(GotFrag) - While many of you may be focused on what has been described as the greatest sporting event in recent history - namely, Brett Favre vs the Green Bay Packers - the kickoff of another relatively major event will start exactly two weeks from today - the ESEA-Invite Season 4 Playoffs.

...alright, so the ESEA and Monday Night Football might be on slightly different levels, but we're here to talk about the former while the latter blast from the TV behind me. The ESEA Season 4 has been a pretty interesting ride so far, but while the top 3 squads have long since been on cruise control, two teams are still in the hunt to decide that fourth and final playoff spot... and they just happen to be playing each other in the final match of the season.

2ND UPDATE: Strickland has prevailed in the key matchup of the week vs [vg], and ties them with an 8-8 record. Strickland will claim the final playoff spot based on head to head during the season, which they have a 2-1 advantage in.

UPDATE: [vg] is one step closer to the playoffs with a huge upset win over Loaded tonight on their Week 8:2 match on cp_waste. Now Strickland has to beat [vg] just to tie in terms of win-loss, and hope to have the advantage in whatever ESEA decides the tiebreaking stat will be (rounds won?).

As it stands, Strickland Propane is one full game (along with 3 rounds) behind Vicious-Gaming, who sit 4th and are, for the moment, in possession of that final playoff berth. As I just mentioned, the two teams play each other on Thursday in both team's final match of the season, though the match is technically from Week 8:1 - and by my logic, that match could very likely decide who will take that final playoff spot. [vg] faces Loaded for their other cp_waste match (a match they shouldn't win), while PROPANE plays point & click for their other cp_waste match (a match they could very likely win). Should both those possibilities pull through, both teams will have a 7-8 record going into that final matchup with each other... giving us a little late-season drama :)

Since the schedule for Week 8 is so mixed, I figured I'd do the whole week in one Melee writeup.



20ID (12-3) vs. point & click (4-9)
rk: Two things make me nervous about this pred - first, pac has played 20ID pretty well this season, taking rounds off the supposed-juggernaut in both their losses and being a big part of the recent "does 20ID really have it" debate. Second, 20ID has kinda shut it down for most of the second half this season, once it became obvious they'd make the playoffs, and have been relying on their extensive talent rather than good ol' fashioned hard work to see them through - which, let's be honest, is enough to carry them a pretty long way.

I'm going to stick with that 20ID and their talent, especially since they *just* played pac on the map that cp_waste is a modification of, cp_well - but don't be surprised if pac keep it close.

20ID [ 5 : 3 ] pac

Evil Geniuses (14-1) vs Loaded (10-3)
rk: Talk about an awesome matchup that doesn't matter beyond bragging rights. The last time these two met (on cp_granary), it ended up being one of the best matches in recent history - dare I say, best match since that epic CGS Pro-Am final between Pandemic & eMg. I wish we could bank on a similar match tonight, but cp_waste is too new and too, umm, "not as evenly balanced as granary" to really give us a similar result.

But hey, both teams are still pretty damn great, so you never know...

EG [ 5 : 3 ] Loaded

Strickland Propane (6-8) vs Vicious Gaming (7-7)
rk: As I explained above, this is a pretty massive match for both teams if they want their season to continue. Both teams have had made some roster additions in the recent weeks, with [vg] picking up TLR while {} got Phaser from the defunct-HF - whether either can make enough of an impact to push their respective teams into the playoffs is something I'll certainly be watching.

Aside from that, this is actually a pretty easy pred for me - the recent performance of [vg] has been been somewhere between bad and terribad, with only a win over the somewhat-hapless pac to show for it. Not to mention the last time these two faced off (on cp_well, no less), Strickland took it with a solid 5-2 score. I'm gonna stick with the King of the Hill fans to take the match and win their way to the playoffs (assuming they can win the pac match).

{} [ 5 : 2 ] [vg]



Loaded (10-3) vs Vicious-Gaming (7-7)
rk: Well, if you're following along, [vg] could seal the deal with a win here in this match, which is actually scheduled before their PROPANE matchup - but the chances of that are slim considering a) their recent performance, b) loss of 2 players, and c) the fact that Loaded is peaking at just the right time. This one is kind of a no brainer, and will make [vg]'s Propane match that much more interesting :)

Loaded [ 5 : 1 ] [vg]

point & click (4-9) vs Strickland Propane (7-7)
rk: pac can play the spoiler in this little playoffs drama with a win in this matchup with PROPANE - and, sadly, it might be the only thing pac accomplishes in a building season for them (hopefully, they keep it together in the inevitable post-season roster shakeups that usually make my head spin).

Strickland has been playing solid TF2 as of late, and I don't think they'll be dropping either match on cp_waste.

PROPANE [ 5 : 2 ] pac