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After five weeks of thrilling esports action, the Gfinity Elite Series playoffs are finally here. It’s do or die from here on out – every round, every match could be the difference between a share of the prize money, or going home.
While there aren’t quite as many matches left, we’re still following the same schedule as the regular season. CS:GO kicks us off at 3pm on Saturday, before Rocket League kickstarts Sunday 10am, and Street Fighter V brings it home at 4pm.
You can watch every match of the Elite Series live on Twitch, while the Rocket League matches will also be on One – Network Ten’s free-to-air sports channel. If you’re in Sydney, you can also catch the action live from the arena at the Entertainment Quarter.
Watch the Gfinity Elite Series LIVE on The Roar.
Which teams will be headed to the all-important deciders next week? Which teams will suffer the heartbreak of a playoff defeat?
Let’s find out.
The playoffs will begin with a clash between two sides who could scarcely be more different. Melbourne Order – one of the world’s top 40 CS:GO teams – will come up against a Sydney Roar side who were only created just before the season began.
Order fielded a reserve line-up for the first three matches of the season – which included their 16-13 victory over the Roar in Week 3 – before their superstars returned and laid waste to those before them. They enter the CS:GO playoffs as warm favourites.
It’s an incredibly impressive achievement from the newly-formed Roar team to feature in the playoffs – even if they only won two of their five matches.
They were very competitive all season and, despite some inconsistency within matches, their very best has been as good as anyone’s.
That said, only one team looks like getting close to this Melbourne side in CS:GO – and it’s not the Roar. Order should advance to the grand final comfortably.
It’s Sydney vs Melbourne again in the second semifinal, with the Chiefs taking on Avant to close out Saturday.
While both sides finished 3-2, there’s a pretty clear gulf in class between the two – with the Chiefs looking much better throughout the season.
These sides met in Week 4, with the Sydneysiders notching a fairly decisive 16-9 victory. Their performances against common opponents looked stronger too.
Avant will provide a contest, and this should prove to be the closer of the two semis, but Chiefs deserve favouritism here.
Rocket League picks up on Sunday where CS:GO leaves off, with the Sydney Chiefs and Melbourne Avant renewing hostilities in the morning.
Unfortunately for Avant fans, it’s likely to be a similar result as their earlier match.
One of the quirks of sending four out of six teams to the playoffs is that sometimes a non-playoff calibre team slips in and, with all respect to Avant, that’s what’s happened here.
Melbourne’s blue team were outclassed in their clashes with the rest of the top three and, coming up against a World Championship-level team in the Chiefs, it should be more of the same here.
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The second semi, however, is where this weekend starts to get really interesting. Melbourne Order are using a roster (DarkSided) that have tormented Perth Ground Zero’s (Legacy) in the past, but it was Ground Zero who took the points when these teams clashed in Week 4.
Order look to be the team most likely to challenge Sydney in the decider, but Perth have done enough to warrant the tip for this one.
Barring a tough loss to the Chiefs in Week 3, Perth have looked extremely impressive all season and, with the hopes of the West Coast on their backs, I’m backing them to deliver.
Street Fighter looks to be the title most likely to break the Chiefs-Order dichotomy, but their two main challengers in Avant and Ground Zero will go head-to-head in the first semifinal.
I’ve written at length about how Avant, despite finishing atop the ladder, have been far from convincing this season. All four of their wins in the regular season took the full seven rounds to secure, while a shock loss to the previously winless Sydney Roar in the last week of the season made them a lot more beatable.
It’s unfair to say Avant’s ‘luck’ has run out, but I think Perth are more than a fair chance to knock them off on Sunday – and they get my tip.
We finish off with an intriguing match-up between the Chiefs and Order, which is also a rematch of last week’s season-ending clash.
Both sides have had their ups and downs across the young season, with their bests good enough to take out the title, but their worst enough to see them beaten by anyone.
In addition to the Chiefs’ 4-2 win a week ago, the fact they’ve been able to put teams below them away in more convincing fashion means they get the nod here.