Blaze Gives His Columbus GoW 2 Predictions
By Lies | Published: June 2, 2009 12:39am EST
As a multi-year veteran of Gears of War on the MLG Pro Circuit, Blaze gave us some insight on how he thinks MLG Columbus will turn out: 
Blaze (far left) draws a crowd of spectators at MLG Orlando 2008.
2. THE NSAN3Z - They will be coming into Columbus with the 3rd seed. With the retirement of Warrior they have picked up former member of The Business, HighDistortion. They definitely have obtained a better player than they had before in Meadowlands. I think it’s good that HighDistortion is a host player and Killa doesn’t have to host anymore. Killa is just one of those players who doesn’t need host and can do more things on the map without worrying about dying and losing that crucial advantage for his team. Predator has also stepped his shotgun game up a lot and he’ll be the main slayer of this team. There first round match up will be a breeze against Fearless, but I think the winner of the MoB Deep vs. vVv Destiny match up will give them some problems. I’m sure it’s nothing they can’t overcome. I think the main weakness on this team is for them to learn to take criticism and not get defensive. The main strengths on this team will be their amazing chemistry and how smart all of them are. You will rarely see them make stupid mistakes. 3. Infinity - Infinity will be coming into Columbus with the 16th seed, thanks to Requiem. But don’t let that seed fool you on how they will place. This team is full on raw skill and that skill alone is just going to help them breeze through their first few match ups. When they get further through the bracket, it’s going to be a lot harder for them. Not having host over the Top 4 teams will cause them a lot of problems, considering they have had host over everyone since Chicago ‘07. The X factor of this team is Atmosphere. The kid is just an insane player and he’s going to be doing big things for them all weekend. The newest addition to this team is Requiem, and this will not disappoint anyone. He will definitely be putting up big numbers. Every player on this team can easily win 1v1’s and pull of clutches. I just think the main weakness for them will be their seed. 4. Retaliation - ReT will be coming into Columbus with the 7th seed. With the addition of Mr. Puff and TSiNC, this team has a very nice line up. Puff is back for his first event of Gears of War 2, and all eyes are going to be on him to see if he lives up to his Gears of War 1 reputation. I honestly think he won’t disappoint. Assuming they win their first round match up, they will go on to play AmazYn. They will have lower seed in that match up but if they’re on fire, I can see them coming out with win. TSiNC is a very intelligent player and since he’s stepped up to that leadership figure of the team - he’s going to help them out a lot. The main weakness I see on this team will be their ability to take loses. If they can take loses and not get down on themselves, they will place Top 4. 5. Legacy - Legacy is coming into Columbus with the 1st seed. I’m pretty sure you’re wondering why I put them this low when they are the 1st seeded team. That’s mainly because they don’t have Terrorr anymore. I feel that the loss of Terrorr will impact there team dramatically. He was the guy that kept them all in line and kept them focused. Perfect is going to have to step up to the plate to fill in Terrorr’s shoes if they want to place high in Columbus. Some of the strengths on this team will be Perfect and Ribs slaying ability’s and their teams drive to win again. The main weaknesses would have to be that there’s no more Hammerburst and the 3rd title update for GoW2. In meadows Ribs and Fritzely’s Hammerbursts were a big part of them winning the event and now that it’s gone. I’m really interested to see how they will perform. Their first round match up will be against Infinity, and with them being such a last minute team, I don’t see them coming out with a win. They do have the 1st seed though, and I see them coming through Losers Bracket and finishing in the Top 6. 6. AmazYn - Amazyn will have the 4th seed in Columbus. They are the only Top 8 team that has the same roster as they did in Meadowlands. So far Amazyn’s placing at Gears of War MLG season opener events has been: 4th in 2007, 5th in 2008, and 5th in 2009. After these events, their placings go down and they consistently place 7th and 8th. This season I would like to see them stay in the Top 5 because I know they have the potential to do so. I feel their 1st round match will be a breeze and if they can overcome their second round match up against the winner of iLL By Nature and Retaliation, then they can place Top 4 easily. The X-factors on this team are going to be Calinorth’s sniping and Orange’s slaying. I think their weakness will be staying consistent. The strengths on this team will be that they always stay calm under pressure. If you ever see this team lose a map just take a look at them, they won’t show any sign of the loss. They’ll just focus on the next map and keep moving. 7. vVv Destiny - Destiny will be coming into Columbus with the 6th seed. With newest members Fallout and Nite, their team is better than they were in Meadows. I feel that Fallout will do a good job leading this team, fixing their mistakes, and making sure they make the right moves for the upcoming rounds. Nitevision’s Torque-Bow will be a game changer. The weakness of this team will be them bouncing back and staying focused after losing. They have one of the hardest first round match ups against MoB Deep. It’s going to be a close series but I think that Destiny won’t win with anything less than a 3-2. Their 2nd round match up will be against THE NSAN3Z. I think they’ll put up a fight, but THE NSAN3Z will knock them in the losers bracket and they will battle their way back for Top 8. 8. MoB Deep -The new MoB Deep will be coming into Columbus with the 11th seed. It’s so hard to figure out what this team will place because they’re so unpredictable. In Meadowlands they played against MbN (1st seed) in the first round, and they went down the last round of the last map and lost. Even though they lost, they all played really well. What they placed in Meadows doesn’t define the talent on this team. Franchise is the newest member on this team, replacing Unrivaled and I feel they made a great pick up and found a better player that fits their personalities more. The X factor on this team is hands down going to be Scar. He’s going to drop big numbers and make big plays every map. Also, he’s going to keep his team pumped the entire weekend. If they can keep their momentum up they will cause a lot of upsets. Their weakness would be blowing leads on maps and series’. They are going to have to step their game up to close out maps. If they do so, they will without a doubt place higher than 8th. There you have it! Stay tuned for more Gears of War 2 predictions as we grow closer to MLG Columbus on June 5-7! |
