The loftiest towers rise from the ground.

First things first No Bloom-No Sprint is the best thing that could have ever happened to Halo: Reach. I've been playing NBNS the past couple weeks and love the competitiveness of it. In my personal opinion, Reach did not feel like "Halo" with bloom, it just wasn't the same. The Halo series grew up without the bloom and I think having bloom for Reach hurt the game and community backing it. It turned away a lot of loyal MLG Halo fans from the game. Now that the bloom has been taken out, it's brought back the Halo feel from Halo 2 and Halo 3 minus the BR.

One other thing that would make Reach better is a ranking system like Halo 2 had, then I believe the game would be much better. H2 had the best ranking system from all the Halos. You matched against people of your skill level or close to it. Thus making it way more competitive and having to try your hardest every single game to be better than the your opponent/opponents. The playlist's consisted of FFA, 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, minor clan matches, and major clan matches. H2 also had top leader boards on bungie so every gamer was competing to be in the top 5 of each playlist because bungie would feature the top 5 players.

Let's get into some Halo team changes! I have joined Str8 Rippin with T2, Ninja, and Mikwen. We have been practicing and playing exceptionally well together. 

Now, I want to give a little back bone for how this team came together because it was something that I had been considering for quite some time. I was on my way home from MLG Providence waiting in line to go through security carrying my Astro backpack and FFA plaque in my hand. I was thinking about my accomplishments and goals in Halo: Reach for the 2011 season. Thinking about everything that happened last year just made me want to do more for the 2012 year. I want a team that is as dedicated as I am and will work together to be a great team in all aspects. After making my way through security I grabbed some Quiznos. While I was waiting to order, Tom (TSquared) comes up behind me and says "congrats on winning the FFA." I told him thanks then we started talking about the 2011 season and what is to come for 2012. We head to our gates and end up being on the same flight along with a bunch of other MLG staff and players. I end up getting a seat next to Damian/Krillin, who now works for MLG. Krillin switched seats with Tom so we could talk on the flight. If it wasn't for Damian we may not have ended up teaming….thanks Damian! Tom and I are two of the oldest veterans in the MLG league and have been through so many years of gaming. Even though we have so many events under our belts, we didn't know each other so well on a personal level.

During the flight we talked about a lot. Including our goals, what we are both trying to do with our gaming careers and life.  We both weren't sure what we we are going to do team wise. We shared a lot about ourselves and thoughts on players and teams. We both wanted a team that is going to take this as serious as us and be as dedicated. To make a team that can win multiple events and keep in mind that we are not teaming at this moment…we were sharing our thoughts. We both wanted a team that will want to work together the be a great team.  We talked about our past teams and changes throughout the year and what we were planning for the 2012 season. But one of the most important things we talked about was our drive to win again. We both have had a taste of winning and we want it back more than ever. We are willing to put the extra time in to succeed. We are willing to work harder to build our team chemistry and team work. We got off at our connections and said we'll keep in touch.

Tyler-Ninja had called/texted me saying him and Austin-Mikwen wanted to team with me. I told them I would run games with them and Tom. After playing almost two weeks with the guys, I knew this was the team I wanted to be on. But I wanted to talk to all of them before I made my final decision. I wanted to make sure we are all trying to accomplish the same thing and are willing to work together to become a greater team.  We all have the ability to adapt quickly and having that ability is a great asset. So I gave Tyler, Tom, and Austin a call to talk about how serious I am in winning an event and putting the time/work into getting better as a team. I wanted him/everyone to know that I'm trying to win and do not want to waste my time with a team that isn't going to be as dedicated and serious as I am.  I also wanted to let everyone know what I'm about and what I'm looking for in a teammate. We all agreed on everything. I told them let's do this and that was it. Str8 Rippin was formed. We are going to bring back the household name to the top. 

After all of this, we all still await MLG to announce if Halo will be on the circuit. I am very concerned about this. Halo is the root of MLG. It is what made MLG what it is today. They have told us the numbers have dropped dramatically for Reach. The makers of Reach did not work with MLG to make a great game. They did their own thing and created a bombshell of a game. I have seen so many people putting their part in to try and make Halo a popular game again. Many have been releasing many videos on youtube and streaming online everyday. I have been streaming and releasing videos on my youtube as well. www.youtube.com/themcstrongside I really hope to see Halo on the circuit next year and would be very disappointed if it wasn't.

ALSO, Check out two of my new game plays on Str8 Rippin below!

Str8 vs NTN Countdown TS

Str8 vs NTN Zealot CTF-Overkill