Welcome to the 2nd Final's edition for the SteelSeries League report for the second season of Black Ops CGi/m/a/d.
The season has been a fantastic one albeit long! We've been lucky enough to witness 32 teams battle it out in over 200 matches! We've seen a bunch of matches come down to the wire and a few thrashings along the way. After the round play we're now lucky enough to witness a fantastic final series!
Again, we'd like to take this opportunity to thank the community, CG staff and of course SteelSeries for their great contributions. Thank you to everybody who competed in the league to make it the greatest and most exciting we've ever had! Good luck to all teams, we hope you have a successful final match!
League Reports
If you would like to relive the the season please follow the links below to each of the SteelSeries League Round Reports.
SteelSeries Black Ops Leagues Report S2 ~ Round 1 ~
SteelSeries Black Ops Leagues Report S2 ~ Round 2 ~
SteelSeries Black Ops Leagues Report S2 ~ Round 3 ~
SteelSeries Black Ops Leagues Report S2 ~ Round 4 ~
SteelSeries Black Ops Leagues Report S2 ~ Round 5 ~
SteelSeries Black Ops Leagues Report S2 ~ Round 6 ~
SteelSeries Black Ops Leagues Report S2 ~ Round 7 ~
SteelSeries Black Ops Leagues Report S2 ~ Finals Round 1
Without further adieu, here is the SteelSeries League Report ~ Finals Edition!
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Map Details
Grid is made up of a series of small buildings, hangars, and generators across a snowy landscape, with a power/comms grid at one end. This map is supposed to resemble a communications antenna, similar to the Duga-3 array near Chernobyl (codenamed Russian woodpecker). On the East side of the map, a large area with lots of snowy foliage are ideal spots for snipers, but will hardly be used unless the defending teams fully attacks spawn. Most of the fighting on this map tends to gravitate towards the truck in the center of the map and the two buildings on either side. Teams will be faced with a mix of rushes and slow assault pushes so adapting and effective rotation will be a must. Teamwork will be tested and preparation will be a must. if the trend from the past rounds continues, teams will have to be on their toes and expect the unexpected if they are any chance of taking victory in their respective matches.
Map Details
Villa is, as its name suggests, a large house setting. It is situated atop a cliff, and the edges of the map have similar qualities to Cliffside. Elements of Courtyard also emerge in the center of the map, as it features a large open space with rock cover. The villa itself overlooks the courtyard, and certain objectives. Because of this, many players find success in picking off enemies who run into the open in this area, as they are easier to target than those who flank the sides and who use cover. WIth no clear advantage on this map, teams and rush hard and plant quickly with smoke cover. Might be one of the only maps you might see a sniper in either top villa or up stairs of the house at attack spawn.
Map Details
Summit is based in the Ural Mountains. This map also seems to bear resemblance to the map "Sub Base" in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Summit is a narrow map with severe drops on all sides. Summit features plenty of variety when it comes to buildings and platforms. The interior of one large building in the middle is the most open area on the Summit map, with most of it made up of narrow gaps and pathways. It is a map with lots of small spaces for the player to hide in.
Upcoming Matches & Predictions
Archaic Esports vs Mindfreak.RAZER
Write-up: Here we are at quite possibly what could end up being the Grand Final for CGi again! These two teams have worked hard throughout the season to reach where they are. This is also the decider in terms of which of these powerhouse teams needs to put in that little bit of extra effort to insure come the Grand Final that the match is closer than ever. To start off this match we have Grid. It can be quite close quarters the majority of the time so we should see some nice MP5 battles. Next map is Villa which, depending on the teams' strats, can be very assault rifle dominant or MP5 dominant. For the last map which I believe it could very well come to we have Summit. This map can be regarded as one of the most intense close quarter maps on Black Ops really. Reason being as for the majority of the map you'll see most players running the MP5. So shall we begin on this monster of a match to come in the next week? I think so.
