MLG Raleigh was an event of many firsts: new lineups, new organisations for old teams and a new format. However, it was the new/old team of Nerdstompers Blue that made the most important of them all. Their first tournament under the new tag brought an impressive victory for the ex-SK lineup. But as the 6-5 scoreline suggests, they were made to work incredibly hard for the win. They showed that being able to multi-class is still an important skill in the modern game as Ryan 'Realz' Masterson regularly swapped from rogue to shadow priest and back again en route to a famous triumph.

Never the less, their record over the length of the tournament was superb. They avoiding the extra hard work of the lower-bracket, defeating every opponent in their way. In the upper-bracket final they even saw-off their Nerd buddies Nerdstompers Black in a tightly contested 3-2 game.

The warrior/'lock/druid team led by 'Hoodrych' were dealt another cruel blow in the lower-bracket final where they were beaten 6-5 by Evil Geniuses . But EG's triumph was short lived as NS Blue avenged their buddies in the grand final. On top of that, 'Nadagast' even surprised a lot of people by putting up a solid performance in the SC2 tournament this weekend.

Other favourites for the tournament were strangely disappointing. compLexity Black in particular had a horrendous tournament by their standards. Playing with new paladin clearly affected the team as they crashed out in the first round of lower-bracket play. Loaded fared a little better but are unlikely to be satisfied with finishing outside of the top four.

You can see exactly how the brackets panned out by checking out our coverage page.