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Gfinity Elite Series; Playoffs day 1 as it happened

topguN (left) with Havoc (centre) last season. (Photo: Gfinity Australia)
6th July, 2018
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The Gfinity Elite Series playoffs began today, with CS:GO action taking place at the Hoyts Gfinity Esports Arena from 3pm.

First up, it was the new-look Melbourne Order side taking on a Sydney Roar team who snuck into the playoffs in miraculous circumstances.

Sydney Roar held their own for much of the match despite being considered massive long shots to even compete with their highly-fancied rivals. The scoreboard didn’t really reflect how close they got, however, with Order able to prevail 2-0 in the best-of-three with 16-6 and 16-8 victories.

The Sydney vs Melbourne rivalry continued into the second match of the day, with the red-hot Sydney Chiefs taking on Melbourne Avant in what was, hands down, one of the most gripping matches of any sport you will see in 2018.

The Chiefs were the hot favourites coming in, but Avant pushed them almost the entire way. Both sides went on hot streaks, rounds were decided by moments of individual brilliance, and the fans were on the edge of their seats for the entire evening.

After succumbing to Order in overtime in their last match, Chiefs were pushed to the extra period on the first map by Avant but, on this occasion, were able to pull out the 19-17 victory.

They looked comfortable on the second map with a 15-12 lead, but Avant found another gear and were able to push it to overtime once more. From here, however, the Chiefs were able to steady and walk away 19-15 match winners and 2-0 series winners.

In his playoff preview article yesterday, Stirling Coates’ tipped a split in the two-game Sydney-Melbourne derby. He gave the edge to Order in the first match and the Chiefs in the second and, for the first time in a long time, walked away with a perfect tipping day.

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Here’s how social media saw the day unfold.

CS:GO – Semifinals

Date Teams Time
Sat Jul 7 Melbourne Order vs Sydney Roar 3:00 PM
Sat Jul 7 Sydney Chiefs vs Melbourne Avant 4:40 PM

Watch the Gfinity Elite Series LIVE on The Roar.

9:25pm: Bravo to the Sydney Chiefs and Melbourne Avant for putting on an absolutely enthralling match of Counter-Strike. In the end, it’s the Sydneysiders who prevail again – setting up a mouth-watering rematch with Melbourne Order in the final next week.

What. a. day.

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9:20pm: Sydney Chiefs were in control with a 15-12 lead, but Avant have come all the way back and we’re headed to overtime again!

8:50pm: We’re in for another ripping match here – this time it’s Melbourne Avant who hold the 8-7 lead at halftime.

8:10pm: What a game of Counter-Strike! It went all the way down to the wire, with the Sydney Chiefs prevailing 19-17 on Inferno.

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If that wasn’t enough CS:GO for you, we’ve got at least one more map to go – potentially two!

7:55pm: We are going to overtime! And it’s only Map 1!

Melbourne Avant showing some great mettle to stick with the Chiefs after they surrendered a big early lead.

It’s 15-15, so we’ll play another six rounds.

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7:20pm: Melbourne Avant had the crowd silenced early with some very slick play. They raced out to a 7-2 lead, but the Chiefs managed to get themselves – and their fans – back in the game from there.

Against all odds, they win six in a row and take an 8-7 lead into half time on Map 1.

6:45pm: We’re just about ready to go here at the Arena with the second semifinal. It’ll be Sydney Chiefs taking on Melbourne Avant – Map 1 is Inferno.

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6:15pm: It was a very gallant performance from the Roar in the second half of Inferno against highly-fancied opposition. They took the first three rounds of the half – getting the crowd involved once more – but it was all Order from there.

They win the second map of the best of three 16-9 and progress to the grand final next week.

They’ll be playing the winners of Sydney Chiefs and Melbourne Avant later today.

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5:50pm: Sydney Roar had the home fans up and about once more, with an impressive mid-half rally on Order’s preferred map Inferno got it back to 7-5, but once again Melbourne have been able to reassert their dominance.

Like before, it’s 10-5 at the halftime break.

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5:15pm: Much to the disappointment of the home crowd, Map 1 goes the way of Melbourne Order quite decisively. They go 6-1 after halftime to wrap up a very comprehensive 16-6 victory.

Next up, we’re on Order’s preferred map in Inferno – this could get ugly.

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5:00pm: Sydney Roar very much looked to be the goods early with three round wins that got the home crowd up and about, but it’s been Melbourne Order asserting themselves since.

They’ve gone on a five-round and a four-round streak since, with a late win for Sydney getting it back to 10-5 at halftime in Map 1.

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4:35pm: After more than one hour of technical difficulties – we are finally underway!

3:20pm: The semi-finals begin today – and we’re moving to a best of three format. Sydney Roar have picked Cache, Order have picked Inferno. If we need a third map, we’ll be heading to Train.

Order are starting as the white-hot favourites in this one. The action will get underway very soon.

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