Author: uNity
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Introduction
The CPL, for those of you not in the know, just held it's Extreme Summer Championship this past week, which featured a UT2K4 4v4 TDM tournament. This, of course, is of particular interest to this site, and we covered said event and provided mirrors for the demos, which are still available here. Below are my thoughts, one week after the tournament first began, on how things went down.
I said "Be careful, his bow-tie is really a camera!"
Before we get started, there's one thing I'd like to mention: this year's CPL coverage was, for the most part, sub-par. I know alot of people worked very hard, and I thank them for it, but getting results proved to be a very difficult endeavor. For the first two days, demos were very hard to find, and as far as I could tell, we were the only site that actually covered UT2K4 with (albeit small) write-ups. Granted, things got better on the third and fourth days, but still. Coming from an organisation such as the CPL, which has seen it's fair share of tournaments in the past, one can and should expect proper coverage.
Now then, let's move on.
Every Stop is Neatly Planned for a Poet and a One-Man Band
Aside from the most glaring #7 seed awarded to the vastly underrated Fnatic team (aka Xtreme), most of the seeding was, at the very least, somewhat appropriate. Granted, an experienced UT player, well-versed in the inner workings of the community, would've made a more... rounded selection, but all in all, it proved accurate enough.
For most of the event, things went exactly as planned. Speaking strictly seeding wise, the #7 seed defeating the #2 seed in the second round might seem like an upset, but in reality, it really wasn't.
The biggest surprise of the tournament, in essence, remains Ocrana, who really played their little German hearts out. Gazing at their record in various leagues garnered little enthusiasm for this UT powerhouse, and many dismissed them quickly as a decent contender for top 8, but not much higher. How wrong we were, eh? Their fourth place finish sure shut us up.
As far as biggest disappointments go, and I'll probably get slagged for this, I've gotta give the nod to Retribution here. From various comments, it seems they wern't playing up to their potential, and their top 8 finish seems more or less due to their favorable seeding than anything else.
This brings me to my next point: America's blind luck.
Let the Morning Time Drop all its Petals on Me
The CPL's seeding of Retribution and Kaizen as Fourth and Fifth, respectively, and the bracket's construction basically guaranteed that an American team would finish in, at the very least, a top 6 position.
This, for the most part, really isn't a big deal, and yes, the best team still won, but take a careful gander at the results. MouseSports finished lower than Kaizen, however, they not only did play each other, but MouseSports had a much tougher bracket to go through. I find it unfortunate that these two teams never met and we are left with some questions as to the validity of their respective placings, and that 1,000$ difference means 250$ less (or more, depending on how you look at it), for the players.
Do I believe MouseSports could've beaten Kaizen? Yes. What do I base this on? For one, their tougher bracket, their stronger performance agaisnt mTw, and, most importantly, the fact that no American team took a match, not even a game, from any European team. Yeah, it's quite possibly the least scientific method ever, but still, it's food for thought.
The Vision that was Planted in my Brain... Still Remains
I had predicted, many moons ago, that the top American teams stood no chance agaisnt the top European teams, and while the results certainly wern't surprising, now that it has come to pass, I can't but feel disappointed. Seeing friends and people I know lose wasn't entirely enjoyable, especially since I'm convinced that the issue here wasn't necessarily talent, but more or less practice regimen.
Americans lacked the discipline and the focus necessary to practice heavily, and it certainly showed. Europeans, on the other hand, practiced and it also showed. In fact, their "second string", (and this is by no means an insult) was strong enough to defeat our top. TAG truly demonstrated the obvious disparities in our communities and, hopefully, provided a much needed wake-up call.
Slow Down, You Move too Fast. Got to Make the Moment Last
One of the ironic and highly unusual things about this CPL was that the UT2K4 tournament, ran by my good friend and clanmate Mark "dz.Vai" Manson, was ahead of schedule. Needless to say, this is quite a feat. The tournament ran so flawlessly that they were told to shut down for the night so as not to finish too early.
We'd Like to Help you Learn to Help Yourself
And so it ends. The most important thing, of course, is that everyone involved had fun, and for a great many among us not lucky enough to attend, I'm sure living and experiencing these tournaments vicariously through demos and blank Bracket pages provided much enjoyment.
If ever UT2K4 makes a return at the Winter CPL, let us hope that every American team will play in a more... decisive manner.
Good day, friends.
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