San Francisco (2-0) destined for World Final tourney

The San Francisco Optx picked up a big treat on Thursday -- a berth in the Championship Gaming Series' World Final team tournament.

San Francisco won two consecutive matches, defeating 3D New York and the London Mint, en route to earning the playoff berth.

With the win, San Francisco becomes the third team from North America to earn a berth in the World Final tournament, joining the Carolina Core and Dallas Venom.

A day earlier, San Francisco was denied an appearance in the North American championship when it was edged out by the Dallas Venom. The same went for 3D New York, which held the best regular season record at 10-2, but were flattened by the Carolina Core.

The "Dead or Alive 4" players came up big for San Francisco, combining for a 10-3 score. Vanessa Arteaga rebounded from her loss by beating Tanya Underwood, 5-2. Chris Harris (pictured) took out Cardell Thomas, 5-1.

The same song was played in San Francisco's win over London. Arteaga (2-1) defeated Ruth Harrison, 5-2.

Harris (3-0) had to wait a while to play his contest. And with San Francisco leading 20-17 going in, he didn't even need to win, he just needed to gain three rounds against Avtar Padda.

However, Padda won four consecutive rounds after dropping the first. Harris finally found his game and closed out the contest with four straight round victories to seal the deal for the Optx.

Fuentes, Smith to invade the East Coast this weekend

The joke around Southern California is that Compton's Alex Fuentes goes to every "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" tournament, even if there's three tournaments in one day, each separated by an hour.

He won't be invading any Southern California events this weekend -- he'll be on the East Coast attempting to win one of the first big events of the region since Brawl was released.

Fuentes (pictured, center) will be one of two Californians attending Critical Hit 3, a Brawl tournament scheduled to take place Saturday in Sykesville, Md., a town of less than 5,000 residents located about 30 minutes west of Baltimore.

Joining Fuentes is A.J. Smith of Santa Monica. These two guys also went together to compete in the AZOne Two Step Tournament nearly a month ago in Mesa, Ariz. They won the team title there, while Fuentes grabbed the singles championship and Smith (pictured, forefront) took 25th.

Tournament organizers for Critical Hit 3 are hoping for 100 participants. According to All Is Brawl, 43 players have announced their plans to attend the tournament. Forty players took part in Critical Hit 2.

For the event, a combined $3,000 in cash will be awarded to the top five players in the singles and team tournaments. The singles winner receives $950, and the top team takes home a combined $600.

The tournament could feature an overload of Snake, as Smash observers have made note of the region's repeated use of the "Metal Gear Solid" protagonist. Both Fuentes and Smith are proficient in Snake.

Carolina, Dallas to play for C.G.S title

The Championship Gaming Series' title match is set. In one corner, a team will try to complete the turnaround from last year's dismal showing. In the other corner, a team tries to finish the deal it couldn't last year.

The Dallas Venom, a 4-8 team last year, is one win away from winning the championship after defeating the San Francisco Optx, 24-22 Wednesday night in Santa Monica.

They will be pitted against the Carolina Core, 26-19 winners over top seeded 3D New York.

It wouldn't be fair to say that the Core was backing into the Region 1 playoffs. That's because "backing in" implies that the Core lost one crucial match in hopes of gaining momentum toward the playoffs.

The Core was in a much different position; they had lost their final five contests. They hadn't won on television, and they were the first victims of the previously winless Los Angeles compLexity.

On Wednesday night, the Core didn't look like that team that lost five in a row. Instead, they looked like the team that won its first two regular season games by an average of 15 points.

Carolina defeated 3D New York, 26-13 and will play in the Region 1 championship match for the second consecutive year.

Carolina won all five contests, and at one point they held a 22-9 advantage.

Katherine Gunn led the charge with a 5-0 shutout over New York's Tanya Underwood in a "Dead or Alive 4" contest. Gunn's confidant, Ryan Ward, soon followed with a 5-1 win past Cardell Thomas.

A few minutes later, Dallas, the second seed in the playoffs, held off a determined San Francisco group that is now 0-2 in playoff appearances.

It came down to the final round of the final match of the night -- "Counter-Strike Source." Dallas gained a 4-on-1 advantage and seized control of the field to gain the win and a berth in the finals.

Dallas won three of the five events, including a 5-4 decision by Michelle Pleet over San Francisco's Vanessa Arteaga in "Dead or Alive 4." Pleet (1-0) once again took down the league's best performer, just a couple weeks after handing Arteaga (0-1) her first loss in league play.