Catching Up With The Core

Posted by: crunchtime

With a long drought of CGS play ahead of us, it gives the players and GMs a time to relax and reflect on past accomplishments and changes for the future. I was able to catch up with Joe “Phantom” Tackett, Ryan “OffBeat Ninja” Ward, Sonny “s0nny” Tran and Andrew “Anomaly” Brock about their summers and impressions on the season. Hit the jump to see what the 2008 North American Champions had to say!

What have you been doing since the World Finals and how are you preparing for the 2009 CGS season?

Ryan “Offbeat Ninja” Ward: Well after the world finals I was part of a group of players that decided to stay in Los Angeles until the end. The last little bit in LA was basically a vacation before going home. Once I returned, I immediately ended up going to Mark's wedding for a week (congrats to Mark and Julie!). Needless to say I have been taking it easy and have been having a lot of fun for the start of the off-season. Now that I am finally home, I have been playing Ninja Gaiden 2 religiously. Other games include Metal Gear Solid: 4, and a little bit of Soul Calibur 4 on the side, not to mention DOA. I will also be participating in the Fata1ity Mall tour in mid-September, and then my trip to Japan in mid October (finally!). In addition, there will be a few DOA events in the fall I plan on attending.

Sonny Tran: I've been enjoying what's left of my short summer. The weekend I got back from LA I went to Destin, FL with my friends and that was relaxing. Other than that I've been chillin’ at home and getting ready for the next semester of school.

Joe “Phantom” Tackett: I have been getting my butt kicked at my real job since I have been back. For some unknown reason we have a ton of work to do and it never ends. I have zero plans for the 2009 season since there is no information on the game and more importantly money.

Andrew “Anomaly” Brock: I really haven't been up to much since returning home from Los Angeles at the end of July. Mostly I've just been getting reacquainted with life here at home, relaxing and getting in touch with friends and family again. I'll just be doing things here at home until I move back out to Waterloo to begin my final semester of university at the beginning of September.


How did everyone feel about the outcome of the season? What actions do you think could have produced a better outcome?

Andrew “Anomaly” Brock: It was definitely disappointing to bow out of the World Final in the semi-final round, as we were very close to achieving the goal we all set out to accomplish at the start of the season. But looking back, I'm definitely proud of what we accomplished, especially considering our lackluster regular season and lucky playoff berth. From there we managed to capture the North American championship which is something the whole franchise is certainly very proud of.

Sonny Tran: I am disappointed about the outcome of the season. We finished fourth after the season was over, barely making playoffs. We should have never been in that position and we need to just work harder next season.

Ryan “Offbeat Ninja” Ward: I feel we made it very far. Going into the playoffs with a 4-8 record, being stacked up against top ranked New York 3D and coming out North American Champions over the Dallas Venom was an amazing feat. On the other hand, I am disappointed we were not able to make it all the way and take the World Finals, and even more disappointed we were not able to beat the Salvo. I feel we are a stronger team than the San Francisco Optx and a MUCH stronger team than the Birmingham Salvo. Unfortunately we didn’t play like a stronger team that night. I think as a whole, the team could have prepared better for the Salvo match, which in turn could have changed the outcome of the championship match. In terms of my own personal season I feel I exceeded my skill level from CGS season one by the end of the 2008 regular season up to the world finals. Although my only regret was that it took until about mid-season before I finally came back into form, the fact that I finally came around and had a good season is invaluable to me.

Joe “Phantom” Tackett: I can sum up my feeling very simply: We got lucky to make playoffs, went on a nice run, and then lost a game we should have won. It is hard to be upset that we finished third/fourth in the world since we should not have been in the playoffs to begin with.


Tackett was not upset with that the confetti was the Core's at least part of the year
Andrew, with an eventful second season in The CGS, you were the first player to be a two-time North American champion under two franchises and returned to the World Finals with old teammate and now rival, GRT. Throughout the season though, you were unable to win past regulation. Give us some insight on what overtime was like in FIFA 2008 and why or how did it continue to snowball for you. Did you switch your focus/strategy to keep the game within regulation after several OT losses?

Andrew “Anomaly” Brock: Looking back at the season it was certainly clear that it was the shootouts that were holding me back. I felt like there were some games that I lost in the shootout that I should've won in regulation to begin with, which was very frustrating mid-way through the season. I had some pretty poor luck in the shootouts, namely instances where I'd guess the right way and balls would deflect off my keeper and in, etc. But after I strung the first few shootout losses together I think it definitely began to give me a negative feeling as I played more of them out. That poor, 'here we go again!' attitude is probably what helped snowball my streak up to six shootout losses, regardless of any luck factor.

My strategy never really changed down the stretch. I was just focusing on going into each match well prepared and trying to do my best to put goals on the board for my team. I never really dreaded going to a shootout but naturally you want a nice decisive win in regulation with actual goals. This perseverance ended up paying off in the long run as I was able to finish out the season winning six of my final seven games in regulation time.

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