Following on from the international success of the community-driven Gears of War 3 tournament Hypefestation, DO Gaming is hosting the inaugural DGL Gears of War 3 Cup, and although hosted and sponsored by DO Gaming, the cup is very much a community event, being driven by a very passionate Gears of War ZA community.

Many locals may play the Battlefields and Modern Warfares out there, but deep down inside, those veterans know that Gears is still their game.

When the call to arms was originally sent out, some were weary at first, not sure if this was for real or just a pipe dream. In the end, however, old hands and young legs alike responded with the vigour and passion that only Gears can garner. Shotguns were polished and Chainsaws sharpened as E-day 2012 drew near: The Gears Cup kicked off this week!

When Gears of War 3 was released in September of 2011, it not only healed the old wounds caused by Gears of War 2 as players came back in droves but it also brought forth a new wave of Gears players who have embraced the game. In the Gears of War 3 Cup we will for the first time be able to bear witness as these two generations clash.

Entered into the Cup we have the veteren teams of OAP, Sons of Chaos (Soc), Ground Zero (GZ) and Capital Punishment (CP), but how will they fair against the new blood of The Fallen Lobotomisers (FLS), Crimson Moon Rising (CMR), Rip CordZ (RZ), Ghosts of Onyx (GOO), Killer Elite (KE), the Bench Warmers (BW) and the Pink Diamonds (PD)? Only time will tell.

The bookies seem to favour the chances of FLS who have retained the core of their championship winning Gears of War 2 team and also managed to recruit some big gun additions, but they aren’t the only clan to have grown - GZ has also increased its ranks as have the Pink Diamonds who are now the second biggest clan behind OAP.

To all, Gears 3 is a skills game and skills grow and mature over time but are never forgotten, so it would be folly to dismiss the likes of SoC or CP for being inactive but perhaps the most exciting part of this cup is how the new teams will play. Will they use it as a learning experience or will they run in guns blazing ready to take the Gears world by storm?

The DO Gaming League has been running e-sport tournaments for years now (previously under the banner of AGASA) but have predominantly focused on the PC side of gaming. When Gears of War 3 launched, however, they noticed an opportunity in console gaming they could not turn down and so months of planning and discussion have finally resulted in this, the inaugural Gears 3 Cup, which if successful will serve as a precursor to the Official Gears of War 3 League.

The hope is that the cup will build interest as the league fine tunes the local competitive skill and talent to perhaps one day take to the international arena.

The Cup will consist of two stages: Stage 1 will be a group stage (approximately three weeks long) with the top two teams from each group progressing to Stage 2. The cup breaks away from tradition, abandoning the ‘Execution only’ tournaments of the past and will this year feature three different gametypes adding the infinitely enjoyable Team Death Match and the El33tonline favourite - King of the Hill.

Stage 2 will see the finalist do battle in double elimination style brackets (approximately three weeks) until there is but one team left standing, victorious.

So show your support for local competitive gaming by supporting the Cup as well as by continuing to join in on El33tonline’s weekly Gears community event - Gears of War Wednesday!