PRELUDE...

The Eleventh Mega Drive Championship was held on Saturday 4th July 2009 and was the final of a trio of tournaments that would help determine the qualification for Team Portugal for the 2009 European Mega Drive Championship. Fourteen members picked up their controllers in search of the coveted title of Mega Drive Champion, as well as the opportunity to represent their country on the International Stage. Minor rule changes meant that the winners of the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh championships and the five highest ranking members from those remaining would advance to one final contest in which three will earn the honour of trying to defend Portugal's European Crown.

THE BIG THREE

Alberto Campos, Dário Pelixo and Ferdinand Menéndez have dominated recent tournaments. Between them, one of the big three has been present in every final since the Fourth Mega Drive Championship. Their skills are phenomenal and they have proved them not only domestically, but Internationally where the trio combined to win the 2008 European Mega Drive Championship for Portugal.

STAGE ONE

While Stage One is usually a barren wasteland when it comes to shock results, the Eleventh Mega Drive Tournament provided a number of twists as members fought their opportunity to break into the top eight - which seemed to negate the challenge of this competition as an individual entity - although the eventual champion would likely disagree. The Swiss method, used successfully at the Ninth and Tenth tournaments, was once again in effect with each member playing six games (Rock 'n' Roll Racing, Mortal Kombat, International Superstar Soccer Deluxe, Sunset Riders, Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine and Road Rash 2) as the draw system attempts to pair off members of an equal skill level. The top eight advance for the Second Stage of the contest, while the bottom six are knocked-out.

By game two, Mortal Kombat, the competition was starting to warm up. Some very close games and numerous fatalities all added to the spectacle. The most crucial game was David Magueijo versus Arsénio Ferraz, with both players possessing a similar number of European Points, Arsénio scored a vital victory over his opponent. David's position would be further hurt following a 2-0 defeat at the hands of defending champion Dário Pelixo on the third game, International Superstar Soccer Deluxe. The console gods conspiring against David, when half-time was called with the ball on, but not over, the goal-line. Orlando Silva, returning to the competitions after missing the Tenth Tournament, showed his title credentials by hammering Aida Campos 7-1. Meanwhile Alberto Campos and Fátima Campos battled out a very tight 2-1 game, with Alberto opting for an ultra-defensive strategy after scoring his second goal.

Sunset Riders marked the halfway mark of the First Stage. Alberto Campos secured his place in the Second Stage with a victory over Pedro Bragança while David Magueijo failed to secure a win and, with zero-points at this point, was unable to qualify. This had implications in regards to the race for Europe with David (ranked seventh at the beginning of the tournament) in a very precarious position with both Fátima Campos and Arsénio Ferraz threatening him. Fátima would go on to win her final two games and secure her place in the second stage. Game six, Road Rash 2, provided some thrilling moments with frequent falls swinging the pendulum of opportunity one way and then the other.

Overall, the quality of player at the Eleventh Mega Drive Championship was significantly higher than any other tournament. With the possible exception of the adored Aida Campos, whose continued commitment to the events is an inspiration in spite of her lacking the skills of many of her opponents, there were always going to be a number of upsets on the metaphorical cards. Hugo Vieira and João Pires went head-to-head in a tiebreaker of Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game to see which one of them qualified for Stage Two and it was Hugo who secured the victory at the expense of his opponent. David Magueijo and Arsénio Ferraz, winners of the Sixth and Eighth tournaments respectively, were arguably the biggest casualties of Stage One. Each of the "big three" passed into the Second Stage with ease.

EUROPEAN EFFECTS...

Arsénio Ferraz's elimination ends his European dream, while David Magueijo's position becomes extremely unstable - with five of the members ranked lower than him still remaining in the competition. Neither Luis Xavier or Pedro Mendes, both on thirty-eight points, are completely secure in the top eight and although João Pires bowed out of this tournament with a whimper, both he and Alberto Campos seem destined to join Dário Pelixo and Ferdinand Menéndez in the European Qualification Tournament. Pedro Bragança, Armando Dias, Orlando Silva and Hugo Vieira have made significant steps towards achieving a place in Europe, but should any member ranked in the top seven win the Eleventh Championship then it is Fátima Campos who is currently on course to qualify.

