RIP GET WRECKED, Will I Ever Dance Again, harOzone, and Manly Maws. We bid farewell to these four teams after the end of an action packed week. While we saw some fairly predictable results in the lower bracket, the upper bracket had two upset wins for Street Hoops eSports and Dango Daikazoku. Undefated at Rastlemnaia saw their first loss to Dango while trying to abuse some quickfix plays, and Fried Green Tomatoes looks to have just dropped the ball for this particular match, which was most fortunate for Crespi and crew. Only a few matches left until the finals, and a lot of contenders are left to try for the grand final. Good luck to everyone this week, the season is almost over!

Dango Daikazoku vs Street Hoops eSports

• Screws
• Testify
• SneakyPolarBear
• DifferentColors
• Ictus
• Dango

• Crespi
• Ash
• Vacationer
• Skyrolla
• Paragon
• Deadbolt

Dango Daikazoku are coming off a big win over undefated at rastlemnaia, now renamed to the Italian Stallions. Dango opted to counter the quickfix to mid with kritz while holding yard that let them pick up some crucial rounds after Pot and the boys fell into their trap twice, with one of the closest games we've seen all season from our top 5 teams. Dango has to be feeling great after finally toppling their biggest contender in the upper bracket, but I would urge them not to let their guard down. Street Hoops has taken playoffs by storm by knocking Lzuruha Pandamonium and Fried Green Tomatoes out of the upper bracket, much to my pleasant surprise. Paragon and Deadbolt are a force to be reckoned with, and with viaduct coming up they have a great chance at pushing right into the final. In the past we've seen a lot of highlander players destroy teams on viaduct and I expect to see Paragon pull out that trusty sniper rifle of his and make life a little miserable for Dango. Not to be outdone, Sneaky and Ictus both have the ability to tip the scales here, and I expect Screwah to play the surviving game a tad better than Crespi. Both teams have great momentum from their recent wins and its going to be a great game to watch, but I'm going to tempt fate one more time and give this to Dango 4-3 even though Street Hoops has been stalwart about upsetting my predictions.

Players to watch: Paragon, Deadbolt, Sneaky, Ictus

• braz
• Peyton
• Tophu
• Crux
• Sr Alberto
• Non

• OmnisEverae
• SocialistFish
• LiterallyAPanda
• Hippopotamus
• Gravegun
• NateRivers

Delpo wasn't enough to stop the onslaught by Pandamonium last week, who were able to end the match 5-2 in their favor. Nate and Panda went pretty ham and kind of just out DMed the other team, which isn't all that exciting to be honest. Bubble Buddies also had a relatively uneventful match against Manly Maws with a 5-0 finish, and there really isn't much else to say on that note. This match up would be a very different story if it wasn't on viaduct, but as it is Bubble Buddies are the stronger team on paper. Crux has been consistently awesome throughout playoffs and Ghostac is doing a lot of work in just about every match. Pandamonium on the other hand has only just now had some roster stability (sort of) and while their soldiers and scouts match up well with those of Bubble Buddies, Hippo just doesn't do enough for his team compared to Crux. Viaduct can hinge on how well a team maintains uber advantage, and to be honest I haven't seen a lot of remarkable play from either medic but Braz plays a bit more conservatively than Omnis which might make the difference here. Theres always room for surprise on this map with snipers, heavies, and kritzkrieg but I'm going to go with a 4-3 victory for Bubble Buddies despite the fact that I expect Pandamonium to try something to break the game.

Players to watch: NateRivers, Sr Alberto, Crux

Animus Victoria vs Rice Guys Finish Last

• Cheeris
• Blew
• Ragorism
• BlackyMonster
• Kraka
• Noko

• Caboose
• Not_Matlock
• Winnie
• James.Shocka
• Nevdawg88
• Everlast

Animus Victoria's roster seems to have calmed down a bit, and they were able to take a solid 5-2 win over Will I Ever Dance Again. Noko and Kraka are one of my favorite scout pairs this season, and it was cool to see them on granary last week. Rice Guys had a very quick 5-0 victory over Get Wrecked, with Shocka almost doing 500 DPM with 0 deaths. And its here that we find the biggest point of contention for these two teams with viaduct coming up: Shocka has the sheer damage output and DM ability to turn rounds over but Blacky has the experience and knowledge that comes with playing this map in much higher divisions. Throw in a couple sneaky Noko plays on pretty much any offclass she chooses and it could mean the difference between a win and a loss. Even so, Everlast and Nev can hit the meat when they need to, and usually two scouts on viaduct trumps an offclass play with the right coordination. Its fun to compare the combat classes of these two teams, but medic survivability is perhaps the most important factor when playing this map, and in this I have to give Cheeris the edge. Caboose has made some questionable decisions in some of the games I've watched, and Cheeris has been playing solidly after joining the Animus roster. Make no mistake, all these rounds are going to come down to the wire and both teams have some talented playmakers, but when push comes to shove I think Animus will come out on top 4-2.

Players to watch: Noko, Kraka, Everlast, James.Shocka