Classic
Team Classic was a professional Halo 3 team that competed in the Major League Gaming (MLG) Pro Circuit. Although Team Classic competed in MLG Halo 2 events, aside from LegendPimps, they were not well known until the 2008 season, when Halo 3 succeeded Halo 2 in the MLG Pro Circuit.
Total Winnings in 3: $123,600
Current Roster
History
Except for LegendPimps, who saw some success in Halo 2 and later joined the MLG staff as a referee for Pro Circuit events, Team Classic was a little known group until the 2008 season. Team Classic began its road to notoriety by dominating online tournaments prior to the kickoff of the 2008 Pro Circuit. Chris Puckett, a video games analyst for ESPN and commentator for MLG called them "online superheroes." Classic won the MLG Holiday 4v4 Tournament, the MLG E-For-All event, and the GameBattles Fall Season Playoffs. Team Classic finished 5th in the GameBattles 2008 MLG Pro Circuit Ladder #1, which provided them with a top 8 seed heading into the Meadowlands event. In order to prepare for MLG Meadowlands, the first event in the 2008 MLG Pro Circuit, Team Classic spent nearly a week playing LAN games with established MLG pro team Final Boss. Fear told MLG in an interview, regarding the practice with Final Boss, "I can say without a doubt, it definitely helped out by a huge amount. That was the first time we LAN’d together as a team, and we were a little sketchy at first. But we were there to work on our negatives and we did just that." The possibility that Team Classic would finish among the top teams was doubted by many on MLG forums due to the inexperience in a LAN setting and the fact that Team Classic did not have the success that many other highly seeded teams had had in Halo 2. Ironically, Final Boss was also doubted, but for the opposite reason; they had played poorly in the online tournaments, and many questioned whether this was due to the relatively poor gameplay mechanics of Xbox Live, or simply Final Boss's lack of skill at Halo 3. Both Final Boss and Team Classic put doubts to rest at MLG Meadowlands. Team Classic ousted Team Carbon, a Halo 2 pro team, 3 games to 0. Team Carbon had already knocked out highly favored Str8 Rippin, the #1 seed coming into the event. Final Boss, despite being sent to the Loser's Bracket, fought back to the finals. Team Classic met Final Boss in the championship round, where Final Boss won the best of 11 series 6 games to 2.
The 2008 Season saw the ascension of a new Halo title to the MLG Pro Circuit, and with it came the anticipation of new talent. Classic quickly made a statement with a second place finish in the very first Halo 3 event, showing their ability to compete with the best of the best. As the 2009 Season began, fans wondered if the notorious online team had truly evolved into a LAN powerhouse. Despite a few slip ups along the way, they have proven they're a real force to be reckoned with.
Classic opened in the same place the previous season had, coming to Meadowlands with a team of Fear, Soldier187, Ant, and Legend. Despite having played together as a unit for some time, they opened that event with a 3-1 series loss to Believe the Hype, another team with a bit of reputation as Xbox Live All-Stars. “It affected us a lot. When we had Legend [on the team], he kind of had a negative attitude,” says Best Man, a current member of the team. The loss certainly carried into the Losers Bracket at Meadowlands. They put in a solid 3-0 series win over Armageddon, but fell just as quickly to VG The New Order. The first event ended sourly, as Classic was not playing their best.
Columbus, the event immediately following Meadowlands, was one of two huge turning points during the '09 Season for Classic. They dropped Ant and Fear, picking up Chig and Best Man to replace them. Not only did Classic improve their play, they also managed to soften some of the negativity from their first event with the additions. “Chig is the team joker,” cites Soldier. “He says a lot of random stuff that doesn't make much sense, which is hilarious.” Yet, clearly, the team managed to be anything but a joke in Columbus. “Whenever tourney time comes around, I get a lot more focused, especially at the tournament. Everything just seems to fall into place,” explains Best Man. The ability to play relaxed propelled the young team. They started the tournament with a victory this time, 3 games to 1 over the formidable Status Quo, and took a game from Triggers Down before exiting to the Losers Bracket. Not quite satisfied yet, Classic kept on gunning and managed an impressive 6-3 victory in extended series with Status Quo, showing they had the endurance to win a grinding match-up. Following this, they defeated third-seeded Instinct 3-1, making a serious statement about their talent. Although they did fall to Final Boss eventually, they went home with a 4th place finish, and haven't surrendered a spot in the Top 8 since.
