Final Boss (Electronic Sports Team)

Final Boss is a professional HaLo 3 team which compete in Major League Gaming (MLG). They were sponsored by Washington Wizards player Gilbert Arenas. Team members had competed at other MLG events for StK and 3D.NY. They were also formerly affiliated with DtO. They were considered the top Halo team in the MLG due to a string of victories in 2004 and 2005. Their 8-event winning streak came to an end when the now arch-rival of Final Boss, Team Carbon defeated them at the event in Orlando during the 2006 season. They came in second place to Carbon at the following two events; the New York Playoffs and the National Championships.

During the off season, Final Boss let team member Saiyan go in favor of StrongSide. Final Boss bounced back from the 2006 season for 2007 and won the first two events, before slipping to second against Carbon once again in the 3rd event in Dallas. They stepped up to win event 4 in Chicago, but lost event 5 to a newly revamped Str8 Rippin' team in the Finals. The 2007 National Championships saw Final Boss cementing their dynasty in Halo 2 by winning the championship over arch-rival Carbon without losing a single game throughout the entire tournament. When MLG picked up Shadowrun for MLG Chicago, team Shoot to Kill (StK) was formed which is a team name Final Boss had in the past. StK consisted of Walshy, OGRE 2, oNeEye, and eXt. They placed first in Chicago and fifth in Orlando. In Vegas, Walshy and OGRE 2 were close of Walking away as champions in 2 games (Halo 2 & Shadowrun) but lost a tough match with team TsK (Three shot Killers) and finished second. On VoD they were referred as Final Boss and not as Shoot to Kill. At first ever Canadian tournament MLG Canada '07, Final Boss finished once again first coming out of losers bracket and proving once again that they are the most dominant team in Halo 2.

Final Boss transitioned smoothly into Halo 3 with a victory at the inaugural Halo 3 MLG Tournament in New Jersey, taking down Team Classic in the Championship Match. After placing outside of the top 2 in the next two events, Final Boss decided to drop their team captain, Walshy. Shortly after, they added Neighbor to their roster from Str8 Rippin. They placed 3rd at Toronto and Dallas. At MLG Las Vegas (National Championships) the team failed to place top 2 after a loss against Carbon. This was the first time the Ogres did not make it into the National Championship Finals and took the fourth spot.

In the beginning of 2009, with Neighbor and StrongSide leaving the team, and OGRE 1 in rumoured retirement, OGRE 2 went to look for dedicated team mates for the '09 season. His first pick, FearItSelf, a long time MLG player that got kicked off Triggers Down and was ready to continue the dynasty. That left them with 2 spots open. They picked up one of the best duos on the pro circuit, Mackeo and Victory X. In the 2009 MLG opener, the Meadowlands, they got as far as WBR3 before they got eliminated by Instinct to the losers bracket where they ended up losing 3-2 to Triggers Down placing they at the fifth spot.

Current roster

Former Players

Coach

Final Boss has been known for playing without a coach but after losing two events consecutively in 2006 to Carbon, Final Boss acquired The Ogre Twins' older brother, Marty OGRE 3 Ryan to coach them during the National Championship in Las Vegas.

For the better part of the 2007 Halo 2 season they were coached by ManTrain, a long time friend of the Ogres. For the Orlando event immediately preceding the National Championships, friend and former Halo pro TuPac was acquired. In what is regarded by many as the most impressive Halo 2 performance ever in an MLG event, Final Boss went undefeated in the 2007 National Championships in Las Vegas without the assistance of a coach.

Beginning the 2008 season without a coach, Final Boss took the first Halo 3 MLG event in Meadowlands. However, following a disappointing 7th place finish at the second event in San Diego, they acquired ManTrain for Orlando, finishing fifth. Coach, Andy "JT Bravo" Dudynsky, was acquired weeks after the Neighbor transaction, and has coached them to two 3rd place finishes in Toronto and Dallas, and a 4th place finish in Vegas.

Transactions

StK:
- Dom1 replaced with Cyrax after Halo 50k
- Cyrax leaves after Halo 50k2
- Saiyan joins StK for Chicago '04
- Strangepurple leaves. Replaced with Clockwork for Atlanta '04
- OGRE 1 and OGRE 2 join up with Walshy and KillerN to form Team Domination, winning Seattle '04

3D:
- KillerN leaves beginning of '05 season. Saiyan rejoins. Team name now StK for D.C. '05

Final Boss:
- Saiyan dismissed beginning of '07 season. StrongSide leaves Team LeGendz and joins Final Boss for Charlotte '07.
- Walshy dismissed from Final Boss and joins Instinct. Neighbor leaves Str8 Rippin and joins Final Boss for Toronto '08.
- Neighbor leaves from Final Boss and joins Instinct after Las Vegas '08.
- StrongSide leaves Final Boss to join Status Quo.
- OGRE 1 left to come back with his new formed team, The Incredibles
- FearItSelf, Mackeo, and Victory X picked up in January '09 for '09 Meadowlands.

Notable accomplishments

External links

• (http://gamebattles.com/finalboss Gamebattles team and record)
• Official Final Boss site
• "So you wanna be a professional video game player?" by ESPN's Patrick Hruby
• MLG Pro Circuit on USA Network
• Final Boss team logo
• Team StK at MLG Philadelphia 2004
• Team 3D interview
• Team StK interview
• Kotaku gaming
• http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/11209/MLG-Signs-FourMan-Halo-2-Team-for-1-Million-Contract/
• http://www.gotfrag.com/halo/story/32181/
• Gilbert Arenas NBA blog mentioning team Final Boss
• MLG pro official page