Pictures from the CGS Grand Final, San Francisco OPTX vs. Birmingham Salvo.

As I sit in the airport for the next nine hours, with no internet as T-mobile decides to hate debit cards, I have a chance to reflect on two weeks of Championship Gaming Series and the close of the second season. I've thoroughly enjoyed myself, taken over 3000 pictures (most got deleted), done over 30 Audio interviews (They will be slowly going up over the next few weeks) and eaten at Subway 18 times. Before I give an in-depth reflection I'm going to quickly recap the season for those of you who haven't been following it

The World Final Grand Final sees two teams face off that no-one expected to be here.

Birmingham Salvo have defied public opinion by breaking the North American stranglehold on the final, defeating both the Latin and North American Champions along the way to a historic first final for Europe.

The North American representative is the San Francisco OPTX, they started as underdogs at the start of the tournament yet come into this match as a fan favorite.

Last night's second Semi-Final match, Birmingham Salvo versus Carolina Core went into Dead or Alive 4 Male with Carolina needing a miracle. At 20-15 down Ryan "Offbeat Ninja" Ward would have to win by a blowout score to just take the game into overtime. In his way would be Mingzhi "Messy" Deng, a player whose recent form has inconsistent.

Photos from the Semi-Final CGS matches; Berlin Allianz vs. San Francisco OPTX and Birmingham Salvo vs. Carolina Core

Core vs Salvo preview

Allianz taken on OPTX

Augusto "NoobZaibot" Zapata is my new favorite General Manager in the Championship Gaming Series. The Mexico City Furia General Manager's passion draws instant comparisons to another intense General Manager in the league, the LA Complexity's Jason Lake. He stood behind his Counter-Strike: Source team pacing back and forth, dancing higher and higher with every round won and wringing his hands with every round lost. Even when the overall franchise match was over Zapata did not miss a beat, screaming as his team would go on to defeat Salvo's source team in a huge upset.

Pictures from Birmingham vs. Mexico and Carolina vs. Wuhan

Tonight will see Cadred bringing you live coverage of tonight's CGS matches, with a live blog, photos uploaded mid game as well as pre and post game interviews and live scores on both here and #cadred.

Tonight will see Cadred bringing you live coverage of tonight's CGS matches, with a live blog, photos uploaded mid game as well as pre and post game interviews and live scores on both here and #cadred.

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