The San Francisco OptX stepped up with their backs against the wall, and in two amazing and close matches, defeat New York 3D for the #3 placing in North America, as well as the London Mint to make it to the World Finals as the Wild Card!

NEW YORK 3D vs. SAN FRANCISCO OPTX

In the first matchup, San Francisco took on New York 3D for the #3 placing in North America. The winner would go on to play London Mint (the #3 team from EU/UK), while the loser would go home. OptX's Dead or Alive duo set the table, defeating 3DNY by a combined 10-3 score heading into CSS. The map would be de_nuke, and 3DNY.css showed why they were a top-3 CSS team during the regular season, getting New York back into the game with a 10-8 victory, pushing the overall score to 18-13. In FIFA '08, stermy^ had the chance to put the franchise match away for good if he won by a one-point margin. But Wizakor picked up where his Source team left off, stifling the OptX captain while giving New York a 2-0 victory, making the overall score 18-15, with Forza left to play. SACKAMONJARO and Miximup faced down Dark Storm and ComeBackDan on the track Diamondback, and New York needed at least a 5-2 to tie. It was not to be however, as Miximup got out to an early lead, while SACKAMONJARO delayed ComeBackDan and Dark Storm enough to cement San Francisco's franchise victory. SACKAMONJARO ended up taking third as well, and the OptX came away with a 5-2 Forza score, and the 23-17 franchise victory. Having solidified their spot as the #3 North American team, San Francisco had to once again suit up, as they immediately faced the London Mint for the coveted Wild Card spot in the CGS World Final.

LONDON MINT vs. SAN FRANCISCO OPTX

San Francisco faced London, and DoA stepped up once again as Vanessa stormed through Mint rookie Strobe 5-2 to start things off. Coming off their big 5-2 victory over New York, SACKAMONJARO and Miximup took on Stune and NT101 on Inland Taipan. Miximup got another big lead, with SACKAMONJARO doing the dirty work to keep the Mint drivers at bay. And in fact, the result ended up the same: Miximup and SACKAMONJARO took third for a 5-2 victory, and an overall 10-4 score. We moved to FIFA, and top FIFA talent ChrisyB (FRA) took on stermy^ (ENG). The defenses were tight, and more than one shot came just short of scoring. The 0-0 tie went to penalty kicks, where ChrisyB would score on all three attempts, while stopping one of stermy^'s, for a 3-2 victory, and getting London back into it with a 12-7 score.

Counter-Strike: Source would be another close matchup as London battled San Francisco on de_dust2. London started off strong and, more importantly, kept paradox and Grt out of the equation as they took a big 7-2 lead after one half. OptX, however, showed why dust2 is a good map for them in the second half. Despite giving up the three rounds Mint needed to clinch the match, OptX rebounded with a 6-3 second half to make the CSS Score 10-8, making the overall score 20-17 with Dead or Alive Male to go.

Mint's Paddaman, using Kasumi, faced off against NinjaCW's Gen Fu on Gambler's Paradise, and Paddaman would need a 5-2 win or better to tie or seal the deal for the Mint. After Ninja took the opening round, Paddaman quickly rattled off four rounds, getting game point at 4-1, and bringing London to franchise match point. But NinjaCW was able to buckle down, and not only get the remaining two rounds his franchise needed, but come all the way back to beat Paddaman 5-4, and firmly give OptX the 25-21 victory. With those two victories, San Francisco is now in the 2008 CGS World Final, and they await the result of the North American Final between Carolina and Dallas. Stay tuned to #optx on the Gamesurge IRC network, as well as the official San Francisco Optx site, and the Optx groups on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, the Steam Community, and Youtube, for the latest in Optx news, features, and scores! Happy fragging, and GO OPTX!

Picture Gallery of the OptX day!