TsengMao was one of the original members of Halo 3 Wheelmen, a HaloCharts staff member, a co-founder of Big Team Battle United and a Long Live BTB staff member, and is the owner of MasterTheory.net & staff at BigTeamBattle.net. Back in Halo 3 leagues, Master Theory was known as an efficient, effective team, one that inspired some awe and respect. But unlike many teams of this caliber, MT is also known for good sportsmanship and has some pretty down to earth members.
Please join me in getting to know a little more about TsengMao, Master Theory and BigTeamBattle.net, in this Halo Diehards Spotlight.
What was the first Halo gaming community you were involved in?
I was active fairly often at Bnet (Bungie.net) early in Halo 2.
And the first team you joined?
My first team was “Killing Sprees” in Halo 2. It wasn’t that active. Then early in Halo 3 I joined Halo 3 Wheelmen and became one of the original members of the clan aspect. We joined BTB League that the Good Game Network hosted, and participated in several tournaments at various sites. Master Theory was founded in 2009, and was a split off a clan called PGC, Prefer Good Connection, which also split into another group called Sudden Death.
Who are the original members of Master Theory?
The original members are Anubis, BlackOut, Sanctious, Pweb and Von Stanowski.
How did you come to join Master Theory?
Anubis had stopped by and introduced his new group, Master Theory, at the Halo 3 Wheelmen forums. By this time I was an Administrator there. A couple members, Audley and Pie joined left to join them as they wanted a more competitive environment. I joined Master Theory a few months later in August of 2009.
What kind of competitive gaming did Master Theory go on to participate in?
Master Theory played in several tourneys in the GGN after joining, as well as HaloCharts tourneys. Then we started up BigTeamBattle.net in November of 2011, and we played in tourneys and seasons. Mostly we played Big Team, with a spattering of other game sizes and we even played CoD for a short time. We had a BF3 group as well.
How many teams participated at BigTeamBattle.net?
The last Season, Season II, ten Premier teams and eight Standard teams joined.
For those who aren’t familiar with BigTeamBattle.net, what exactly is it?
On Bungie.net regular and BTB enthusiast Zagwire formed a private group in 2008, Big Team Battle United, and asked me to join as a staff member. We thought if we created a place where teams could come together with a common interest that it might help tone down the bad reputations and poor sportsmanship that the pre game lobbies had. Unfortunately, it didn’t exactly work out as well as we had hoped. It was somewhat effective in our goal, but there was still a lot of bad blood between teams. In 2009 Long Live BTB was formed, and after about a year of talk an offsite group had started. We changed the name and Anubis created BigTeamBattle.net with a staff of largely MT members.
What kind of teams, skill-wise, did you find competing in BigTeamBattle.net ladders?
Premiere League is the highest level of competition, mostly teams that have been around for a few years with players who have been competing for at least two years, most since Halo 2. Standard is more casual, with a very wide range of individual and team skill.
Was there a place at BigTeamBattle.net for gamers to find a team?
Yes, a classified section where a gamer could post up their experience and what they have to offer. Lots of them got picked up.
If you were to give tips to a team wanting to develop strats, what would you tell them?
One: practice. One of my teammates (Audley again) is fond of the saying, “You play like you practice.” and it’s a fact. You don’t take practices seriously, you end up not taking real games seriously. Two: watch game films. You can learn a lot from watching your own game play and that of others. Especially if you see a team doing something you hadn’t noticed. Three: scrim other teams; it’s the best way to find your weakness. Four: talk to other players, most of them are happy to extend their knowledge. The most effective ways to improve and build strats is to practice, play other teams, watch films, see what they’re doing, and learn from that.
————————————————————————————————————
BigTeamBattle.net is now owned by The Halo Council staff member, gomollypop. Stay tuned: at this time it’s not known if they will be running leagues for Halo 4, but TsengMao has verified that Master Theory will be hosting a Halo 4 tournament.
~