Team Pandemic - News - Michs09 medals at WCG Nationals

The Pandemic FIFA team had high hopes that one from the trio of Michael “Michs09” LaBelle, Nicholas “Peekay” DePalmer, and Isidro “Novusnaim” Sifuentes would win the chance to represent the Unites States and Pandemic in Germany at the World Cyber Games Final at the tournament this weekend. None of the three reached that coveted goal, but LaBelle earned a Silver Medal nonetheless and has designs that he still may yet travel across the pond.

“According to what Juan (Juan Carlos “Juanqui” Alvarado, 1st place finisher) told me, he does not have a passport at this moment and unless attaining one by some time next week, he will forfeit his place on Team USA and I will be given the opportunity to step in,” explained an hopeful LaBelle, “It would be awesome to attend a WCG world final, but right now I have no idea what is going on officially with this situation.”

Just a bit of friendly rivalry among teammates!

Whether he gets the spot or not, though, Michs09 has a strong tournament, knocking off each of the top FIFA players in the CGS over the past two years, LA CompLexity's Felipe “KreeganBG” Stoyne and Chicago Chimera's Yfran “Eafra” Garcia in bracket play to land in the grand finals before an ill-fated encounter with Juanqui.

Before that, though, LaBelle fought through a tough group where he battled a familiar face – teammate DePalmer.

“Well… it was inevitable, I knew what I needed to do and so did he so the best man was gonna come out on top,” said LaBelle, “Nick is a funny dude, and we shared a room for the time staying there so I had lots of time to watch how he was playing. Playing on stage always ups the pressure and intensity which makes for more fun, I also beat Nick last year to knock him out of the National final so he is pretty angry at me right about now, I'm sure!”

You can check out at video on the match at the WCG media center.

Bracket play threw LaBelle into the fire right away as he faced a familiar foe and rival: the current CGS FIFA individual champion, Yfran “Eafra” Garcia, a battle the Pandemic striker greatly anticipated.

“When I had Eafra scheduled to play straight out of group play I was really excited,” smiled LaBelle, “Eafra's head has been getting really big since playing well in the CGS, so as a competitor I couldn't wait to get an opportunity to play him on LAN. I knew he had been playing constantly for this event even though his blogs say something a bit different; I spoke to him so I know about his eight hour training days. We played the 1st game and I came out on fire, putting goals in right and left, winning 5 to 1, but I was humbled quite a bit in the 2nd game when I lost 1-2…. I finished him off though with a 3-1 win and closed out the series. It felt good put him down to the lower bracket, especially considering he is the current individual world champ for CGS.”

That wouldn't be the end of the gauntlet, though, as the intimidating LA CompLexity star Kreegan awaited in the upper bracket final. Kreegan already took out LaBelle in two straight games during the group stage, and while his 2008 CGS season was not up to his standard, the defending WCG USA champion is the most respected US player in the game.

Michs09 focused in battle on stage..

“When playing Kreegan in the first series it was my warm up games, which didn't go all that well; I played decent but couldn't score, plain and simple,” remembered LaBelle, “By the time he played me the next day I was ready to go and in control leading to the win. It felt awesome because he beat me last year in the exact situation I beat him in this year. Beating Kreegan was my hardest game of the tourney. He is always a well prepared player and does not take losing lightly, so beating him multiple times in a row can feel impossible sometimes. I respect Kreegan a lot and beating the national champ from the year before is always huge.”

The victory put LaBelle in the drivers seat heading into a Sunday battle where the eventual challenger must beat him two games in a row. Despite the strong field of CGS FIFA pros, though, the Dignitas star Juan Carlos “Juanqui” Alvarado would emerge from the fray. On Sunday, LaBelle looked off his game as his lackluster play saw him drop the opening three games and the initial series before he managed to take his first match, setting up a decisive final game. A tactical decision by his opponent the previous night, though, seemed to be his downfall as Juanqui went on to secure the championship.

“Well I'm not going to lie, I made a drastic error the night before and went out and stayed out. Juan was with me so I would almost call it strategizing; he was awful friendly the night before,” laughed LaBelle, “It was my mistake and will never happen again, it contributed heavily I feel to my losses but I'm not going to take away from Juan he won the games so no excuses.”

Despite the heartbreaking end to the event, LaBelle was pleased with his results overall. “I felt like I represented Team Pandemic well and kept my personal reputation intact,” he explained, “I feel like on LAN I have had good marks in nearly every tournament I've competed in and want to continue down that path. I also want to thank owner Chris Lemley for recruiting me and giving me a great opportunity to play at the highest level in eSports events.”

Whether Alvarado's passport issue hands LaBelle the chance to show his skill in Germany with his silver medal or not, one thing is clear: him, along with his teammates, have shown their skill here in the USA.