Hey guys! You all may be wondering where I've been since Providence…! Ellen and I are in the process of getting our first place so I've been really busy apartment searching. It's all really exciting for the both of us. We'll be doing an "MLG Cribs" once we get settled in so look out for that in the coming months!
On to gaming matters, tis the season to be giving! I am doing a VIDEO contest for a big Christmas giveaway consisting of Astro A40 headset & mix amp, Astro backpack, one of my personal MLG jersey's signed and an MLG t-shirtwill all go to ONE WINNER!
Submit a video telling me your story and why you think you should win the "Toys for Gamers" this Christmas. In this video you are not limited to anything! You can show your set up, what you play with, how long you've been apart of MLG and anything funny and witty! Use your imagination to persuade me. The more creative you get, the better! Don't forget to make this personal, because it is about you!
Please submit videos via YOUTUBE to my TWITTER or FACEBOOK!
Video submission DEADLINE: SUNDAY DECEMBER 18TH
*****I do ask to please refrain from submitting if you have any of the giveaway contents.
I'll still be doing smaller giveaways on my stream from time to time! So make sure to FOLLOW my stream ---> StrongSide Stream
Our team is getting one lan in before Providence at the TLN house for the last lan there. Its always great to get everyone together and practice on lan for an event. I'll be practicing everyday to prepare for this event. There will also be a No Bloom Pro FFA that I will have to prepare for as well. Which will be hard to switch back and forth from No Bloom to Bloom all the time. I'm so happy that they are doing a FFA though. It's been so long since I've competed on an individual side of a game. Gaming and streaming everyday! Providence here I come!
I hope MLG plans to bring FFA and maybe 1v1's back for next season! I think it would bring a lot of people back to events to compete. Rather than just having 4v4's. It's great to compete in different ways of a game as well.
Now on to Disney World!! So Ellen had told me when we first met that she had never been to the beach or Disney World. I took her to the beach for her first birthday and now seemed like the perfect time to take her to Disney for her second Birthday. Her birthday was coming up after MLG Orlando and I thought..hey we could go to Disney World after MLG Orlando for an early birthday present! Here are a bunch of pictures of the trip!
The one and only Rafiki!!
Arrrrrrrrrrrrgg!
Mickey Mouse Icecream!
Ellen's first visit, Birthday, and our 2 year anniversary.
The team and I have been practicing almost everyday. I've been grinding in the extra hours to prepare for Orlando! We have Triggers Down, Pure, and Status Quo in our pool play. I'm ready to play and take some faces! haha My flight leaves Thursday afternoon and I'll be staying till Wednesday for some post-event fun! Unfortunately Revolution was unable to get a lan in before this event but we will definitely be lanning before Providence! There hasn't been much change to my practice regimen. All I'm thinking about is Halo and getting to where I want to be.
apeX released their new site recently! Check it out and Sign-up! --->> apeX eSports
It's that time of the year for my to put away my swim trunks, sunblock and wake board and start dusting off my snowboard and jacket! Winter will be here soon and I can't wait to snowboard!! Mantrain has confirmed he will be coming out to snowboard or we may take a trip somewhere!
For everyone wondering about the giveaways on my stream..everything has been so hectic and busy here on my end that I've been postponing it until I have everything prefect! I haven't forgotten about my promises, I'm still doing the BIG give away day! I'm currently coordinating with MLG and a few other companies to get more product and publicity so this give away turns into an event! After completing my first month of streaming I decided to give 15% of what I make every month from my stream to the viewers! I will use the money to buy prizes to give out on the stream. I'm going to make this first months earnings public to you guys with how much I made! With just a little over one month of streaming I brought in just under $1000. So I'll be giving back about $145 in prizes to the my viewers! I'll have many ways of giving stuff away on my stream! Such as trivia, games on Halo:Reach, lottery (I randomly pick a name in the viewer list), mini-tournaments, etc. There are ways to win prizes by simply being supportive and being a true SS fan. For those whom I acknowledge and notice that are consistently in my stream, supporting and contributing to the chat and the stream it self will have a *greater chance of getting some my most prized possessions.
*I just want to put a disclaimer and say it's not a guaranteed way of winning something, you just have a greater chance amongst others.**
There has been some demand for community game play reviews. I've thought of a way for the community to help me while giving back. If you guys can help get 500+ viewers for a consistent amount of time within a certain amount of time, I will do a few community game play reviews after team practice. Now to determine who's game play I will review is a matter I will have to think of when the time comes.
Once I have everything organized and set to go I'll be doing a video blog releasing the date and to let you guys know what you can win!
