March to Madness!

Instead of writing up a blog like I do every month, I took my camera with me on my travels and wanted to feature the highlights with a Picture Blog! Here it is!

Starting with our first practice Lan before MLG Columbus at the Coby2Fast lan in Sacramento, CA!

Hanging out in the living room where we could watch the lan!

CBS/Gamespot came out to interview Coby and T2

Warming up before their first series of the day

Some of Gamespots equipment to stream the lan! 

Ken-Cobys dad had a crossbow! I was a beast at shooting the targets!

We all woke up early one day during the lan to go play paintball!

Gearing up!

Red Team

Joe Fries(in grey hoodie, pro paintballer) coming up with the strats!

READY, SET,

GOOOOOO!

Play by play action shot. Me: I'm watching the flank!   Ninja: I've got your back brotha!

Me: We're good on the right side!   Ninja: I've still got your back brotha!

Me: I can cover you if you want to go in HAM!

Me: I think I'm going to go in HAM!  Tyler: I'm covering you!

Me: I'M GOING IN HAM!

Me:  I took 3 guys down! I need some backup! 

Tom and I celebrating after an intense win. Tom a had a sick flank back to our base.

Bonafide all painted up!

We all decided to be Cobys wingman at Hooters!

For free desert we had to win the hula hoop contest. Marcus(elmunite) takes down Craig(TK!)

Mikwen vs StrongSide. Ready set go!

2 seconds in, Mikwen says he has never hula hooped! haha I win.

Elumnite vs StrongSide.   Elumnite wins. He is a pro hula hooper! Just look at him!

Tyler ended up being the champ and won the free desert. His hips don't lie.

Group pic before we all had to head home.

Back home at my place getting those last 3 days of practice in before the tournament!

At MLG Columbus warming up split screen with Joe Fries!

Bonafide Boarding!!

The UK apeX Halo Reach Team!

Hanging with my boys (from left to right) Mason, Mike, George, and Matthew Ezekiel Martinez!! 

Waiting for Round 1 FFA to start!

Who are these two fly dudes?

Testdahfy reppin my gear! 

All three colors available for the StrongSide shirt!

Lets keep it going!

Gettin jazzy wit it!

It's always a good time hanging out with Nick!

Signed and approved by FaithSide!

Interview from Mrs. Violence for Gamespot!

So much SWAG!!

My beautiful girlfriend Ellen reppin the girls line from Bonafide Boarding Site

After the finals at Cbus we went to Cobys room to play some 1v1s! Brotha Rob vs myself! 

Everyone started showing up and it was time for 2v2s!

Coby and Shibby soooo focused! Shibby still has it! He is a competitive gamer at heart. 

Group pic!!

After Coby's room we went to hang out in the hotel lobby.

3/4 of the crew.

The full crew!!! haha

Hanging out having a great night Sunday night! 

NeighborSide hanging out like the good ole days!

Shocked at the video we are watching on CR's iphone..haha

Final placings for MLG Columbus 7th FFA and Str8 Rippin 13th. I'm happy I made it into the final 8 in the FFA's it was a tough fight with so many competitors. I have to give a big shout out to everyone who made an appearance at Columbus! Halo was so hyped, it was amazing. Everyone did their part on building Halo back up! Let's keep it up guys! 

As for Str8 Rippin, we all put in so much hard work and time into this tournament. It was disappointing getting knocked out and not placing where we should of been. I felt like I let down myself and my fans. I'm working on finalizing our plans to attend EGL Blackpool for Str8 Rippin. We'll be in Europe from April 5 - April 11. We're looking to have a great time meeting all of the European fans and competitors. I'll be bringing some of my t-shirts for purchase and other gear to give out. I won't be using my phone while I'm out of the country so follow @EGLpro for updates on the event! 

There are going to be some BIG SURPRISES coming to my stream following my return from EGL. So please make sure to follow my stream at StrongSide Stream and my twitter @mcstrongside

Trust me.....you guys will not be disappointed!

Check out my Montage Teaser if you haven't seen it yet! Also check out the fan made montage from KISSmAv96. This guy is from overseas and made this funny but awesome montage of clips that I had posted in my fileshare. The music is priceless. haha

Montage Teaser

Fan made montage by KISSmAv96

MLG Halo Reach Winter Championship

 Thanks and great job to everyone who did their part in supporting Halo Reach to be at the MLG Winter Championship in Columbus! It wouldn't have happened without the support of everyone.

If you enjoy playing halo and love watching it, support it even further by attending the event and playing in the 4v4 or FFA! Sign up here http://www.majorleaguegaming.com/news/buy-mlg-columbus-winter-championship-competitor-passes-discounts-for-gold-members/  Good luck to everyone competing!


If you can't attend the event, no worries, support Halo by buying a GOLD Membership and watching the Live stream March 23-25 on the MajorLeagueGaming website. Tell all you friends to tune in. You don't want to miss out on this tournament!

On to the new Str8 Rippin line up. We have been practicing much more and seeing great improvement these past couple weeks. We have been going over our films and working on our weakness's. Our biggest issue was our communication and we've been improving on it everyday. We are coming together as a team and our teamwork just keeps getting better. We still have a lot of work to do and that is why we have decided to attend two lans before MLG Columbus. First we will be at the Coby2Fast lan in Sacramento, California. From there we will be flying to the new TLN Gaming house for their first Lan. I'll be updating my Twitter/Facebook Fanpage with links to watch the streams for the lans.

