A lot of really amazing and often unexpected things happen in Halo, and that dynamic experience has always been one of the things that make it such a great game.  Over the years, the game and its graphics engine have evolved significantly, today giving us true HD resolution with some really incredibly detailed animations, and a stunning physics, particle and lighting engine.  Grifball and its fast-paced action, and its chocie of weapons, takes full advantage of these capabilities.

Another thing that's long been one of Halo's great features is the Theater and its ability to almost 100% accurately reproduce every little detail in a game.  I'm not sure how many of you have really watched a game of Grifball in there, taking the time to watch every little interaction in slow motion, or even frame-by-frame.  But for those who have, it's obvious that what I'm saying is true.

I've begun collecting some truly breathtaking Grifball artwork using the File Browser on Waypoint, All of these are 100% authentic, meaning that they are screenshots taken in Theater, running on the game's engine, uploaded to Waypoint and downloaded by myself with no further modifications such as in Photoshop.  A few of them are so spectacular that it's hard to believe myself that they are real - these were made by some truly skilled artists in some cases.

Sometime soon I will create a page to showcase all of these, but for the time being I'll just post them here on the homepage from time to time - starting with this one:

(click to view or download full resolution)

What's happening here? Well we all know how if you're carrying the bomb, and perform an assassination, the other player completely dematerializes, like you see in the Campaign, right? Well apparently this poor soul thought he could jump over the bomb carrier unscathed, and got obliterated mid-air as a result.

Anyway, expect another installment in a day or two!

From BossTycoon:
NGA All-Time Top 5s
(SL13 Pre-Season - Active Players - 10+ games)

Do you like stats?

BossTycoon has used our awesome Players Leaderboard (aka "the grid") to come up with our very first Top 5 lists in a number of different categories.  It's well timed with the NGA's first birthday having just passed - everyone has had a year now to build up their stats and earn their spot on these leaderboards. :)

Now, on to the numbers!

GAMES WON
1. Ezy08 - 48
2. Crusader0102 - 44
3. BossTycoon x - 42
4. Ace B S1LENTND1 - 34
5. ActiveHate - 33

BOMBS PLANTED
1. Ezy08 - 226
2. KID TONGA 1 - 178
3. OH MY GODLESS - 170
4. BossTycoon x - 134
5. Crusader0102 - 126

GOALS PER GAME
1. KID TONGA 1 - 4.56
2. OH MY GODLESS - 3.78
3. SlimJimX50 - 3.74
4. Ezy08 - 3.59
5. Priest XYZ - 3.56

KILLS
1. ACE B S1LENTND1 - 5,942
2. BossTycoon x - 5,314
3. NetsPride15 - 5,161
4. Ezy08 - 5,096
5. ActiveHate - 4,408

DEATHS
1. BossTycoon x- 5,423
2. ACE B S1LENTND1 - 5,237
3. NetsPride15 - 5,127
4. Ezy08 - 4,555
5. Crusader0102 - 4,348

BEST SPREAD
1. SilentShadow459 - 733 - (average spread of 45.5 per game!)
2. ACE B S1LENTND1 - 705
3. DlGITAL PAIN - 623
4. ixGingy - 592 - (2nd place for average at 16.9 per game)
5. Ezy08 - 541

WORST SPREAD
1. II got3nks II - (-837)
2. shadowxtc - (-814)
3. four to oh - (-529)
4. Hootenanny - (-373)
5. xREBSx - (-368)

BETRAYALS
1. Shadowrain44 - 203
2. Ezy08 - 188
3. ixGingy - 176
4. BossTycoon x - 171
5. SquirrelBurrito - 157

MULTI-KILLS
1. ACE B S1LENTDND1 - 1,417
2. DIGITAL PAIN - 1,106
3. NetsPride15 - 1,100
4. ixGingy - 998
4. Ezy08- 998
5. ActiveHate - 946

KILLING SPREES
1. ActiveHate - 1,154
2. ACE B S1LENTDND1 - 922
3. ixGingy - 725
4. SilentShadow459 - 708
5. BossTycoon x - 680