Righto, here I'm just going to discuss the basic overview of the two teams. We'll start with Archaic, and really, there isn't much to say besides what an amazing team, right? They have performed like this throughout the whole of CGi and have really proved to the CG community that they are one of the greatest teams to roam one of the CODs (some have made comparisons to Malice back in MW2). Archaic have also come so far from when they were once known as The UNIT to now. They knew they had to put in much more effort this season in comparison to last and they have done exactly that. It's easy to say that from their last CGi record (4-3 I think it was) to now (7-0), they have immensely improved and didn't dabble on the hard times they had as a team and rather just took them as a learning process to become stronger. You can see how they've improved this match from their match with 5down where they basically stormed straight through it, leaving 5down demoralized in the aftermath. From this one match you can easily say that Archaic are on a completely different level compared to the other teams and really, the only ones who could beat them or get extremely close to beating them is Mindfreak. I talked with Corey (Unleash) during this week and asked how he thinks they'd go against Mindfreak and he basically said it will be close as always but if they played exactly as they had against 5down they should definitely win. Being in Archaic I can easily say that they have a great amount of skill and their communication and teamwork is just out of this world, especially in actual games, so I do believe what Corey said is true. As for Archaic you really you really can't say much else as they have really set the mark for CGi and the other teams will really have to put in a lot of effort to take out this team.
So enough of the Archaic praise, it's time to talk about Mindfreak! This team has been known as one of the top amongst the Call of Duty scene since COD4 really and has proved time and time again that they deserve to be there. However, in what I've seen they generally come 2nd in EVERY competition so maybe it's a Dazed curse of something but it must be pretty frustrating for them 
NOW, Mindfreak won the first CGo season of Black Ops and went into CGi hoping to take it out, but from what I'd seen throughout the CGo season AND CGi season, they didn't really change it up much and attempted to go into their matches with the exact same pushes as they had in their last matches. It seemed to work for them which is all good but hopefully for this match they can bring something new to the table because Archaic are definitely not going to hold back. Either way this team took out Malice last week in their matchup with them but it didn't really seem like a cruisy win at the start. But it was obvious to see that come the 2nd map, Mindfreak truly showed what they were made of. I was also chatting with Dazed this week and asked him how he thought they'd go in this match and was surprised to hear that due to 4v4 commitments and with ACL BrisLAN coming up they won't be able to go overboard with their preparation for this match. So rather than prepping for CGi they will be prepping for ACL Brisbame, which at the same time is disappointing but understandable. So really this could impact on Mindfreak quite a bit...But Mindfreak do have great chemistry as a team and despite their Dazed bashing that the community would have surely seen time and time again, they really do love him. So really with their individual skill and great chemistry you can come to the conclusion that Mindfreak are the only ones who can take down Archaic now and hopefully they can do it in this match!
Here we go, time to talk about the maps and how I think each team will fare on them. First map being Grid I know personally that Archaic have tremendously improved on this map, as shown from when Malice slapped them last season. And in my opinion Mindfreak isn't the best at this map so unless they have really tried to improve their general pushes on attack and attempt to solidify their defence I can't really see it going in their favour. Mindfreak do have the potential to take it out but they're extremely predictable when it comes to this map so they really need to mix it up in my opinion otherwise they won't take out the first map. It is pretty crucial to take the first map as it allows for one team to sit safely on the fence while the other is below it and it can really apply extra pressure when you don't want or need it. Knowing Mindfreak though they are truly used to pressure and have been known as the 'comeback kings' and sometimes it can make them stronger, so really, an interestingly weird team. In the end though Archaic should take out this map comfortably and show that Mindfreak need to put more effort into their strats rather than just scrimming. Archaic to take this map 16-10
Second map is Villa; this is a great map as it is really diverse as to how you can make your pushes. Whether you want to rush or sit back, it's possibly on this map as both of them can work like a charm. Mindfreak are pretty good at this map so this should be a really good game. What they need to do though is TRY to make their defence a bit stronger otherwise they'll just get demolished by Archaics pushes. Mindfreak are extremely different on this map as they aren't as predictable as they are on Grid and their pushes can be extremely weird and catch people off guard very easily. Mindfreak need to keep at what they've done on this map throughout Black Ops as it tends to work and maybe add in a random, weird, stupid push that would suit the likes of Fergie and Haxoid. Archaic do have a vast amount of knowledge on this map though and as long as they can hold up their defence they will be able to take the win. I say this because Archaic have really nice pushes for this map and they generally work every time, it's really just dependent on how good their individual shots are on the night as it's safe to say their teamwork should be spot on. Overall though I'm hoping Mindfreak take out this map because it would be amazing to see it go to a third but it's hard to go past Archaic on both Grid and Villa so 16-14 Archaics way.
