The Los Angeles compLexity went 1-2 in their “Counter-Strike” triple-header Monday night, with each match having big implications in different leagues and divisions.

They ended the night with a double-overtime win, 21-19 over the Green Berets to move into the semifinals of the Championship Gaming Series’ version 1.6 Pro-Am playoffs.

Playing on de_nuke, compLexity moved into an 18-17 advantage after the first half of double-overtime. The Green Berets struck back to gain a 19-18 advantage, but compLexity then held them off in the final three rounds to win the match.

With that win, compLexity will play Team To Beat, 16-13 winners over MaveN, on Tuesday night in the first semifinals.

C.G.S Pro-Am Source: 3D New York defeated compLexity, 10-4 to reach the semifinals of the Source playoffs.

Team 3D was in control for most of the contest, which was played on de_season.

With the win, Team 3D will play the San Francisco Optx, which also won 10-4 over Devastation. Those two teams will get it on in the first semifinals Tuesday night.

CEVO Source: Team 3D followed up their Pro-Am playoff win with an 18-15 overtime victory over compLexity, as they handed compLexity their first loss in CEVO play.

That win snapped a two-game losing streak in CEVO play for Team 3D (4-2). CompLexity fell to 5-1, and they’re now one-half game behind the 5-0 Dallas Venom.

Team 3D had a narrow 7-5 lead at halftime, but compLexity evened it up at 12-12 to force overtime.

The Dallas Venom kicked off defense of their CEVO “Counter-Strike Source” title with an 18-16 overtime win Wednesday night over Frag Dominant’Zomblerz.

Dallas was one of three Championship Gaming Series-based teams to win on Opening Night.

The Venom (1-0) rolled out to a 9-3 lead after halftime, but then gave it all back in the second half. In overtime, they muscled their way to victory.

Dallas won last season’s CEVO title by defeating the Carolina Core in the championship final.

The Core also kicked off Opening Night with a win, 13-6 over Mug N Mouse Gaming.

After taking a 9-3 lead, Carolina (1-0) needed seven rounds in the second half to close out the match. It beat a Mug N Mouse team that made a roster change just days before competition began; the team has two new starters.

Like Dallas, the Chicago Chimera needed extra time in their season opener. They defeated Inet, 18-14 in overtime.

It was as even as it could be, with both teams picking up six rounds in the first two halves of regulation. The Chimera (1-0) then pulled away, closing out the match in the penultimate round of overtime.

Inet is the new name for Team PK.

In other games, Cyber Revolution defeated Hyper, 13-6.

The Chicago Chimera and 3D New York each won their first “Counter-Strike Source” match Sunday night in the CEVO open tournament.

In divisional play, the Chimera (1-0) defeated the Keyboard Smashers in a best-of-three contest, 2-0. The capper was a 13-9 victory.

Brian “DKT” Flander, the general manager for Chicago, took part in the match in the place of Albert Hahn.

Keyboard Smashers fell to 1-1 in divisional play.

Meanwhile, Team 3D beat vINdictive in a best-of-three contest, 2-0. Team 3D survived an overtime contest on de_inferno, 18-16 to start the match.

A 5-0 run on de_dust2 in the second game helped seal a 13-7 win for 3D and the match.

The Chimera and Team 3D are two of the five Championship Gaming Series-based teams competing in the 25-team tournament.

Divisional play continues today and concludes Tuesday.

With less than two months to go in Gamebattles’ “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” competition, “Jumpman” continues to hold on to the No. 1 position.

However, there are several players in the hunt to take the top player down.

Jumpman sports a 168-13 record, which is 21 less than the No. 2 player.

Down on the top 25, there are several players with at least 200 wins. “Ellemenno KANG” is seventh with a record of 205-51.

“Phone Home” has the most wins of anyone in the top 25, but is 223-70 and on a two-game losing streak.

The top 32 players in the ladder at the end of the year advance to a playoff bracket, where the winner receives $1,250.

Here are the top four players as of Friday afternoon:

JumpMan: 168-13: Has won 16 in a row. Only one of two players in the top 15 with a win streak in double digits.

