Final Boss Changes Roster
By Jason | Published: December 6, 2006 5:39pm EST
| Final Boss announced today that they would be making their first team change since the beginning of the 2005 season, letting go support player Saiyan in favor of StrongSide. This move marks only the second team change for the squad since they formed in the middle of the 2004 MLG season during the era of Halo: CE. “StrongSide’s a really dedicated player,” Walshy explained this week. “I think that drive will help us keep our game up, whereas we slipped a little bit this past season.” Final Boss had dominated most of the past two seasons on the MLG Pro Circuit, losing only a single tournament (MLG Philly, 2005) until the end of this season when they fell to Carbon three times in a row and lost the National Championship title for the first time since the creation of MLG. Ogre 2 mirrored his captain’s praise of their new player as well, “We chose StrongSide because he is a very skilled player and has an incredible drive to play and improve.” There have been criticisms in the past of StrongSide’s mental game, notably from his former team, Carbon, who dropped him in favor of Ghostayame before winning the final three tournaments of the year. Final Boss however, dismissed all those criticisms. Ogre 2 said that with StrongSide, “Final Boss will improve in every gametype. He has played as our fourth in the past when Saiyan couldn’t get on and he’s been to our house several times. We’ve played next to him and he listens very well and adapts. He’s already great, but he could be amazing with a little bit of help.” “After StrongSide got kicked off of Carbon he’s been practicing his 4v4s non-stop,” Walshy said looking forward to the 2007 season. “Over the next few months he’ll be spending time with the twins and myself to help improve his game even more. He’s going to be an absolute beast by the season opener.” When asked directly about whether the acquisition of StrongSide will allow Final Boss to retake the championship from Carbon in ’07, Walshy had only this to say: “We’ve already played a few games with him and he seems to fit into our lineup really well, so I don’t think it’ll take long to adjust. Things are looking very good for this lineup.” Final Boss recently signed an agreement with NBA star Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards to be the team’s sponsor. Walshy described talking to Gilbert about the team change and said in the end the decision was left in the hands of the team. “As an NBA player he knows that team changes happen all the time. He said that if this was what we were feeling was necessary then we had to follow our instincts no matter how difficult it was.” So with the team sponsor leaving the power to make the decision with the team, Final Boss contacted both Saiyan and StrongSide and made the change official. StrongSide’s former teammates on Legendz appeared to be unsurprised by the move. Explaining their certainty of StrongSide’s departure Vash said, “When it comes down to it, we’ve known he was leaving for a while now. We used to joke about him going to Final Boss all the time. Mike goes to their house and plays with them more than he plays with us. It was obvious.” Not only were they unsurprised, the members of Legendz seemed unconcerned with the team change. Defy, in particular, said the change might be good for Legendz. “Mike didn’t really fit with our team,” he stated. “We had the same problems with him that Carbon had. He’s a great guy, though, and if he fits with Final Boss’ style of play then I could see this benefiting both teams.” Of course this also leaves questions about other roster changes in the league, particularly for Legendz. After finishing fourth at the National Championships in Las Vegas, Legendz will be shopping for the most powerful free agent to fill StrongSide’s place. Mack suggested that Legit from Storm Ventures and Saiyan are at the top of the Legendz wish list, but added, “All that depends on whether any other teams make a change… If that happens it brings other players into the equation for us.” Just a few weeks after the end of the 2006 season, major changes seem to be taking place in the league. Final Boss made their big move by picking up StrongSide early, giving them as much time as possible to improve their teamwork before the ’07 season opener. Other top teams will be looking to secure their rosters as well, so keep your eyes on mlgpro.com for the latest in pro team news.
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