As for MVPs for this match, as I said last week if Maus is definitely on his game like he was against 5down he will do extremely well. But powerhouses for Archaic like Scriblz and Macka are hard to go against, along with the ever so consistent Metal Freak (cut your rat tail off please) who is always lingering around the top of the scoreboard or on top of it. Unleash hasn't been playing as well as he should be lately so hopefully he does get off gears and actually attempt to do well because he is one of the greatest players on COD and he actually needs to show it rather than just say it
Mindfreak have players like Haxoid, Fergie and Hacker who are each standouts amongst the rest of the team, but Krit is back and he is one of the best I've seen play, and I'm not sure if Rapture's back or not so I won't comment on him. Really though, it's hard to comment on who will perform the best for Mindfreak as they are all great players...To suggest someone though we should see Haxoid performing really well on Grid, along with Fergie. For Villa we should see Krit pulling out some nice kills though with Hacker behind him.
To conclude this match I do see Archaic taking the win 2-0, but it's dependent on how they play on the night, and if it is like they had against 5down, I have no doubts. What I can see hurting Mindfreak this week though is the fact that they are going to be prepping for ACL Brisbane rather than CGi so this could turn out very badly for them. Anyway, most of you probably didn't even read this giant wall of text, but it should be a great game and if it can be shoutcasted (pretty sure Bio is on holidays last I read) then be sure to tune into it!
Envious' Prediction: 2-0 Archaics way
Taunted: Five Down vs Malice
Write-up: Now for the second match of this week! This could also be a great match upcoming but it really depends on how much effort Malice intend to put into the match to make it as interesting as possible. But the reality is it most likely won't happen so Malice will just 'go with the flow' and probably get quite a few rounds with that exact approach. 5down a very formidable team but should realise that they aren't going to win slacking off at this point. Their loss against Archaic (you could say beating) should give them the reason to actually go further in terms of strategies and maybe even devise a couple of new ones to surprise Malice with and then even go on to surprise the loser of the Archaic vs Mindfreak match. 5down have the potential to make it to the grand final in my opinion so they should just keep prepping and it could become reality for them. Another thing though, in game I have heard from numerous of a certain someone in the 5down team who is one of the biggest rage-a-holics known to xbox COD. So maybe if he tries to keep his cool and rather than bringing down the team he should attempt to encourage them or at least tell them in a more sincere way Either way some things within the 5down need to be addressed so that they can perform to their absolute best and possibly make the grand finale.
Okay so I'll just talk about Malice for a bit here. They have been one of the greatest teams Australia has seen at COD and Gears (attending WCG for it) so they do have something to live up to. But we have seen Malice go through a fair few roster changes at the end of MW2 and because of this I think personally they have struggled ever since. It is hard to completely renew a roster that had seemingly been perfect in the eyes of many and because of this I guess that Malice lost their 'mojo'. In saying this though Malice are still a great team and despite their effortless matches they have still made it into the top 4 AGAIN. So really it is quite a shame that the 2nd time through they haven't really decided to put in any extra effort to secure back the title of AusCods greatest besides both Archaic and Mindfreak. It is hard for Malice and understandable as Pod was their 'shining star' and he really did bring a lot to Malice, and with Pod they could probably be coming really close to both Archaic and Mindfreak at the top of the ladder. None the less they are still a great team and contain some of the greatest names in AusCOD so hopefully their individual skill and basic teamwork is able to bring them home.
5down who were the underdogs of this season have proven to both the community and every other team in CGi that they are now one of the best teams. To uphold this though they can't slack off and really need to charge straight ahead and rather than dabbling in past events like losses or scrims they need to discuss as a team what went wrong and how they can fix it. Also like I said above, rather than raging at one another they need to just communicate as a team and formulate something that can counter whatever the opposing team is doing in game. In saying this though, 5 down are a great team and they do deserve congratulations as they did come from the bottom and pretty quickly rose to the top. Mind you, this is pretty hard to do in that amount of time so really great job by them. Overall if 5down do continue with their effort and overcome the obstacles that lie ahead of them they could be one of the best teams.
