Too Consistent?

Posted by: bootman

Consistency is the one thing that any team really looks for no matter what kind of sport you are looking at. From baseball to Dead or Alive, from football to Counter-Strike: Source, or from soccer to FIFA 08, all teams are looking for consistency in a positive fashion for the optimal performance throughout any competition. This year we saw consistency make obvious seeds for the North American playoffs, and we also saw it give a team back some dignity that they thought they lost early on in the season.

When you look at a team like 3D, they were hands down the most consistent team during the regular season by starting off undefeated for their first five matches before losing to Carolina, and then going on another winning streak until the last game of the regular season, that guaranteed them the #1 seed for the playoffs. On the opposite side of the coin was the Los Angeles compLexity who was on a ten game losing streak, and it looked as though they weren't going to win a single match all season long, but they were able to win their last two matches in big ways by beating the future North American champions, Carolina, and the #1 team in the regular season, 3D.NY. In 3D's case their consistent play during the regular season absolutely crushed them when they couldn't even grab the wild card spot for the World Final, but for Los Angeles, their consistency of poor performances all season long gave them a huge boost of confidence for some of their divisions going into the off-season.

The reason why I chose to start this article off with these two examples is move on to my next point, the Dallas Venom's end to the season, but before I get there, let's stay on the topic of coL and 3D.NY. The key for 3D's success throughout the season was that a lot of their franchise matches came down to the last game and how many points they could score, and on a regular basis, no matter which division it was, they stepped up to the plate. A few of the most memorable wins of the team were from their Dead or Alive 4 Male who was last place in the league, but won the team multiple matches by merely getting enough points to put the win out of reach for their opponents, which showed a lot of heart from the team. In the case of compLexity, it was the exact opposite really. Many of coL's losses came down to the very last game, but time and time again, none of their divisions could show the same heart that many other players had shown, to just win the match for the team (If you missed my more in depth article about my thoughts on coL's performance throughout the season you can check it out here).

Now let's move on to the Dallas Venom.

Throughout the season, I know many fans including myself, thought all throughout the regular season and even the North American playoffs, that Dallas had a World championship team. Dallas was eliminated in the first round of the world finals by the San Francisco OPTX, but I think in a lot of people's hearts, they still know that this team could have won the world championships had they kept their consistency from the regular season on to the North American and World finals.

On paper it's really not hard to see where I'm coming from with this. A perfect example is their top three divisions, their Dead or Alive 4 team and their Source team, the three of these divisions came up huge for the Venom throughout the season that helped get them as far as they went. I don't mean to discredit the Forza team and Barmoa, but realistically the team had three divisions that you could almost always count on. The franchise player Master had a near flawless season with the highest point differential during the regular season, and finished it with a record of 11-1. Then there is the only female rookie of the North American region, Phoenix, who was second place in the overall rankings and not only was the only female to beat the almost unbeatable Vanessa, she did it twice in a row. Finally we come down to the Counter-Strike: Source squad that started off the season 1-3 and managed to win eight straight games against arguably the toughest Source teams in the entire world.

Did I forget to mention that the Dallas Venom was the only North American team to have two representatives in the individual world final and both of them won?

I believe that the consistency that these three division proved throughout the season, may have been their downfall in some very crucial matches. The first time we saw this, was when Phoenix faced coolsvilla in one of the last matches of the regular season. This was the first match that Phoenix had played after her win over Vanessa, and the fact that Phoenix did not realize that she was now the biggest target in the division may have helped coolsvilla's 5-0 win that completely blindsided her, and basically put the match out of reach for the Venom team. Phoenix had beaten coolsvilla prior to this match, so a 5-0 loss was unacceptable due to the kind of player we all know she is.

Then we have Master, and who did not love watching him play this season with absolute dominance. Everyone knew that the only person to put up four rounds against him during the season was OffbeatNinja, who eventually was the one that became the first one to beat him in the season with a 5-2 score. After this it was hard to say where Master's head was at, as he went on to lost two more matches in a row, and one of them was the most important match of his career in the North American final where he met up with Offbeat again and lost with a 5-1 score. Much like Phoenix's match, this really put the Counter-Strike: Source team in a bind as they had to win 13-5 to win the North American final, but they come up short with a 12-6 win. OffbeatNinja is an incredible Dead or Alive player, but if you're able to go 11-1 during a season and one of your wins was over this player, you should put up more than just one round.

Now I'm not saying Master did not take this to heart in any way at all. He realized that he wasn't playing like he had all season, and even had JaX hold onto his MVP trophy until he felt Master deserved it again. Master then returned to form and went back to win the individual world final, and only gave up two rounds total, to the top competition in the world. He then went on to the first round of the World Finals with the Venom team and got revenge on NinjaCW who was the other person able to defeat him in the '08 season. It just so happened that on one of Master's most important matches, he was unable to play up to the consistency of play he had all season long.

Finally there is the Counter-Strike: Source team, some of the biggest comeback kids in the league. They started off in last place after the first four matches of the season, and finished first. Not only did they finish first, but they were able to win the individual world finals over the Birmingham Salvo. A lot of people don't realize this, but the Dallas Venom Source team had the longest winning streak of any team in CGS history with 14 straight games. FOURTEEN STRAIGHT GAMES, and of course who ruins that win streak? The 5th ranked team in the league and in the first round of the World final that was to win the franchise match. Not only was the Venom Source team one of the most consistent ever, (aside from Vanessa) but they are the only one of the divisions that really lost a crucial match to a team that should have never in a million years beat them like they did. I'll get into a more in depth analysis of the Source match on a later date.

With each of these divisions being some of the most consistent in the league, it really shows that the one time you don't play your A-game, it can cost the entire game. I remember when Master lost to Offbeat in the last game of the season, the main slogan going around was, “It's better to lose one now than in the playoffs.” and I don't quite agree with that logic. It is far better to play to your best potential of your ability every time you pick up a controller or a mouse. In most cases of other teams, their losses came from being outplayed overall, but in each of the Venom's cases, it always came from a situation that shouldn't have happened at all.

Many have to wonder if players such as Master, or the Source team who had such big winning streaks may have actually had that bite them in the rear by thinking they were untouchable during the season. I still truly believe this is a World Championship team, but the real question is "Does JaX?" Is he going to continue the curse next season by redrafting as many players as possible? Or is he going to go after any piece of new talent he can find. When you get down to the realization of things, the Venom could have easily flipped any of their losses into their favor, and that's something that should be taken into consideration. But how many of these players are we going to see coming back to Dallas for the '09 season no matter how consistent they were?