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I am a sports fan. I love watching professional athletes do battle in their respective fields. If I’m not exuding tears of joy from watching the Green Bay Packers hoist the Lombardi trophy, I’m snickering (laughing hysterically) at the New England Patriots’ 18-1 season. That part of me is the reason why I get chills whenever I see that famous video of Daigo Umehara’s Ken parry the hell out of Justin Wong’s Chun Li. I love competition… But it’s so much more satisfying when I, personally, feel the joys of victory.
Nearly every weekend since its release, I’ve been enjoying Halo: Reach. I’ve recently acquired the rank of Field Marshall and my current goal is to achieve the Legend rank in order to purchase a helmet that I am lusting over.
Yes, Saturday night has become Halo night for me and those I play with. We usually stick with the Team Slayer playlist, but if we can convince our elusive 5th man to join us, we switch it up to Squad Slayer.
A few months ago, we did something quite incredible. We overcame a 22-point deficit to win a match. As far as comeback miracles are concerned, it was immaculate. It was like the 2004 Boston Red Sox coming back from 0-3 to beat the Yankees. And we had really had two people to thank for it. One of those people was gamertag: Zomby Dood.
For the sake of continuity, all the players mentioned will be herewith referred to by their gamertag (my red team being pictured above). The map is Countdown.
It’s a hell of a feeling getting a perfection medal. I’ve received just 2 during my time with Reach. For those unfamiliar with the game, a perfection medal is awarded to any player who, at the end of the match, has 15 kills and no deaths. 5 minutes into the match, Blue team was destroying our Red team 36 to 14, with Zomby Dood leading the pack with 16 kills and zero deaths. So, he did what I have never done (which may be why I only have 2 perfections), he hid. That medal is just too much temptation for some people, I suppose.
His strategy was simple. Exhaust the sword before switching to the arguably more reliable shotgun. By the time he got his 16 kills, his team was pushing a 20 point lead. Why not hide? 36-14 is an unheard of deficit to come back from, right? But as the minutes ticked by, blue team couldn’t get much done, while red team was flourishing, despite the embarrassment.
By the 9:00 minute mark, blue team lead red team by a mere 7 points, Zomby Dood decided that a perfection on a losing team was about as empty that an individual victory could get. He emerged out of his safe little nook, and scanned the situation from a higher vantage point. A minute later, with only a 4 point difference, he decided to take matters into his own hands, taking myself and Soundwave816 down with the help of his shotgun. Shortly after, however, he felt the sharp end of KiwiOmnipotence’s mighty sword.
The match came to shaky start for KiwiOmnipotence, the unsung hero for this match. Countdown is usually one of his stronger levels, having received 1 of his 5 perfection medals on the map in addition to being our energy sword specialist. In the first half of the game he accounted for 2 points in favor and a staggering 12 points against. However, he was able to find his game in the second half after he picked up a fresh sword respawn, finishing the second half with 10 kills and a single death. It was his kill that ended the game… and Zomby Dood’s death.
One might make the case that if Zomby Dood hadn’t played so selfishly we might not have overcome being down 22 points. Admittedly, there’s a high chance that this is true. But the fact remains, that in the dying minute of the game, it was all on the line. The game was tied 46-46 and yet, it was red team that came away with the 50-47 victory.
There are many clichés that one can learn from this: There’s no “I” in “team.” It’s not over ‘til it’s over. Never give up, never surrender. But the truth is, it all came down to two players. One who wouldn’t quit when he was behind, and one who did quit when he was ahead.
