By: Julie Nakamura

Staff Writer

The roar of spectators drown out any one voice, whether they sit in front of their computer monitor at home, or a large projector screen, inside the Dallas Convention Center.

Though the Major League Gaming (MLG) Annual Fall Championships drew to a close on Nov 4, the feedback from the event attendees continues to roll in. Though the expectations from the spectators around the nation were high, by general consensus, MLG managed to pull off a big success, even with the minor issues that occurred.

“It was great,” Coppell High School senior John Yang said. “It exceeded my expectations. MLG did a great job putting it together.”

This was the general consensus of the attendees from CHS. The excitement of meeting their idols combined with the live event created the equation for success.

“I have seen them play, but I have never met any of them. It was a pretty big deal to me, even more than the games themselves.” Yang said.

Professional players from Starcraft II, Halo 4 and League of Legends mingled within the crowd, offering pictures, advice and signatures to the die-hard gamer fans around them.

“I got to meet St. Vicious (a professional League of Legends player), that was awesome for me” CHS 2011 graduate James Williams said. “I almost went full fan girl. It was pretty incredible”

For the students of CHS that attended the Fall Championships, the event has become one of the opportunities that have shaped their senior year.

“For all of us, this was our first live event, now we know what to expect if we go to another one, and if we do not, we had the chance to experience what it is like,” senior Teemu Koponen said.

Every so often a deafening bellow would interrupt all other spectators watching a tournament in progress, originating from the StarCraft II area. It was the largest section, holding the Fall Championships primary focus. The crowd favorite among the StarCraft community, Life, won the first place title and the $25,000 prize. The most decorated area, the StarCraft arena captivated a majority of the audience, even pulling in fans from the League of Legends and Halo 4 areas.

The newly released game, Halo 4, summoned a crowd that blocked the entry doors to the entire event. Though there was a lack of chairs, the crowd that congregated about the game was almost as large as that of League of Legends. Overall, these fans were pleased with this reveal of the game, getting to not only watch their favorite pro-gamers in action, but to witness Halo 4’s action before its’ release to the public

Able to compete with even the Starcraft II area and spectators, the League of Legends Fall Championship heralded the worthy champions of the League world. With just as big a crowd as SCII, the tournament turned out well. Though the crowd favorite team Najin Sword lost to a hard fought battle, Team Azubu Blaze won first place and the $16,000 prize. The most clear-cut of the games at MLG, it is very much competing with Starcraft II in terms of the biggest area in the event.

As always, price and planning was an issue in such events like these, but these concerns were minimal when viewing the overall event. Minor issues in streaming and game scheduling caused only small ripples in this lake of triumph.

Overall, it is safe to say, this MLG Fall Championship has lived up to its promise of being the biggest and best event that has been scheduled so far.