MLG looks poised to take the spot of big fish in America. This weekend was host to their second event, an open 64 player Starcraft bonanza. Already they are breaking records at TL, breaking the 10,000 active mark on Saturday and generating one of the largest live report topics we have seen all year.

Related links:

• MLG DC Preview
  
• Day 1 Stream thread
  
• Day 2 Stream Thread
  
• TL Live Blog
  
• Tournament Replay pack
  
• MLG DC Brackets
  

You can also find photos from the ever present JoshSuth in his blog. As with last time, you can voice any opinions you have about the event to JP himself.

Day 1

MLG DC began as open events do -- with seeded players beating up on lesser known entrants for several rounds. The players who made it through the first day with 3-0 records were Tyler, IdrA, drewbie, qxc, HuK and Kiwikaki. No surprises there, all accomplished players who were expected to show good games. Aside from IdrA and Tyler, each of them had a long weekend of play at IEM Comic Con only a few days prior, ensuring top form.



Machine continued his rotten day 1 luck, this time having to face Liquid`Ret in the opening round. After having to start Raleigh by playing teammate Incontrol, he is hopefully considering switching to a new deity.

Early on, LastShadow nearly created an interesting upset with his match against IdrA. After losing the first game, he tied the series with a thor drop taking the zerg natural at Lost Temple. JWD commented he had "never seen a terran so happy to win a game on LT". He prepared some trickery for the third set, hiding 2 barracks on Scrap Station for an early all-in. For the briefest of moments it looked as though it would end in his favor, until IdrA scouted it with just enough time to prepare a defense.



The second standout match of the day was White-Ra vs Kiwikaki, game 1. Kiwi began by making early DTs, opting to suicide them into the nexus. The gambit didn't pay off immediately, White-Ra got an observer out in time and killed the DTs leaving his nexus with an astonishing 27hp. Ra came back into the game, only to have DTs warped into the back of his base (thanks to a pylon and hallucinated phoenix to gain vision) to finish it off. The resulting last stand at Kiwi's main was by far one of the most memorable moments of the entire event.

Day 2

As expected, IdrA plowed through the bracket on day 2 as well. Qxc and Kiwikaki gave him difficult fights, with interesting build orders and incredibly multitasking play. In the end, EG's recruit turned out to be too much and he advanced to the grand finals where he would await a challenger for the throne.



IdrA took down defending champion HuK in two one sided games as well. When asked about it afterwards, all HuK had to say was "I want to play him again right now".

Knocked to the loser's bracket the previous day, Select became a bit of a dark horse (odd because he was somehow a dark horse of Raleigh too). He started by beating LzGamer, then moved on to TT1, Qxc, and Slush. He played Tyler a second time, avenging his earlier loss and knocking out the American. He beat Kiwikaki convincingly, then challenged HuK for the right to face IdrA in the grand finals.

Every once in a great while a game happens in a tournament that transcends the bounds of the tournament itself. A game so unique that its reach is larger than what our community hits. It was during this matchup that one of those games happened. I have friends who don't pay attention to Starcraft who asked me about this game.



In game 2 of the finals in the loser's bracket, the game deciding who would advance to the grand finals the crowd began chanting. HuK decided he would try a fast mothership, repeating a build he used against drewbie at IEM (and lost with). The crowd at MLG is a much more rowdy bunch, and at several points in the game they erupted in laughter, applause, and cheering. You can see some video of it here.

Never one to turn down a chance for showmanship, Huk used every opportunity to show his personality. Much of the game was spent with jovial chatting, not so much back and forth banter as a protoss monologue. In the end, it was nowhere near enough and Select outmaneuvered the slow flying fortress with ease, moving on to face IdrA. A series lost, but legions of fans gained.



After such an exciting (maybe "entertaining" is a more fitting description) game, the finals were almost a letdown. Select, now on his 8th (!) best of 3 series of the afternoon didn't have the energy to keep up with the zerg master. An early gas steal in game 1 gave IdrA a small tempo advantage he never gave back, and a muta opening in game 2 that kept Select trapped in his base gave him enough victories to walk away with the title.

A valiant effort, but sometimes you just can't battle a monster and win.

Player	Prize
IdrA	$2500
Select	$1500
HuK	$1000
Kiwikaki	$700
drewbie	$500
Tyler	$350
Slush	$250
Agh	$200

Well played by all, and overall a well coordinated and extremely fun event. With Dallas just around the corner, MLG is shaping up to be an awesome organization and a most welcome addition to the SC2 tournament scene. The National Championship event is November 5-7, so get ready to see HuK and IdrA defend their titles.