We’re still here live from Dallas for the MLG Fall Championships where the Mortal Kombat tournament has just concluded. This tournament was a literal who’s who of the Mortal Kombat pro scene, and had an epic run through top eight with plenty of hype worthy moments. Let’s run through a few of the matchups:

We'll start things off at Top 4, though the entire tournament was amazing. I recommend heading over to MLG's site and grabbing the VOD pass to watch.

Pig of the Hut vs. Dizzy (top 4)

Brant “Pig of the Hut” McAllis has always been a consistant player for the MLG events, winning the MLG Summer Arena rather convincingly over other strong competitors (most of which were at this event) and he continued this trend of consistency against CGA Dizzy, a very well known Johnny Cage player with his signature Kenshi style. During one of the rounds, Dizzy was unable to even perform any actions, being completely zoned out by Kenshi’s projectiles. A definite display of skill with Kenshi, which unfortunately did not carry over into his next match against Maxter.

Maxter vs Pig of the Hut

This was the match to decide who would go on to face defending champion REO in the grand finals – Maxter going with his Cyrax, as he always does, and Pig choosing to go with Mileena in an attempt to counter pick. Maxter proved the strength of his Cyrax as character specialists everywhere cheered him on – despite some impressive combo work on Pig’s part. With his tournament life on the line, Pig decided to counter-pick yet again, sitting on the character select screen for a good minute before going with Freddy Kreuger – a character not many use on the pro scene, but who’s zoning capabilities match up pretty well against Cyrax. Unfortunately, it was for not, as Maxter once again proved you can’t counter pick against him, easily picking apart Pig and moving on to the Grand Finals.

Maxter vs REO

REO, the defending champion from the MLG Summer Championships in Raleigh, came into this match at an advantage against Maxter, having just defeated him in the winner’s finals (thus sending him down to fight Pig), so it was with typical swagger that REO picked Kabal. Maxter attempted to go with Kitana in this situation, hoping her zoning capabilities would be enough.  Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t – REO proved why he’s one of the best players in the world and defended his crown with a dominant performance. His Kabal is truly a site to behold, able to outzone almost any character in the game with his characteristic short hop projectiles, and able to whiff punish from anywhere on the screen with his speed boost special.

The Award Ceremony – REO is a terrible interviewee

During the award ceremony, Tom Brady (commentator for MK) came out on stage to interview the defending champion and to offer him his trophy. REO seemed a little dumbfounded that he had won the event at all saying “I didn’t come here thinking I would win, maybe top eight, but certainly didn’t expect to take it.”

Brady then asked how he felt after winning to which REO simply shrugged his shoulders and said “I don’t know.” Brady then laughed and said it was the worst interview he’d ever conducted in his life – which I’m inclined to agree with. When you win a championship like this one, you have to at least give your fans a memorable quote or something. In any case, a great showing from REO, and he is now your two time MLG MK Champion – the only person to do so thus far!

The Final Results:

1. KN|REO (Kabal)
2. VSM|Maxter (Cyrax, Kung Lao, Kitana)
3. TFA|Pig of the Hutt (Kenshi, Mileena, Freddy Krueger)
4. GGA|Dizzy (Johnny Cage)
5. KN|CrazyDominican (Kitana, Skarlet)
5. GGA|16-Bit (Kitana)
7. OBS|MIT (Liu Kang)
7. OBS|DJT (Cyrax, Johnny Cage)

Dustin Steiner is GameZone's eSports Editor! Follow him on Twitter @GZSteiner and check out Video Gaming Hard Corps, where he is a local tournament organizer for the S. FL. Fighting Game Community.