Dallas saw the same team of four, and largely the same results. They began the Winners Bracket with a victory, sweeping Heaven and Earth but dropping again to a Top 8 team in Instinct. Their Losers Bracket showing also somewhat mirrored that of Columbus with a 6-4 victory over Dynasty and a 3-1 against Relapse. When they met another Top 4 seed in their series with Str8 Rippin, they were again sent home, finishing just short of the Top 4.
Another roster change was in order, and Classic made the second major change by taking on journeyman Ghostayame. “Eric brings a lot of teamwork and communication to the team. With Legend, we were more of a run and gun team in my opinion. Eric taught us a lot that we didn't know about the game, as well as making us into a teamwork-based team,” says Chig of his new teammate. “Ghost brought an excellent attitude and leadership, which Legend lacked. I know personally I got a lot smarter when he joined, and learned so much more about the game.” Applying the new individual improvements and mindset to their play, Classic had their revenge on Instinct in Anaheim with a 3-2 victory, breaking their streak of losing to a Top 8 team in Winners Round 2. Unfortunately, in their first Losers Bracket match Classic met with another former team of Ghost's: Carbon. The new Carbon netted third, but Classic wasn't exactly left in the dust. The squad that left Anaheim had showed incredible improvement since the first event, and stood strong not only against top teams early, but showed they have the endurance when it's needed and the ability to be consistent against high seeds.
They spent the week prior to the tournament at the “Str8uary,” LAN'ing against the defending champs for the full span. “I would say that we are all just practicing a ton for these next weeks leading up to our LAN against Str8,” says Ghost. "Even though my team had some practice before I joined, we finally get to instill values on one another's screens. Screen watching can be abused in Halo 3, and that's what we plan to take advantage of when we're over at the Str8uary.” They face Carbon once again in the second round of the Winners Bracket. “When there might be an emotional attachment to the series too, whether it's for yourself or for your teammates, you play that much harder.” says Ghost. If trends continue and they both improve and stay strong in that round, Orlando might be the stage of a few upsets for Classic. 2009 Orlando National Championships
Classic's run in Orlando started off in WBR1 against Status Quo where they defeated them in a quick three game sweep. Using this momentum, they next met up with Carbon and steamrolled them just like they did Status Quo in another three game sweep. Their next opponent would be none other than Triggers Down, who were of course heavily favored to win the match. In a grueling and very dramatic five game series, Classic managed to pull out the win and earn their spot in the Winners Bracket Finals against Believe the Hype. Classic would face Carbon in the Loser's Bracket Finals. Classic had already defeated Carbon in the Winners Bracket 3-0, so their series in the Losers Bracket was extended to a best-of-11 match, with Classic retaining their 3-0 lead. This challenge would prove too much for Carbon as they were toppled by Classic in the series 6-2. Next up was the National Championship match versus Believe the Hype. Believe the Hype was already leading Classic in the eleven game series, three games to one, after their win in the WB Finals. Believe the Hype turned out to be too much for Classic to handle and took the series 6-2. 2nd place was an amazing accomplishment for Classic, they entered the tournament as the 5th seed and were not predicted to go far in the tournament.
Placings
Year Competition Roster Standing Winnings 2008 MLG Meadowlands Soldier187, Ant, Legend, Fear 2nd $12,000 2008 MLG San Diego Soldier187, Ant, Legend, Fear 5th $4,000 2008 MLG Orlando Soldier187, Ant, Legend, Naded 10th
2008 MLG Toronto Soldier187, Ant, Legend, Victory X 4th $5,600 2008 MLG Dallas Soldier187, Ant, Legend, Mackeo 6th $2,800 2008 MLG Las Vegas Soldier187, Ant, Legend, Mackeo 6th $14,000 2009 MLG Meadowlands Soldier187, Ant, Legend, Fear 13th
2009 MLG Columbus Soldier187, Legend, Best Man, Chig 4th $5,600 2009 MLG Dallas Soldier187, Legend, Best Man, Chig 6th $2,800 2009 MLG Anaheim Soldier187, Ghostayame, Best Man, Chig 6th $2,800 2009 MLG Orlando Soldier187, Ghostayame, Best Man, Chig 2nd $60,000 2010 MLG Orlando Soldier187, Ghostayame, Tizoxic, Chig 2nd $12,000 2010 MLG Columbus Soldier187, Ghostayame, Tizoxic, Chig 7th $2,000 2010 MLG Raleigh Disbanded
