Article written by: Remington "R700" Rossignol
One month into playoffs and we are down to the final eight teams in the Main division. Heading into the Upper Bracket Semi-finals are Valkyrie, GGPR, THE JUNGLE, and PreGamingGG. Representing the Lower Bracket are Counter Nature, Kinship Ghost, MakeWarNotLove, and Random Twitter Org. There are both some expected faces, and some unexpected faces in this final eight. We break them down and some of their stories in this article--including a recap of our final season rankings!
THE JUNGLE (Discharged eSports) x Villainous DDoS Controversy
THE JUNGLE are coming into the Upper Bracket semis under heavy scrutiny, after being complacent in a DDoS attack that happened to their Round 3 Upper Bracket opponent, Team Villainous. The winner of that match-up would qualify for Advanced, as well as continue their run in the Upper Bracket. During the second and third maps of that series, there was clear evidence that the players of Villainous were victims of a blatant DDoS attack. Despite playing through a DDoS, they still managed to take it to a third map.
Following continued DDoS attacks, map three was lost by Villainous shortly thereafter.
Although it is not currently known if the DDoS was carried out by someone on or representing THE JUNGLE, we do know that THE JUNGLE did not wish to replay or reschedule the match following the unfair win. Regardless, in the following Upper Bracket match versus WeirdChamp, THE JUNGLE went on to claim the win--this time without any controversy. Whereas in the Lower Bracket, Villainous fell apart. Behind closed doors, the Villainous organization told player Jermaine that he was not allowed to compete. Prioritizing org-backing over winning, the team chose to play with stand-in TooSmart. Resulting in a 0-2 loss to Insula.
Upper Bracket Teams
Valkyrie [farg, Irish, Gulu, Waveum, Zynxx]
Coming into playoffs with the number two seed overall, Valkyrie has continued their strong regular season performance into the postseason. With the elimination of Team Villainous from the runnings, Valkyrie are the current favorites to win the division. Getting swift 2-0's in the first and second round of playoffs against Ferda Bois and Insula respectively. In round three, they found themselves against Random Twitter Org. This was a close three map series in which every map crossed the twenty five rounds played mark. In the end, Valkyrie closed it out. In round four against Brigada, they found themselves down 0-1 after the first map. Valkyrie battled back on map two and went on to close out the series 2-1. Now, they find themselves against hot GGPR heading into round five.
GGPR esports [lowrider, CuZ1H, ohkee, Creed, exotic]
So far these guys have had a flawless playoff run. Coming into playoffs on a seven game regular season winning streak, they have continued their strong form in the postseason. Winning against The Elementals in round one 2-0. In round two they squared off against Bjork (the team, NOT the Icelandic singer), winning 2-0 yet again. In round three they took another 2-0 over voLante Counter-Strike. Then, in round four, they took another 2-0 win at the expense of favorites Kinship Ghost. These guys have not dropped a map in their last fifteen officials on ESEA. When it comes to "on paper" dominance, these guys are showing not telling.
PreGamingGG [Steedle, gingaa, zellers, try, BootyLord]
Some teams have a pop-culture reference or song you might affiliate them with. Like how at every NFL kickoff you hear 'Crazy Train' by Ozzy. You know that meme of V.O.P. saying "now this is going to be epic"? I feel like that's these guys season so far.
"Now, this is epic"
With their last regular season match being a sixty round overtime banger, PreGaming came into the playoffs with the number four overall seed. The first two rounds of playoffs saw PreGaming take quick 2-0 wins over their opponents. Dismantling c-key in round one; followed by 16 Inch Pistols in round two. Round three saw PreGaming take their first map loss against UPROAR, but winning the best of three in the end. Most recently they defeated Rebirth Esports 1-2 in the fourth round. With their fifth round opponent slated to be THE JUNGLE.
THE JUNGLE [Prorok, mystiii, chew, Simper, prevox]
Despite the drama caused from their round three matchup against Team Villainous, these guys have continued their run into playoffs. Taking wins from Gemini and Brain of toddler (in rounds one and two respectfully) with no drama added. Following their questionable victory over Team Villainous in round three, THE JUNGLE were slated to face off against WeirdChamp. After taking a close map one THE JUNGLE got stomped in map two, bringing up the decider of de_nuke. Thanks to some strong team play, THE JUNGLE took the series and find themselves in the upper bracket semis.
