By plane, train, automobile, and perhaps Nethership, they flocked to the Ballys Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fighting for personal gain, glory, revenge, and the right to be crowned Mortal Kombat Champion, players from across the United States entered into the first official tournament in MK's home country, sponsored by Performance Design Products -- makers of the official MK gamestick!

Under the forgiving conditions of a double elimination bracket, players were pitted against each other in a fight for supremacy and a total purse of $21,000 in the latestMortal Kombat, released April 19.

From the many, a round of sixteen qualifiers emerges thanks to live reports from iPlayWinner.com.

Emerging victorious from eight pools: Eb3n3zer (1), EG Justin Wong (2), Michaelangelo (3), LI Joe (4), Trophy Club (5), Perfect Legend (6), UFO Fubarduck (7) & Ike S (8). Surviving the second-chance: Hugo101 (1), JOP (2), Sochettra Math (3), Big Marcus (4), BE Rivers (5), Floe (6), Noobe (7) & MarkMan (8)!

Kung Lao

Kung Lao has played a prominent role in the competitive ranks, while Kitana made only a few appearances contrary to pre-tournament speculation in PDP's strategy preview. Ermac has earned special props when in the hands of players like Michaelangelo and Floe, while many punters pick Justin Wong v JOP as one of the true highlights of the tournament!

Characters like Kano remind us that MK fans love a good rogue, and who could look past MarkMan as a darkhorse surviving the double-elimination to make the final sixteen? When he isn't making waves with his mastery of Smoke, he's a lead product developer for PDP rival in peripherals, MadCatz! MarkMan, or marked man?

The event has and will continue to stream live via TeamSpooky.tv from 12PM PST, with a mammoth archive version of first day competition footage still available online. Tomorrow's winner receives a whopping $10,000 grand prize and title of MK champion!

Competing in the tournament? Be it a tale of hardluck or glory, share your $10,000 tournament story with the Mortal Kombat Online community in our PDP Tournament Forum Thread!