The Playoffs are Coming › Playoffs Overview

With the unsuccessful teams out of the way, we can now focus on the crux of the issue - the double elimination playoffs and the teams involved. These remaining eight teams will fight it out over the next six weeks to take the Enemy Territory EuroCup XIV gold, and we're sure to see many exciting games in that period as a result. This brief summary rounds up the playoff structure and qualified teams, which will then be looked at in greater depth on the following pages.



Playoff Structure

The double elimination structure has several advantages over the traditional single elimination bracket. Most of you probably realise the superiority of the double elimination system, but for those that don't, I'll give an overview of the main features. The basic premise of any playoff bracket is that teams play each other, with the winners of individual games progressing to the next round while the losers do not.

In a single elimination tournament, the losers are eliminated from the competition, but in a double elimination structure, teams must lose twice to be so eliminated. Thus a winners bracket, for teams which have not yet lost, and a losers bracket, for teams which have lost once, are created, with the victors from each bracket meeting in the grand final.

This has two major positive effects - the main advantage of the system is that it ensures that, all else being equal, the two best teams are guaranteed to meet in the grand final. A less important advantage is that this structure does, of course, result in far more games (approximately twice as many) than a single elimination system for the same number of teams. This means a fairer cup with more great, exciting games for you to watch on ETTV!

One minor peculiarity of the system is that, as each team is required to lose twice to be eliminated, if the winner of the losers bracket beats the winners bracket victor, a second grand final is required, as the winners bracket team has not yet lost twice.



Playoff teams and matchups

On first glance, most of the first round winners bracket playoff games appear fairly one-sided, indeed this is to be expected, as the winner of one group faces off against the runner-up from another in all cases. There is, however, the potential for upsets in every game, albeit a relatively small chance in some (few, for example, would seriously predict that any team, including aMenti, could upset the dominant idle.ee side), and I'm sure we shall see some exciting games from this selection.



zeroPoint! Gaming

A team comprised of an equal split of new-school skills and old-school talent, zeroPoint are considered by many to be the second favourites after the idle.ee team. They've not yet been really tested this EuroCup season, and have showed weakness in some of their relatively easy games so far, but they must be generally expected to bypass the rewind team with relative ease in their first match and are a probable contender for the medals.



rewind

A German stalwart squad, which has endured several roster changes over the past months, rewind is seen as one of the weaker teams in the playoffs. Their play can best be described as unpredictable, looking stunningly good in one game, then merely mediocre in the next. The view of perceived weakness, however, may serve only to remove the pressure to perform some of the bigger name teams are feeling, and with some strong performances in the groupstage, rewind certainly have the potential to upset a zeroPoint team which have, at times, looked unsteady.



#Murso SFX

Murso came into the EuroCup viewed by many as one of the teams least likely to progress from their group. Indeed, although they finally scraped into the playoffs as group C runner-up, they did not do so in any form of convincing fashion. Their first matchup, against cdap pi, although an incredibly tough game for the Finns, can only be seen as a blessing - against one of the other group winners Murso would have a far worse chance than the small sliver of hope they have at beating a cdap pi team which has looked uncertain at times.



cdap - Team pi

The only group winners not to take a clean sweep of games in their group, cdap pi are lucky to have the favourable matchup against Murso instead of the automatic losers bracket placement a game against idle would've entailed. Boasting a roster with skill and depth, if cdap pi perform at their best they should have no trouble in their first match and could, it has to be said, finish in the top three. The question is, can they maintain that level of performance?



idle.ee

There really isn't that much more to say about idle that hasn't already been said. The idle.ee squad, despite some roster changes, has been untouchable for almost a year now. Waltzing out of their group without breaking a sweat, the first round matchup against aMenti may cause them to work slightly harder. For idle.ee to lose their first - or indeed any - playoff match is almost unthinkable, but if they let their guard down it could just happen. Regardless, idle.ee have to be a certainty to finish in the medals.



aMenti

With a solid base from the Northern Darkness team - runners up at the last EuroCup - combined with some undoubted new talents, aMenti are seen as one of the stronger sides in the playoffs. Their playoff draw is awful, however - not only do they face idle.ee in the first round, but they then progress to face up against one of NETR or Helix. There will be no easy games for aMenti in this EuroCup. An upset against idle.ee is unlikely, but - to quote evan - when aMenti play well they really do play well, and if they play to their best and have lady luck on their side, they have the potential to push idle.ee to their first 6v6 loss since February 2006. If aMenti can get past their difficult draw, they certainly have the possibility of reaching the medals.



The Netrunners

The foremost Polish team, The Netrunners have already progressed further than their polewka ancestors managed last season. With an all-round solid side, they can give a tough game to any team in the playoffs, bar idle.ee. It has to be said, though, they are not favoured in a matchup against Helix. Providing they can get their missing stars back in action for the playoffs NETR will have a chance at taking the first round victory against the odds.



Team - Helix

The final team in the playoffs, and another of the major favourites, boasting a wealth of talent and experience in their all-german (unless guardian plays) squad, is Helix. As with the previous three teams, Helix find themselves in the challenging half of the draw, and early slips could cost them dearly. Nevertheless, Helix should be able to defeat NETR to progress to the second round.



Playoffs Schedule

As previously noted on the EuroCup page, the cup is running on a tight schedule. The date requirements for the playoff games are as follows:

Before 14th Jan - Winners bracket round 1
Before 21st Jan - Winners bracket round 2 & Losers bracket round 1
Before 28th Jan - Winners bracket final & Losers bracket round 2
Before 5th Feb - Losers bracket round 3 and final
Before 11th Feb - Grand final
Before 14th Feb - Second grand final (if needed)


Next, we move on to focus on the teams and their playoff matchups in more detail.