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The opinions expressed in this article are that of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of Chicago Chimera or its parent companies.

Welcome back readers, a lot has been happening in L.A. this week. As you are most likely already aware, the World Finals kicked off this past Monday with the Sydney Underground facing the Berlin Allianz and the San Francisco Optx going up against the Dallas Venom. Berlin Allianz started off the night by sending Sydney packing, with a crushing defeat. And then the San Francisco Optx engaged in a heated match against the Dallas Venom which resulted in a Optx win, and an early Venom departure. Now the San Francisco Optx is looking for another win against the Allianz in the semi-finals. Will Optx be able to steamroll the Berliners? Or is about time this San Francisco train (or cable car) has ran out of steam. Let's get down to business, with a good old fashioned play by play, or rather, a game by game.


Berlin has been in a slump. They haven't bee performing against teams they should be and, by the way it's looking if things don't change soon, Berlin wont be in the running much longer. Bsl would agree that his team is not living up to its potential. They have new players from fnatic, so I know they have the skill, it's just a matter of chemistry. Now, I haven't been sitting in on their practices to pinpoint the problem but team work is key. If Berlin some how miraculously gets their act together over the weekend and makes it at least a close match, expect to see Berlin in the finals.

Optx on the other hand has finally hit their stride after a season of under performing. They just defeated and demoralized the Dallas Venom in the quarter finals, in what was one of the biggest upsets so far in the World Finals. What's more surprising, of all players on the Optx team, Mike "Paradox" Stanowski stepped up huge against the Venom. He'll be one to look out for vs. the Berlin Allianz. Finally, as much as I would like to give this match to my friends Blaze and exertion , I sadly cant do so. Optx will come out with another big win if Berlin cant get out of their slump, which seems likely they wont.


Liefje has been on fire, there's no question about that. She dominated Sydney's Eileen in the quarter finals, and I think that really says something about Livia's improvement and current skill level. I have a feeling that she will get under estimated by the American teams, and that will be a costly mistake. Vanessa on the other hand is the top dog when it comes to DOA Female. Even though she's been beat, she is still the best. What it comes down to is, has Liefje improved enough to take down Vanessa? It's hard to predict, but I think Vanessa is getting out of her funk, which is bad news for Liefje. Expect Liefje to put up some much needed points for Berlin against Vanessa come game time.


Both NinjaCW and THE_TACTICAL have had rocky seasons. THE_TACTICAL just came off a huge 5-0 against Sydney's berzerk, however I don't know how much that really says. NinjaCW on the other hand has had some successes, but speaking strictly from his last match, he has been playing mediocre. He has yet to string some wins together, it's kind of been off and on with him, in terms of W's. However I will say he is a consistent point scorer, so that's good for Optx.

I haven't seen THE_TACTICAL go up against much talent, but last year he did 5-3 OffbeatNinja so that's something notable. I know he can bring the heat, but is he consistent? All in all, it seems these two are evenly matched. On any of these players good days, they could 5-3 each other. I'd expect both of these players to be on point this Monday, a close game will follow.


I must confess, my expertise in FIFA is like John McCain's ability to connect with young people, it's dismal at best. Which is why I've brought in an expert, or a FIFA maestro if you will. You'll have to trust me when I say this FIFA expert is no novice. He's beaten just about every top FIFA player in the CGS multiple times, including the world champ, Eafra. Some say, he produces excessive amounts adrenaline which allows him to see things in slow motion as well as giving him the ability to curve bullets and soccer balls, all I know is, he's called "The Maestro". His real identity is a closely guarded secret, maybe its to prevent any would be FIFA assassins, no one knows...

The Maestro:
The upcoming match between Manyna and Stermy should be a very good one. These European studs will be looking to put as many points on the board as possible. Both players have proved that they can score goals. You will see a lot of goal attempts in this game with a lot of back and forth play. Stermy utilizes a very tricky 3-4-3 with his primary France while Manyna uses a dangerous 4-2-2-2 with his primary Brazil. As I said before, this one will be a very offensive game and I think FIFA fans all over the world will enjoy this one.

So on to my prediction: When I have played against Stermy, I would have to really make sure my defense was on point. He has perfectly weighted passes that always seem to land on the foot of Henry, putting him on a breakaway or a different type of scoring chance. I feared it a lot, so I was always protected and focused, making sure I didn’t make any mistakes in the back. Manyna will have to do the same thing in the back if he wants to keep balls from going into his own net. From previous experience, I believe Manyna plays a “neutral” mentality. This means that his team is balanced between offense and defense, which eventually leaves his defense vulnerable at times. It shouldn’t be much of a problem though as I think that Manyna is the most creative FIFA player in the CGS. Stermy really needs to focus on his defense if he wants to win this game and with only 3 defenders, I don’t see this happening. Manyna is too strong on offense to play against him with 3 defenders.

This is all obviously just my opinion but here's how it should play out: 2-0/2-1/1-0 – take your pick of score, but this one belongs to Manyna.

Until next time chaps,
-Maestro


The Optx Forza team is on a what, three game winning streak? Miximup and SACKAMONJARO have been gelling nicely together. They may not be getting 6-1's but I don't think that has mattered much. Unfortunately for them, I think their winning streak is soon about to end. They are facing what is believed to be the top Forza team today, the Berlin duo, FinPro and YggdrasiL. Put simply, these guys are good, and I mean good. They won the World Individual Finals and have only had one loss through out season two and that was to the Stockholm Magnetik in the beginning of the season with a score of 4-3. These two players are going to be very tough to beat, which is why I'm predicting them to come out big for Berlin with a score of 5-2.

So overall this should be a great match up, and a very close one. It could go either way but it seems like Optx should come out with another win which will secure their spot in the finals. However, if, and that's a big if, the Berlin Allianz gets their CSS act together and plays like I know they are capable of, we could very well be seeing the Berliners on the finals stage. I'll be back to predict the semi's of the other bracket and then eventually the final match! Until then, keep cool, grab yourself a Dew, and stay tuned to the Chimera site for more eSports goodness.

Predictions:

CSS: San Francisco Optx > Berlin Allianz [11-7]

DOA-Male: San Francisco Optx > Berlin Allianz [5-4]

DOA-Female: San Francisco Optx > Berlin Allianz [5-3]

Forza: Berlin Allianz > San Francisco Optx [5-2]

FIFA: Berlin Allianz > San Francisco Optx [2-0]

Franchise Score: San Francisco Optx > Berlin Allianz [23-21]