North America - Wow.. gotta admit, my NCAA bracket got wrecked last night by those games in Tampa, FL. But luckily we've had some pretty damn exciting TF2 action so far in these CEVO-P playoffs, so the week wasn't a total loss.

Don't let the score deceive you - Pandemic's match against Devastation was possibly one of the best matches I've ever seen on cp_granary, hinging on a 15min 4th round that had both teams defending their last cap multiple times. It's also amazing to watch one of the best soldier-twosomes in Reptile & perfekt square off against one of the best scout-twosomes in scknsS & punisher - not to mention two of the best medics in the game, Dion and glue. If you didn't get a chance, head on over to Pwnage.TV and take a look at the On Demand video - the 4th round is worth it alone. If that wasn't enough, 20id and the newly-minted Eximius gaming had a cp_granary thriller of their own in a match that had more momentum shifts then the NCAA had upsets. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to the demos that'll be coming out of those matches!

And it ain't over yet..

Special note: As one who always enjoys some in-depth analysis from the players themselves, I highly suggest you check out cK-animeman's take on this weeks maps and matchups over at his blog.

Predictions:
Team Pandemic v 20ID - MOTW
The Upper Bracket Finals, otherwise known as the TGL Roughneck Challenge Grand Finals.. if you fudge the date and change one of the team names. Or maybe, considering the map, the Shotgun Shootout Semi-finals.. if you cut a player from each. Whatever you call it, these two titans of the North American TF2 scene will do battle yet again with an auto-berth to the finals at stake, on a map that can last anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 hours (though probably the latter in this case). Pandemic rolled 20ID in that Shotgun matchup - quite convincingly, I might add - and while one could say it was learning experience for 20ID and they're bound to come back stronger, I'm not so sure on this one. Pandemic has always been strong on cp_dustbowl, and on a map that's about getting the right frags at the right moments, I think rep and perfekt will be too much to handle.

..unless 20ID gets kb in on this thing - he could single handidly change things, if he's rust-free, but that's a pretty big if.
Pandemic [2:0] 20ID

Devastation v frag Dominant
There are two teams that will breeze through this lower bracket round, and fragD is definately not one of them. I'm sure Dev is hurting from that Pandemic match - if there was ever a match they COULD take Pandemic out on, it's cp_granary - but they've also gotta be encouraged with how well they stuck in there (not to mention ROLLING them first round). Needless to say, this tout against fragD will be a great rebound for Dev as they position themselves for maximum penetration into the.. err.. vagina of these playoffs? Wow, why did that turn into a sex-analogy?
Dev [2:0] fragD

Eximius Gaming v Wrecked
Sadly, the other team that's about to get rolled (and subsequently bounced from the playoffs) is REK. They never stood much of a chance in these playoffs (well, in my mind they didn't), and I can only hope they stick it out for next season which will undoubtedly be easier with the incoming CEVO-A teams. The only real thing Eximius has to worry about is looking ahead of this one to their upcoming match against Dev, or perhaps close-loss-hangover - but these guys are pros, and that just won't happen.
Eximius [2:0] REK

CEVO-P TF2 S1 Playoffs - Upper Bracket Final Scores:

CEVO-P TF2 S1 Playoffs - Lower Bracket R2 Scores:


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