Can Master Do It Again?

Posted by: DrDogg

During the 2007 season of the Championship Gaming Series, Emmanuel “Master” Rodriguez surprised many by losing to Ryan “Offbeat Ninja” Ward, among others, to finish second in his division with an 8-4 record. It was a solid finish, but most expected Master to take top honors like he had done at the two Championship Gaming Invitational tournaments before the onset of the CGS. He bounced back in the 2008 season with an amazing 11-1 record to become the pillar of support that his team needed him to be. Now we look ahead to the 2009 season to determine if he can do it again.

For the purposes of this article, we’ll assume that DOA4 is the fighting game of choice next season. There’s a possibility that Soul Calibur IV could make a debut, but people who may or may not be in the know seem to think that DOA will remain for at least another season. That said, it’s safe to assume that Master will remain the franchise player of the DALLAS VENOM, and Offbeat Ninja and Chris “NinjaCW” Harris will remain on their respective teams. It’s equally safe to assume that Jeremy “Black Mamba” Florence, Carl “Perfect Legend” White and Cardell “Dave Cheppelle” Thomas will be thrown back into the draft pool.

With at least two familiar faces returning to the league to oppose Master, things are looking up for the VENOM star. While it seems everyone is out to get the Master, his primary rival in the CGS has been Offbeat Ninja. He lost to Offbeat Ninja in both of their meetings during the 2007 season and Offbeat Ninja brought Master’s 2008 winning streak to a close with a victory in their final meeting of the regular season. Both Offbeat Ninja and NinjaCW got wins on Master during the North American playoffs.

These wins over Master could do more harm than good for Offbeat Ninja and NinjaCW. Master does not like to lose and everyone saw what happened when he lost during the 2007 season. He came back with a vengeance, raining Izuna Drops on all who opposed him. You can believe that Master will not be satisfied until he’s sure he can claim victory when it counts, over both of these competitors.

Three spots will be open in the DOA-M division when the 2009 draft kicks off. While it’s certainly possible Master could see three new competitors in his division, most would agree that at the very least, Perfect Legend will be back. Before his CGS debut he was arguably the top DOA player in the world, and you can be sure one of the three teams without a DOA-M going into the draft will give him a second chance.

The other two spots will probably go to newcomers. Dave Cheppelle has had two seasons with the league and hasn’t been able to really perform on either occasion. If a newcomer shows that he can at least hang with Cheppelle it’s unlikely he’ll be given a third chance. Black Mamba had a fairly average 2007 season, a phenomenal 2007 World Final and a completely disastrous 2008 season. He will have to have a phenomenal Combine performance after letting the CHICAGO CHIMERA down so much this past season. He’ll probably be joining Cheppelle in the stands for the 2009 season.

Master and Perfect Legend have gone back and forth for years in DOA4 and that’s not likely to change for the 2009 CGS season. Perfect Legend had a rough start to his CGS career, but that doesn’t make him any less of a top player and Master knows this. He won’t be underestimated, but it’s not out of the question for Master to lose at least once to this former champion.

The two newcomers will almost certainly be no challenge for Master. The DOA community simply isn’t that big, and there aren’t many who can step up to take on the Master. There are at least ten names I could toss out that could conceivably be drafted next season, and none of them have ever been a threat to Master in DOA4; most of them have never been a threat to Master, period. If Master loses next season, expect a loss to Perfect Legend and Offbeat Ninja each, a close match or two with NinjaCW and a 10-2 overall record with an undefeated playoff and World Final performance.