Now we shall head straight into the map predictions for this match. First map up is Grid and again this could very well go into Malice's favour because 5down do not like this map at all and seem to be very poor at it. What they need to do is overcome what is making them bad at it, whether it is just their strats or if their defence isn't strong enough. So possibly by switching players around into different roles they could strengthen their defence and by making pushes which suit their play styles as a team they can easily be a lot better on attack too. So unless they do make the time to do this they will forever remain bad at the map, much like Archaic would be if they hadn't of fixed up what they were doing wrong. Malice from experience with them, are pretty darn good at this map and they have pushes that work extremely well because it is in their favoured playstyle and not just a generic push that you'd see most teams doing. They also have lgks now who is one of the greatest rushers, especially for this game, so really they should be steamrolling on their attack for this map. Also with their defence setup they should be able to hold it at about 8-3 in their favour. Of course this is depending on what 5down decide to do to attempt to fix what their 'nightmare map' is. I have to say that Malice will take out this map though purely because 5down do seem to be struggling as a team in general at the moment and this in my opinion is one of Malices best maps. Malice to take out this map 16-12.
Next map is Villa and this is MUCH more suited for 5down because they are really good at this map. I have seen them play it before and have also scrimmed them on it and they do have some really great pushes on this map for their attack so unless Malice can somehow hold them off I can't really see 5down losing this map. 5downs defence is also pretty damn solid so it is going to make it really tough for Malice to break through on this map. Also with their little to no prep it will make it a lot harder than it should be. Malice does have some pushes for this map but they aren't as established as you probably would have seen from the other teams, for example, 5down. Really what Malice should hope for is that Lgks breaks through 5downs line of defence at whatever bombsite they intend to hit and then go from there. The reason I say this is that it creates a pretty huge gap that the defensive side has to attempt to fill, which is an extremely tough task. Malice need to push forward as soon as Lgks gets through though otherwise they'll be back to square one if he dies in the aftermath of 5down rotating back. I can see no prep this coming week actually considering Bris LAN is on the weekend so Malice are going to have to rely on their individual for this match! But due to 5downs intricate knowledge and great pushes they will definitely take this map and with ease. Scores I am going predict for this match is 16-9 in favour of 5down.
This match should come down to 3 maps and the third map is Summit! Summit is actually quite a hard map to play because if your team lacks in terms of prep then they are going to pretty much get dominated. Basically what I have just summed up is that Malice won't take this match and will fall short with 5down taking Summit out. I haven't really played them on this map but when I did, they were very similar to that of Taunted: Team 1 who is quite good at this map depending on how they're playing at the time. This map is very tricky for defence as a team can completely overrun the middle sections and also top comms can be extremely hard to hold. So if the attackers use this to their advantage it should be a breeze. In my experience I know that Malice isn't as good at this map as they are at others and this could be fixed if they had the time to prep. They do have some new players though which so add some diversity to the way that they play and could definitely work in favour of Malice. Yes, I am talking about Lgks, he is one of the key players of Malice to be honest and if he isn't playing at his best on the day then Malice are going to be in all sorts of trouble. I say this because they don't have the preparation so they rely on those who have always been deemed as 'rushers' to break through the defensive side. Then the rest 'pile' on top of the bombsite if the 'rusher' is successful. This approach can work quite a bit if done correctly but it won't win Malice this game. So 5down will take out this map 16-10.
As per usual we will see the classic players from Malice such as Lgks and Fake pulling big scores across all maps and in general carrying Malice along. Goose isn't that far behind them at the same time though so I guess he is there to co-carry 
So definitely from these 3 we should be seeing some good scores. For 5down though we should see the usual Spaydz going off as he does and Willyum is also one of the key players of 5down as well. It is possible that these two could be shut down though thus allowing for some of the other 5down players to shine!
So from what I can see this match should go to all 3 maps but 5down will take it. There is also a bit of a rivalry between these two teams and some of the players within both. I do know that 5down will want to smack Lgks around and vice versa so we could be seeing a lot of rivalry happening in this match. But it's just that Malice as a team don't prep enough and sometimes probably won't prep at all until the last couple of hours. This is also a competition that requires full effort to actually do well and Malice just don't put enough in. So 5down should take this out 2-1 if they continue to put in the effort. BUT they could also take out Grid if they fix what's wrong!
Envious' Prediction: 2-1 Taunted: Five Downs way
~Envious Kitty
Upcoming Matches & Predictions
Super Heroes in Training vs Baw5
Write-up: Baw5 are coming off the back of a huge win, which most people did not expect, they defeated Carnage 2-0. This will prove as a huge confidence boost for the team and they will be raring for another win. Super Heroes in Training are also coming off a win against Audacity, they will be aiming to keep this going with another win this week so that they can reach the Grand Final. I believe that Super Heroes in Training will take the win, winning Grid and Villa in a real nail biter. However, if baw5 can manage to pull one of the first two maps and taking it to a three map match, I see them taking the win.
