Granado Espada PvP Tournament A Success

by PJ Punla

While all around the cosplayers and transforming-robot fans thronged the celebration of the Philippine Toys and Collectibles Convention 2007, a small group of Granado Espada players from all over the country got ready to rumble along with other players in Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

IP-Interactive, a sister company of e-Games, oversaw the Granado Espada booth and preparations for the finals of the first region-wide Granado Espada PvP Tournament. Several computers were hooked up to a special private server based in Singapore to allow the country representatives to play their matches on an even ground.

The guys and girls of Team Philippines, here in the Philippines.

The members of Granado Espada Team Philippines, known in-game as Street, Arcleaumont, Hush, Amelia™, Grandee, micamania, oGTo, DeathAngel, TressPassing, wattz, snapshot, Crixca, Stormgeist, and Crowe, had initially been chosen from among the many Filipino players on Cervantes server during Pioneers’ Reconnaissance, the elimination event held last June 6 across the country.

Two of the winning teams from Pioneers’ Reconnaissance, Ino and Overseer and Maztermel and Iami, won the right to personally represent the Philippines at the Granado Espada Raid Party that also served as the launch event in Singapore, held at the Zouk nightclub there.

Back here, the other 14 contenders first fought it out among themselves to select the second pair of local representatives.

According to the rules of the tournament, players would be using pre-made characters during the event. All characters were at Level 100, and had all their stances (sets of skills) maxed out. Characters were also provided with a selection of high-level weapons and armor, and a set budget to buy consumable items such as the allowed healing potions and magical items.

The contestants were grouped into teams of two apiece to fight the matches, thereby making the actual PvP as seen on screen a match of six-on-six characters.

The first round was played using the knockout format, from which Street and Arcleaumont, Stormgeist and Crowe, oGTo and DeathAngel, and TressPassing and wattz emerged triumphant.

These four teams then played by the best-of-three format for the second round, which was won by the teams of Street and Arcleaumont, and Crowe and Stormgeist.

The country finals pitted these two teams against each other in yet another best-of-three match, and when the dust settled, Street and Arcleaumont were the winning pair.

As final preparations got under way for the last matches, word reached the local IP-Interactive team of news from Singapore. The two other Philippine teams were out of the running for the final rounds, leaving Street and Arcleaumont as the last country representative standing.

On screen from Singapore, GM Thokas of Granado Espada refereed the next series of matches, going over the rules with the remaining contenders. It was decided that the upcoming round would be fought using the round-robin format, and the teams that accumulated two wins would proceed to the finals.

Street and Arcleaumont lost, but had the privilege of being in a featured match - their matches were beamed onto the wide screens at Zouk in Singapore for everyone at the party to watch.

First place went to the team of cara and nuub, while second place to that of RavaNa and Voyage.

The Philippines took two of the special awards: Overseer was awarded Most Valuable Player; while Maztermel and Iami were honored as Most Supportive Team.

The Singapore delegation with their prizes.

(For more news and pictures of the event, please point your browsers to http://geninemoons.blogspot.com.)