TOTAL TIME PLAYED
1. BossTycoon x - 1 day, 6 hours, 36 minutes, 49 seconds
2. Ezy08 - 1 day, 4 hours, 25 minutes, 10 seconds
3. Crusader0102 - 1 day, 20 minutes, 41 seconds
4. ACE B S1LENTND1 - 23 hours, 39 minutes, 2 seconds
5. x Sabceef x - 22 hours, 27 minutes, 51 seconds

KILL/DEATH RATIO
1. SilentShadow459 - 1.49
2. A Winter Moose - 1.23
3. BEAM ME UP 11 - 1.15
4. DIGITAL PAIN - 1.14
5. Major Silva - 1.12

These stats, which come from every official NGA game played, have been double-checked, but some players were left out either because they have become inactive in the league, or they had less than 10 games played which isn't a fair representation of a player's skill. But they did participate, and deserve some recognition for their efforts, and so for those who did not make the cut...

Honorable Mentions

GAMES WON:  halfbreed105 (34)
KILLS:  halfbreed105 (4,703)
BETRAYALS:  Dynamic Jazz (187)
MULTI-KILLS:  halfbreed105 (1055)
TOTAL TIME PLAYED:  halfbreed105 (0:23:57:12)
GOALS PER GAME:
M O N CS T E R (5.00) - EPICRAY93 (4.50) - DHG SHIRO ZETSU (4.20) -  VASHFONE (4.00) - SM BLOK (4.00)
IL DOLPH LI (3.83) - RECON117ZWA (3.75) - SCI ARCANE (3.67)
KILL/DEATH RATIO:
LX HALOGOD XI (2.45) - XBRANDOX3 (1.88) - DHG THE ROOKIE (1.78) -  CAMTARD10 (1.73) - ICECARDZ 2 (1.71)
IXLIONO (1.61) - REBORN LOGIC (1.53) - PYE MAN99 (1.48) - KIRSTY DE LACEY (1.48) - PARAPLEGIICZ - (1.42)
EL BROWNO STARO (1.42) - DRAGONGUYS5 (1.36) - v DETERMINED v - (1.35) - EPICRAY93 (1.34)
VASHFONE (1.33) - JMAURICE2909 - (1.30) - MONSTER MURK (1.26) - S7LX (1.26) - LION WINS (1.22)
BRANDOX3 - (1.21) - XTRUESTAR (1.21) - KVIZZZZY (1.20) - GERMANICUS1994 (1.20)
IL DOLPH LI (1.19) - lO DOLLA BAGEL (1.18) - CAPTAINSEV004 (1.15) - PURE ASSISTANCE (1.13)
SULKIESTBIKE91 (1.13) - MINNZBOYZ214 (1.13)

[editor's note] My apologies for not getting these articles out faster or in the order they were sent to me. -shadowxtc

Submitted by Anonymous, edited by shadowxtc:
(Updated 5/26, previous version was quite old)
SL13 Pre-Season Top 13: 

1. Greatest Hits Vol. II
Would've had them down a couple spots until they picked up v Determined v from Business Decision.  They are a great all-around team that can run, pass, tank and play defense.

2. Business Decision
Even without v Determined v, they're obviously still very good.  Silva, Godless, iScet and Active form the Easy as Pie core of the team while Digital, Taylor and Greenthumb make them even better and more versatile.

3. A Righteous Kill
ACE B S1lentND1 is the best tank in the game right now, rumor has it he even turned down a spot on the #1 team. iSnipeUd0wn is right behind him among the best tanks, and Kid Tonga definitely knows his way around a ball.

4. Turquoise Jeep
Originally they suffered a bit from the lack of a solid fourth player. They had ixGingy, Ezy08 and L1ght5aber - but Fanciest Pants hardly plays anymore. That all changed though when they picked up Sabceef, a great starter for any team.  Now they're good to go, expect big things from them.

5. The Thunderfags
ixLiono and ixApocryphal are strong on the tanking front, and ixSnarf is a strong runner. No standouts but all solid players who play well together. Unfortunately ixApocryphal has decided to retire from Grifball, but they have picked up BossTycoon in his place - making it anybody's guess how this team will fare.

6. The Abusement Park
A Winter Moose and Kemp Can Thrust will do a lot of the work here, but the other two are decent players who can work alongside them quite well.

