WWI08. Pretty much every team on the bracket has done some great work in the Arena already, and the tourney should be really exciting no matter who walks away with the win and the grand prize of $25,000 per player.
2nd Qualifying round of the official 3v3 Arena Tournament ends
In the midst of the hubbub over the Worldwide Invitational 3v3 Arena tournament and the MLG PC Circuit tournaments in San Diego and Orlando, the official 3v3 Arena Tournament seems to have fallen by the wayside -- At the least, people don't seem to remember it much. It looks like it's looking to burst back onto the scene in a big way, though, as Blizzard announced the end of the 2nd qualifying round of the tournament today. The next round will see the winning teams from the 1st and 2nd qualifying rounds facing off in live matches in Boston, Madrid, Seoul, and Taipei in the coming months. The list of first round winners has some familiar faces in it already. MLG San Diego winners Frag Dominant will be competing in the Boston event, WWI winner Council of Mages will be competing in Seoul, and WWI runner up Improved Clicks will be headed to Madrid. There's no word yet on which teams won the 2nd round, or when the next round's matches will take place, or whether we'll get live streaming from the events. We'll be sure to let you know all the details right here as soon as they're available though.
Worldwide Invitational 3v3 Arena Tournament replays available
If you missed the WoW PvP action at the Worldwide Invitational, now's your chance to catch up. Selections from the 3v3 Arena Tournament action in Paris, including the final match between Council of Mages and Improved Clicks, are now available for download at the WWI tournament page. If you're interested in improving your PvP game, it's amazing how much watching videos of good players in action can help. You learn a lot about how to use your class, and how other classes operate when you look at them from a 3rd person point of view and watch for patterns. Of course, if you need a bit more help getting a handle on the action, you can also check our coverage of the tournament, as well as Amanda Dean's wrap-up thoughts.
