ESEA Open Playoffs Season 52: Preview

The ESEA Playoffs for Season 52 have arrived, and just like last season, it’s time to catch you up on the action.

Up for grabs is the all-important ESL Challenger League slots, meaning that for two lucky teams, chances to play against the best in the region and qualify for overseas events.

Here’s a look at what you can expect from the ESEA OCE Playoffs for Season 52 and who I think will land those crucial ECL slots!

The Contenders

Flat Earth

Flat Earth (formerly DXA) comes into the playoffs as the number one seed for a reason. They have so much experience and they have been a core that has stayed together for such a longtime.

After the departure of Crunchy to Mindfreak, the team has played the same brand of Counter-Strike that we all expect out of a DXA roster. Recent drama with the squad surrounded lucas222 after he vacated the roster during the Dfrag Invitational closed qualifiers.

It was reported by DXA that he had left the roster mid tournament, leaving the team without core members for a VRS event. Thus, the core of Kiyo and helix were in an unwinnable spot and their VRS points tanked.

This incident has the team’s future looking dire. Kiyo alluded to Dfrag that the future of the team wasn’t guaranteed. “This team is currently not even 1% real, we were just playing for funsies," he said. "Even if we win we will not accept the ECL spot... well, I won’t, at least.”

While the team may be playing for fun, I have the feeling Flat Earth can still go far in the ESEA Playoffs. They have the roster strength and the skill to be dominant, and the roster filled with ECL level talent. It’s definitely going to test some of the best in the competition and they are going to be fun to watch.

GamblersAnonymo

Who would have guessed; another PearL and harbor team has made a great run in the regular season in ESEA Open and looks to test for another ECL spot. I’ve seen this movie before!

While PearL and harbor are the stars of the show, the supporting cast could be in line for an Oscar. Recent performances by c4put and endR have boosted this team to impressive wins over Vantages Academy, Brojay and co., and GCSY, all of which have shown major strides in terms of growth and are the teams which have some of the best talent outside of ECL-level players.

The forever duo of PearL and harbor have been at the peak of OCE Counter-Strike while a part of the Arcade roster, and I imagine that they are in the best position to get back into the top flight.

The question is, how do we justify allowing c4put into ECL? How did we let this happen? Where did we go wrong?

Blazing Beavers

Alright, let’s talk about the Beavers.

These guys have captivated the OCE CS2 community by cooking Rhyu so badly that every time he tweets, he gets blasted with Blazing Beaver memes.

The Beavers outside the server are demons. They pull no punches and they take shots at everyone. Inside the server, they have been dominant; they back up the shit talk and they do it in style.

Currently sitting with a 12-2 record earning them the second seed for the playoffs, with notable wins against Flat Earth, Brojay and co., and Altered Edge, the Beavers are poised as one of the top teams to earn a spot in ECL. Snowkey’s addition has seen their firepower rise, with the AWPer supported byJay andBay—they have been an almost unstoppable team.

The roster led by PaPaDoxie has been a complete surprise to the scene. No offense to the Beavers, but if you said to me that a PaPaDoxie team was going to be in the best position for a ECL spot, I would have called you delusional.

The Beavers have been playing blazing hot Counter-Strike, and I imagine there won't be much of a change in the playoffs.

Vantage Academy

Another “Who would have thought it?” An academy team has a real chance to play in ECL next season!

The roster, led by Snaaz, has been quite a formidable team to beat, stomping out notable squads like Legion Black, Canon Event, and GCSY. They play smart Counter-Strike but it's also obvious they have room to improve.

While I view the team as a contender they have notable losses to the likes of Altered Edge, Pant Gang, and GamblersAnoymo. These losses have sparked some questions about the team, but I'm also sure the talent on the roster—especially from head honcho Snaaz and his supporting cast of Zoot, JLB, and Xana—look to be quite a stable lineup.

The rumour that Tommy has fallen out of love for CS and wants to spend more time flirting with Coach Parnell on X/Twitter (the Everything app) should only serve as an opportunity to play theiur game with less caution.

A team with nothing to lose is scary, and I think Vantage Academy has nothing to lose at all.