7. Astronaut Scuba Divers
They have the skill to be a good team, but unfortunately most of their players don't really care about winning at all.

8. Relapse
A decent team with a mix of old and new players. I'm not exactly sure how to rate them but I do think they should be in the top 13 - and I am curious to see how they'll do.

9. Grif's Angels
With a number of good players from The Fatal Four ending up over on this team, I could see them having a fair bit of success this season.  A lot will depend on who they play each game from their rather expansive roster.

10. Reckless Fire
This team has had better rosters in the past, but Keith829, ICECARDZ, and Pure Assistance know what they're doing, and angel9001 can play well in his own right.

11. The New York Pineapples
SlimJim's got a lot of experience as a runner, and KdQuantum can definitely make some plays on the court when he needs to.  Platapus also knows what he's doing, so a lot of how well this team does will be determined by how kvizzzzy can do as their fourth player.

12. Ailuridae I'm Hustlin'
Unfortunately for them, Cutthroat912 was stolen by On the Fence, which puts them at bad place in terms of a solid fourth.  But the other three are all good players who have played together for quite a while.

13. Clutch Betrayal
They've got solid chemistry and a ton of experience through all the Halo games.  I'm too scared to say that T-Rich won't do well since he hasn't played in forever, because then he'll come back and destroy everybody.

And that's it! Anybody else want to submit some more anonymous articles? :)

Today I wanted to share with all of you the NGA's very first "top list" - this one is a pre-season perspective on the Top 8 teams in the league.  We hope that this is the first of many lists that will land here highlighting your greatest achievements!

I feel honored, perhaps even a little bit proud.  The NGA just had it's first birthday the other day, and just like any other kid growing up, sometimes it can be a little emotional for the parents...  So without further adieu:

Submitted by Anonymous, edited by shadowxtc:
Hello there Grifballers!

For the first time, the NGA would like to rank the  Top 8 Pre-Season Teams for Season 4 (Spring League 2013). After a long wait, we are finally ready to start this new season with a lot of new faces. The NGA is also introducing a new Pro/Amateur setup this time around. Change has been the keyword this past off-season - perhaps a good thing since the Amateur and Pro teams use entirely different gametypes and maps. It's something new, and the NGA is confident that it will work smoothly throughout the season.

Number 8: Clutch Betrayal
Kicking it off with number 8 we have Clutch Betrayal - captained by SquirrelBurrito, co-founder of the NGA. Her team consists of sword-master shadowxtc, and long-time veteran and 5-time champion: T RICH Da King. There's also Master Sundown, who has been around for a while now - adding some depth. Finally there's "asap fs" - also known as Flamesword. He might be an MLG Pro, but being new to the game he might not be much of a threat yet. Squirrel and T RICH would lead as tanks while shadow and Sundown are hybrids. Sundown tends more towards the offensive side and would be more likely to run the bomb, while shadow usually runs defense with the sword. This team is definitely a sleeper - but if they've been practicing under the radar (even though they run the site, have kids to take care of and take crap from everyone everday!) - do not underestimate this team. T RICH Da King brings a winning presence to their locker room. Hopefully it'll spread throughout the team. 

Number 7: Relapse
This is a fairly new Amateur team. I see them as the best Amateur team this season, and they  were my pick to win the Amateur Circuit Championship. In the end, the NGA decided to let more teams into the Pro Circuit by splitting the league in half instead of 60/40. R U RAZ ENOUGH is the only player who has more seasons under his belt. He has the most experience, including playoff experience! He was an All-Pro tank last season, so he'll be leading this team full of rookies. USA Perfection is their Captain and runner, but is a fully capable hybrid. They have looked really solid as of late, despite only playing together for a couple of months. iNF3ktioN is a force to be reckoned with: a really solid up-and-coming tank who goes positive about 90% of the time. Isolated one-on-one. he'll win those battles most of the time. VEN0M iz Sick and EJScripts are new players, at least in the NGA. WhiskeyFourNine will act as their backup runner. They've made some strides in the GGL, making them a formidable opponent that will only get better with time. They will have to really kick it into overdrive if they want to prove that they deserve to be playing in Pros, let alone survive. Be careful what you ask for?

