After months of qualifiers, training and waiting, the SAMSwipe Invitational Series Finals are finally upon us. The event started off with a bang today in the group stage, with some upsets, strong performances and tight matchups leaving us with our final 8 teams for tomorrow.
Homeless And TOMA Dominate
With LeaveNoWitness’ players banned from the tournament, a clear top 2 of Homeless and TOMA appeared to have formed. Homeless’ lineup of Nafepz and grumpz, the scene’s leading pioneers, had lost just one match all season, and continued their form in convincing fashion today, dropping just a sole game in 3 series’.
However, TOMA’s FabioNS7 and Sharshock, the only other qualifier champions in SAM, showed their fighting ability today, and will be Homeless’ biggest contender for the title. They went 9-0 in their group stage matches, and their mechanics on offence seem to be ahead of the region, placing them in a solid position for playoffs.
Expect these two to be battling for first place in the top 8, with no real other lineups seeming worthy of pushing them to their limits.
Os Noobs Sem Tag Come From The Clouds
Although Homeless were clear of the pack as 1st place in group A, the battle for second was tightly fought between the remaining 3 lineups. For Os Noobs’ lineup of Breninrj7 and tr4p4ever, despite being one of the event’s lower seeded teams, they were able to put on a big day 1 performance.
After being swept by Homeless in the first series, Os Noobs came from nowhere in the second series, limiting Aston Birra, who seemed all but confirmed for playoffs after a game 5 first series victory, to just 2 goals for the series, putting them right back into contention. And with their tournament chances on the line against DOM Esports in the final series of the day, Os Noobs rose when it mattered most, overcoming an early deficit to produce a clean game 2, win a nail biting game 3 overtime, and find the sealer at zero seconds in game 4, punching their ticket to the playoffs.
Blinders Produce First Top 8
A roster formed halfway through the season, and without a single top 8 appearance within the qualifiers, expectations were certainly low for the Blinders lineup of Jonascomj and Ghoztz7 heading into today.
But the Blinders certainly showed up when in mattered in day 1’s group stages. After sweeping #8 seeds Friendly Enterprises 3-0, with an incredible 14 goals scored to 1, the Blinders went into the final match of the day against CoffeeX and Kingg to secure their top 8 finish. Even with the pressure of playing in front of 200 viewers on main stream, their run of form from the second series didn’t stop their as they continued to be relentless on offence, often pushing both players up to field to overwhelm CoffeeX and Kingg’s defensive lines, winning the series 3-1.