I am now a part of the community at HaloTracker.com Check out their site! I'm in the Live Broadcasts section! ---> Halo Tracker
It is October and that means it's the best time of the year to scare Ellen. She doesn't like to be scared but she's warmed up to it quite a bit since we started dating. We recently went to our local amusement park called King's Island for their Halloween fest. There were 12 haunted attractions along with their normal rides. We went big on the ring toss and won Fright lane passes so we could cut in front of everyone waiting in line! It was one of the highlights of the evening. We're also planning on making a trip out to one of the best haunted attractions I've ever been too. I forgot what the place was called, but it's worth the trip because I'll admit I got scared at times!
Crazy snipe on ManTrain..it's probably worth loading..haha!
Making sure that I was on a team with players that I am confident in and are dedicated was crucial for this next event. For those of you who don't know, the team you go to Orlando with is the team that you'll be going to Providence with. So after running games with a bunch of different players, I felt best with Crimsix, Twin Savior, and Amish Acorns. We formed our team and became "Revolution." We want to stand for the start of something new; the beginning of a new team. I've been practicing a lot since Raleigh! Working on my shot, team work, 1v1's and mental game. I'll be grinding till the event everyday!
Push up contest went down at the National Guard booth at Raleigh!
The Title update is coming out soon, the no bloom has peaked my interest. I'm stoked to see how it plays and how MLG evolves with it! I'll definitely be trying it out but I won't play to much of no bloom until MLG makes it official for tournament play. I can only imagine that it will bring back a feeling of the other Halo's :)
This is why you don't usually see me when I'm sniping....haha! In Austin, TX doing some work with the National Guard.
I finally finished planning and booking everything for my Orlando trip! I can't wait to play on lane! My amazing and beautiful girlfriend, Ellen will be flying in Friday night to support my team and I! After the event we are going to Disney World for a few days as my early birthday present to her!! Ellen has never been to Disney World before, so she has a whole new world ahead of her! haha Hopefully it's nice and sunny one of the days so we can go to Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach!
What a view to wake up too! This was taken at my cousin's house in Durham/Raleigh. Ellen and I had to make a trip to see their new house!
Now to the stream..I love streaming!! I'm going to be doing 1v1 marathons and 4v4 marathons with the community! Also, after all the people saying I should prove myself on Gamebattles..I'm going to start playing GB and make my way to the top of the ranks!
I just wanted to give everyone an update on what's been going on with me. I am currently in Austin, TX doing work for MLG and my sponsor the National Guard. Shibby and Proofy (COD Pro) are also here with me, we're working on making a video. I won't say much more then that but I'll let everyone know once it's all done so you guys can see all the hard work that was put into it! This was all so short notice that Ellen and I had to cut our vacation in Raleigh a day short. I'll be in Texas until late Saturday night, which brings me to my next point, my stream.
I am going to, once again postpone my stream launch date because MLG would like to be apart of it so I'm coordinating with them on making my stream a huge success. I'm sorry for continuing to postpone the date. I've been getting such a positive response from so many people that I want everyone to be involved. When I get back in town Saturday night, I'll be getting in touch with MLG and hopefully we'll get something going. I'll keep everyone updated with what's going on and when things should be up and running. Thanks for understanding everyone!
Raleigh is coming up this weekend and I'm stoked to play! I want to break back into the top 3 and win an event. It's been awhile since I've placed up there and I'm really working hard to win. With this team, I feel we have so much drive and potential to win an event. We still have things we need to improve on and we're practicing hard every night to do so. I've been watching VOD almost every day so I can see how other top players think and move. Our team didn't get to lan before this event so we knew we had to practice hard online. We have a couple days left and I'll be gaming hard each day. MLG Raleigh here we come!!
A quick recap of Anaheim, we placed fourth in our pool and had a long road ahead of us. We brought it back after 52 games and finished with a solid fourth place. Which brings me to a great quote I live by "In order to win you have to lose." After reviewing our mistakes from Anaheim I'll be going into Raleigh very confident. We're planning on surprising a lot of people at MLG Raleigh, giving our fans something to scream and cheer for. I'll be giving away some free stuff through-out the event so make sure to come say hey if you have some time.
Ellen and I took a day trip to Louisville, KY for the Kentucky State Fair and of all the aisles to walk down in a collection of artwork, we stumble upon this….
A doughnut burger….I didn't have the stomach to try this one!
I have recently been sponsored by the National Guard and I hope to be with them for some time as I already love everything they are planning on doing and enjoy the people I'm working with. If you're going to Raleigh, come check out the National Guard Booth to play me 1v1 or If you're about my size we can do a push-up contest. If you beat me you'll win a prize!
