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We’re three weeks into the Gfinity Elite Series’ CS:GO competition – and there’s a four-way tie atop the standings. Not only are the Sydney Chiefs somehow in that logjam despite losing 16-2 in week one – they’re now favourites to win the lot.
The third week of esports action at the Hoyts Gfinity Esports Arena saw the season truly take shape and, with just two weeks of regular season play to go, we’re starting to see the wheat separated from the chaff.
The first match of the day saw an undefeated Perth Ground Zero team taking on the Sydney Chiefs in what proved to be a season-defining encounter.
Perth had all the momentum coming into this one, with hard-fought victories over Melbourne Avant and the Sydney Roar, while the jury was still very much out on the Chiefs after they got pummeled by their cross-town rivals in week one before touching up lowly Brisbane last week.
The first half followed the script pretty closely, with Ground Zero playing very comfortable as the CT side on Train. Given they’d dominated Brisbane on this very map a week ago, it was strange to see the Chiefs almost bereft of strategy in the first few rounds.
They looked zombie-like in their approach to the bomb site on many occasions, including a particularly embarrassing second round where four members of the team died in the exact same spot – at different times – in a poor attempt to hamfist a clearly-beaten strategy.
Perth took to the half-time break with a commanding 10-5 lead and looked odds-on favourites to go well clear of the competition with their third straight win.
But the second half arguably proved to be the most important 17 rounds of the competition so far. Sydney put their opponent on the back foot early with two dominant round wins, including an instance where the entire Ground Zero line-up got caught in a corridor and were wiped out in a matter of seconds.
From there, the Chiefs showed why their pedigree is considered the best in the league, outfoxing Perth from round to round.
Sydney were ready for every tactical change Ground Zero tried to employ and quickly had their opponents changing strategies in a panic and mismanaging their economy, eventually emerging 16-12 victors in a rousing display.
They may have lost their first match of the season in downright embarrassing fashion, but since then the Chiefs have gone 32-19 in rounds played. More importantly, nobody has dominated Perth in the manner they did in the second half.
If I had to pick a CS:GO winner today, my money would be on this rags-to-riches outfit in Sydney.
Members of the Sydney Chiefs and Melbourne Avant. (Photo: Gfinity Australia)
The day’s other matches proved entertaining too, with the Brisbane Deceptors taking on Melbourne Avant in search of their first win of the season.
New inclusion to the squad Artemis made her mark early on, with the underdogs actually taking the first three rounds of the match.
But the Deceptors’ lack of poise and cohesion as a unit proved to be their undoing from there. Once more, they found themselves scrambling when the momentum was taken away from them as team strategies quickly dissolved into several individuals trying to survive.
They did well to head into half time down 10-5 – given they were playing as the terrorists on a notoriously terrorist-unfriendly map in Overpass. Their gallant effort continued on into the second half with four straight wins, but Avant were able to pull away and claim a reasonably comfortable 16-11 win.
Brisbane proved that, at their best, they can match it with anyone. There’s no doubt the squad has skill – with gotz deserving commendation for twice picking up multiple late frags in one-on-four situations.
The challenge for the Deceptors going forward will be for them to match the unwavering cohesion and adherence to the gameplan that the top sides have shown each week.
Melbourne Order proved to be the other winners of the day after they claimed a thrilling 16-13 victory over the Sydney Roar in the final match.
Their first half effort was particularly impressive, with streaks of four and seven consecutive round wins taking them to a commanding 11-4 half-time lead.
The Roar fought back hard in the second half, getting it back to 13-14 at one point, before a baffling decision not to take a defusal kit into one of the later rounds saw them win the personnel battle but lose the round because they couldn’t defuse the bomb in time.
The wind clearly left their sails after that, with Order claiming the next round quite easily to win 16-13.
Melbourne Order find themselves back near the top of the Elite Series standings following the win, while the Roar find themselves very much at the crossroads.
Their famous 16-2 win over the Chiefs in Round 1 made them the talk of the town but, as we wrote last week, they’ve tried too hard to out-strategise their opponents since and it’s come at the expense of their superior instincts for the game.
Order’s captain Sonic said before the match his side were looking to play “loose and limber” and, as such, they beat the Roar at their own game.
At 1-2, but with a very winnable game against Brisbane next week, it’s not over yet for Sydney’s second team – but they need to get back to that loose and limber style of play quickly.