Season Recap by ehFk

ESEA Season 3 is nearing an end as playoffs will be underway this week. It was a very controversial season that can only be described as lack luster. What was arguably one of the most talented divisions ever lost one of its teams, Virgin Police, after one match of the season. The problems for ESEA didn’t end there. Just as the league seemed to hit it’s stride they made a very controversial decision by removing the premium subscriptions of teams that did not complete 50 hours of pugging on the ESEA servers. This move was highly debated and left teams with a sour taste in their mouths. This move by ESEA caused the European pug team of FUYANKS to drop as well as Push gaming, which came as a surprise to much of the community. This left the Invite division at five teams all fighting for the four playoff spots. After the dust settled pure e-Sports was left out of the post season.

Through the many negatives of the season there were quite a few positives. The league showcased three new maps that had yet to see competitive play. Follower and Yukon received a warm welcome to replace maps such as fastlane. On the other hand pro_dustbowl was anything but pro, and still left a lot to be desired for competitive play. 20ID started the season off as the early favourites, establishing themselves as a power house in the TF2 scene. After under performing during the beginning of the season EG finally hit their stride upsetting 20id on cp_freight in a nail biter. The season also consisted of solid play from the top dogs in TF2, Loaded and compLexity. There were also no shortage of upsets, the biggest coming when pure eSports toppled the defending champs Loaded in week one.

The seeds have compLexity sitting at the top follow by EG, 20ID, and then Loaded to round out the four. The playoffs will be double elimination and should kick off on Thursday the 16th. Check out www.esea.net for SourceTV info 15 minutes before the match, as well as scorebots. If the matches that were actually played this season are any indication of how the playoffs will turn out we should all be in for a great spectating treat!

Playoffs Round 1 Predictions

compLexity (1) vs. Loaded (4)

These two teams have a lot of history playing each other, leaving spectators on the edge of their seat every time they play. Loaded finally topped compLexity last season having won CEVO-P and ESEA-O by going through compLexity in the championship round of each league. The last time these two met it was the ESEA-O, and was arguably one of the best finals ever seen. This prompted compLexity to make a huger roster shake up in picking up paladin a proven soldier and moving their hotshot soldier Reptile to the demoman class. This move has proven to be very beneficial earning compLexity the top record in the league. Loaded has yet to capture what they had during the playoffs of last season. The only undefeated team last season has dropped to the 4th seed due to inactivity, and the fact that crucial members have been missing throughout the season. Although the majority of the matches between these teams have been nail biters, I expect this to be anything but that. After a tough defeat to EG in the CEVO OCZ upper bracket finals, expect compLexity to have fixed any problems they had, as well as strong play from their leader oPlaiD as well as Reptile. compLexity will take advantage of a Loaded team that is struggling to hit their stride.

coL [ 5:2 ] Loaded

Evil Geniuses (2) vs. 20 ID (3)

These teams met three times throughout the season and EG came out on top winning two matches. 20 ID who were the early favourites of the season after starting 8-0 seem to have stumbled through the finish line losing the last four matches that they actually played. 20 ID also seems to be plagued with the inactivity that can hit teams near the end of a season. EG on the other hand is the exact opposite. After under performing for the start of the season it seems they are at the top of the game after their back up scout CyZeR got the call to start due to the departure of long time member reen. With CyZeR in the starting lineup EG seems like a completely different team. I still expect this match to be a nail biter due to the large amount of skill on the 20 ID roster. Expect solid play from EG’s destro as well as 20 ID’s Seagull. These two can make or break the match for their team, no pressure!

EG [ 5:4 ] 20id

I sat down with the leaders of each team to find out what they though about the season, how they think they will fare against their first round opponents, and the general state of the game. You can catch them on the next pages.