Prediction: 2 - 0 Super Heroes in trainings way
Carnage vs Audacity E-Sports: Team 1
Write-up: Carnage will be firing for a win this week, after coming off a 2-0 loss against Baw5. They are sure to bounce back from this loss and will bring the heat this week against Audacity. Audacity are also coming off a loss last week, 2-0 against Super Heroes and will be looking to get back into the swing of things with a win this week. Both teams are capable of pulling the victory, but I see Carnage taking the game 2-1. I believe that Audacity will win Villa however Carnage will be too strong and will take Grid and Summit. Both teams performed very well in the round stage, however is the pressure of finals too much for them? Composure and experience will be the deciding factor in this game.
Prediction: 2 - 1 Carnage's way
~ Fez
Upcoming Matches & Predictions
ProXimity: Team 2 Vs. Exclusive
Write-Up: ProX have just come of a loss against Paradox, however they are a tough team, who have shown themselves as a strong team all season. Exclusive are also coming of a loss to Afterlife, but they have also shown that they are a competitor in this competition. I believe that Proximity will be too strong for Exclusive, with Brisbane Godz edging them along on the sideline with some words of encouragement and a few XD's on the forums. Both teams will be very hungry to get back on the right track and take the win. However I don't know whether Exclusive have enough fire left in them to beat Proximity.
Prediction: 2 - 0 ProXimity's way
Afterlife Vs. Paradox
Write-Up: Paradox have just come of a win against ProX, who had only lost once all season, they will hope to carry this winning trend into their next game and make a stamp on the league proving that they are a team to be reckoned with. They will have a tough match, playing it off against Afterlife, who have also come off a win against Exclusive. It will be an extremely close match and the team who can communicate and work together more effectively than the other, I see running away with the victory. I believe that Afterlife will win Summit and Grid and Paradox will win Villa.
Prediction: 2 - 1 Afterlife's way
~ Fez
Upcoming Matches & Predictions
Impact vs Volume: Team 1
Write-up: Impact have won eight matches in a row! They haven't even lost a match this season! Impact are obviously a very strong team who have an absolutely massive chance of winning this season of CGd. This week Impact are up against Volume: Team 1 who are currently sitting on rank 2. Last time these two teams clashed was round 2 on Summit, Impact won by 5 rounds. Volume: Team 1 have been playing quite well having won the last 4 matches they've had. Volume are now up against the hardest team in CGd so they will have to work very hard to come close to winning. It is believed Impact will win.
2-1 Impact's way.
Audacity E-Sports: Team 2 vs Demize
This should be an interesting match. Audacity E-Sports: Team 2 formally known as Cruelty Incarnate have shown that they are quite strong contenders of CGd. Although they lost by quite an amount against Impact, the strongest team in the CGd league. Demize on the other hand have won and lost but always gave it their best. Demize will have to keep their chins up to win this match as it will not be easy. The last time these two teams clashed was on Summit, Audacity E-Sports: Team 2 won by 7 rounds. Summit is one of the three maps so it should be interesting to see who pulls out with the win. It is believed Audacity E-Sports: Team 1 will win.
2-1 Audacity E-Sports: Team 2's way.
~ Katie.
That basically wraps up the first round of Finals for the SteelSeries S2 Leagues Report!
A reminder that The YouTube team will be endeavoring to cover as much content as they can week to week. If you would like a highlights video made or if you would like to submit a clip for the top 5 plays please contact one of the following users:
If you would like to assist with doing the predictions for a league from week to week please contact the following people in regards to each league.
For CGi predictions, message
Envious Kitty. For CGm predictions, message
Colonel Don. For CGa preditions, message
Skepz and for CGd predictions, message
Katiee. Simply ask if you can do the predictions rather than sending your predictions in straight-out. These reports will continue to be released each Wednesday night at 8pm so if you want to do predictions for a round, best to ask before the weekend prior to report release or on the Monday.
All comments, suggestions and whatever are welcome below.
Post your own predictions below too!
Much Love,
Adohh / Brittany / Colonel Don / Envious Kitty / Fez / Katie
Posted on Sunday, 2nd October 2011
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