(GotFrag) - The first round of the ESEA-Open S4 Playoffs has spread itself over a few days this week, with two matches going tonight, one tomorrow and the final on Thursday night, according to the ESEA site.

But by far the most exciting matchup is tonight's battle between #4 Essentrix Gaming (frm. NoGrid) and #5 the terribles. Two solid contenders who should, at the very least, give either [t00l] or ex. a decent match, they are unfortunately pitted against each other in the very first round, with the winner getting the dubious honour of hosting the aforementioned-[t00l] and the loser forced to play with their backs against the wall the rest of the way.

No slouch of its own, tonight's other match is #3 Harmonic vs. #6 Exultance.TF2, which I've already picked eXult to win the upset in, though I'm already doubting the weakness I saw in .hrmnc during the season. #1 Tool Academy Grads vs #8 Royal and #2 eXpertise vs. #7 Slaughterhouse Gaming round out the Upper 1 matches, but neither of those offer much in the way of cache due to the strength of the top 2 seeds.

UPDATE: Harmonic makes rk look bad and rolls through eXult 5-1, while the terribles take control in the second half after a close first 30 minutes, beating Essentrix Gaming 5-1.

2ND UPDATE: The gravy train to fail-ville continues for rk and his preds as Slaughterhouse Gaming takes down eXpertise in a thriller!


ESEA-Open Season 4 Playoffs - Upper 1
Essentrix Gaming vs. the terribles
rk: A *very* tough match to pick right off the bat, since these two teams are pretty evenly matched and are playing on a map both have performed relatively well on. the terribles have been kicking at or around the can for a few season now but have yet to achieve that breakout placing, while enx` (or NoGrid)'s rise has been a little more rapid, but that also makes me wonder if terr has a bit of an advantage in terms of team chemistry. This match will be close, and will call upon more than just talent and skill - the winning team will be the one that works together the best, and for that I think I'll take the terribads.

enx [ 3 : 5 ] terribles

Harmonic vs. Exultance.TF2
rk: If you saw the Mini-Preview, you'll already know who I'm going to pick in this one, but there are signs that .hrmnc may not be as bad as I first thought, which makes me think this'll be a lot closer that I want. Still, never one to go back on my word (ha!), I'll take eXult to win through and see where we are when the dust settles.

.hrmnc [ 4 : 5 ] eXult

Tool Academy Grads vs. Royal
rk: Considering how bad notor's been playing in pugs lately, I think Royal's chances are somewhere between nil and none - but hey, crazier shit has happened. In all honestly, Royal should take pride that they made the playoff and be happy with that, because they won't be going too much farther.

[t00l] [ 5 : 1 ] royal

eXpertise vs. Slaughterhouse Gaming
rk: While I will admit that ex. is slightly more vulnerable than [t00l] of the two powers in this division, I'm sorry to say that sG is not the team that will exploit that weakness. They could get lucky in the lower bracket, as they play those other 10-6 teams pretty well, but this one won't be close.

ex. [ 5 : 0 ] sG