After both lans Tom(Tsquared) will be staying at my place until MLG Columbus. We will be gaming side by side working together to build our teamwork. We also will be getting used to screen watching again before the event. Our team is working extremely hard to be as prepared as we can be for this event. I can't wait to play.

With the release of the new v7 settings I really like the addition of the 3 shot beat down. Every player has to be way more accurate with their shots and beating down. The new v7 settings also brought in two new maps, Battle Canyon and Penance. Both are remakes from the original Halo(Beaver Creek and Damnation). I really like playing Battle Canyon. It brings back some good memories from my Halo2 days on Beaver Creek with Final Boss vs Carbon in MLG Meadows 2007! Check out the tournament gameplay here(I couldn't find my POV but here is Walshy's!)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq9diPO2HE4


I'm having my first ever montage made this year! I'm really excited for this. I have so many clips saved over my gaming years! Look to my Twitter for the teaser release coming soon!  I'm having my own line of Strongside shirts made for MLG Columbus. This will be for a limited time only. If you are interested in getting a shirt for the price of $15 hit me up at the event!

Here are two recent gameplays of Str8 Rippin practicing against Team Classic!

                                               Sanctuary-Team Slayer

Zealot-Capture the Flag

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

Ending the year with a bang!

Lately I've been gaming MLG's NBNS Halo:Reach and playing BattleField 3 for Virgin Gaming's $1.6 million tournament. I'm enjoying Reach so much more with NBNS. Last weekend I played in Ryanoob's tournament with Legit @BRIZZ_Legit, Goofy @GGoofy, and Ryanoob @RyaNoob. The tournament lasted two days and the matches were so fun to play. It felt like a local tournament. You get in good games and everyone is giving it their all to win. I enjoyed playing in this tournament much more than matchmaking. We ended up winning the tournament against Russo's team he put together. Our Nexus King game was so intense! We ended up winning by one second. Hope fully there are a lot more online tournaments to come. I love the competition!

The MLG Halo Community has been working hard to bring Halo back to where it used to be. It seems like everyone is doing their part to make things more entertaining and exciting for the players and viewers. This will all help bring new people into the league and bring people back. The other week I participated in The Halo Council show with Dmaq @dmaq1, Bestman @MLGBesTMaN, Gahndi @MLG_Gandhi, Bravo @BravoMLG, and Nexy @NexyMLG . We discussed everything from no bloom no sprint, the community and a little about myself.
Here is a link to their Twitch channel The Gaming Council Twitch  Check it out!!
They have a show once a week!  I'd love to help and participate again in another episode or any other other shows going on out there. I really want to be involved with MLG, Halo, and the community.

On a side note, any editors out there interested in working closely with me on a future montage; please message me with some of your previous work (montages and clips). I'm trying to get a lot of video content out this year.


If you or anyone you know would like to get in contact with me; hit me up via My Facebook Page or @mcStrongSide

I'm going to work extremely hard this new year and can't wait to get everything moved into my new place with Ellen and get started! I'll be streaming a bunch this new year be sure to check it out from time to time! My Twitch Stream Page and don't forget to follow!

On to moving!! Ellen and I finally signed our lease and have been moving stuff in day by day! We got a two bedroom, two bath apartment. There's a lot we need to get but once we're settled in, I'll be making an MLG Cribs video to show the Side Palace! This Christmas, Ellen and I decided to go back to her hometown in Minnesota to be with her family. I love going to see her family because they are always welcoming and her mom always makes the best food! We also get to have Pho! Which is a beef noodle soup that is absolutely amazing!  We leave the morning of Christmas eve and there's so much to do still! It's been a weird winter season here in Northern Kentucky, we haven't seen a flake of snow yet! Hopefully while we're in MN we get some snow and cold weather to hit up the slopes to go snowboarding! I've been killing to get out on the slopes and rip it up!  

Due to the overwhelming amount of submission for "Toys for Gamers" giveaway its taking a lot longer than expected to go through all the videos. The deadline was Dec.18th. All videos sent after that will not be reviewed. I happy to say of the videos I've seen so far there were some great ones! I'll be posting another blog in early January 20112 with the winner…maybe winners….? ;)

Everyone have a Merry Christmas and if you haven't every been snowboarding or skiing before make sure to get out there and try it once!

-Side

 Best memories of 2011

Winning MLG Bic Pro FFA

Placing 4th with Warriors at Dallas opener

The Lan Network lan's and pro's vs. joe's

Videos:

NBNS Sanc CTF

NBNS Pit CTF

"StrongSide's Toys for Gamers"

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-shirt will 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

Follow me on twitter @mcStrongSide for updates and like my fan page at ---> StrongSide Facebook Fan Page

No Bloom Novemeber

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. 

Awesome view from our hotel!

Indiana Jones!! 

Dr jones Dr jones! 

A very steep road. 

Almost there. 

Mickey Mouse waffles FTW! 

Imagination. 

The only way I like my chicken...jerked haha

Gotta love the guy in the Sombrero! 

Ze spicy meatball!

NB NS Zealot TS

Revo vs Infa Oasis King Scrim