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The second week of city-based esports action got underway this past Saturday, with three more CS:GO matches taking place at the Hoyts Gfinity Esports Arena in Sydney. A clear frontrunner emerged from the rest of the pack, while some surprise results later made for a complex finals equation just two weeks in.
It was a highly-anticipated match-up to kick things off, with two undefeated sides in Perth Ground Zero and Sydney Roar going head-to-head.
While the opening rounds were plagued with technical issues, once we managed to get underway properly it was a match befitting of one billed as top-of-the-table.
Perth looked the goods early, taking the first three rounds despite having their momentum halted by the technical pauses, but the Roar were able to find their mojo afterwards with six straight round wins.
The sides traded rounds from that point afterwards and, while the Roar took the 8-7 lead into the break, given Mirage is famous for being a CT-favoured map, Perth looked to be in control as they changed over.
Ground Zero piled on the wins from there, eventually taking a 16-10 win that put them in outright first in the Elite Series standings.
After stunning Sydney Chiefs with a ferocious and largely instinctive gameplan in week one, Sydney Roar took a noticeably more deliberate and crafted approach this week – and it’s fair to say it didn’t work.
The raw talent on the Roar’s roster is undeniable and the veteran status of many of their players means the side makes up for their slight disadvantage in reflexes with a superior feel for the game. The real knock on them has been their comparative lack of time spent together compared to the other sides.
Whether they got inside their own heads too much or not (thinking the ‘no-huddle’ approach couldn’t work twice) trying to out-strategise an opponent with more team experience was never going to work.
Their clash next week with Melbourne Order will likely go a long way to deciding both teams’ seasons and the Roar should go back to playing to their strengths – shooting first, asking questions later.
The second clash of the day was the long-awaited inaugural Melbourne derby, with Order facing off against their arch rivals in Melbourne Avant.
To cut a long story short – this one will take some beating for match of the year.
(Image: Gfinity Australia)
Draftee Danz brought the crowd into it early with three frags from three shots in the first round, as Avant shot out to a 3-0 lead.
Like last week, however, the match started to get away from them, with Order claiming eight straight wins from that point and cutting off a three-round rally afterwards to lead 9-6 at the half.
The first round of the second half proved controversial, with a narrow Order victory allowed to stand despite Avant captain MoeyCQ being booted from the server. But the boys in blue clearly used the tough break as motivation, picking up four straight wins at one point to take a 13-12 lead into the final five rounds.
The final rounds had some incredible moments, including Order captain Sonic almost single-handedly wiping out the opposition after they picked the wrong bomb site to plant on, before Avant’s pecks stood strong in a one-on-three situation to get his side within one round of victory.
Avant did eventually triumph 16-13, in what was easily the best match we’ve seen so far at the Elite Series.
While both sides made their share of tactical errors, Avant appeared to be on the same page with one another just that little bit more – even if it did lead to their demise at one point.
Avant captain MoeyCQ spoke exclusively to The Roar after the match too, and we’ll have his post-game interview up later this week.
The final match of the round pitted two sides in search of their first win against one another, with the Chiefs looking to rebound from their horror demolition by the Roar last week, and Brisbane looking to avenge their second-half collapse against Order.
The home fans were definitely on the Chiefs side, and they had a lot to cheer about with the Sydneysiders claiming the first four games.
Brisbane were able to turn it around – leading 7-6 one point – but the Chiefs found their mojo in a big way to win ten straight rounds and claim a surprisingly simple 16-7 victory.
Making two changes to the starting line-up worked wonders for de facto home team, with new additions Tama and Doom adding some much-needed spark to a team that was cripplingly indecisive a week ago.
Round-differential means the strong victory only pulls the Chiefs up to fifth – but the rest of the results see a four-way tie for second place on the CS:GO ladder.
Roar, Order, Avant and Chiefs (in that order, based on round-differential) occupy a significant logjam in the standings, but next week’s matches will go some way to separating the pack.
The undefeated Perth Ground Zero will tackle the rejuvenated Sydney Chiefs in the first match of the day, Brisbane Deceptors will try to scrape together their first win when they take on Melbourne Avant, while the Sydney Roar and Melbourne Order will both look to rebound from tough losses when they close things out.