THE CHALLENGER RUNDOWN - 26/01


The Gfinity Challenger Series is in full swing and one of the biggest takeaways from the first few weeks of competition has been the depth of talent involved. Plenty of active Elite Series players and free agents are using the series as a shop window to show off their talents. It's worked for several players already, with Imstilldadaddy and Broski signing for Method in the past week. So what better time to take a look at the leaderboards in this week's Challenger Series Rundown?

 

FIFA 18Looking at the PS4 leaderboards first, adoniiPM holds a comfortable lead on 1650 G-Points despite only playing once this week and earning 30 points in the process with a top 32 finish. BryanHessing sits in 2nd on 1410 points, 240 behind adoniiPM, and will have been frustrated to miss the chance to close the gap further, losing a close final on Monday to 9th place xLevVinken. He still picked up 150 points for his troubles, and the top spot remains firmly in reach. As for xLevVinken, this week has been a productive one – a top-4 finish on Wednesday combined with Monday's victory means a total haul of 350 points, putting him on 840 – just 200 points behind CrazyCortez in 5th place, who enjoyed one of the biggest leaps up the table all week with a 1000-point win in Wednesday's cup. Having only earned 40 points in the entire series before Wednesday, that bulk of points was much-needed.Over on the Xbox One league table, it's Klutch_Ti comfortably out in front on 1970 points, 410 ahead of 2nd-place kurt0411. It's been a hugely productive week, with 1090 of those points coming from competing every day Monday through Thursday this week and clinching a 1000-point cup win yesterday. Consistency AND big scoring is a devastating combination, folks. 3rd place Sen7inel deserves similar props, with a win on Tuesday and a runner-up finish on Wednesday all contributing to a 730-point haul for the past week. HUGE G0RILLA remains only 50 points behind in 4th with lagga delay rounding out the top-5.

 

STREET FIGHTER VElite Series fans should recognise plenty of the names on the SFV leaderboard – at time of writing, six of the top 10 players competed in season 2 of the Elite Series. exceL's ever-reliable Hurricane, a former Elite Series champion and Season 2 semi-finalist, leads the way fairly comfortably on 2040 points, with a win and two runner-up finishes this week alone showcasing his staggering consistency. Imstilldadaddy is 2nd on 1730 points, with his biggest victory of the week not coming in Challenger Series at all but instead signing a contract with Method for Elite Series 3 alongside fellow free agent Broski. Former Infused teammate Shakz will be hoping to follow in his footsteps. He’s making all the right moves, with two big wins over Hurricane contributing to a whopping 1290 point haul for the week as he now sits 3rd on 1610 points total. Behind them, YogaPatate is just ahead of former Endpoint player JonesArcade to round out the top-5.Remember also that the top-30 in each table go through into the Elite Series draft at the end of Challenger Series, and in SFV it's currently Jinty who finds themselves in that crucial 30th spot – just 34 points ahead of another high-profile free agent in Shivryuken, a finalist in Elite Series Season 2 with Prophecy.

 

ROCKET LEAGUEA fascinating trio of players to watch in this Challenger Series has to be the players currently occupying 8th through 10th positions on the table: the team of Rix Ronday, Borito B and Shakahron. All three featured in the Elite Series Season 2 final, with Ronday and Borito winning the title with Reason and Shakahron taking 2nd place with Endpoint, but all three now find themselves as free agents. All are on 1420 points after a big win on Wednesday and it will be very interesting to see if they are picked up as a complete trio for Elite Series 3. Pound-for-pound it's hard to think of a more devastating package of players for one of the new franchises looking to add a Rocket League roster.As for the overall leaderboard, it's KayDop leading the way on 2060 points ahead of Fairy Peak!, D7., FaykoW. and Yukeo. Meanwhile down at the other end of the top 30, Shakahron's former teammates Tinny and Cheerio sit just above the dotted line along with Envy's Mout, with Ronaky tied with Kassio for the 30th and final spot.There is plenty still to play for in all four leagues, be it pride, a new contract or a spot in the Elite Series Draft. It's not too late for you to join the fun either. With individual cup wins paying as much as 1000 points each, there's still every chance for you to make up for lost time. Get yourself registered here – the Challenger Series is waiting for you.

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