Number 6: Astronaut Scuba Divers
At number 6 we have Astronaut Scuba Divers. This team is full of veterans from all over the Grif community: Reckless Fire alums ShinYeg and overture; Jedi Hunter and TrueFlyingCow from Four Guys One Ball; and a man canon and stage53 who have both been on numerous teams. Jedi Hunter is their best tank and will lead most of theircharges. Either overture or a man canon would be running, but a man canon is notorious for his cherry-picking tactics. stage53 has proven to be a she-beast tank but is inconsistent. Jedi Hunter and TrueFlyingCow also have a recent championship under their belt - their winning ways could spread throughout the team.

Number 5: The Abusement Park
At number 5 we have The Abusement Park - captained by Mr Crobar, a really solid runner and respectably good tank when needed. He probably won't need to though because of his team's combination of tanks: A Winter Moose and Kemp Can Thrust. This duo has been playing together for quite some time now. Moose hasn't really been on much, but if he finds the time he could get himself back into theswing of things like he was in Reach. DeltaSideArm is fairly new, but he can put up some big numbers, and if Moose and Kemp put him under their wings he could turn out to be a serious concern for other teams this season. Finally this team has long-time Grifball veteran Mr Naco95. He pulls host, and they all play well on it - which happens less frequently than you might imagine with most other teams. This team can turn some heads, and they mix really well together. But only time will tell if an NGA championship title is in their future.

Number 4: Turquoise Jeep
Moving right along... Next at number 4 is Turquoise Jeep - winner of last season's NGA championship title. They aren't at number 1 because they lost Killerz Legit who mixed really well with this team, and they've added some new players. It will take some time to see if the chemistry is there - sometimes it happens in one game, other times it can take more than a whole season. Ezy08 and ixGingy lead this team last season all the way to a championship. Ezy has taken on more of a hybrid role than the bomb runner we are all used to him being, but it has only benefited their team greatly. He alsp plays exceptional defense making him one of the best overall players in Halo 4 Grifball - he can take over any game. ixGingy is a Top-3 tank in the whole entire Grifball community in Halo 4. This kid puts up massive numbers every single game and can tank in a score at anytime. You'll probably have to double team him - and then some - to get him off the court. But only for 3 seconds, and then he's back for more! Fanciest Pants is another solid tank, having played a big role in last season's run to the championship! He doesn't wow with his numbers, he's just in the right place at the right time. X sabceef x is another player that is solid at all aspects of the game. They also have one more solid tank in their lineup: B0SCO the BEAR. And a key off-season addition: L1ght5aber - who happens to be just coming off an AGLA championship. It should make for interesting games with some serious tank battles, and L1ght5aber will likely share running duties with Ezy. The bottom line is that this team is ready to defend their title, but we'll see if they can build enough chemistry in time to do that.

Number 3: A Righteous Kill
Coming in at number 3 is A Righteous Kill. One of the flagship teams of the NGA, this band of statpadders - little known by league players at the time - rose up the ranks quickly and made a name for themselves here, and then decided to use their success to dominate the other leagues too! All this in just under a year, even going 24-0 in the GGL Veterans' Division. They have picked up a few new players to fill in the gap left behind with the departure of Dynamic Jazz. One player to watch is ACE B S1lentND1 who has proven to be one of the Top 3 tanks in the league. He a plays solid defense, keeping most runners out there dropping balls when they see him coming - but doesn't really have a game to him, making him somehat unpredictable. Running the bomb is KID TONGA 1. His performance against Turquiose Jeep last season had people turning their heads. He's under-rated, and is capable of landing some crazy punches. iSnipeUd0wn can put up some big numbers, but he plays more like a heavy-duty hybrid because hes capable of holding his own with the bomb. He also plays lockdown defense which alot of people don't know about him. Hes been under the radar, but finally has a place he can call home. NetsPride15 has been the type of player that'll always do what is asked of him, and do it well. He's always doing the dirty work, causing him to go negative some of the time. But that's irrelevant because he's always getting clutch pushes and steals, and he can run the bomb when needed. Nets is also known for landing crazy Ninjas. And BossTycoon x, well he plays with swag on his sleeve. It was a long shot for ARK to pick him up because hes like a Terrell Owens of a locker room. But it has brought it down as of late. He is a great acqusition to this team, and a solid player all-around - especially on that host of his. This team still has a lot to prove if they want to prove to the rest of the veterans that they deserve what they have accomplished. The next two teams though, they have nothing to prove.

