My initial reactions going into this weekend were optimistic, looking forward to the good matches. But after the results came out I was left with a sour taste in my mouth due to all the forfeits. I know it is extremely close to Christmas for many people but most found a way to play despite the time of the year.

[SePP]Seeking Perfection player Pellikan for example had family over for dinner but had to skip to play; when his opponents forfeit their match he was then happy to go enjoy his company.

I think when we get down to the RO8/RO4 in any bracket—Diamond Division included—we shouldn't be seeing these types of weekends. Many teams would have had a legitimate chance to move up to Diamond if they hadn't forfeit in the RO4s.

Now maybe some teams didn't want to risk having to move up to the next bracket because they felt they weren't strong enough yet, but for a team like [SOZO]Team Please, who may be having a busy schedule for their team coming up, getting in Diamond may be better because they can just play on weekends. There is always the chance just to stay in Gold and forfeit your matches during the week if you make it that far, but teams that do that may be punished for forfeiting too many matches. Gold teams do usually play on weekdays so it may not be for everyone each cycle. Starting in the New Year we will see Cycle 3 start so hopefully teams will be able to play then.

Now for a recap of the weekend's games:

Winners RO8

[PNIS]Pencils defeats [DrDz]Druidz eSports 2-0

[vtL]Vitriolic Gaming defeats [hade]HAVE IT2-0

[boyy]The Big Boys defeats [L00K]L00K AT MY HORSE 2-0

[Dmsn]AnotherDimension defeats [SOZO]Team Please 2-1

Winners RO4

Pencils defeats Vitriolic Gaming 2-0

The Big Boys get a bye as Another Dimension forfeit

Losers RO8

[SdS]SdS defeats [Ttry]Team Tryharder 2-0

[qMX]Qlimax Crew defeats [656]Way Of Life 2-0

[YOHO]You Only Hook Once defeats [BLZN]Blazin 2-1

Seeking Perfection defeats [3E]Non3Ense 2-0

Losers RO8

Druidz eSports defeats SdS 2-0

HAVE IT defeats Qlimax Crew 2-0

You Only Hook Once gets a bye as L00K AT MY HORSE forfeit

Seeking Perfection led Team Please 1-0 before Team Please forfeit

Losers RO4

Druidz eSports gets a bye as HAVE IT forfeit

Seeking perfection gets a bye as You Only Hook Once forfeit

Losers RO4

Druidz eSports gets a bye as Another Dimension forfeit

Vitriolic Gaming defeats Seeking Perfection 2-0

This leaves us down to the final 4 teams who advance to Diamond next cycle:
Druidz eSports, Vitriolic Gaming, Pencils and The Big Boys. They will play for placement next weekend—Druidz eSports and Vitriolic Gaming play for 4th place, while Pencils and The Big Boys will play in the Winners Bracket Final for a secure spot in the Grand Finals with a 1-game advantage over their opponent in a best of 5 series.

Merry Christmas everyone and have a Happy Holidays!

- Crowslaw
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