The Fringe Contenders

Altered Edge

Altered Edge, it's a rough one to put them here. 

There is nothing more I want as a fan of Altered Edge to put them in the serious contenders category, but it's the same issue as last season; consistency.

For crying out loud, how the hell do you beat Vantage Academy, Camo, Grip ‘n’ Spin and then go off to lose to DIDDY DO IT? HOW THE HELL DOES THIS HAPPEN? WHY? WHY DO YOU MAKE IT PAINFUL TO BE A FAN.

Sorry about that, but notable wins against Camo, Vantage Academy, and Timewaves has made me delusional that this team is going to challenge the top four teams in the comp. Coming into the playoffs as the ninth seed will mean more Counter-Strike to watch and I'm sure the team is up to the challenge. 

The swap of roles saw former IGL Coach Parnell out for AWP/IGL Elephant, as well as bringing in Kezza to team up again with lawlkay. Since the changes, this team play a lot better; star rifler Myst99 has been playing lights-out CS recently, and he has only had one game below 20 kills all season.

I'm expecting big things from him in the playoffs! 

Lite Esports

I have a good feeling about this Lite side, led by our very own Iceo.

The team was built this season and has a strong opportunity to make a deep run; however, the only thing in my mind holding them back is that they haven't had enough time to settle into the system that Iceo has built.

Lite comes into the playoffs as the sixth seed with a 10-4 record. They have had some interesting games, like a triple-overtime loss to Relic, which looked like an off day from Lite. I honestly don't know what to make of that, to be honest here.

Like Altered Edge, there might be some questions about consistency, too. The improvement of kairo has been outstanding to watch. Since he burst into the scene with ATR, he has been always an underrated player, especially given he’s playing in support roles. This has been his breakout season, for sure. While not a lot can be gained from the numbers, his impact on the server has been noted. 

Alongside star players like AJ and Fayke, who has been massive in their star roles, this trio is one of the best in the scene at the moment.

The splash that Lite has made in ESEA Open has been pretty inspiring to me. It tells a great tale to just start a team, not mattering if you're good or not, and just playing to improve, that effort can lead to results like this. 

The run they will have in ESEA playoffs is tough, but it will be something that keeps your eyes glued to the screen.

Brojay and co.

BROJVHS himself has said multiple times that “there is a reason this team is called Brojay and co.” At the end of the regular season, I think we can all see why.

BROJVHS has had an impact to the craziest degree; dare I say he could be the donk Down Under. However, this comes with consequences. If BROJVHS has a bad day, it could be over in terms of a deep playoff run.

Their last six games saw the star player out due to COVID (as he claims), during which they’ve gone winless.

The supporting cast, consisting of Rhyu, BoBo and csJ has been really inconsistent as a group. Don’t get me wrong, they are talented players, but I also feel like there may be too many cooks in the kitchen.

Both BoBo and csJ have formerly been IGLs, and there might be a bit of conflict in the server, but this is all purely speculation.

GCSY

Top favorites going into ESEA Open Season 52, GCSY has been a quality team for what seems like ages now. They got a co-sign from notable caster OniPotence who has been their biggest fan since the Beavers paid him a bag.

This season, though, GCSY have been slightly disappointing.

A 10-4 record earned them seventh seed and a first round bye, but it's short of the top four spot we expected. The three-game stint where they lost to Vantage Academy, GamblersAnonymo, and EasyL showed massive flaws in their game which will surely be used against them in the playoffs.

This team was a single round away from getting into the ECL qualification series last season, and I'm sure that they will do all they can to get back to that spot. They are quality in the Bo3 format, and they can probably just get into the ECL qualifications just based on experience.

Also, Samander: How the hell do you get killed by a journalist? Shame on you for letting one of us here get a frag on you.

For GCSE I'm sure the squad is going to be dangerous and one to look out for, but the consistency issues are really looking to have a major impact.

That's the preview! Watch out for these eight teams; I’m sure they are going to have a great time and it should be an enjoyable watch for those tuning in.

Stay tuned to DFRAG.gg for coverage of the playoffs which wrap up in late March!