Meadowlands GoW 2 Preview
By subtheorist | Published: April 1, 2009 9:26pm EST
 They say change is the only constant, and we’ll see this philosophy in action this weekend as Gears of War 2 embarks on its MLG Pro Circuit debut at the Meadowlands Expo Center. Every time a new iteration of an existing title makes its debut on the Pro Circuit, changes are bound to occur. We saw it in the transition from Halo: CE to Halo 2 back in the early days of MLG, and even more so through the transition from Halo 2 to Halo 3 just one year ago. The state of Gears of War has taken many forms since its induction to the MLG Pro Circuit back in 2007, and this weekend will serve as yet another landmark in its evolution. Considering Gears of War 2 is a brand new game, its inaugural event at MLG Meadowlands will serve as a fresh start for each and every competitor - Something many players have desired for a very long time. From players who stood at the top of the original Gears of War’s rankings, all the way down to the players who have never competed in an MLG event in their lives - Everyone will have a great opportunity of breaking into the pro player rankings. This will result in an exciting, yet pressure filled weekend for each and every competitor. Throughout the history of Gears of War, many faces have come and gone, seemingly unbreakable squads have dispersed, and overwhelmingly dominant teams have fallen to the wayside. This seems to be the cycle of life on the MLG Pro Circuit, and although the Top 16 teams are currently riddled with one and two year Pro Circuit veterans, many will likely fall victim to this cycle for the first time this weekend. 
This weekend, MLG will return to the Meadowlands Expo Center for the debut of Gears of War 2.
Similar to Halo 3’s debut event in 2008, Gears of War 2 was seeded through an Online Qualifier held on GameBattles. The teams battled it out for nearly a month to secure one of 64 available spots in the Online Pro Circuit Qualifier Playoffs. Those 64 teams then fought their way through a double-elimination bracket in order to determine their overall seed in Gears of War’s first event at MLG Meadowlands. After all of that hard work and dedication - it all comes down to this. With all of this in mind, let’s take a closer look at the teams, players, and match-ups that will end up telling the story of how Gears of War 2’s debut got underway. For speculative purposes, we’ll dive into the bracket to take a look at what some of the tournament favorites will have to deal with as they make their way through the bracket. |
