Official Winners Announced

Three teams to play in Championship finals of GameSpot's Ridiculously Long Lasting Tournament in San Francisco at Gamespot After Hours

After a month's worth of gaming, the three final teams, Highly evolv3d (who took Project Circuit’s spot), Team Supreme and .50 Cal, have earned their place in GameSpot's final three for the Ridiculously Long Lasting Tournament.

The Mission tournament final rounds were played in Counterstrike Source, using the DE-Inferno map. This map, which has been around since the early days of Counterstrike, is a regular fan favorite. Games were done as a round robin, with the total number of round wins determining the eventual victor.

Mission 1 (week 1) of the tournament featured four teams – BBT, Project Circuit, Highly Evolved, and GR. Each team played each other once, with a total of 6 matches played. The first pairing of BBT and Project Circuit resulted in each time having two wins. Next, Highly Evolved came out swinging with three match wins to GR's one. BBT again tied, this time with Highly Evolved, two matches each. Project Circuit sealed the deal, however, by sweeping both GR and Highly Evolved, giving them ten total match wins and sealing their victory. However, no GameSpot tournament would be complete without a bit of controversy.  One of the teams had two players that registering their accounts to participate in the tournament under false pretenses. It appears that there was false information entered to bypass the minimum age requirement. BBT was offered the Mission 1 spot, having finished second, but they declined as they were unable to attend. Highly Evolved was then offered the Mission 1 spot to participate in the championship and they have accepted.

Mission 2 (week 2) of the tournament there were six teams duking it out – Source Syndicate, Team One, Team BABS, Team Supreme, Team Morpheus and the return of BBT. This week, each team played each other team for eight matches. Source Syndicate squared off against Team One, where Team one came from behind to take five matches to Source Syndicate's three. Team BABS was up against Team Supreme next, and Supreme scored a decisive victory, winning six of the eight matches, giving them an early lead. It looked, however, like BBT (which stands for Big, Black & Thunderous) was going to be the comeback kid, winning seven of their eight matches against Team Morpheus. But both Team Supreme and BBT swept Team One eight-to-zero, setting the stage for a showdown. As the match started, Team Supreme took a commanding lead, winning all four of their first four matches. While BBT did win the next game, Team Supreme was able to eventually clinch the deal, guaranteeing them a spot at the finals at GameSpot's After Hours event.

Mission 3 (week 3) returned to the four-match format, with Six Feet Under, .50 Cal, LLC and 7oh7 battling for the last available slot in the finals. The first match up was between Six Feet Under and .50 Cal, which .50 Cal won with a three to one record. Next up, LLC (which stands for Livin' Life Casual) versus 7oh7. This was quickly decided, however, as 7oh7 swept all four rounds, giving them four match wins total. LLC would not have such an easy time with Six Feet Under, however, as the two teams split with two match wins apiece. Things were looking solid for .50 Cal after the next round, however, as the won three matches to 7oh7's one. Sure enough, .50 Cal swept LLC four to nothing, cinching up their victory and locking them in as the week three victor. 7oh7 swept four rounds over Six Feet Under, giving them a solid second place.

“I can’t wait to be there with my team,” .50 Cal’s captain said. “It’s going to be a blast!”

Each team won a prize for a free trip to spend their weekend in San Francisco. They now have the opportunity to play for a $1,000 grand prize in Best Buy gift cards, divided up among the team members.

GameSpot will host live coverage of the Championship finals at 7:30 PM PST, which culminates with the crowning of the Grand Champions. The three challenging teams that will play in a round robin format in the Championship round will be Highly evolv3d, Team Supreme (who has some players also associated with Project Circuit) and 50cal.

All teams will play each other twice in Round Robin format in an 8-round match. A round win will be worth one point, for a possible total of 8 points per match. After all teams have competed their matches, the team with the most winning rounds will be named the victor of the Grand Championships for Stride Gum's The Ridiculously Long Lasting Tournament.

Tune in for the final showdown of these three champion teams as they battle it out GameSpot's After Hours!

By Cliff Hicks