Major League Gaming



Note: this article only focuses on the Halo games MLG uses.

Overview
Major League Gaming (MLG) is the largest organized league for worldwide professional competitive gaming and tournaments. The privately held company was founded in New York City in 2002, and has now attracted competitors from over 28 countries worldwide. MLG uses several media outlets to popularize their tournaments such as television. However, the internet is much more useful to fans, as MLG posts videos, tactics, leaderboards, tips from professional gamers, and much more. Fans can visit MLG's website to upload their videos to the site, and to access the content of their favorite game that MLG currently uses, some of which are: Gears of War, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Shadowrun, Call of Duty 4, and Halo 3. MLG also runs a video series in partnership with ESPN called MLG/ESPN Top Ten, in which ten short clips of unusual or exceptional Halo 3 multiplayer matches of the week are presented in a quick, concise manner. Fans can submit their videos for consideration to be included in the MLG/ESPN Top Ten at http://mlgpro.com/topten

MLG Playlist
On March 12, 2008, MLG announced that an MLG playlist would replace Team Hardcore in matchmaking for Halo 3. The MLG playlist was released online as a ranked playlist on March 31, 2008. 

Tournaments
MLG's main function is to organize tournaments and competitions and present leaderboards of the top competitors of a game. MLG's most famous tournament series is the MLG Pro Circut. This is an annual series of tournaments held by MLG in which competitors of all games compete at various locations, usually a major city, in the United States. The current Pro Circut is the MLG Pro Circut 2008 which runs from April 11 to November 3, and has 6 tournaments including the championship. Because MLG is fully sponsored, players competing in an MLG tournament are provided with all necessary equipment such as televisions and video game systems, except game controllers. However, some players may choose to bring equipment anyway to practice their game before the competition. Typically, each MLG tournament is held over the course of a weekend (Friday through Sunday) with the only exception being the Playoffs/Championship, which occurs over a period of four days. MLG has tweaked the gametypes and, in the case of Halo 3, the maps to provide highly competitive yet balanced gameplay for a wide variety of basic gametypes such as: Capture the Flag, Team Slayer, and Team King of the Hill. The MLG gametypes tend to require more skill, communication, and strategy than default settings. The current official MLG gametypes and settings (version 5) can be found here.

Pro Circuit Ladders
Players wishing to participate in an MLG tournament compete in online tournaments called Pro Circuit Ladders which, by winning, players may earn Pro Circuit Rank Points. These Pro Circuit Rank Points determine seeding for the Pro Circuit events, and often offer cash prizes. The Pro Circuit Ladder is split into two groups, the Ladder Competition, and the Playoff Bracket. Top teams in the Ladder Competition, who compete over several weeks of tournaments, earn a spot in the Playoff Bracket. The Playoff Bracket is a double-elimination tournament to determine an overall victor. To enter Pro Circut Ladders, players require MLG/Gamebattles Credits which can be purchased in the MLG online store.

Current Leaderboard
This is a current Leaderboard for the Halo 3 4v4 Bracket.
 * 1) Str8 Rippin (T Squared, Elamite Warrior, Legit, Snipedown)
 * 2) Triggers Down (SK, Fearitself, Hysteria, Karma)
 * 3) Final Boss (OGRE 1, OGRE 2, NEIGHBOR, StrongSide)
 * 4) Instinct (Roy, Lunchbox, Walshy, Soviet)
 * 5) Team Classic (Ant, Soldier187, Victory X, Mackeo)
 * 6) Carbon (Shockwave, Naded, Ghostayame, Cpt Anarchy)
 * 7) Ambush (Pistola, Nexus, Heinz, Cloud)
 * 8) Legendz (Gandhi, Best Man, LegendPimps, Defy)
 * 9) Breaking Point (Chiig, PowWow, Mudvayne, Ace)
 * 10) AntiGravity (Tizoxic, Severince, Eli, GunShot)
 * 11) Chilled Reality (Perplexity, CallMeGod, Frosty, Silent)
 * 12) Under the Influence v2 (Talent, Twylight, Lil Seb, ThuggishKilla)
 * 13) Time 2 Prove (TimeliestBrute, Bradfox, Batmayne, IntheClutch)
 * 14) Xit Wounds (Insaiyan, Luck, Samurai, Bonfire)
 * 15) Renegade (Acid, Assault, Woooly, Pilez)
 * 16) Active Rush (Icevayne, j0rdizzle, Swisha, Totz)