STAGE TWO

The eight qualifiers from Stage One were divided into two pools and then, like the previous two tournaments, began a series of multi-player games. There team games of two-players versus two-players before one four-player game in which it's every player for themselves. Game One was Micro Machines: Military - a version of the classic top-down racer but with guns! Any Micro Machines title is an advantage to Alberto Campos and he and his team mate, Orlando Silva, beat Pedro Bragança and Hugo Vieira in Group A. In Group B, Dário Pelixo and Fátima Campos were victorious over Ferdinand Menéndez and Armando Dias. Benefiting enormously from the superiority of their partners on Micro Machines, points for Orlando and Fátima pushed the latter within one point of qualification for the European Trial Tournament.

While the game of Super Street Fighter 2 produced nothing of interest, NBA Jam Tournament Edition (game three) gave a surprisingly tight fight in Group B where Dário and Armando took on Ferdinand and Fátima. The scores were tied going into the final quarter, however, it was here the quality of Dário emerged and he was able to secure points for himself and Armando. Group A's NBA Jam: T.E. game was an unbalanced affair with Alberto and Hugo crushing their opponents.

The final game of Stage Two saw a four-player game on Worms, a series that arguably peaked with Worms Armageddon, a multi-player game in which participants attempt to destroy their opponents’ worms using an array of fiendish weapons. In Group A it was a simple affair with Alberto Campos mercilessly crushing his foes, while in Group B Fátima Campos employed a strategy of keeping her worms away from the action while her enemies duelled among themselves. Dário was the first player eliminated after a failed kamikaze attack, although by this point in the competition he had already secured his place in Stage Three, while errors from Armando Dias and Ferdinand Menéndez would deny them access to the final four in favour of Fátima.

Europe Ranks

Pts

1st

Alberto Campos

73

Q

Dário Pelixo

62

Q

Ferdinand Menéndez

61

4th

João Pires

50

5th

Luis Xavier

38

5th

Pedro Mendes

38

7th

Fátima Campos

35

8th

David Magueijo

33

9th

Arsénio Ferraz

26

9th

Pedro Bragança

26

11th

Armando Dias

24

12th

Orlando Silva

21

13th

Hugo Vieira

19

15th

Aida Campos

10.5

2009 EUROPEAN QUALIFICATION TABLE

Rank

Member

Points

Q

Alberto Campos

77

Q

Dário Pelixo

64

Q

Ferdinand Menéndez

61

Q

João Pires

50

Q

Fátima Campos

38

Q

Luix Xavier

38

Q

Pedro Mendes

38

Q

Pedro Bragança

34

9th

David Magueijo

33

10th

Arsénio Ferraz

26

11th

Armando Dias

24

12th

Orlando Silva

21

13th

Hugo Vieira

19

14th

André Saraiva

15

15th

Aida Campos

10.5

16th

Vitor Sousa

7

17th

Vanda Campos

6

18th

Diogo Oliveira

5

19th

Joana Hamrol

4

20th

Nuno Folhadela

3

OVERALL RANKINGS - TOP 20

Rank

Member

Change

1st

Jorge Esteves

2nd

Pedro Bragança

+32

3rd

Alberto Campos

+1

4th

Filipe Semião

-1

5th

Dário Pelixo

6th

José Chança

7th

Ferdinand Menéndez

-5

8th

David Magueijo

-1

9th

Ricardo Faria

-1

10th

Fátima Campos

-1

11th

Márcio Costa

-1

12th

Flávio Esteves

-1

13th

Arsénio Ferraz

-1

14th

Orlando Silva

15th

Luis Xavier

16th

Pedro Mendes

-3

17th

Tiago Pedro

-1

18th

Vítor

19th

João Pires

-2

20th

Carlos Xavier

They who shall to continue the battle for Europe