Team Final Boss holding their prize.

Earlier today, top-ranked team Final Boss managed to capture the Halo 2 four-on-four title and take the $20,000 top prize at the 2007 Ford MLG Canadian Open, at the Direct Energy Centre in downtown Toronto. Team Final Boss captured the title after coming back from being thrown into the loser's bracket in an earlier round. The team battled back from what looked like possible elimination against team Carbon and team The Agency, finally defeating third-ranked team Str8 Rippin 3-1 in the tournament's championship match.

When asked about the team's fight to win the tournament, team captain, David “Walshy” Walsh said, “We came into the event ranked first, and Saturday night, we actually lost in the semifinals to The Agency, which is a really good team – the fourth ranked team. But we ended up coming back on Sunday, winning every single round, beating The Agency again. We beat Carbon, who are the second ranked team, and we also beat Str8 (Str8 Rippin), who won the winner's bracket finals. So it was a long, tiring day, but we ended up winning, so it was a tournament to remember.”

When asked about his thoughts on the Canadian competitors in the tournament “Walshy” said, “Surprisingly, a lot of the Canadian players I saw here were amazing. Very good players. But as a team, they need more experience, because we've played them in multiple tournaments, like ten to thirty tournaments in the last few years and this is probably one of their first tournaments playing against the top people, so I just think they need more experience.”

Team Str8 Rippin stood their ground for the length of the tournament, only falling to team Final Boss during the championship match. Though it seemed to some of the spectators in the crowd that they were struggling in their match against team The Agency for the top spot in the winner's bracket, Str8 Rippin member Kyle “Elamite Warrior” Elam disagreed. “We beat them. Some of the games were close, but I thought it would be harder, especially considering we didn't even show up to the venue until, like, five minutes before we played,” said Elam, “So we didn't have any time to warm up. But we lost the first game, but warmed up and beat them the next three.”

When asked about the team's second place finish Elam said, “You know, second place is good I guess. Not first place, but they were playing really well.” Though not fully

The Agency takes on Str8 Rippin

pleased with the final result, he said that he knew team Final Boss was their biggest challenge. “Well I always knew we were one of the best teams,” he said, “and our main competition was Final Boss. Carbon finished fourth, but they played Final Boss in the loser's bracket, so all the top four teams that were here this tournament from the U.S. were really good.”

While they did not finish in the top four, Canadian based teams End Result, North of 49 and Notorious Four did manage to hold places in the tournament's top eight spots, placing consecutively in places six, seven and eight. Full details on the top eight teams, and the prize money awarded to each team follows:

Halo 2 Four vs. Four Results – 2007 Ford MLG Canadian Open

1) Final Boss - $20,000

Name                     Gamer Tag     Hometown

Michael Cavanaugh Strongside     Edgewood, Kentucky

Dan Ryan               Ogre1            Pickerington, Ohio

Tom Ryan              Ogre2            Pickerington, Ohio

David Walsh           Walshy         Grandville, Michigan

2) Str8 Rippin - $10,000

Name                     Gamer Tag     Hometown

Mason Cobb           Neighbor        Mukilteo, Washington

Kyle Elam              Elamite          Florence, Kentucky
                             Warrior

Bryan Rizzo           Legit              Palm Harbor, Florida

Tom Taylor             Tsquared       Baldwinsville, New York

3) The Agency - $7,500

Name                     Gamer Tag     Hometown

Paul DiMeck           Slim               Pinckney, Michigan

Brett Leonard          Naded            Antioch, California

Justin Mann            Halogod         Puyallup, Washington

Cameron                Victory_X       Bloomfield, Michigan
Thorlakson             West

4) Carbon - $5000

Name                     Gamer Tag     Hometown

Eric Hewitt              Gh057ayame Westfield, New Jersey

Ben Jackson           Karma           Richmond, Virginia

Scott Lussier          Gandhi           Nokesville, Virginia

Chris Smith            Shockwave     Berwyn, Pennsylvania

5) Nice Like Rice - $3,500

Name                     Gamer Tag     Hometown

Raymond                RAY              Commerce, Michigan
Markham

Jordan Blackburn     LegendJRG    West Chester, Ohio

Tyler Hewitt             Hewy             Burlington, Ont.

Kyle Magee             Chronic Lies   Riverview, Michigan

6) End Result - $2,000

Name                     Gamer Tag        Hometown

JordanCourchesne   LL lufekzion LL  Lindsey, Ont.

Kevin Garcia           DARKscorpion   Keswick, Ont.

Matt Hearne            IHearne             Mississauga, Ont.

Max Rawal             MaD MaX           Toronto, Ont.

7) North of 49 - $1,250

Name                     Gamer Tag     Hometown

Thomas Dressel      Silent             Montreal, Que.

Nelson Triana          G-SpOt          Ottawa, Ont.

Bo Kovacevic           The Bo          Toronto, Ont.

Leo Vitelli                Alpha            Richmond Hill, Ont.
                              XFactor

8) Notorious Four - $750

Name                     Gamer Tag     Hometown

Mike Jowett             Genetix         Burlington, Ont.

Brandon Moniz         Moniz           Mississauga, Ont.

Kyle Smithers          Krizen          Mississauga, Ont.

Matt Warkentin        Furien           St. Catharines, Ont.