JudgeMeow: 189-15. In second on the ladder but with a 3-2 record in last five games. Has the second-most wins among those in the top 10.

Fa7al: 145-20. Has won nine in a row, which is the third-best winning streak among players in the top 15.

Hailstorm: 160-26. Remains in fourth despite winning one of the past three games. The 26 losses are second-worst among those in the top 10.

WEST COVINA - Peter “Combofiend” Rosas made it known to Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez that he was going to use Dhalsim against Gutierrez’s Balrog in the finals of Saturday’s “Street Fighter IV” tournament at Video 94.

And even with the forewarning, Gutierrez couldn’t stop Rosas.

Rosas won Saturday’s tournament with an undefeated record, beating Gutierrez in the finals, 2-0.

“I don’t know what to do against Dhalsim, because nobody plays him except Combofiend,” Gutierrez said. “His hits don’t do much, but if you don’t know what to do against him, you’re stuck.”

For winning, Rosas won $1,000. The payout is the biggest for a “Street Fighter IV” competition in the state this year.

“It’s great,” Rosas said. “Everyone is really good. There’s tough competition.”

The tournament hosts wanted at least 25 players before awarding the tournament its $1,000 first-place prize. Nearly 32 players showed, all hoping to get a shot at that four-digit amount.

And players were reminded from the very beginning what they were playing for. Many of the first-round matches that didn’t go players’ ways were heavily noted; losers early on left in either frustration or disbelief, wondering if they would be able to get to the finals and a shot at the title.

Those that lost had to run a gauntlet of stellar competitors, and many of them didn’t get out.

Gutierrez and Rojas met in the first semifinal, but they played a Balrog ditto match, and Rojas narrowly prevailed, 2-1.

After Gutierrez won the second semifinal, Rojas made known his intentions to change characters.

“Dhalsim beats half of the cast, Balrog beats the other half,” Rojas said. “Ryan is really tough to play against.”

Seven players from the defunct Championship Gaming Series have joined the reborn Jax Money Crew, it was announced Friday.

Five of the players will make up the “Counter-Strike 1.6” team, while two others will take part in “FIFA” contests.

“After the close of the CGS, there was no doubt in my mind, that I would continue in gaming,” founder Alex Conroy said on the team’s new Web site. “When some of my players shared the same ambition, the idea to reform JMC became a reality.”

Conroy was the leader of the Dallas Venom in the C.G.S, and some of the players on the J.M.C franchise come from that team.

The Counter-Strike squad will consist of Salvatore “Volcano” Garozzo, David “Zid” Chin, Michael “Method” So, Erik “da bears” Sundstrom and Justin Summy.

So is the only California player on the Counter-Strike squad, as he is from Orange County.

The FIFA duo will be Bardia Moayedi and Yfran Garcia. Both had impressive showings during the 2008 C.G.S season, with Garcia taking home the individual championship in “FIFA 09.”

Moayedi, from Laguna Niguel, was a member of the Venom during the C.G.S’ 2008 season.

The seven players are the latest to find homes following the end of the multi-game league. Earlier this month, four members of CompLexity Gaming were signed by the Evil Geniuses.

The only thing missing from the Madden Challenge Finals Tournament is the betting lines. There’s been many prediction topics on the various Madden forums, as spectators are encouraged to make their pick for who will win the Finals Tournament (and no, there won’t be any first-place splitting here).

There’s a week to go before the 22 finalists head off to Turks and Caicos to play in North America’s toughest tournament series. It’s been a long time since Young Nephew kicked off the season with a dominating performance, arguably the most dominant this season.

A lot has happened since then. A blocked field goal in the finals of a regional, a bevy of Dallas users and two non-Xbox 360 owners winning regionals are just some of the notable events.

I won’t be picking the winner, but I will predict who will make the final four. Yes, the bracket has not been revealed yet; I have heard it might not be released to the public because of the possible lack of Internet at Turks and Caicos.

Problem

Texas player “Jumpman” won his third consecutive regular season championship on GameBattles, holding off more than several hundred competitors throughout the several-month season.

Jumpman finished with a record of 205-17, winning his last five matches in regular season play. He went 18-2 in his final 20 contests.

