Elite Series Week 2: Scores & Standings

STREET FIGHTER V

Our second week of action started with favourites Team Infused taking on underdogs Reason Gaming. Infused’s captain Imstilldadaddy appeared very relaxed in his pre-match interview, replying only with “we’re playing Reason today” when asked as to why. Shade: thrown. However, Boltstrike made him eat those words with a tight  2-1 victory over the Guile master in the second game of the set.

Unfortunately, the rest of the match didn’t go as well for Reason. With their new acquisition Salty Kid unable to attend, OG captain Undacuva stepped up to replace him. Unfortunately, he then fell in straight games to Infused’s Afii and Imstilldadaddy. Infused took the set with a comfortable 4 games to 1, securing their position at the top of the board for now.

Method vs Endpoint was a seven-game thriller. Both teams traded wins back and forth until two back-to-back games between Broski and Luffy became the deciding factor. Broski managed to win the first with his incredible Dhalsim, but Luffy secured the second with some fantastic reads to win the series for Method 4-3.

Last season’s winners, exceL struggled against a strong Prophecy side, with both Hurricane and Infexious failing to win a round in their first two games. Brian’s Menat helped to bring the momentum back in the champion’s favour briefly, but Prophecy rallied and took the series 4-2. New Prophecy player DarkMoonHado showed why he earned the title of HP OMEN Player of the Week, picking up two fantastic wins in his first ever appearance on stage at the Elite Series. Considering he beat the champions with ease, can he take Prophecy to the winners podium?

Finally, Team Envy’s star acquisition Mr. Crimson proved why his reputation matched his ego with a fantastic performance against Epsilon. Crimson beat Takamura and Linkexelo, both very strong players, without dropping a single round, helping clinch a 4-2 victory for Team Envy. Epsilon still sit on 0 points at the bottom of the table with Reason. With two weeks already gone, both teams will be looking at next week’s fixtures as a do-or-die for their playoff hopes.

ROCKET LEAGUE

With Doomsee leading a newly reformed Infused they were looking to come back into Season 2 with a fresh energy. Unfortunately they suffered at the hands of defeat from a surprisingly strong exceL Gaming who took a 3-1 series. Having only won a single match last Season, exceL are shaping up to conquer the Elite Series. Infused, however, have yet to win a single game this Season. Perhaps the departure of EyeIgnite and Sebadam has Doomsee shook...The boys in blue took on the other boys in blue this week in Team Envy vs Epsilon. Team Envy pulled a 3-1 win out of the bag after losing to Prophecy last week. Epsilon’s Flarke, Data and Florus need to put in the practice if they want to win anything anytime soon. Team Envy have performed underwhelmingly so far, but with a line-up as solid as theirs we expected them to be a force to be reckoned with. The Season 1 winners, Endpoint, have yet to show us that they deserve the coveted Elite Series crown. They may have stomped their way through some of the toughest line-ups and matches other franchises could throw at them last Season, but they seem to have left those players in the Endpoint team house.Reason gaming once again showed Endpoint they’re not to be underestimated by continuing their unbeaten head-to-head record. The game ended in 4-3 to Reason. Luckily for Endpoint, they earn themselves a well-needed point for taking their head-to-head to 5 rounds.

Last week Method were called “the best team in the world” by our commentary team. This week, Prophecy took them to the cleaners with a 3-0 sweep.Oops. A tough game for both teams as the first 2 rounds saw the game going into overtime, only for Prophecy to steal the final goal. After Mummisnow’s clever recruitment of EyeIgnite and Sebadam, they’re looking like the strongest team in the series.

CS:GO

Prophecy had a bad time in the first week of CS:GO, being the only team to not win at least ten rounds and earn a single point as a result. Unfortunately, they repeated the feat in week 2, losing 8-16 to a surprisingly strong Reason side. They remain at the bottom of the table, without a single point to their name. Things need to change quickly for Prophecy to stand a chance going forward.

Endpoint vs exceL was a back and forth thriller - Endpoint started strongly, but exceL powered through it and begin to muster a comeback. Unfortunately, the momentum couldn't quite last and Endpoint managed to finish things 16-13 in their favour. An incredible performance from Mightymax in particular ensured Endpoint’s success, but exceL made them work hard for it.

Infused vs Team Envy began with Infused winning 11 straight rounds in dominant fashion, with viewers wondering if they were about see a clean sweep. Envy seemed completely lost, until finally grabbing a round to call their own. One became two, and Envy continued clawing back rounds until it seemed that Infused were now the ones choking. However, Envy’s newfound momentum stalled out and Infused won the last few rounds they needed to take the match 16-12.

Finally, Epsilon beat Method 16-11 in an uneventful match that saw solid play from both sides. The win sees Epsilon sitting at the top of the league table with six points and a +9 round difference. Nipping at their heels are Endpoint, also on 6 points, while at the other end of the table Prophecy sit alone with 0 points and a -15 difference. Can they possibly come back from this terrible start to the Season?