Ogre2

  (3:01 PM)

Thanks for having me, everyone, I look forward to answering everyone's questions.

Lance Barber (nevada, IA)

ogre2, what is the complete reason dave was released? Was he pushing the team too far in practice and being too forceful to win again?

Ogre2

  (3:02 PM)

I really don't want to give the complete reason. We were having problems in- and out-of game, and we decided that it'd be better to go another way.

Charlie (New York, NY)

Ogre 2, do you think neighbor is going to give the team something walshy couldn't, if so what is this "something".

Ogre2

  (3:03 PM)

I think he's definitely going to bring a lot of newfound energy to the team. It's like having a fresh start, and we're motivated to play with Mason. He's been playing with us every night for the past two weeks. It's refreshing.

Adrian- washington dc

Orgre 2- what changes have been made to accomodate Neighbor's game style?

Ogre2

  (3:04 PM)

We haven't really made changes to accomodate his playstyle--our team pretty much changed altogether. He's brought a lot of new ideas to the team, and all four of us have changed our style of play.

john ( Florida)

Ogre 2, What do you think your chance is of winning Toronto is since you have picked up Neighbor?

Ogre2

  (3:05 PM)

Very good, I guess. We're always going in confident and looking to win. We're getting our stuff down right now, and we're not looking for anything lower than first place. 100 percent is unrealistic, but I'd say very good.

Nate (Biddeford, Maine)

Do you feel that Neighbor was your best option as your fourth, because I've read a lot of blogs on MLG about you guys asking Elamite and Mackeo before him.

Ogre2

  (3:06 PM)

Neighbor was always our No. 1 choice. We did ask Elamite first due to him and StrongSide being friends for several years, but Neighbor, we feel, is the best player in the game.

Stefan (Cole Harbour, NS)

Have you spoken with walshy since the release? Are you on good terms?

Ogre2

  (3:07 PM)

We have spoken. We're not on bad terms, but we're not on great terms either. It's going to be awkward for a bit, because we teamed for such a long time. It's not the same.

Bobby(Belgrade, MT)

Last week we were told that your brother, OGRE 1, was taking on the leadership role. Is this true and if so how is he doing in this new role?

Ogre2

  (3:08 PM)

We never really had a "leadership" role. On paper, my brother is our team captain, but we feel like we have four leaders on the team. That's something that has often been misinterpreted on our team. We feel we have four well-rounded players who contribute to the team.

Charlie (Hampton, VA)

To Ogre2: Who will be playing objectives for FB now that Walshy has been released? Neighbor isn't much of an objective player.

Ogre2

  (3:09 PM)

Neighbor is definitely an objective player, and we all four will play objectives. That's another misinterpretation of our team. We don't have set roles on the team.

chase-orlando

ogre2, who is your buggest threat in Toronto?

Ogre2

  (3:10 PM)

I'd say Str8 just because we're guaranteed to play them, but not looking at brackets, I'd say Str8, Triggers Down, and Instinct are the top three teams other than us.

Andrew (Suffolk, VA)

Ogre 2, What do you think has been final boss' main weakness during the last couple of tournaments leading to the somewhat disappointing finishes, and how do you guys plan on improving on this?

Ogre2

  (3:12 PM)

Our team chemistry and our motivation had been really poor the past two tournaments. With Neighbor on the team, we're a lot more fun and motivated. We played poorly for external reasons outside of the game itself.

Jibro (South Park, PA)

Ogre2 - other than your team, in your opinion, what team is the most improved with the new trades?

Ogre2

  (3:12 PM)

I think all the other teams lost great players, but they all picked up great players as well. I think maybe every team will be better because of the team changes.

mark (California)

are you ever going to blog about ur view on the team changes?and also how intense has ur practices been on a daily basis getting ready for toronto?

Ogre2

  (3:14 PM)

I might, although my brother already did. It would be similar to his if I did. Our practices have been very intense. Neighbor has been at our house for two weeks now already, and we've been playing from 8-12 hours a day. We'll be playing with Chilled Reality for about a week straight prior to the tourney.

