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As one of the most recognisable esports organisations in Australia, expectations were high for the Sydney Chiefs coming into Season 1, 2018 of the Gfinity Elite Series.
Boasting a world class Rocket League team, alongside a healthy mix of seasoned professionals and draftees in CS:GO and Street Fighter, the Chiefs were considered one of the frontrunners to claim all three Elite Series titles.
How did it all pan out for Sydnyey’s boys in blue?
Playing in the first ever Elite Series Sydney derby in Week 1, the Chiefs got a very rude awakening by their crosstown rivals in the Sydney Roar. Fielding a strange mix of inexperienced players alongside captain Flickz (Samuel Jones) and Dizzy (Kyran Crombie), the Chiefs simply got obliterated.
It wasn’t until the 12th round that they were able to break through, with the horrible early start leading to an ugly 16-2 score in favour of the Roar – the most dominant result for one team of the whole season.
But, to the team’s credit, they got back to work immediately. Two changes were made to the line-up for match-up against Brisbane and, after an iffy start, they turned it on with a dominant late run to crush the Deceptors 16-7.
The next fortnight was where the Chiefs reminded everyone of why they were an early-season favourite. They fought and epic seesawing battle with a then-undefeated Perth Ground Zero team, emerging 16-12 victors, before ripping through Melbourne Avant in Week 4 for in a 16-9 result that actually flattered the losing team.
Coming up against the all-conquering Melbourne Order in the final game of the regular season, Sydney were far from disgraced. The underdogs rallied back from a sizeable early deficit, forcing the match to overtime before eventually going down.
Finishing in second spot, the club came up against a vastly improved Avant side to the one they’d decimated a fortnight ago. Melbourne’s blue team pushed the Chiefs to extra rounds in both matches of the best-of-three series, but the Chiefs were up to the challenge both times, setting up a mouth-watering rematch with Order in the decider.
Unfortunately for the Chiefs, it wasn’t to be.
The Melburnians flexed their muscle in the first match of the best of five, winning 16-3, before going to claim 16-14 and 16-10 wins in the next two maps to sweep the Chiefs and nab the CS:GO title.
Looking at the season, it’s clear their best was good enough to win the competition. No side came close to troubling Order in the same manner they did in Week 5.
But unfortunately, their worst was close to the competition’s worst. Their 16-2 loss to the Roar and 16-3 loss in the first grand final match were the two most lopsided losses of the season by any time – a full four maps worse than the third most lopsided result.
The Chiefs could’ve won it all. (Photo: Gfinity Australia)
Next season, they’ll want to focus on bringing their A game each and every week.
The Chiefs went through the Rocket League season with virtually nothing to complain about.
With the top line of Jake (Jake Edwards), Drippay (Matthew Den-Kaat) and Torsos (Daniel Parsons) off in London at the world championships for the first fortnight, the stand-in team did a fine job in their absence, knocking off the Roar 3-2 and Brisbane 3-0.
Perth looked to be the form team of the tournament when the sides clashed in the Week 3, but the Chiefs’ returning stars put paid to that notion with a dominant 3-0 result, before crushing Melbourne Avant by the same score a week later.
They were made to battle for a 3-2 win over Melbourne Order in the season’s final game, but still finished atop the ladder as the only undefeated team in any Elite Series competition.
Entering the finals as the unbackable favourites, nobody looked close to knocking this team off their perch in the knockout phase – especially not an Avant team who’d made the playoffs despite posting a negative win-loss record in the regular season.
Whether the Chiefs believed their own hype, took Avant lightly or just had an off day, what happened in the semis was truly unbelievable.
Avant, a team of draftees, looked far hungrier than their storied opposition, claiming a shocking 4-2 playoff win that had everyone in the arena in utter disbelief.
It was the Chiefs’ first loss in an Oceanic tournament match since a 3-1 loss to Legacy in September 2017 and the first time they’d failed to win an Oceanic major tournament in their history.
Given it came to an opposition they really should have had no trouble beating, the team’s Rocket League series can only be described as a huge disappointment.
No doubt the fire will be burning for next season.
The Street Fighter tournament was always going to be the most even of the three series – given most esports organisations keep only the one player on the books.
For the Chiefs, that was bksama (Kevin Nguyen) and he led his drafted teammates admirably through the first two rounds as they dominated the Roar and Deceptors 4-0 and 4-1, respectively.
But, once they ran into better opposition, the cracks started to appear. Perth Ground Zero made headlines with a dominant 4-2 win in Week 3, before the Chiefs fell under the 4-3 spell Melbourne Avant had been able to cast on everyone.
They got themselves into the playoffs after a gutsy 4-2 win over Melbourne Order in Week 5, only to have Order turn the tables on them in the semis with a 4-3 win.
You get the feeling most teams used the first season of Street Fighter to get a feel for the format and their opposition. Look for the Chiefs next season to bring some more talent in alongside bksama and make a big play for the title.
Note: Gfinity Australia is a joint venture with HT&E Events. The Roar is published by Conversant Media, which is owned by HT&E.