Gabe Rodriguez is flying high. A few months ago, he was herding wallaroos in the Australian outback [Ed: need to fact-check this], when he was discovered by Isaac Epp and sponsored for season 3 of UGT. In only his second week, after a respectable 3rd place showing in karBOOM, Rodriguez flew through the DOA4 tournament, going undefeated and taking home 10 points and the win. He now sits atop the Champions League, with sponsor Epp and veteran Holmberg-Weidler each 2 points back.

"Trying to soak it all up," Rodriguez admits, stunned at his domination this week. With a wry smile, he jokes, "this is surely where I peak. Things can only go downhill from here."

Both Rodriguez and Dan Gibson managed to win their brackets with strategy that was best summarized by Rodriguez as "incessant poking." "First I poked my enemy," Gibson explained. "Then I poked. Sometimes a flying poke, or just lots of pokes." These pokes got Gibson his second straight win and boosted his confidence, causing him to remark, "this might be my best season ever."

Ryan Seiff and Brian Kaiser may have felt a bit poked by the UGT ruling this week that their absence on their scheduled day (due to claims of demo bugfixing and a terrible headache) caused them to receive only a pittance of points. This especially hurt Kaiser, who had a disappointing karBOOM week. When we asked UGT commissioner Scott Dai if the ruling was a bit harsh, he looked pensive. "Do I feel bad? Sure." Dai shook his head slightly. "But I can't make everyone happy all the time, and I have to act on behalf of the good of UGT, its fans, and other competitors."

For those fans that stayed late on the second day of play, the most drama may have been in the crossover league, where brothers Ian and Alex Hetu went head-to-head in a poke/no-poke contest that came down to the last hit. Alex was firmly against the strategy that had brought such success to Rodriguez and Gibson. He argued, "poking is in fact dishonorable and despicable. Since I was with people who clearly would lower themselves to poking, I was very confident that I was going to win." That confidence carried him to finals quite handily, as he easily dispatched Charles Gast and his brother to reach the finals. However, Ian seemed to gain new life in the consolation bracket and came a mere punch away from upsetting Alex.

So is poking dishonorable? Is it frowned upon by the UGT? While UGT issued no comment, our winners all felt differently. Hetu called it "dishonorable and despicable" while Gibson maintains that it is "the best strategy." Rodriguez? He threw up his hands and simply agreed, "it's all of the things!"

As we enter week 3 of the season, it's too early to count anyone out, but favorites are certainly beginning to emerge. Can Dan Gibson continue his winning streak? Will defending champion Hunter Howe continue his streak of coming in second? Is this finally Eric Holmberg-Weidler's year? One thing is certain: this is shaping up to be the most exciting season yet.