(GotFrag) - The long wait is over and a grand total of 12 teams in 2 divisions will duke it out against their respective pools for the ESEA-Invite and Open Titles.

Up first in the Invite Division is #2 20ID vs
#3 Loaded, with #1 Evil Geniuses vs
#4 Strickland Propane going tomorrow night to finish off the first round.

UPDATE: Both glue and animeman were MIA tonight, forcing Loaded to play a man down, as 20ID refused to reschedule. 20ID took the match easily 5-0 and will move on to the Upper Finals.

Since this is an ESEA event, SpecTVs will be provided by the host league, as usual, and will show up on indivdual scoreboards here, so be sure to keep an eye on the ESEA site for your SourceTV info in case they aren't updated on our own scoreboards here at GotFrag.

Finally, in case you missed it, be sure to check out the full Playoff Preview here. And now, on to the preds!


ESEA-Invite Season 4 Playoffs - Upper 1
20ID vs. Loaded
rk: Unfortunately for both these teams, they aren't the #1 seed and therefore don't have the easier matchup to help get the kinks out - so the big question for this one is, how much have these two been practicing. It's been a long layoff for 20ID, who didn't play the final two weeks of the season due to both FFWs and FFLs, and one can't help but wonder how active they've really been over that span. They've got some of the best players in the game peppering their roster, but you can't expect talent alone to see you through at this stage of the game. Loaded at least has a had a bit more action lately, with some of them also competing on the version of Xensity in the CEVO-M playoffs, but rust could definitely be a factor for them, too.

If both teams go in cold, I give the nod to Loaded simple because they've been playing together longer and have looked more in sync during the season, while 20ID has just looked like a bunch of really talented players not trying because they haven't had to. Knowing that, it's a very tough match to pick - especially when one remembers the dominating performance 20ID put on LAST season - but I'll have to side with Loaded on this one.

20ID [ 3 : 5 ] Loaded

Evil Geniuses vs. Strickland Propane
rk: I'd like to make this a long, deep, thoughtful prediction but the truth of the matter is, we all know how this one is going to play out. CyZeR will do something stupid, casey and Reptile will ragequit, and destro will take a baseball bat to his PC, bringing an end to one of the greatest TF2 teams to never win anything. SNAP!

lol, but seriously, this match might be a lot closer than expected - both teams have been practicing hard and are revving themselves up, which really makes you want to cheer for em I must say, but the talent level on the EG side is just too much to contend with for C3H8 (btw, love the new tag), and after a couple of closely contested rounds, I think EG will find their legs and win out.

EG [ 5 : 2 ] C3H8