Fnatic Orz just about the best team in the world
by Zach Yonzon 
Oct 5th 2008 at 3:00PM
Fnatic played their strongest comp of Warlock (Glick), Warrior (Rhaegyn), and Druid (Hafu) while Gravitas Gaming countered with a Warrior (Kesher), Mage (Celex), and Priest (Ely) instead of their usual RMP. Some viewers wrote Fnatic Orz off considering their uphill climb to win five games against Gravitas' three, but the defending Champions showed exactly what they were made of by winning three straight matches after falling behind 5-2, evening out the competition at 5-5. The Grand Finals all rested on a single, do-or-die match -- played in Nagrand Arena -- a nailbiter that exemplified the best of professional Arena play. In what was one of the best comebacks I've seen in an Arena tournament, Fnatic Orz pulled off four straight wins to win back-to-back MLG Championships and cement their place in pro circuit history.
It was the second time the two teams met in the Grand Finals, with Gravitas still under the Frag Dominant banner. The games were broadcast streaming through GotFrag TV, with excellent, spot-on commentating and incredible camera work that made it relatively easy to follow the extremely fast-paced matches, although the last match's stream was plagued with hiccups. The winners walked away with $12,000 and three HP Blackbird 002, while the runners-up won $6,000. Pro circuit mainstays Team Pandemic took third place with $3,000 after losing to Fnatic Orz in the Semi-Finals.
Fnatic Orz' storied rise from being dropped by MoB Gaming, winning MLG-Orlando without a sponsor, and being picked up by Fnatic and winning a spot at the World Championships at BlizzCon just before this fantastic win today makes them one of the most exciting and favored teams to watch in the pro Arena tournament scene. It will be a treat to see them compete against the world's best at the World Championships next weekend... except that you'll need a DirectTV subscription for that.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, PvP, Arena
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Damntheman Oct 5th 2008 3:18PM
Gotfrag is always such a rat's nest. Does anyone if you can watch the footage of the finals now that they're done? Looking for anything other than a live feed seems impossible.
Percinho Oct 6th 2008 1:28AM
Exactly what I came to post. One of the most user-unfriendly sites I've been to.
I don't do Arenas but thought I'd watch it out of interest however trying to find it is a Kafkan enterprise and one I'm not prepared to spend my time doing. If I can't find it withing a minute it's not a very well designed website.
xicarus Oct 5th 2008 3:28PM
"So I trust Kalgan when he says that Arenas as an eSport endeavor is a mere "cool side-effect" of the format." -Yonzon
lol
Zach Oct 5th 2008 3:29PM
Yep. I think it's cool. I'm happy it bled out into professional competition.
Arrrrgggghhhhhh Oct 6th 2008 11:43AM
kalgan is a lying sack of sh*t, and nothing comes out of his mouth that will remotely help WoW in the long run.
Someday it's going to be short VIV if kalgan speaks.
Rednights Oct 5th 2008 3:25PM
Swap the Priest for a Druid FFS. It's not hard, maybe I wouldn't be laughing my ass off from a 60% --> 0% RNG that one game because a Priest has ZERO escape mechanics.
shookone Oct 5th 2008 3:27PM
best team in the world?
are you kidding me?
get your heads out of your asses, i know youre in love with the little girl gamer, but give me a break.
Zach Oct 5th 2008 3:34PM
Hafu's Chinese, so that works for me. My wife's Chinese. But other than that... um... I guess it's bad to give props to a team that's just won back-to-back MLG tournaments and the North American regionals, amirite?
shookone Oct 5th 2008 4:04PM
props are fine
calling them the best in the world for being better than a bunch of fat americans is a joke
lbizzle Oct 5th 2008 4:25PM
There really is a difference between 'giving props' and this article, which reads as if you are being paid to promote them. It is admirable that they have succeeded in several MLG tournaments in the US, but 'best team in the world'? I imagine you'll eat your words after the Blizzcon tournament, where the Asians and more than one European team are represented
Zach Oct 5th 2008 4:29PM
@Ibizzle - Totally looking forward to that, actually. The headline's an attention-grabber, I'll confess. But still, no 3v3 team has enjoyed as much success as Orz has right now. The closest would be Korea's Council of Mages, who won in WWI and qualified for the Worlds.