By finishing first, he’ll go into Monday’s playoffs as the No. 1 seed.

Finishing second on the ladder was “BarDulL,” who made a late charge in the final three weeks to finish 217-27. He won his final eight contests and went 47-5 in the last seven days of regular season play.

One of those 47 wins came against Jumpman; BarDulL prevailed in that contest on Wednesday. However, BarDulL lost his next match, breaking what was then a nine-game winning streak. On his profile, BarDulL claims he should have earned the No. 1 seed over Jumpman.

Taking the 32nd and final spot was “Some Kind of Joke,” who finished 77-18. He only played five matches on Wednesday, winning all five. He went 17-3 in his final 20 games.

The 32 players will compete in a traditional double-elimination competition, scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Monday. Matches are scheduled to take place Monday and Wednesday.

Many players in the Championship Gaming Series have either been forced into retirement or trying to get back into the competitive scene.

“Comeback Dan” Otto is taking another approach.

With the league gone for good, Otto has turned his focus to a new venture; being a tutor. He has started a Web site, www.gaminglogic.net, and it focuses on helping players get better in several console game.

“The purpose of Gaming Logic is to help aspiring gamers become the best player they can be by providing them with an avenue to receive training from top players,” Otto said. “This training comes through premium content provided by pros.”

Through the premium content, users can watch video commentary and read strategies from the top players.

The games scheduled to be covered include “Halo 3,” “Call of Duty 4,” “Forza Motorsport 2” and “Gears of War 2.” All four are games that have a healthy competitive following, which is partly why Otto picked those games. The “Madden NFL” series could be included in that roster.

It won’t be Otto going at it alone. Several competitive players have signed on to provide assistance.

And if there’s a game that they want covered, they can contact Otto by e-mail or head to the Gaming Logic forums.

Some of the services will be available at no charge, while others will require a “Premium Membership.”

“Whether the player is very experienced in the competitive scene or just picking up the game for the first time I guarantee the articles and commentaries at Gaming Logic will improve your game,” Otto said. “The demos and articles at Gaming Logic will teach you Why things in the match happen.”

Private lessons are usually the norm for video game competitors trying to learn from the best players. However, Otto provides several reasons why a Premium Membership is likely better. One reason is the cost (normally, it’s $9.95 a month although for the first couple of weeks, it has been reduced to $5.99 a month). Another reason is the specific commentaries and articles that users will receive. A third reason is that information is constantly updated, while private lessons are usually one-time deals.

“The commentaries focus on WHY someone got a kill rather than teaching you how to shoot a gun,” Otto said. “Gaming Logic focuses on the ‘why’ because all games at a competitive level are situational based. Figuring out how stay in an advantageous situation (like holding top Middle on Narrows) and how to get out of disadvantageous situations (like spawning in gold room on Construct) are absolutely essential to your success at a high level.

“Despite these facts, much of the information presented to a player in a private lesson is far to general to be utilized effectively in a specific situation. Applying these generalizations to specific situations in games often leads to incorrect play.
In a competitive match many different situations arise, but due to time constraints of private lessons very few of these situations can be covered making the lesson pointless.”

Starting Thursday, content is scheduled to be updated on a weekly basis, which is one of the goals of the site, Otto said.

CompLexity. Team 3D.

Another chapter in the nation’s most-famous “Counter-Strike” rivalry will be written Saturday with — as usual — plenty on the line.

The Los Angeles compLexity made sure Friday night that the rivalry match would happen; they defeated Devastation, 10-2 in the quarterfinals of the Championship Gaming Series’ Pro-Am Source playoffs.

CompLexity dominated in nearly every way over Devastation as it stayed alive in the tournament. Now, they’ll take on a 3D New York team that hasn’t played in nearly a week. And the last time Team 3D did play, they lost to the San Francisco Optx.

In Friday’s contest, compLexity ended the first half leading 8-1. They ended the match three rounds later.

Saturday’s tilt between compLexity and Team 3D will be the second semifinal contest in the playoffs. The match will be played on de_season.

The two teams met Monday on de_season, with Team 3D winning, 10-4.

The winner will play San Francisco in the title match on Tuesday.