Welcome to this week’s esports update!
This week held the final week of the initial Gfinity Elite Series league play – next week, the top four teams will head into the Play-Offs, and the week after that will be the Finals, held between the top two teams in each game.
This week also saw the start of the Overwatch Contenders league. Given the popularity of Overwatch as a game, and the fact we are likely to have our own local representation in the next season of the Overwatch League, I thought it would be a good idea to watch the up-and-comers locally.
This week was an important week for overall standings, as the two top teams played off across all three games – the Sydney Chiefs came out just slightly on top, but in reality, the top 4 places are close (only 3 wins between the first and fourth place).
Beyond that, though, it was an interesting week in that not only did the top two teams battle it out but so did the bottom two. As a result, the Brisbane Deceptors got a couple of wins on the board, slightly levelling the scales at the bottom end of the leaderboard.
The Chiefs remain undefeated in Rocket League (and the Deceptors, unfortunately, did not manage to get any wins on the board here), and in perhaps the biggest upset this season, the leading SF5 team (Melbourne Avant Gaming) received their first loss – at the hands of Sydney Roar, who got their very first win at this event in this tournament.
Note that only the top four teams will go into the Play-Offs (per game), so I’ve added that detail to below results. This means that the Brisbane Deceptors have bowed out of this year’s Elite Series, but Sydney Roar has held on, able to compete in the CS: GO Play-Off matches for a chance at a prize.
Gfinity Elite Series CS: GO (Week 5)
- Melbourne Order DEF Sydney Chiefs
- Brisbane Deceptors DEF Perth Ground Zero
- Melbourne Avant Gaming DEF Sydney Roar
- Continuing to Play-Offs:
- Melbourne Order
- Sydney Chiefs
- Melbourne Avant Gaming
- Sydney Roar
Gfinity Elite Series Rocket League (Week 5)
- Sydney Chiefs DEF Melbourne Order
- Perth Ground Zero DEF Brisbane Deceptors
- Melbourne Avant Gaming DEF Sydney Roar
- Continuing to Play-Offs:
- Sydney Chiefs
- Perth Ground Zero
- Melbourne Order
- Melbourne Avant Gaming
Gfinity Elite Series SFV (Week 5)
- Sydney Chiefs DEF Melbourne Order
- Brisbane Deceptors DEF Perth Ground Zero
- Sydney Roar DEF Melbourne Avant Gaming
- Continuing to Play-Offs:
- Melbourne Avant Gaming
- Sydney Chiefs
- Melbourne Order
- Perth Ground Zero
Gfinity Elite Series Standings
| CLUB | WINS | LOSSES |
| Sydney Chiefs | 11 | 4 |
| Melbourne Order | 10 | 5 |
| Melbourne Avant Gaming | 9 | 6 |
| Perth Ground Zero | 8 | 7 |
| Sydney Roar | 4 | 11 |
| Brisbane Deceptors | 3 | 12 |
This week also saw the start of the Overwatch Contenders League!
While this is, of course, a global program, each region holds its own tournament (there are 7 regions – North America, South America, Australia, China, Europe, Korea. Pacific). I’ve decided to only cover the Australian region due to time constraints – the regular season will play out over the next 6 weeks, culminating in Playoffs held later this year.
The Contenders tournament is held for semi-pro players with aspirations to the pro leagues (Overwatch League, in this case). Given we are likely to be represented by at least one Australian team in the next season of the Overwatch League, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on players from this season of Contenders, as we are likely to build a team from here!
Week 1 outcomes are outlined below.
Group A
- Sydney Drop Bears DEF Blank Blue
- Legacy Esports DEF Bin Chickens
- Tainted Minds DEF Dignity
Group B
- Dark Sided DEF Masterminds GC
- Avant Gaming DEF Pixl Esports
- Kanga Esports DEF Serenity
Originally published on Madcapsules Gaming and reposted with permission.