Halo 2 Pro Circuit
Halo 2 is no longer included in the MLG Pro Circut, as Halo 3 replaced it; however, this section is included here to provide a list of gametypes and settings as used in the Halo 2 Pro Circut for anyone who might need it. The Halo 2 Pro Circuit featured a 4v4 bracket, where two teams of four players pitted themselves against each other in Team Slayer, Team Ball, CTF, and Assault, and a Free For All (FFA) bracket where players took to the game solo. The tournament was split up into six major events; five regular season events and the Playoffs/National Championship.

The open 4v4 tournament consisted of an 192-team, double-elimination bracket. Teams that lost once moved to the Loser's Bracket but still had a chance to finish first by playing the winners of the Winner's Bracket. If a team lost twice, then they were eliminated. The championship 4v4 event is similar to the open 4v4, except it consists of 32 teams. Each match in the bracket is a best-of-5 games match, and the first team to win three games will win the match. The top eight teams by final placement in the championship 4v4 won prize money, but the 32 teams in the championship event also earned rank points for that season.

Comparable in nature to the 4v4 tournament, the FFA was individual based, and no more than 1024 players could join. This was a single elimination tournament consisting of 8 players per game. Advancement from the open FFA to the championship FFA was granted to sixteen players regardless of status or seed. The championship FFA consisted of a 32-player Round Robin tournament and a final championship game, in which each competitor played against all other competitors at least once, regardless of winning or losing a game. The final championship game was a standard FFA game, and all eight players earned prize money determined by where they placed in the game.

Game types
The game types for the 2007 Halo 2 Pro Circuit were as follows:

All preferences not listed below remain as default.

FFA
Slayer Settings
 * 1) Score to Win Round = Unlimited
 * 2) Round Time Limit = 15 Minutes
 * 3) Suicide Penalty = None
 * 4) Starting Weapon = Battle Rifle
 * 5) Weapons on Map = Human
 * 6) Map = Midship



All Games

 * 1) Resolve Ties = Off
 * 2) Suicide Penalty = None
 * 3) Motion Sensor = Off
 * 4) Team Changing = Off
 * 5) Respawn Time Modifier = None
 * 6) Betrayal Penalty = None
 * 7) Starting Weapon = Battle Rifle
 * 8) Weapon Respawn = Double Time

Team Slayer (except Sanctuary)

 * 1) Round Time Limit = 15 Minutes
 * 2) Weapons on Map = No Duals
 * 3) No vehicles or turrets

Team Slayer Sanctuary

 * 1) Round Time Limit = 15 Minutes
 * 2) Primary Turret = None
 * 3) No vehicles or turrets

Team Ball

 * 1) Score to Win Round = 5 Minutes
 * 2) Round Time Limit = 15 Minutes
 * 3) Weapons on Map = No Duals
 * 4) No vehicles or turrets

CTF Classic Sanctuary

 * 1) Round Time Limit = 30 Minutes
 * 2) Flag at Home to Score = Off
 * 3) Flag Touch Return = Off
 * 4) Flag Reset Time = 10 Seconds
 * 5) Flag Indicator = Off



CTF Classic Midship & Warlock

 * 1) Score to Win Round = 5
 * 2) Round Time Limit = 30 Minutes
 * 3) Flag Reset Time = 15 Seconds
 * 4) Flag Indicator = Off
 * 5) Weapons on Map = No Duals
 * 6) No vehicles or turrets

Neutral Bomb

 * 1) Number of Rounds = 1 Round
 * 2) Score to Win Round = 3
 * 3) Round Time Limit = 30 Minutes
 * 4) Bomb Reset Time = 60 Seconds
 * 5) Bomb Arm Time = 5 Seconds
 * 6) Weapons on Map = No Duals
 * 7) No vehicles or turrets

The only maps used for these game types are Lockout, Midship, Beaver Creek, Sanctuary, and Warlock.