By Jordan “analyze” Schultz
With the ESEA-Invite Playoffs about to get underway in Dallas, 6 teams will be looking to compete for a $5000 first place prize, and bragging rights for American Counter-Strike. Jordan “analyze” Shultz has provided a breakdown of the competing teams, in seeding order.
Roster:
Matt “Warden” Dickens
Tyler “Storm” Wood
Danny “fRoD” Montaner
Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert
Tomi “Lurppis” Kovanen
Team EG has quickly become one of the most well known teams in America. They are considered, by many a top 3 team. With the well known trio of Frod, Storm and Warden, plus the additions of n0thing and Lurppis, they easily have the talent to do some damage. They are coming out of the ESEA standings as the #1 seeded team, which we know changes on LAN quite frequently. They were set to take on GRID05 in the first round, but instead were given a BYE because GRID05 will not be attending the event. EG will play their first match vs the winner of eMg vs Gravitas gaming. Expect the second round match to be a very entertaining one that comes down to the wire. Last weekend, Team EG attended WCG Quiver Shootout and faced off against the other top American Squads. They got dominated by compLexity 16-3 on de_train in the upper bracket finals. After being shipped down to the lower bracket finals, they met up with Gravitas Gaming and were again destroyed 16-2 finishing 3rd in the WCG Quiver Shootout. They will be looking for some major redemption going after a larger cash purse in the ESEA-I Playoffs.
Roster:
Derek “dboorn” Boorn
Jeff “hero” Mettetal
Scott “evolution” Cavallero
Ryan “Ninespot” Bell
Andrew “Irukandji” Timmerman
Complexity has proved themselves worthy of a top 3 spot after the performance that they displayed in the WCG Quiver Shootout. They defeated the top notch teams, only giving away 15 total rounds before the Grand Finals. With Complexity’s new addition, evolution, they are looking to take first at every tournament they attend. Complexity will be looking to show the fans and haters that what they did at WCG was not just a fluke. First round, compLexity will also join EG in getting a BYE. They will be playing the winner of Back 2 Back vs Blight. They pushed past Back2Back during the WCG Quiver tournament with a score of 16-6 on Inferno, and will be looking to steam roll through round two of ESEA LAN.
Roster:
David “zid” Chin
Joe “spyro” Perez
Nazar “nAZ” Vynnytsky
Ric “iNERTiA” Bundy
Alex “hazard” Martins
Team Back 2 Back (ex Idemise) has struggled on LAN thus far. They also were a part of the WCG Quiver Shootout, and their showing was not too hot. They lost to coL in the upper bracket 16-6 and were sent down to play Dynamic. They ended up beating dynamic 16-9 and moved on to play Gravitas. Gravitas showed everyone what they were capable of easily handling Back 2 Back with a score of 16-3. Back 2 Back looked to be a strong force online, but have not produced the same results on LAN. They also played in Lethal Gamers in Dallas, TX and finished 3rd. They were defeated by both EG and eMg. The question is does Back 2 Back really deserve this #3 seed? The first round they will be taking on Blight.USA, a team they played in WCG Quiver, and won by a score of 16-4.
Roster:
Dustin “dizzaman” Dilyard
Alex “millipede” Abbott
Garrido “Xp3” David
Chris “truls” Navratil
Sean “sgAres” Gares
eMg was one of the only top tier USA teams to not attend WCG Quiver Shoot Out. Instead they participated in the Lethal Gamers LAN. They marched through all the way to the Grand Finals to face EG, and were beaten 16-12 on inferno. eMg still shows some signs of potential as they are preparing for the ESEA Playoffs. First round they will be taking on #5 Seeded Gravitas Gaming. This should be one of the best first round matches of all, and will be a deciding factor when it comes to the top 3 placement in this tournament.
Roster:
Thomas “thomz” Garcia
Derrick “impulsive” Truong
Ben “ben” Hui
Shaun “hostile” Catron
Noah “strikeR” Alvarado
Gravitas is just coming off of a hot weekend at WCG Quiver Shootout, losing to compLexity 16-10 in the Grand Finals. Gravitas had a very shaky ESEA season which most blame on the loss of Good For Nothing, who is said to be their most experienced member. They have definitely proved they can do some damage, and are looking to easily place in the top 3 of the ESEA playoffs. First round they take on eMg, and are definitely expecting to upset the #4 seed. It should be one of the best first round matches there is to offer as they are both middle seeded teams.
Roster:
Don “b33f_” Frain
Cj “cJ_b” Banarsee
Christopher “projectx” Costoso
Eugene “kelevra” Watson
Demir “wrd” Decevic
The last and final team is team Blight.USA. Blight has not had a very good start with their new organization. They got stomped in the WCG Quiver Shootout by Back 2 Back and Gravitas. They are looking to prove something to their new owners in this high caliber tournament. Their first round is against Back 2 Back who they lost to 16-4 in the WCG Quiver Shootout. They are going to give everything they have first round and try to upset Back 2 Back after the loss in New York.