Esportsi.net - the Esports International Season 2 playoffs are upon us, with 4 great teams making it to the brackets.

(1) FnaticMSI vs. (4) eXpertise.SC
(2) Templars of Twilight vs. (3) ESC.ICY-BOX

After 9 weeks of play, the second season of Esports International is onto the playoffs stage. This weekend, the top four teams will be going head-to-head for the championship, as well as $500 in prizes.

First we have the top ranked FnaticMSI, from China, against the lone US team this season, eXpertise. The favorite and likely winner is easily Fnatic. The squad went undefeated this season, and no team has looked capable of dismantling them yet. eXpertise has shown some flair recently, making a great run at the end of the season, but I don't think Xeris's boys have what it takes to overcome the powerful Fnatic squad.

In the regular season, Fnatic took the series four sets to eXpertise's two. The only two to win their sets for eXpertise were the 2v2 squad of Tenryu and Sun and their Peruvian Zerg CaStrO. Since that match, eXpertise has lost two strong players in Future (to ZillaGaming) and Louder (to Evil Geniuses). Even if all of their big guns show up this weekend, I don't see eXpertise winning. Maybe taking it to ace, but Fnatic should still clean up.

Prediction: Fnatic 4:1 eXpertise

The second match of the weekend is another battle between two top European teams, ESC.ICY-BOX and Templars of Twilight. These two teams have met numerous times in the past, both under the ESC flag and when the players were part of MYM, and it is always a treat to see these two teams go at it. Their past 3 meetings have resulted in ESC wins over the Templars, in all 3 major clan leagues (Iccup, WGT and ESI).  The meeting in ESI ended with White-Ra taking ret in the ace match, while in the WGT finals, ESC came out with a crushing 4-1 victory with a near perfect draw. In ICCUP, ESC landed a near perfect draw once again and crushed the Templars 4-1 once again.

Right now ESC is playing exceptionally well, while for ToT, the only players looking to be in shape are ret and XiaOzI. I can't see ToT taking this match without some kind of luck, and I'm giving the go ahead to ESC. Even if it goes to ace, they have a variety of weapons unlike any other team.

Prediction: Templars of Twilight 2:4 ESC.ICY-BOX

Source: Esports International