UPDATE: Eximius previals over Devastation with an exiciting last-minute cap to send it to OT and followed it up with a perfectly timed push (after dev^glue, the medic, was backstab'd) to seal the victory!

North America - Fresh off a solid win over REK, Eximius gaming is set to face Devastation in the Lower Bracket Finals on ctf_mach4. The winner will move on to face 20ID in the Consolation Finals, while the loser will be subject to tar, feathers, and nonstop RickRolling.

That's right folks, the fat has been cut off this CEVO-P season, and the 4 teams that remain are without a doubt the cream of the crop in the North American TF2 scene. Sure, none of them could last a round against 4K, but lets try to stay positive here.

Update: So word rather quickly reached me that 4K and Pandemic have scrimmed already, with the Americans coming out on top with 180 pings - my great pardons to you all, clearly my tongue-and-cheek comment was in the wrong. I guess now I have that much more of a reason to keep close watch on the ESL Major Series, which Pandemic is participating in.. :)

Predictions:
Eximius Gaming v Devastation
The match tonight will truly one for the ages.. though I'll probably say that about the next match, too. It's almost fitting that these two teams meet on ctf_mach4, considering their only regular season matchup was an 8-7 OT win by Eximius (then makeSHIFT) on the very same map. That win was #3 on a five-game win streak for Eximius that was capped off by their infamous win over Pandemic in the final week of the season, while Dev didn't play another match until the final 2 weeks of the season.

On the surface, mach4 seems to play more to Eximius strengths - namely two very mobile soldiers in bLackstar and ashenhaste who've got great aim on the fly and who can probably out-mulch phelon & company (the name of dev's #2 soldier escapes me.. paladin?). ctf_mach4's size doesn't really help Dev either, who's scouts (scknss and punisher) thrive on open space to flank and swoop and harass opposing teams. If Dev can get some caps early and force Eximius to take more risks, they could turn this match into a cap-race, to their advantage - but if they let Eximius set the pace, they're toast. I can't pick against my darkhorse, but boy will this match be a good one..
Eximius >> [10:16] dev^

P.S. Here's hoping Dev decides to go sniper and dev^boodah gets to shot off his quake-aim skillz :)

CEVO-P TF2 S1 Playoffs - Lower Bracket Finals on ctf_mach4


Rounds 3, 2 & 1 can be found on the next pages while GotFrag Brackets are on the last page. Official CEVO Brackets can be found here.