There's no real nice way to put it. The Chicago Chimera are on the brink of being the first CGS World Champs to not make the playoffs. They MUST win, or see an early plane ride home for their efforts. This put San Francisco in the unique position of being a spoiler. I say unique because with Chicago's loss to Dallas on Sunday, the OptX are virtually guaranteed one of the final two playoff spots, barring a massive loss to Chicago. Therefore, Optx don't necessarily even have to win, but a victory guarantees them the third seed in the playoffs. So how will this match go down? Let's take a look:

Dead or Alive 4 Male:

NinjaCW (6-5) vs. Black Mamba (4-7)

This Season: 1-0
Our first DoA match is between NinjaCW and Black Mamba. The last time these two met, NinjaCW had been given the tall order of shutting out the 2007 World Finals MVP to save the franchise match for his team. While he got the 5-2 victory, Chimera ended up winning the overall franchise match. Since that match, however, NinjaCW has gone 4-4, while Black Mamba has gone a less than stellar 2-5, including a 5-2 loss to Master on Sunday. This will be another test for San Francisco's rookie, but he should pass with flying colors:

NinjaCW > Black Mamba 5-3

Dead or Alive 4 Female:

Vanessa (10-1) vs. Kasumi-chan (3-8)

This Season: 1-0
Vanessa goes for 11-1 versus Chicago's Kasumi. The last time these two females battled, both using alternate characters, Vanessa(Hayate) beat down Kasumi(Gen Fu) 5-1. Other than her loss to Phoenix, Vanessa has continued the dominant play that made her #1 in 2007, as well as OptX Franchise Player. She shouldn't have much trouble taking down Chicago's deadly diva:

Vanessa > Kasumi 5-2

FIFA 08:

stermy^ (7-2) vs. eafra (9-2)

This Season: 0-1
Our FIFA rematch features Chicago's sensational rookie eafra taking on the returning stermy^. The last time these two met, it went to a penalty kick shootout, something eafra knows all about. He was able to outscore stermy 3-1 for an overall 4-2 victory in FIFA, and tonight will be looking to do it again with Chicago's playoff hopes on the line. Stermy^, of course, has surprised many by his vastly improved play, including outpacing Wizakor of New York and KreeganBG of LA. This game will go down to shootouts once again, and eafra takes it:

eafra > stermy^ 3-2 (2-1 shootouts)

CSS: OptX.css (3-8) vs. Chimera.css (4-7)

This Season: 0-1
Our CSS match pits two underachieving squads against each other. San Francisco showed signs of life in their last match when they gave LA a 13-5 thrashing that leapfrogged them back into the franchise match, while Chicago lost by a similar 13-5 score that ultimately doomed their chances of coming back against Dallas. The last time these two met, however, it was much different, as Chimera destroyed San Francisco 14-4, including a perfect 9-0 second half, to all but guarantee the franchise victory. Each team has taken their lumps since then, and both come into this game much different then they were before. With a loss so fresh in their minds, San Francisco has the chance to capitalize and really stop Chimera from making any headway:

OptX.css > Chimera.css 10-8

Forza 2:

SACKAMONJARO/Miximup (4-7) vs. Ch0mpr/Jason-X (7-4)

This Season: 1-0
Finally, Sack and Mix take on Ch0mpr and Jason-X. The Chicago racing duo hasn't seen the same sort of success that saturated their 2007 Season in PGR, but they've been able to battle to a more than respectable 7-4 record, just behind 3DNY for second in the standings. Sack and Miximup, meanwhile, have struggled against some of the more dominant teams, but with a 4-7 record and only a -7 point differential, they've kept it close more often than not, which pays large dividends with CSS and DoA following your game. And they're just behind Chicago in the standings to boot. But this kind of match, with so much riding on the line, San Francisco should hope for the best, but prepare for the kind of Ch0mpr and Jason-X performance that defined CGS Season 1:

Ch0mpr/Jason-X > SACKAMONJARO/Miximup 4-3

We're goin' to the playoffs!

San Francisco denies Chicago a chance to repeat as they beat them 23-22. Stay tuned to #optx on the Gamesurge IRC Network, as well as here on the official San Francisco Optx website, on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and the Steam Community. Happy fragging, and GO OPTX!!!