Ogre2

  (3:14 PM)

Thanks to all of our fans for being our fans, and hopefully we'll be able to pull out a victory in Toronto.

Buzzmaster

  (3:15 PM)

Justin Brown ("Roy") is up next.

Roy

  (3:20 PM)

Hello to all of our fans on Instinct!

Andrew (VA)

Roy, hows the new team with walshy added to your squad? Also how long would you say your team practices daily?

Roy

  (3:21 PM)

Our squad is definitely a lot better, because Walshy and Soviet are both very aggressive players. I think this game is very aggressively-based, and that is more our playstyle now. We practice, on average, about three or four hours a day, because we're a new team and we need to practice more than others.

Belgrade(Belgrade, MT)

Everyone knows why Mackeo left. But why did Victory leave. Did he leave because Mackeo left or because you guys dropped him?

Roy

  (3:22 PM)

Victory left because we dropped him. We asked each Walshy and Soviet individually if they would join, but they wanted to stick together. We didn't want to screw over Victory, but we had to end up leaving Victory and team with them.

zack (dallas)

roy, how are the new changes with the team any rearangements?new setups?

Roy

  (3:23 PM)

Definitely with Walshy being the video games innovator that he is, we definitely have new strats nobody has thought of yet. We definitely have things that nobody will expect, and we'll be a team to watch out for in Toronto.

Lance ((Nevada, Iowa))

Roy, what do you feel like you've had to adjust the most while losing mackeo and gaining walshy? what did walshy bring that mackeo didn't?

Roy

  (3:24 PM)

I feel like they have very similar playstyles. Walshy is more straightforward aggressive, while Mackeo wants to flank more. The flank is hard to try because you occasionally leave your teammates out to dry. We can start shooting right from the start, as opposed to waiting for someone to come in behind them.

Adrian- washington dc

Who has assumed the role of team leader? Do you guys still use a coach?

Roy

  (3:25 PM)

For team leader, probably Walshy will take command of that. He's one of the best captains in the history of Halo, but for the coach, we were glad to pick up XXX for Toronto.

Chris (Frankfort, KY)

No question that you and your brother are a dynamic duo, do walshy and soviet run routes and play as a two-man team like you and your brother?

Roy

  (3:26 PM)

Yeah, I feel like we worked as two-man teams toward the beginning, but as we've played more together, we're a four-man team, working together.

Carsen (Niagara Falls)

Straightforward question - Who do you see as your biggest threat in Toronto?

Roy

  (3:27 PM)

I'd say we have to watch out for Triggers Down, simply because we had to play them previously. We had to get through Carbon, but I feel TD is more experienced in Halo 3.

Waleed (Virginia)

What has Walshy done to prepare you guys for toronto?

Roy

  (3:28 PM)

Walshy is a motivator. He likes for all of us to get on every day. It's easy for us to do it. For a new team, especially someone like Walshy who I look up to as a player, we've been eager to get on every day.

Charlie (New York, NY)

Do you think Walshy will better on Instinct than he did when he was on Final Boss since you have a coach. On Final Boss he seemed to be a player/coach and it could have distracted him.

Roy

  (3:29 PM)

I think on Final Boss, that seemed to be what happened. On Final Boss, he was an objective player, every single time, and a lot of the other times, the players on that team would not go for objectives. Our team is all unselfish players, and I feel like we can be successful stat-wise regardless of what we play.

Chris (NJ)

Are you guys scrimming anyone before Toronto?

Roy

  (3:30 PM)

We're LANning with Legends starting Sunday-Wednesday, and then we'll be practicing online all the way to the event.

Zack (Hanover, PA)

Did your team, Instict, only pick up Walshy because he was released or was he on your list while he was on FB?

Roy

  (3:31 PM)

We really didn't have a list. We didn't think we were going to lose a player, but definitely after Mackeo left, he was a player who we asked. Both he and Soviet were on our list.

J Knight (Gotham City)

It seems that all the focus is on Walshy, but ppl are forgetting about Soviet somewhat. How has he been performing? Is he ready to try to take a top spot at Toronto?

