ACS Week 3 Highlights: Top 8 Set In Stone

After 3 weeks of competition, the top 8 has now been decided for the ACS Finals following an exciting night in tonight's ACS weekly. With amplified points available and an opportunity for redemption for some teams following last week's RLCS qualification process, and $30 AUD on the line, it was certainly all to play for tonight between the best of OCE's bubble scene.

Collateral Stunned

Collateral have certainly had a see-sawing winter split, and that didn't stop tonight. After not only qualifying for the first event of the split, but also reaching the heights of top 12 following a win over 1620 Kings, Collateral have failed to qualify for a main event since, with back to back 2-3 heart breaks sending them home twice in closed qualifiers and ending their split.

Looking for a sense of redemption tonight in ACS, Collateral were unable to get anything going, falling to a relatively unknown team and 'Grass Touchers' (comprised of HAZA, TheMagnet39 and Aza) to send them home 0-2 in groups, a tough result to take, but one that they'll be sure to bounce back from soon.

Trident And 1620 Kings With Other Focuses

Both 1620 Kings and Trident Esports are two teams looking to make that break through into the elusive top 8, and money rounds, of the RLCS main events. They both placed 9th-12th in regional 2, and following qualification for the third regional, starting tomorrow afternoon, both teams clearly had alternative priorities for tonight.

Although they both played their pools matches, and 1620 Kings a round of playoffs, they both forfeited in playoffs tonight after obtaining enough points for a high seeding in finals, likely due to scrims planned in preparation for tomorrow. Disappointing that we missed out on seeing two of OCE's best rising teams battle it out, but wish them all the best in their top 8 aspirations tomorrow.

Men At Work Over Run Levitate

Men At Work, our runners up from last week, went into this matchup as the favourites against the less renowned Levitate, but certainly put up a tough fight, proving why they've made playoffs in all 3 weeks of ACS.

After an explosive start from Men At Work in game 1, with Pagsi's shooting and Airmac positioning helping to grant a huge 5-1 victory, Levitate fought back hard in the second game, capitalising on MAW's defensive errors to immediately bounce back, as Grim's shooting and exquisite flick led Levitate to a near perfect 5-0 victory.

But with the series tied, it was MAW who rose to the occasion, proving why they've got the credentials in RLCS to swiftly finish off the job. Even with a good start from Levitate in game 3, an own goal from Laussie contributed to the momentum shifting back to MAW, and once it was there, the flow of the game only went one way, with Airmac's devastating offence, paired with Sour's defensive efforts, helping to ice a tight game 3 and then sail to a comfortable game 4 win, despite Chrisx888's strong performance in attack.

A slightly messy, yet still impressive series from MAW ensured their position within the top 8, whilst Levitate's consistency throughout the 3 weeks is also enough to clinch a finals position.

Buncha Hunkas Come Back From The Dead

I may not have known much about this Bunka Hunkas lineup coming into the tournament, but their names are certainly known now. After an abysmal game 1, where the more experienced Grass Touchers were dominant in attack, particularly with Aza's aerial assault, to seal the game 6-2, the Hunkas bounced back perfectly in game 2.

After conceding 6 in the first, the Hunkas put a pad lock on their defence, with a brilliant passing play and finish from UltimateDuck getting them their first, with two more perfectly timed shots working to get a clean 3-0 victory.

But the Grass Touchers weren't finished yet, and despite an incredible wall pinch pass from Sparrow to set up Karnsy, a slight over commit from UltimateDuck meant Aza was able to seal it with a top right redirect, late in overtime, to take the series lead 2-1, putting Bunka Hunkas on the back foot.

And after Magnet had the defence on ice with back to back small flicks, gifting Aza the finish, the series seemed all but over. Yet with less than a minute to go, Sparrow found a thunderbolt finish from the sky, before a clinical finish from UltimateDuck found the overtime win, tying up the series, 2-2.

In a chaotic game 5, it was Sparrow's 50s who would lead Buncha Hunkas to grands, finding back to back goals off 50s, before holding the line on the defence despite a Magnet backboard read off kickoff to take the game 5 win, securing themselves a spot in the top 8 finals series and a phenomenal fight back win.

Grand Final: Tragic End To Exciting Night

Perhaps not the way we would have liked it to go down in the end, but still an entertaining grands series between two rising teams, looking to make their mark. After Bunka Hunkas' offensive pressure and back wall passes clinched them the 1-0 series lead, Men At Work fought back immediately with an impressive game 2. Sour put a pristine pass off the right wall to Pagsi in midfield to start the game, and even after a physical, team play goal tied it up for the Hunkas, Airmac was quick to capitalise on the double commits, finding two from defensive errors to seal the game.

With the momentum now out of their grasp, the Hunkas looked rattled in game 3, making two basic errors early to go down 2-0 within the space of 30 seconds, and even with a perfect fake sending Pagsi flying in a quickly following breakaway, Buncha Hunkas couldn't keep up with the intensity on offence, and fell 2-4 in the game, going down 1-2 in the series.

Having now gotten the lead, Airmac could smell blood early as a he quickly capitalised on a nervous double commit from the Hunkas. But the game wasn't finished there, as 3 consecutive team plays would have MAW lost and outpaced on defence for the Hunkas to take the lead 3-1, before a Pagsi dunk after Sparrow's clearing ball and a booming finish off a short pass from Sour tied the game up, sending us to the first overtime of the series. With their hopes dangling by a thread, Buncha Hunkas held the line admirably despite the pressure, with a Sparrow back board pass to UltimateDuck enough to take it in overtime, tying up the series 2-2.

And then disaster struck. With Pagsi having work to attend to, Men At Work were unfortunately forced to forfeit the series, handing Buncha Hunkas the win and $30 AUD after a tightly contested series and night of play.

For Buncha Hunkas, this could be their break through win, and I can't wait to see their performance in the Spring Split and at the ACS Season 2 finals.