I actually want an Asian team to win the worlds, just because I'm Asian. But quantitatively, Orz has won more tournaments and performed better than any other Arena team right now. Calling them 'just about the best team in the world' might be a hyperbole, but hey... credit that to an adrenaline rush from watching them go up 6-5 from being down 2-5.
Zach Oct 5th 2008 4:42PM
"calling them the best in the world for being better than a bunch of fat americans is a joke"
Hate much? The funny thing is that there aren't even a lot of fat players in that tournament. A lot of them look pretty lean and even healthy.
Oh, and Hafu might be of Chinese ethnicity but she and the rest of Fnatic Orz are Americans, too.
Malkeior Oct 5th 2008 5:58PM
Apparently you guys missed the "Just about" part.
Zach Oct 5th 2008 3:33PM
Hardly a matter of skill?
I'd like to see you go out and win $12,000. I mean, it's just pillar-humping and mashing insta-casts, right (I guess you didn't know Cyclone and Frostbolt are 1.5 second cast spells...)? Hey, that's 12k smackers for no skill! Totally go for it.
Give me a break. Give credit where credit is due.
If you don't like Arenas, that's fine. But to dismiss players who exhibit actual skill in playing is downright insulting.
iliya Oct 5th 2008 3:46PM
So, tell me, where are the hunters, paladins, and shaman?
I find it disgusting that you have to choose a class you may not like in order to win, instead of a class you like to play as, just because that douche Kalgan doesn't do his job well enough to actually balance the classes and instead, pushes this crap onto people, expecting players to overcome obvious design flaws and crippling weaknesses, easily exploitable no less, and win against classes that the devs have favor for.
Zach Oct 5th 2008 3:48PM
No question about it, class balance in Arenas is nowhere near where it should be in TBC. Blizzard is taking steps to address that for WotLK, but who knows if they'll succeed?
I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Sam Oct 5th 2008 4:04PM
Balancing a game this complex is basically impossible you know right?
Kalgan isn't being lazy, he just doesn't have this amazing magical wand that instantly balances everything.
The second you make the tiniest change to one class, the entire rest of the game is affected from raiding to battlegrounds to solo grinding.
And then you have to consider what you're balancing for. 1vs1? 1vs1 with support? 2vs2? 3vs3? 5vs5? All buffs and nerfs to individual talents/abilities in one bracket affects all the other brackets in some way as well.
I'm sorry but as the game gets even more complex in WOTLK, even more variables will be added to the balancing equation, and the game will become less and less easy to balance, and therefore just plain less balanced as time goes on.
All Kalgan can do is make sure all the classes are on a vaguely level playing field, with no one class that clearly outdoes every other class at a particular job in every bracket. He has accomplished this in TBC so far i would say.
Anyway, this isn't a predicition its a mathmatical fact. Get ready for the balance to get worse and worse.
Sam Oct 5th 2008 3:57PM
Skill is relative.
In an MMO stratosphere, we all know the "skill" required is fairly low down the competitive video gaming chart.
Its a shame that WoW is so popular and by extension, its competitive side is, because people do not deserve that big of a prize fund for something a "low-skilled" as arena.
Dysintary Oct 5th 2008 4:22PM
I don't play and never will play arenas... tried it, hated it. As long as they don't "balance" the game based soley on one aspect, which is where it seems to be going... i'd be happy. I'd love to see "Arena/BG only" spells and abilities, though they'd be tough to implement.
shinken Oct 5th 2008 4:29PM
Hey look a warrior, druid , and , warlock won a tourney!
/Golf clap
The best team in the world would have won with a pally,
Hunter, and shaman combo.
Also to the morons throwing out " They won 12 k!"
newsflash people win millions of dollars from buying a 1 dollar ticket, or having a rich uncle die.
I don't consider RPG pvp Legit due to class imbalances.