Number 2: Greatest Hits, Vol. II
This team proves that when it comes to winning, going negative means nothing. The runner-up of last season is back, and they've updated themselves to be an even more formidable opponent this time around. We'll start off with Crusader0102, who has a knack for winning and has been to every championship in all 3 leagues, and has won one of them in this past AGLA season. He's a really solid player with great court awareness that can run, tank and play defense really well. He also tends to pass it around like he's Tom Brady or something - or shall I say Andrew Luck. Rage More Nerd and Shadow S16 also return to the team. Rage makes plays, and Shadow plays defense. Shadow has been in many big games throughout his Grif career, and seems to perform better in Halo 4 than he did in Reach - but more importantly he'll bring a winning attitude to this team. The biggest addition in my opinion is Paraplegiicz aka v Determined v, known to many as the best tank in Reach, but he hasn't been on a lot to continue his dominance in Halo 4. From what Ive seen, when he does get on, hes still got a habit of going positive every game - he'll smash anyone one-on-one. I havent seen much of Rockys12 on Halo 4 either, but he too has long been involved in the leagues. Wrapping up this team's roster is THEXILEDRAGON, another veteran player who ran the bomb for Way To Fail in the past. He will probably share running duties with Crusader. This team has matered a number of different strategies that win them games - whether it's the classic launch, incredible passes, or the brute force tank-it-in approach. If they continue from where they left off last season they've got a good chance of winning the NGA champioM<nship this time around.

Number 1: Business Decision
Finally - for the #1 team - Business Decision. They have great players all across the board. We'll start with their captain - Oh My Godless, a player who has shown a consistent ability to win after picking up back-to-back GGL championships. Whether he's running or tanking, he can make a huge difference in any game. Godless will do most of the running because he's good at it sure, but also because they already have more tanking power than they need from players such as Taylor Cann, DIGITAL PAIN, and ActiveHate. All three of these power tanks put up impressive numbers last season in the AGLA - Taylor Cann coming out with the highest K/D of the entire league, getting him picked up by an even better team. DIGITAL PAIN is still one of the best tanks in the world - one of the Top 3 in my opinion along with Silent and Gingy - but with this team he'll have even more help than he did with Wau To Fail. He'll still be the hammerhead of most of their pushes though. ActiveHate is a pure offensive tank and will rack up the kills every game. On a good host, he can go in the double digit kill/death spread. Major Silva still continues where he left off in Reach - known by many as the best hybrid to ever play, Silva is solid at every aspect of the game. From what i saw in the GGL championship, he tanked in the last score of a 2-hour game. So not only is he a smart tank, but he shows great composure under pressure. He's a solid leader that brings a winning environment to a new team. Brrserker aka Glockshine hasn't played in a Halo 4 league game yet, but if he transitions well from Reach to Halo 4 he can be a great acqusition. iScet hasn't been on since his win in the GGL championship last season. If he does play and continues to pull host you'll definitely see this team in the championship. He'll probably be another runner they can go to, or they can turn to Yo DrGreenthumb who was an All-Pro runner last NGA season. Overall , this team is highly favorited to win it all - but we'll see how they mix together throughout the season. If everything goes smoothly for them, they'll easily be taking home the NGA SL13 Championship - but only time will tell.

So there's the very first NGA Pre-Season Top 8. We'll have another Top 8 after the regular season, just before playoffs start - and a third set of picks will be posted after the final rankings are released once the championship match is over.

Good luck to everyone with your upcoming games this season!
And good luck to all the Amateur teams too - we want you all to have the best games of your lives number wise - that's at least the best way to help your team make it to Pros next season :).

Preseason Top 8
1. Business Decision
2. Greatest Hits, Vol. II
3. A Righteous Kill
4. Turquoise Jeep
5. The Abusement Park
6. Astronaut Scuba Divers
7. Relapse
8. Clutch Betrayal