Season 2 of the Gfinity Elite Series Australia, presented by Alienware, is now in the history books and only the semi-finals and grand finals await. Week 5 was an incredible close to the regular season, with heartbreak, triumph, and neck-and-neck competition. Highlights of the weekend were the Melbourne ORDER and Sydney Chiefs CS:GO game which was just narrowly won by the Chiefs in a 16-14 victory over the reigning champs. The Brisbane Deceptors and Sydney Roar game was even more of a nailbiter, going into overtime and finally ending with a 22-18 win by Roar.
The Rocket League games for the week were all comfortable 3-0 wins but the ladder has been shaken up by the weekend’s results. Street Fighter closed out the weekend with a shock upset as Perth Ground Zero took down the undefeated Melbourne Avant in a 4-2 victory. As a result, the villains, Melbourne ORDER, are back on top of the ladder for the semi-finals.
As the dust settled, the following teams found themselves in the single elimination semi-finals for next week:
- CS:GO: Perth Ground Zero, Melbourne ORDER, Melbourne Avant, Sydney Chiefs
- Rocket League: Brisbane Deceptors, Sydney Roar, Melbourne ORDER, Sydney Chiefs
- Street Fighter: Melbourne ORDER, Melbourne Avant, Sydney Chiefs, Perth Ground Zero
Here’s a recap of everything that happened in week five.
COUNTER STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE
In the battle for seeding, Sydney Chiefs’ clash with Melbourne ORDER was the headline match, with Twitch viewership peaking at 8800 concurrents during the game. In a close game the Chiefs managed to win 16-14, stopping ORDER contesting the top spot and securing the Chiefs their place in the finals. Perth Ground Zero, the holders of pole position, looked strong ahead of semi-finals, felling Mebourne Avant 16-7.
Brisbane Deceptors, the hardest battlers of the Elite Series, once again drew their game out to multiple overtimes against Sydney Roar. Roar managed to close out the game with a win 22-18, but due to Chiefs’ close win earlier, narrowly missed out on a semi-final spot.
ROCKET LEAGUE
The top four are locked for semis after a tense weekend, with all winning clubs scoring 3-0 victories. Melbourne ORDER found the run they needed by defeating Sydney Chiefs, and keeping their dream of a repeat season win alive. Despite Perth Ground Zero managing to beat Melbourne Avant, the points were against them, dropping them to fifth and out of contention for semis.
With such commanding victories from the top clubs, next week is sure to be packed with close games as clubs battle for their shot at the finals of Season 2.
STREET FIGHTER V
This week saw the villains of the Elite Series, Melbourne ORDER, climb back to the top of the leaderboard, knocking down Sydney Chiefs 4-1. Perth Ground Zero unwittingly helped in the revenge, with their victory over Melbourne Avant 4-2 being enough to put Avant in the number two spot.
With semi-final eliminations next week, this weeks results have set the stage for a Melbourne v Melbourne final – or one with no Melbourne clubs depending on how Sydney and Perth play. One thing’s for certain though; the trash talk and theatrics are about to be turned up to 11.
While they didn’t make finals, Brisbane Deceptors managed to get a win on the board in their final game, beating Sydney Roar and showing that they have some fight still in them. That passion and skill will hopefully be enough to translate to a finals appearance in Season 3.