Major League Gaming

''This article is about the professional gaming company. For the Halo 3 playlist, click here.''

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, mainly through TV, via ESPN in the USA. 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 2, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, 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 mlgpro.com

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 (One event has been held in Toronto, Canada. 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.

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.

Leaderboard
This is the current Leaderboard for the Halo 3 4v4 Bracket (Edit before Dallas '09.)

Note: Team captains are in bold
 * 1) Str8 Rippin (Tsquared, elamitewarrior, Legit, Snipedown)
 * 2) Triggers Down (SK, Hysteria, .Heinz., iGotUrPisto1a)
 * 3) Instinct (Neighbor, Lunchbox, Roy, GH057ayame)
 * 4) Final Boss (FearItSelf, OGRE2, Victory X, Strongside)
 * 5) Believe The Hype (-Cloud-, D3M0N-D, KGB Soviet, Sypher)
 * 6) Classic (Soldi3r187, [AsK]LeGeNd, BesT MaN, Chig)
 * 7) Status Quo (.FlamesworD., Ix Ace xI, .Totz., -CluTch-)
 * 8) Carbon (ShocKWav3, Defy, Naded, Walshy)
 * 9) Ambush (NtG NeXuS, TiZoXiC, Gilkey, Mackeo)
 * 10) Heaven and Earth (KillerDrewDS, PoWeeZy, HokuM, Karma)
 * 11) Dynasty (Asssault, eNabLe, Max/Pro, Destin.)
 * 12) End Result (Madmax_eh, ThuggishKILLA, HelluVa, I CallMeGod I)
 * 13) Overnight Sensation (Lilseb, Eli, GuN_ShoT, WoNkA)
 * 14) Overlooked (Sasquatch_Snipa, MLGxFrisKy, .ReZzO., Ol_Man_Makowski)
 * 15) PisToL and the Jets (IceVayne, IamTheArkanum, PisToL, Mimic)
 * 16) EBK High Life (FeaR, Elumnite, Cpt Anarchy, Perplexity)

Gameplay
MLG utilizes the Forge system in Halo 3 to recreate maps for MLG events, the MLG playlist, and GameBattles. The maps differ from the normal versions mainly by weapon placement, availability and various object placement. Only a handful of weapons are available in MLG, equipment and vehicles are not in play, and gameplay settings are modified to speed up gameplay.

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. The MLG playlist along with the other Hardcore playlists were moved to the Ranked Playlists while the Hardcore Playlist was retired as of August 4, 2009 for Halo 3.