Map 1: Galang
Galang is a map that is all about control spurts, that is to say, one player will usually control the RA, MH & rail for a short period before his opponent can manage a frag and take back control. Such a storyline went into effect as expected when avek took the first two frags with the rail before following it up with a rocket. Fnatic's Q2 champion wouldn't be denied for long though, as he would claw his way back with six frags in a row (three rails, two LG's & a rocket) before avek could take the rail back and slow him down, at least for a while. The momentum looked to be too much for avek in the early minutes when PURRI's six uncontested frags would soon turn into a 10-3 streak.

At the five minute mark  and a lead of 10-5 things started going horribly wrong for the Swede; he started to break down (a glimpse into the future). A game that at one point in time was 10-3 would be all tied up at 12-12 when the clock hit zero and a two minute overtime commenced. The first frag went to avek (in the YA room with the pipe!, err, LG). This is where PURRI made his biggest mistake of the game. In the final 30 seconds PURRI had his opponent against the ropes as avek frantically fled through the adjacent telepoter. Instead of following the low healthed avek, PURRI thought twice and took a different route. The escape lead to a conclusion in the RA room where they exchanged rockets in a rare simulfrag, which brought the score to 14-13 as the time ran out and GG's were exchanged.

Final Score:  avek 14   PURRI 13 (Demo)

Map 2: Phrantic
Map two started out strong for PURRI and looked to be an early rout when he climbed to a commanding 8-3 lead with even more commanding LG play. The story of this match though is diversity. There were two things in this match that kept it close for avek, the first was his use of weapons. Consistently throughout the match avek would make serious (pun!) use of the shotgun, grenade launcher, rocket launcher and even plasma gun. The solid mix of tactics kept the game within reach, but the lead couldn't quite be diminished until the final few minutes when avek finally started really putting the lightning gun to use and controlling the yellow armors.

The second thing (and this is most crucial) that clearly lead to the tight victory for avek was PURRI's inability to finish off his opponents. On several occasions when avek was in the red, the Polish native seemed to act out scenes from the Matrix as PURRI couldn't lay a bullet on him. In a specific instance, PURRI had just been fragged and was armed only with his machine gun between the lower yellow armor and the damaging pools when avek came storming out of the Red Armor room with no more than 5 hit points remaining.  PURRI let loose but couldn't seem to connect as avek changed directions and escaped through the teleporter to replenish his health. Situations like these were rampant as the Swedish star couldn't quite connect on key plays. That isn't to discredit avek though, as he played strong in the final minutes and took every opportunity he was given and made the best out of it. Spawn frags galore was the name of the game by the 3 minute mark, but PURRI had multiple opportunities to shut down the opposing momentum and lock the game up. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't get it done.

Final Score:  avek 19   PURRI 15 (Demo)

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Scoreboard	1H	2H	OT	F
avek	1	1	-	2
Mikael "PURRI" Tarvainen	-	-	-	-
Galang: 14-13 avek Phrantic: 19-15 avek
Related: Match Recap

Final Thoughts
Both losses were saddening for PURRI fans, as this now means he is out of the playoffs. More than anything, PURRI needs to work on his nerves in the final minutes and capitalize more when he's up by large margains if he hopes to make a big impact in the 2006 World Tour. Speaking of impact, avek is making one heck of an impression. He defeated Jibo in the group stages 2-1, beat Ztrider 2-0 (albeit under certain circumstances) and just knocked one of the Q2 greats out of the playoffs. Can you say, "All aboard the avek express"? Practice that line because avek is developing his own little band wagon as he tears through the playoffs. He's a personal favorite from here on out to place at least third.