Roy

  (3:32 PM)

Soviet is a top-5 slayer in the league in my opinion. He was on that list before he was on my team. As an individual player, I don't think anyone will deny that he was Top-5.

Kyle (Cheney, WA)

IMO the reason Final Boss has struggled is because they never transitioned their game from Halo 2 to Halo 3. Do you think Walshy being released has given him a new perspective on Halo 3, and that it will help Instinct be a top contender?

Roy

  (3:34 PM)

I don't think their playstyle did not transition, I just think perhaps they were not practicing hard enough. Other teams were playing better at the time they played them. But now they are more motivated and will play better because of it. So are we, however, and we're better now than we were.

Roy

  (3:34 PM)

Thanks for everybody for rooting us on, and hopefully we will have a big cheering section in Toronto! Thanks to all our supporters!

Buzzmaster

  (3:41 PM)

Next is Joe Reinhart ("Mackeo").

Buzzmaster

  (3:50 PM)

We're working on tracking down Mackeo, everyone!

Buzzmaster

  (4:02 PM)

We've got Mackeo!

Mackeo

  (4:02 PM)

Hey everyone, sorry for being late!

Zachary Martin (Weslaco,Texas)

Mackeo why did you leave Instinct?

Mackeo

  (4:03 PM)

I left instinct because Final Boss offered me a spot on their team. Along with joining them, you get a Gilbert Arenas contract, so I was pretty excited about it. I felt really good about instinct, but it was an offer I couldn't refuse.

David, New York, NY

Hey Mackeo, I was wondering how you are doing on Triggers Down. How different is it? Do you think Triggers Down has a great chance at winning in Toronto?

Mackeo

  (4:04 PM)

I really like them so far. It's definitely different from Instinct. The players seem more aware, although on Instinct our strats were perhaps better. I do think that, in Toronto, we have a pretty good chance of winning.

Richard (New York, NY)

Mackeo, is there any bad blood between you and Neighbor for Neighbor taking your FB spot?

Mackeo

  (4:06 PM)

No, me and Neighbor are still pretty good friends. I don't blame him. I do blame Ogre2 and the rest of Final Boss. I don't think it's bad blood, but I do feel kind of double-crossed. Now that I'm on Triggers Down, I don't feel so bad, but I was pretty upset previously.

Ian (Nashua, NH)

Is there any lingering animosity between you and tD, even with you teaming with them?

Mackeo

  (4:07 PM)

Doesn't bother me at all. It was all in good fun, and I kind of brough the trash talk upon myself a little bit. I didn't hear it at the tournament--I just read something about it.

Adrian- washington dc

Mackeo- Snip3down was a huge influence on TD's victory in Orlando, what aspects of your gaming experience will aid TD to a possible win in Toronto?

Mackeo

  (4:09 PM)

I wouldn't say he was a huge influence on them winning--he was a player and a factor, but it's all about how the team is playing. I can only play so much, and I'm going to be trying to prove my worth, but the team as a whole has to play well. One player can't make a big difference--everyone has to be on fire.

zack (dallas)

mackeo, whats your biggest threat in toronto?

Mackeo

  (4:10 PM)

I think Str8 will be our biggest threat. Elamite, TSquared, and Legit are great players, and Snip3down is great as well. We will have to look out for Final Boss and Instinct as well.

scott, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Mackeo, how do you think your play style works with the other members of triggers down?

Mackeo

  (4:12 PM)

One thing about TD that is very good is our awareness of players on the map--the position of your team relative to the enemy's. I try to take advantage more of weak points, and play more aggressively, and we're trying to learn that together. We'll all be on the same page after this LAN.

Josh (Powell, WY)

Mackeo, you are definitely a beast. How is your chemistry with the rest of TD?

Mackeo

  (4:13 PM)

I think it's excellent. Once we get on the same page, we'll be unstoppable. It's just a little bit on differing views of how to play the game. It may be causing us to not dominate.

Mackeo

  (4:14 PM)

I hope to see everyone in Toronto, and I'm excited for it!