The Optx continue their hot streak, sitting pretty at 3-0, as they move to Week 4 of the CGS Training Camp. This week they face the defending CGS Region 1 and CGS World Champions: Chicago Chimera. This is a uniquely tough match-up for all games involved, especially Counter-Strike: Source, as new Optx player Garett “Grt” Bambrough will be facing his former team. In addition, Chris “NinjaCW” Harris, coming off his 5-3 upset of LA’s Carl “Perfect Legend” White, will face possibly his next toughest challenge in CGS World Finals MVP Jeremy “Black Mamba” Florence, and we haven’t even gotten around to talking about the dominant Chicago Forza duo, and Region 1 co-MVPs, Wes “Ch0mpr” Cwiklo and Jason “Jason-X” Exelby. Let’s take a look at how the games break down:

Dead or Alive 4 Male:

NinjaCW vs. Black Mamba

So I was half-wrong last week. NinjaCW used his main character Gen Fu, but Perfect Legend did not. Still, a 5-3 win is a 5-3 win, especially against PL. This week, it’s the World Finals MVP Black Mamba, and I’m going to predict once again, that main characters will be used. This means that Gen Fu, with the fastest mid in the game, will most likely be facing Helena, with her Bokuho stance that avoids all high and mid level attacks. Last week with Helena, Black Mamba was able to take down the Region's #1 DoA 4 Male Offbeat Ninja 5-2. This is going to be another great DoA match, and I’m going to give it to Mamba in a squeaker (sorry Chris!):

Black Mamba > NinjaCW 5-4

Dead or Alive 4 Female:

Vanessa vs. Kasumi-chan

San Francisco and Chicago seem to be the DoA Matches of the Week, as the dominant Vanessa takes on Marj “Kasumi-chan” Bartell. Kasumi has had an unfortunately rough Training Camp, and is winless in three tries. She was shut-out last week 5-0 by Carolina’s Mystik, both using their main characters, and it’s unlikely that she’ll be able to pick up her first win of Training Camp in this match. Still, Kasumi was an integral part of Chicago’s World Finals run, so don’t expect this to be a rout. The rebound predicts:

Vanessa > Kasumi-chan 5-2

FIFA 08:

stermy^ vs. eafra

This will be the first new face from Chicago we see, as their new FIFA star Yfran "eafra" Garcia takes on San Francisco’s multi-talented stermy^. Last week, stermy^ met his match in LA’s KreeganBG, falling 4-2 for his first loss of Training Camp. Eafra was able to hold off Carolina’s Andrew “anomaly” Brock (another former Chimera!), and ultimately win in an overtime shootout 3-2. Neither player played in Week 2, so this is a good chance for stermy^ to quickly shrug off the loss against LA, and I think he can do it right here. The prediction goes:

stermy^ > eafra 2-1

CSS:

Optx.CSS vs. Chimera.CSS

Now this makes for good television...or web-casting, depending on your preference. Chicago Chimera facing one of the members of that World Champion team, Garett “Grt” Bambrough. I think the nostalgia will wear off soon enough after the first round. Chicago's lineup for this match? We may have some nostalgia ourselves, as GM Brian Flander may elect to once again use his taxi player, and former Optx starter Ryan Pham, in place of incumbent Albert “hahN” Hahn, who has his school duties to attend to. San Francisco's Source squad has been taking down all comers, beating a lagged-down LA compLexity 11-7 last week, making them a perfect 3-0. Meanwhile, with Pham, Chicago has gone 1-1 over the last two weeks, losing a tough overtime match to 3DNY, but bouncing back with a solid 12-6 win over Carolina. And that is how the rebound sees this match going...except the other way around:

Optx.CSS > Chimera.CSS 12-6

Forza 2:

SACKAMONJARO/Miximup vs. Ch0mpr/Jason-X

Oh, geez, not them again. Yes, it's the dastardly duo, the Gruesome Twosome, and the best damn racers CGS Region 1 had seen last season, making Brian Flander a genius (and a rich one at that). This Training Camp, they've been anything but, however, getting beaten by a pair of 6-1 scores in Week 1 (versus Dallas's Cha0s and Muffinman), and in Week 3 (versus Carolina’s Phantom and General E Live), as well as a 5-2 loss versus 3DNY's Dark Storm and ComeBackDan in Week 2. Meanwhile, Sack and Miximup have been maddeningly close in their games, a 4-3 loss here, a 4-3 win there. They got the short end of the proverbial stick last week, falling 4-3 to LA. However, I'm going to keep hedging my bets, and predict yet another close race, with Optx being on the winning end:

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

And now we do the math...

And that's how this writer sees it going down this week; totaling up the points give Optx a 27-17 victory over the World Champs. 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!