I got a tad bit bored tonight and decided to hop on HLTV and watch the playoff match between EG and GB just for kicks, even though CAL-I is slowly diminishing as we speak. Although I chose to write about this match, it was nothing to really watch if you ask me.

In the first half EG took the offense and it did not look like the normal EG that we all know and love. I will start off by telling my friends of the North that there are not one, but TWO, count it TWO bomb sites. Eight of the rounds that EG played this half were directed towards the B bombsite, and I couldn't ever piece together why.

Although EG started off the half with a nicely planned B oriented attack, I didn't think it would work out too well with GB stacking three players in bomb site. It worked out for EG and they ended up taking the round. The flash and smoke to the left of the middle was good, since GB decided to give up one of the most important parts of the map, the middle. GB had two players set up in the A halls, which doesn't make sense, because if you peek the corner to the stairway in the halls, it is highly unlikely a player of any caliber is going to come out and one shot frag you. This allowed EG to go straight to B without GB even attempting a rotation. The only reason GB really lost this round is due to some baiting from the banana. While two players were getting shot at in the site, two players were just sitting outside in the banana.



The only thing I don't understand is why EG choose to go to B so many times in a half when CuZ and Grt are clearly locking that site down better than Fort Knox. Was CuZ cheating? Probably, but hey, don't go to him. Another factor that irked me was the continual use of the four man head stack to the roof that EG repeated a few rounds in the banana to pick off the AWPer playing from the corner. CuZ was almost always playing in the bombsite the whole time; granted it worked once, yet it was sort of a waste of time. EG was hitting B so much that if the A players didn't see any action in the first 30 seconds or so, one of the middle players would begin to rotate over to B and James was extremely quick on the flank.

EG really needs to work on diversifying their pace of play if they want to get more top placings at the upcoming LAN tournaments this summer. If EG would have had some precise flashes and smokes on this map, it probably would have worked. And teams really need to realize what is not working (hence going to B with a CuZ playing in it all the time) and not go there. Or even if you do decide to go there, figure out why he is doing so well and what you can do to fix it.

The pistol round was a 1-4 split with GB sending four in the halls with glock/armor and one player middle with a usp/flash combination. When the middle player flashed over to the balcony area, the hall players jumped out for the bombsite takeover. The result of the pistol round may have varied just a little if EG wasn't playing just a tad too defensive in A. They had four players stacked to the left side of middle (assuming GB would attempt to run their pistol round tactic), and one player in the spawn area watching B (assuming GB would be a little bit smarter than to try the B site). It was an extremely close round that came down to blackpanther and CuZ in a one on one, but CuZ delayed blackbpanther long enough that he was not able to defuse the bomb.



What really put the nail in the coffin for EG was the first gun round. Now, if I was EG and just got a whopping 5 rounds in the first half, I don't think I would try to get cute with my opponent during the most crucial round of the second half. Stevensen and Lin thought it was a good idea, although there were only two rounds remaining to seal their fate tonight, to push out of the B site and play in the banana. Lin did get the first frag, which almost always indicates a won round according to gamesense, and it came down to a two on three in EG's favor at the end of the round with two GB players trapped inside of B. GB was able to pull through and take the round which was a very bad situation for EG.



One thing I want to teach EG is patience when it comes to money management. You just lost the first gun round, you all know you're broke due to not having a money perk on defense, and if you don't win this round you are barely going to be able to afford a Twix bar in the final round (None for me, AND none for you). After losing the fifth round EG pretty much just gave up and GB dominated the final round to take the match.

I know CAL-I is slowly going to the dumps as far as the teams playing in it go, but isn't there some sort of sense of pride that comes with playing in front of large audiences? CAL-I means nothing, but a pat on the back, but the raw talent alone that Stevensen, da_bears, and Lin hold combined should be able to take down GB's new and shaky lineup. I hope you guys work out all of your kinks in the next two months or it's going to be a cruel (It’s a cruel!) cruel summer.