The WCG has announced the cast for Season 2 of the WCG Ultimate Gamer competition, with the Grand Finals in Los Angeles, California at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Included in the list are some notable names from the CGS-era, including Kat Gunn, Vanessa Arteaga, and Yaz “Clown” Ammari. Below is the complete list of cast members from the official press release:

The Cast

* Yazan Ammari,  Granada Hills, CA – Sometimes called “The Clown,” Yaz can be the best friend of his fellow competitors, or their worst enemy as he laughs his way to the top.

* Vanessa Arteaga, Modesto, CA – Vanessa burst onto the professional gaming scene and made an immediate impact with her superior skills, model looks and attitude. Vanessa is generally a nice girl, but if you make her angry, watch out, because there could be an explosion!

* Ryan Burnett, Portland, OR – From the Northwest, Ryan was kicked out of the house at 13; he credits video games for ‘saving his life’ and propelling him to be the biggest gamer in Oregon…but can he be the best of the best-

* Sebastian Burton, Stamford, CT – “Chosen1” Is a trash-talker who aims to dominate the gaming world. Even though he has a tough exterior, he will give you the shirt off his back if you need it.

* Katherine Gunn, Lancaster, CA – “Kat” is a natural born talent in gaming as she was raised in a gaming family. With the pedigree, don’t underestimate her skills and passion to work her way to the top just because she is a girl gamer.

* Michael LaBelle, Houston, TX – The resident jock of the cast, Michael is known for his specialty in sports games and his self-proclaimed way with the ladies.

* Faye Mata, Kenosha, WI – This pre-med student says that drama just seems to follow her wherever she goes. Faye doesn’t let the haters – especially other females – bother her as she works to smash the competition.

* AJ Mazur, Shelton, CT – Don’t be fooled by this self-described ‘typical dorky gamer.’ AJ is a fierce competitor and is currently up for a “Rock Band” World record.

* Caesar Noreiga, Parlin, NJ – “Mr. Suave” is Jersey born, but spends his time perfecting his skills on a wide range of games instead of working on his tan – as a result, he’s raked up several top tournament finishes in the process.

* Jacob “Jake” Pfister, Kent, OH – This passionate gamer rallied online and offline supporters to win his way onto the show as the 12th contestant. Jake hates being worse than someone at anything, which drives him to prove he’s the best gamer.

* Rachel Quirico, Branchburg, NJ – Rachel knows she is cute but she is more than a pretty face as she is well known throughout the professional community for her gaming skills and blazing confidence – she’s relentless on girl and guy gamers alike.

* Justin Wong, New York City, NY – “JWong” is known as the best “Street Fighter” player in the United States. A force to be feared, he supports his parents by gaming, though they are unaware of his profession. Can Justin conquer WCG Ultimate Gamer using his self-proclaimed “Justin Wong Factor-“

What is the WCG Ultimate Gamer?

In WCG Ultimate Gamer, a dozen top gamers from around the country are invited to a posh loft space to live and battle together in a series of competitions that take them “beyond the game.” From real-life challenges inspired by top-selling games to head-to-head elimination matches before hundreds of screaming spectators, the last gamer standing will have survived gaming’s ultimate test and will be dubbed the best all-around gamer in the US, taking home $100k, the ultimate Samsung Electronics prize package, Alienware’s high-performing gaming desktop, the Aurora, and the chance to be the face of World Cyber Games, representing the WCG at events around the world.

The show will air on Thursday nights at 11PM beginning on August 19th on Syfy. For more information about the show, click here.

For months, there have been rumors as to where the WCG USA qualifier would be, but today the WCG organization has announced that the qualifier would be held at Universal Studios in Hollywood, California.

Hundreds of gamers will take to their respective games for their chance at representing team USA only 2 weeks later in Los Angeles. Included in these gamers are various members of the compLexity family including coL.cs and coL.FIFA.

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The grand finals will be held from September 30th through October 3rd at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Stay tuned to compLexityGaming.com for live coverage of both events.

Made in Brazil have announced the addition of Carlos “viol” de Paula, who fills the empty spot left by Frederico “RedFox” Bernardes. Viol has played for kaOz and playArt. He is also a former teammate of Maluk3 and mch.

Redfox was replaced because he was unable to commit as much time as the other members of the squad. Mibr has a busy upcoming schedule with the WCG Qualifier, Mega GamerHours Acervus Cup, FIRE Brasil and KODE5 Brazil.

Redfox did not have as much time to spend as the rest of the team, as we are eyeing the many tournaments ahead. We want to increase the pace and it was already hard for him before.” – Filipe “bt0” Moreno, Mibr CS Captain.

Mibr.cs is now:

Filipe “bt0” Moreno
Alan Diego “adr” Riveros
Pedro “Maluk3” Campos
Jean Michel “mch” D’Oliveira
Carlos “viol” de Paula

Translation by Hltv.org

Loaded, via their website, has announced the addition of two new players to their roster in Scott “evolution” Cavallero and Sean “sgares” Gares. With the change comes the decision to replace Paul “Adrenaline” Baker and Anthony “djibouti” Manosca.

The community has already seen this roster perform in the EG Master’s Cup where the team placed second behind compLexity, taking home $1,000 in prize money. The team is now preparring for for the upcoming CEVO and ESEA-Invite Season’s as well as the WCG USA Finals.

Sean “sgares” Gares had this to say to GoLoaded.com:

I’ve never been happier about joining a team. This team has so much potential, but is already the best team I’ve been on. With a few intense practice sessions I can easily see us being the best in the US in addition to contending internationally! Steno is probably the best in game leader in the US scene at the moment, and is constantly helping and giving advice in practices. Hostile is a great motivator in addition to being the best at his role. Pauly is our young gunner who’s always looking to better himself, and is just in love with the game. What sets this team apart from others though is the family atmosphere where everyone can take criticism and constantly better themselves.

The Loaded roster is now as follows:

Paul “pauLy” Guerboyan
Shaun “hostile” Catron
Nazar “steno” Vynnytsky
Scott “evolution” Cavallero
Sean “sgares” Gares

Along with the announcement that ESEA will continue their support for TF2 for ESEA-Invite Season 7 comes the announcment of 7 of the participating teams, as well as the list of 3 teams that you can vote for. The list of teams are as follows:

ComplexityTF2
EG TF2
Apocalypse Gaming
Blight Gaming TF2
eMazing Gaming TF2
Purple Cobras
Team neXziL

The following is a list of teams that didn’t make the original list, but with your help, can find themselves in ESEA-Invite for Season 7.

Harmonic
Apoplexy Industries
Vicious Gaming TF2

To place your vote, click here. The voting process will run for 48 hours.

Call of Duty: BlackOps is set to come out later this year and is the next game in the COD series. Below is the new trailer that shows ingame Multiplayer footage.