Lower Bracket Teams
Counter Nature [gosha, JAM, cloudy, REV, Eiji_Mikage]
The Counter Nature squad has been a fun one to watch during this playoff run. They ran through the first two rounds of playoff matches 4-0, before running into a roadblock with WeirdChamp--where they were dropped into the Lower Bracket by a 2-0 scoreline. Since entering the Lower Bracket, this team has been flexible and gritty. Going 3-0 on their way to the Final Eight by a map record of 6-2. Against Insula and Brigada, we saw Counter Nature have some struggles, dropping a match in each of the series, but they do not give up and make the necessary adjustments to grind out rounds and put together some comebacks. The third map is Counter Nature's sweet-spot, where they have closed out their last two series by a scoreline of 32-19. Brigada was probably one of this team's best victories, taking down a confident and outspoken team who think they can beat anyone. Counter Nature's grittiness, flexibility, team-play, and confidence from their latest results will be needed in a tough match-up against Kinship Ghost in Lower Round 7.
Kinship Ghost [AJP, denz, Pr0mise, noah1337, Bezerker]
Despite Kinship's impressive #3 seed, this playoffs has been anything but smooth sailing for them. They dropped maps in each of their opening two match-ups, against some of the lowest ranked teams in playoffs. They were also dropped 2-0 by an impressive GGPR esports, before getting a gentleman's forfeit win from powerMode, who seemed happy just to get into Advanced again. Something doesn't seem to be right for this team right now, but they will have had a lot of time to work on fixing things before their match-up versus Counter Nature in Lower Round 7.
MakeWarNotLove [FAME, Zeusmeister, jeorgesnorts, RGAR, HomeRun829]
To make a long story short, this team either wins big or loses big. Every series won in this playoffs was by a map record of 2-0. The one series that they lost was 2-0 to Kinship Ghost. Despite the close series (Map 1 to OT and Map 2 16-14), their 2-0 victory over Rebirth Esports should strike fear into this team's future opponents. This #19 seed is playing great CS right now, and is looking to make amends for their 2-0 loss to Kinship Ghost in the Upper Bracket fall-out. If MWNL is to win their upcoming match-up with Random Twitter Org, no Upper Bracket team will want to face them next.
Random Twitter Org [Lokie, HavoK-, hoggy, JGXD, dnvr]
Random Twitter Org has had a solid yet somewhat quiet playoffs thus far. They dropped out of the Upper Bracket via a 2-1 loss to Valkyrie, and have since taken down We LOVE Our Girlfriends, Gaming Science, and Weird Champ. There isn't much else to say about this team, but if they are able to take down MakeWarNotLove, they will definitely have our attention.
Counter Nature's Main Power Rankings: In Review
Upon completion of the regular season we at Counter Nature decided to let the playoffs speak for themselves. Rather than split hairs over who is theoretically better, let's let the playoff bracket show us who is better. So, how did our analysts do? Here, we look at the top ten of the Main Power Rankings and see, were we right?
#1 Valkyrie
Current Playoff Record: 4-0
Made Advanced?: ✔
#2 Team Villainous
Current Playoffs Record: 2-2
Made Advanced?: ✖
#3 Kinship Ghost
Current Playoffs Record: 4-1
Made Advanced?: ✔
#4 Brigada
Current Playoffs Record: 3-2
Made Advanced?: ✔
#5 PreGamingGG
Current Playoffs Record: 4-0
Made Advanced?: ✔
#6 Rebirth Esports
Current Playoffs Record: 3-2
Made Advanced?: ✔
#7 WeirdChamp
Current Playoffs Record: 3-2
Made Advanced?: ✔
#8 GGPR esports
Current Playoffs Record: 4-0
Made Advanced?: ✔
#9 VCU CSGO
Current Playoffs Record: 2-2
Made Advanced?: ✖
#10 Counter Nature
Current Playoffs Record: 5-1
Made Advanced?: ✔
