CEVO Articles

Column by Bobby “Weenus” Hicks

Bobby “Weenus” Hicks analyzes this weekends CEVO Counter-Strike Source Playoffs.

After a long season of competition, the CEVO Season 6 playoffs have arrived. With two CGS Combine fallout teams leading the pack, the two CGS teams in the middle, and the two veteran teams bringing up the rear, the Season 6 Playoffs almost look like a social experiment of sorts with the amount of player history.

#1 – zomblerz

Featuring the most star studded roster that CEVO-Professional has ever seen, the 2008 zomblerz look extremely convincing heading into the playoffs. At a glance, the team looks like a shelter for 2008 CGS Combine victims, but in reality, it houses a good portion of what is guaranteed to be the stars of 2009.

For the final two weeks of the regular season, the zomblerz made short work of the majority of the playoff teams, a great way to head into a post season. The zomblerz have also only lost to playoff teams, with very small point margins.

The zomblerz face the winner of the Dallas Venom and x3o match, which could be quite a battle in its own hands. Either way, the zomblerz have a tough battle ahead. On one hand, they’ll be facing a blood thirsty Venom team that looks to do damage with reliable internet connections, on the other, x3o will be looking to continue their underdog streak of overtime wins and extremely close edging. The first seed finds itself in what will be a rough bracket.

Player to watch – heatwave

Regardless of the fact that heatwave is a certified genius and can frag out with the best of them, you’ll just want to look out for a classic zombler spamming +} smiley’s all weekend long.

#2 – ‘94 Knicks

Looking past a name sake legacy that might prove to be more of a self fulfilling prophecy than a joke, all you see on the ‘94 Knicks roster is talent. The team reads as a who’s who of overlooked talent from ‘07 and early ‘08, and similar to
the zomblerz, will no doubt be the launching board for a few careers in ‘09.

The season started off slow for the ‘94 Knicks, but once it picked up, it never showed any signs of stopping. Beside the fact that the ‘94 Knicks handed the #1 seeded zomblerz their last loss of the regular season, the ‘94 Knicks also have the bragging rights of a handful of one sided wins over teams that made playoffs.

The ‘94 Knicks found themselves in a pretty solid position in the bracket, facing the winner of the Carolina Core and Devastation match. The Core, coming hot off the heels of some of the worst losses in recent CGS history, will still be playing with poor internet from the CGS player village. Devastation, the sixth seed in the bracket, shouldn’t be overlooked, but spotty results
throughout the season say that the ‘94 Knicks hold a clear advantage.

Player to watch – Funshine

“First I pulled out my AWP, and I missed, then I pulled out my deagle, and I missed, then I pulled out my AWP and was like… aww man, peace!” … Gary Laurita is a god, nuff said.

#3 Carolina Core

While some may look at this team as being rough around the edges, it still features some of the most devastating fraggers in the game. You could probably bet on org and devour winning a few matches 2vs5 alone, which combined with the experience and teamwork of the Core creates a terrifying product that you just can’t count out, even in the face of the failure the Core saw in the CGS World Final.

The Core have been forced to focus on their day jobs at the CGS for the majority of the CEVO season, mostly because of the lack of a reliable internet connection at the CGS player village. Still, the Core have made due with what they have, edging the Venom out barely in the seeding.

Facing off against Devastation may seem like an easy task for the Core, but the outcome of that match really comes down to which team really cares enough to win, and lately, that might really lend itself towards Devastation. After the Devastation match, the ‘94 Knicks wait patiently for a swing at the Core, a match that indefinitely favors the ‘94 Knicks. After all, they can’t really lose until the Final anyway.

Player to watch – org

While some may point towards devour’s AWP, org’s rifle will be looking for revenge after the teams loss to a Birmingham Salvo team that seemed to advertently avoid his side of the map. The fact is, org is one of the most creative riflers still in the game, he’s about as dangerous as it comes.

#4 Dallas Venom

The CGS Individual World Champions need little to no introduction. The Venom team reads like a veritable all star lineup of talented players from all walks of Counter-Strike. The clutch rifles alone will wreck an entire half of a match, and the Venom AWPs have become a thing of nightmares.

The Venom, similar to the Core, found themselves hostages of the poor internet at the CGS player village, forcing CEVO to become a bit of a backseat event for them. Now that all five players are in the comfort of their own homes, look for some impressive play.

The Venom have a tough battle on their hands to make it to the CEVO Final and defend their Season 5 Championship title. First, Sunman will have to play against his former team before being moved up to active CGS play, x3o. Follow it up with brawwr’s zomblerz family, and you have drama for days. Still, the Venom have always been impressive in the CEVO playoffs, and Season 6 should be no different.

Player to watch – brawwr

The last time anyone had seen brawwrski, he had blasted his mouse hand into the CGS set after coming up short against San Francisco Optx. This guy will be determined to lead the Venom statistically towards another Championship, it’s the least he can do after his crimes against inanimate objects.

#5 x3o

Its difficult to talk about x3o without gushing about their underdog spirit, but I’ll do it anyway. This is a squad that has faced a number of reinventions over the past few seasons, acting as a revolving door for a number of players. Regardless, the team has always managed to keep afloat.

It has been a rough season, to put it politely. Losing Sunman right off of the bat couldn’t have helped anything, and a five game losing streak early in the season surely reflected on the teams growing… or shrinking pains. Still, x3o ended the regular season off with a number of close wins, and with the right attitude, could take that to the post season.

Starting off the playoffs against a vengeful Dallas Venom team isn’t a good feeling for anyone, but with the aforementioned underdog spirit, x3o just might be able to make something happen. A match against the #1 seeded zomblerz immediately after however may be stretching it. Still, x3o has beaten them before, and could very well do it again.

Player to watch – AZK

This versatile player has managed to find success in CEVO in one form or another over the past few season. Hopefully, he doesn’t carry the Guardians curse into x3o’s post season, then again, he’s no longer on a team with STRuK.

#6 – Devastation

Saving the best for last, well, sort of. Some people have a hard time differentiating Devastation from its charismatic yet… colorful leader sasquatch, and I am no different. It’s a marriage that has slowly become the new ‘THE ELUDE CLAN’.

The team has had inconsistent results to say the least, with no real method to the mayhem of their strengths and weaknesses against the other teams. With no rhythm in their schedule, it is hard to really imagine them being a reliable pick for the playoffs.

An opening match against Carolina Core, as stated previously, will be a bit of a flip of a coin. It could be the place where Devastation steps it up and starts off fresh in the post season, or they could completely crumble against a wounded Core team.  Regardless, with ‘94 Knicks waiting ahead in the bracket, they could find themselves fighting through the lower one way or another.

Player to watch – KwicK

Returning recently from a break from the game, KwicK and his rifle have a little bit to prove yet to really solidify a comeback, and the CEVO playoffs are a great place to do just that.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 10:01 am and is filed under Coverage Central. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.