EQL20 has reached the playoffs
A fun and active season has reached the playoff stage.
Read on to see how the clans will line up for the playoffs!
Final Table
1. Suddendeath 36
2. Fragomatic 32*
3. Crazy88 31
4. Beer bear balalaika 31
5. Chosen 27
6. Suddendeath2 25
7. Fraggers United 24
8. Felia-020 24**
9. Paras 22***
10. Fatal Error 15
11. Luso Brasileiro 13
12. Division Ninety Nine Blue 12
13. Division Ninety Nine Red 12
* Fragomatic got WO vs Fatal Error because Fatal Error failed to show up for a/several booked game(s).
** Felia-020 got WO vs Division Ninety Nine Blue because Division Ninety Nine Blue failed to show up for a/several booked game(s).
*** Paras got WO vs Luso Brasileiro because Luso Brasileiro failed to show up for a/several booked game(s).
A playoffs
Suddendeath vs Beer Bear Balalaika
Fragomatic vs Crazy88
All games are BO5, winners meet in the final and losers meet in the bronze game. Deadline for semis is Dec 6th and deadline for final/bronze game is Dec 20th.
B playoffs
Chosen vs Felia-020
Suddendeath2 vs Fraggers United
All games are BO5, winners meet in the final and losers meet in the bronze game. Deadline for semis is Dec 6th and deadline for final/bronze game is Dec 20th.
C Playoffs
Quarter final
Div99B vs Div99R
BO5, deadline Dec 6th
Semi finals
Paras vs winner of quarter final
Fatal Error vs Luso Brasileiro
All games are BO5, winners meet in the final and losers meet in the bronze game. Deadline for semis is Dec 13th and deadline for final/bronze game is Dec 20th..
Here are my thoughts on the upcoming playoff games in the three different playoffs.
I think this season has been great considering the low amount of clans. Not counting Demolition Crew and Wrong Game the rest of the clans managed to play 72 out of 78 games wich I am almost certain is a new record for % of games completed in a season. I havent done the match tho but it is still pretty solid.
In the beginning of the season I saw complaints here and there about the massively one sided games but when the clans started facing of against more equal opponents midway thru and late in the season we saw some really hot games and unexpected results.
In the end all the teams ended up more or less where I thought they would end up and this brings me to the playoff fixtures.
A playoffs
Suddendeath vs Beer Bear Balalaika
SD played really well this season and when they beat FOM 2-1 in the group game they secured seed #1 for the upcoming playoffs. In the end we even get to see a little bit of BPS, something the spectators really enjoyed, but both Rio and Lethalwizz did a good job as the 4th guy for SD. It looks like Rikoll has fit in nicely in the group and at this point i think there is very little 3B can do to stop SD from reaching the final. During the season 3B had som bumps in the road and it wasnt entirely clear that they would reach the A playoffs. However, main contenders CSN, SD2 and FU all had some losses that ate away at their points enough to see 3B reach A in the end.
In my mind this is a clear 3-0 for SD.
Fragomatic vs Crazy 88
With only 1 loss during the regular season FOM ended up second behind SD and will face C88 in the first round of the playoffs. If FOM is fielding Milton, Diki, Xantom and Creature I think this going to be extremely hard for C88 to do much about them. C88 also seems to be missing kingpin who is a strong player for them on DM3. However, C88 has been playing well aside from the loss vs 3B and can atleast shake FOM a little on E1M2 for example. Still, anything but 3-0 for FOM here would surprise me.
B playoffs
Suddendeath 2 vs Fraggers United
SD2 has been doing well aside from a surprising 0-2 loss vs 020 and are looking really good for that B final. They have made the most of their 6 players and especially Trygve has been really good taking the bulk of work load in maps played and racked up a pretty good frag average. I think they should go with Trygve, Andeh, ok98 and Molle on all maps except DM2 where they should put in Locktar instead of Andeh. If they do that I think they will be too hard for FU.
Fraggers United on the other hand has been a little inconcistent with disappointing 0-2 losses against Paras and SD2 while beating other mid clans like CSN and Felia 2-0. If they want to do something against SD2 they will have to field Kip, Knave, Hell and Culkey. If someone want a rest I would put in Anza on some E1M2 action as he is pretty good there. Other than that i think FU are a bit disappointed to see Persu at 0 maps played since he would have helped them alot on all 3 maps.
This game could very well be a real thriller and I will go with 3-2 in favor of SD2.
Chosen vs Felia-020
This game has already been played and it was a real thriller with 020 coming back from a 1-2 defecit to win 3-2 after a couple of really close 4th and 5th maps. All I can say is that I feel that CSN didnt really played like we have done earlier in the season with the 2-1 win against 3B being the highlight. I dont want to take away anything from 020 though as they played well and deserved the win in the end.
C playoffs
Quarterfinal
D99 Blue vs D99 Red
After a season filled with losses these teams finally played their group game and D99B won 2-0 after a 1 frag win on the 2nd map E1M2. The result combined with other scores meant that these teams qualified to meet eachother in the C playoff quarter. Ocoini in D99R played really well at YA/GL on E1M2 in the group game vs D99B and if he can repeat that and get some help from his mates I can see D99R win that map twice. D99B feels stronger on DM3 and DM2 and this will be decisive for the outcome of this BO5 game. The skill differs alot between the players in these teams and players like Gore and Klice will be important for D99B while Ocoini and Paniagua will be crucial for D99R. Winners here will meet Paras in the semifinal. I think D99B will win this game 3-2 but it will be close.
Semifinals
Fatal Error vs Luso Brasileiro
In the first semifinal FE will take on LB and this game will go the distance. In the group game LB won 2-0 but they had crazymac and he hasnt been seen for LB since that game. It is really hard to predict who will play for these teams as they have been using a load of players but I am pretty sure Norules and Dev will play for LB while we will see Cosmos and Darff for FE. From what I have seen FE will struggle on DM2 while the same goes for LB on E1M2 while DM3 will be up for grabs and also be the key to victory.
During the season FE only managed to win aganist the D99 teams but they came somewhat close to stealing maps from both Paras and LB. LBs story is a little more exciting as they managed to take a map from 020 without fielding crazymac. We also didnt get to see them vs Paras or SD2 and especialyl the game vs Paras would have been interesting in order to really judge the status of LB at this point.
I think LB will win 3-2 but it will be very close here as well.
Paras vs ???
In the second semifinal Paras is waiting for the winner of the quarterfinal between D99R and D99B and to be honest Paras will win this game 3-0 no matter who it will be. Paras has once again put up a stable performance in the lower parts of the table, winning the must win games and even brought down FU 2-0. That game was one of their best in their EQL history and something they can be proud of. As mentioned before they didnt play vs LB but perhapss they will get the chance to meet them in the final?