At the Kentucky State Fair repping the National Guard!!
The stream is nearly set up! We are currently testing and everything is running properly we just have to tweak a few more things to better your viewing experience. We went through many troubles with our first capture card. It ended up that the Black Magic was not compatible with my Dell xps 9100. Every time the drivers were installed the computer would crash. So we moved on to a newer and better cap card…the Hauppaauge "Colossus." We were looking at Grass Valley and other equipment but there were some questions in the air regarding them and I did not want to take any more chances on something that might of worked. So I went with the Colossus. I'm sorry to all of you who were anticipating my launch date. The new date I've set is Saturday and Sunday September 3rd/4th. Here is a photo of some of the things I'll be giving away. So make sure you're watching my stream for it's official launch date Sept. 3rd/4th for multiple chances to win prizes! You'll have to do your StrongSide homework for trivia questions that I have for some of the best prizes! With this stream I want to give back and help to the community and my fans. I will be giving free stuff away periodically. The more viewers I get the more free stuff I can give away! I really want this stream to be huge, please help get the word out and feel free to stop by my stream to see if were testing before my launch date. If you have any ideas to help me make the stream better, message me on facebook.com/mcstrongside or twitter.com/mcstrongside Here is the link to my stream twitch.tv/mcstrongside. Make sure to follow me!
Big things happening at StrongSide Stream!
Shout out: Big Thanks to Matt Kenner aka Letterz for helping me set everything up and big Thanks to Ellen and my parents for getting me all the stream equipment as a surprise birthday present!
Group photo before getting down and dirty!
200ft underground!
On to more fun stuff, last week Ellen and a group of buddies of mine took a trip out to the longest underground cave in North America, Mammoth Cave to go spelunking. For those of you who don't know what spelunking is, it is an extreme outdoor activity which involves exploring caves by means of cave crawling, climbing and exploring. Depending on the cave the crawling can consist of long crawling periods, tight spaces, wall climbing, long narrow tunnels, water tunnels(can be very dangerous) which I have not yet tried but want to so bad! The only light source you have is the light on your helmet. You also have knee pads, elbow pads and gloves since your crawling and climbing non-stop. You are always on the move. It is a huge adrenaline rush! Here are some videos and pictures of the adventure! I highly recommend it to anyone who loves outdoor activities!
Canyoning my way around!
300ft underground!
Ellen and I enjoying ourselves!
Having lunch 300ft underground!
This crawl is called "The Poop Shoot" lol you have to free climb up and squeeze yourself into a hole at the top, that's where the foot is hanging from! haha
A video we took while on the spelunking tour! It's crazy how small the hole once you're on the other side!!
This summer so far has been great and there is so much to do! Ellen and I finally made it out to Wake Nation in Cincinnati to have a session of wake boarding all day! It was so awesome! There weren't to many people so we were able to ride all day without a line. This was my third time going and I told myself I had to hit the all the ramps before I leave. i had my wipe-outs but then I figured it out. In no time I was cruising off the ramps. At the end of the day I hit the second biggest ramp and ended it with a tail grab! Soo sick! (picture below!) When I get back from Anaheim I'll be making a few more trips to Wake Nation. I"ll have some videos coming soon! Back flips and tantrums are next!!
Now about the new team…we have been practicing a bunch. We are looking really good. Tomorrow I'm leaving to Dersky's house. Our team will be at his place for a week. Gaming side by side is such good practice. Your able to go over stuff in person and screen watch!! Screen watching is one of the most important things in Halo. If you can't screen watch you need to practice it so you can! Dersky has been challenging me to a 1v1 in Basketball. I don't think he knows I'm 6"3 and he is only 5"3. haha. Dersky is going to get rocked. It is going to be an awesome week of gaming. I can't wait to get out there. We will be getting so much practice in before the event which will really benefit us.
StrongSide Stream 24/7. I have been really busy trying to get my stream together. I'll be getting my stream out soon and the first day I will be doing a 24 hour stream session with free giveaways(everything from my tournament controllers to my MLG tournament jerseys), free gametime, and any 1v1 challengers! I'm stoked to get this up and hope you all come to check it out. There will be a lot more to come with my stream so stay tuned. I'll be posting on my twitter and facebook with more details.
We also have the Pre Anaheim RedBull lan at the hotel on Wednesday and Thursday with Walshy's team and Status Quo. Should be some more good practice! Check out the pictures below from WakeNation and us at the TLN house on July 4th! See you all in Anaheim. Good luck to everyone that is playing!! Check out some pro team practice with our new team below the pictures!
