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Gfinity Elite Series Week 2 preview; rivalries galore

The Gfinity Elite Series' finals are almost here, so every match matters. (Image: Gfinity Australia)
7th June, 2018
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State of Origin, the Melbourne derby and Sydney vs West Coast – three of the biggest rivalries in Australian sport. This weekend at the Hoyts Gfinity Arena, they’re all set to be replayed on the esports stage.

Week two of the Gfinity Elite Series kicks off at 3pm (AEST) this Saturday, June 9, at the Hoyts Gfinity Esports Arena at the Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park. It’s CS:GO to start us off, before Rocket League starts at 10am on Sunday and Street Fighter V takes the stage at 4pm.

Let’s have a look ahead to this week’s esports action.

CS:GO

It’s an intriguing match-up to start proceedings on Saturday, with Perth Ground Zero tackling the Sydney Roar in a clash between two teams who claimed big wins a week ago.

Neither were predicted to come out on top, but Perth rode a hot start on route to a thrilling 16-12 win over Melbourne Avant, while the Roar stunned everyone by shellacking the Sydney Chiefs 16-2.

Whether the Roar caught their opponents off-guard is a big question. Perth may not have the calibre of the Roar’s previous opponents but, without the element of surprise, the Sydneysiders might find this one a bit tougher.

Next up is an all-Melbourne affair between Avant and Melbourne Order.

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Both Melbourne sides got off to slow starts in their week one matches. In fact, they both trailed their opponents 10-5 at the half.

But while the Order were able to go on an absolute tear to run down the Brisbane Deceptors 16-11, Avant couldn’t pull off the same job, going down to Perth.

We’ll learn a lot about both sides from this encounter, but the Order get the nod here as they showed last week that when they’re on – they’re on.

The CS:GO action then wraps up with a State of Origin-style clash between the Sydney Chiefs and Brisbane Deceptors.

The Chiefs were one of the favourites to take out this competition going in, but find themselves at the bottom of the Elite Series standings after an embarrassing loss to the Roar.

The task doesn’t get much easier this week against a Brisbane side who had Melbourne Order by the throat a week ago.

In a five-week season, the do-or-die phase certainly arrives early and, for these teams, that time is now. Chiefs have the reputation, but I’m going with Brisbane on form.

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Rocket League

The Rocket League action was thrilling last week, and it’s only set to get better with three tantalising match-ups.

The Sydney Roar did well to almost complete the reverse sweep of the Chiefs a week ago, but they come against a white hot Perth Ground Zero side who simply embarrassed Melbourne Avant last week. It’s hard to go past the men in green for this one.

The going doesn’t get much easier for Avant either, with their derby against Order coming at the worst possible time.

After getting blown away by Perth, they have to tackle an Order side who’s playing list actually knocked off Perth’s at the Rocket League Oceanic finals earlier this year.

Order by plenty.

Sydney Chiefs may have got the job done with a substitute team against the Roar last week – but they face a real danger game against a Deceptors side that really dug their heels in against Melbourne Order in round one.

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Forced to field a second-string line-up once more – given their top team is in London for the world championships – they’ll have to dig deep, but they should get the job done.

Street Fighter V

Week two of the Elite Series wraps up on Sunday evening, with Street Fighter V action there to take us home.

Some interesting personalities emerged out of last Sunday’s matches, so fans will be paying just as much attention to the trash talk as they are to the combos.

Sydney Roar, sadly, looked out of their depth against the Chiefs in week one and, while their opponents in Perth also emerged empty-handed last week, look to be in for a rough five-week campaign. Ground Zero should get on the board here.

If Melbourne Avant are going to take any points in this weekend’s three-part Melbourne derby – it’s going to have to be here. They looked the goods in a tough 4-3 win over Perth last week, whereas Order had to toil for a 4-2 triumph over Brisbane.

It should go down to the wire, but I’m picking Avant to finish their weekend on a high.

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It’s early days, but Brisbane will probably have to play bridesmaids for much of this season – across all three titles. They’ll win plenty of respect with another honest effort against the all-conquering Chiefs, but it’s hard to see them winning many rounds.

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