Major League Gaming closes out 2011 season

The Major League Gaming circuit descended upon Providence, Rhode Island, over the weekend to close out its 2011 season. And with $600,000 on the line, the professional gaming league handed out big purses to teams competing in Halo: Reach, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Starcraft II, and League of Legends.

The biggest prize of the night went to Team Instinct, which split $100,000 for placing first in the Halo: Reach competition. Team Instinct is composed of Roy, Lunchbox, Pistola, and Ogre 2, and the victory marked Ogre 2's fifth national championship. Second place in the Halo: Reach tournament went to Team Warriors, while Believe the Hype finished third.

Team Quantic Vengeance finished first in the Call of Duty: Black Ops tournament, securing $50,000. The four-man unit was staffed by Vengeance, Mutation, Virus, and Censor. Team Eon Envy took second place in the PlayStation 3 portion of the show, while Optic Gaming fell in at third.

As could be expected, Korea dominated the Starcraft II tournament, as 16-year-old Lee Dong Nyung (FXOLeenock) took the $50,000 top prize and DongRaeGu finished third. Sweden's Naniwa finished second.

Lastly, Team SoloMid topped the League of Legends gauntlet, winning $15,000 for their efforts. The quintet counts among its members ReginaId, TheOddOne, TheRainMan, Xpecial, and Chaox.

During the just-concluded eighth season, the MLG handed out more than $1 million in prizes and stipends.