ETF2L Season 20 came to a close the other night with a spectacular best of three series that saw our TF2 team take the very worthy opponent of Ze Knutsson Rollerbladers (BK) in three very close, nail biting maps.

The first map was Snakewater which was our choice of map in this best of three playoffs and we started off strong. Within the first eight minutes we had our first point on the board and we looked in control of the flow of the game. However little more than a minute later BK evened the score line to 1-1 with a rapid push catching us a little off guard. The game then fell into ten minutes of alternate points before BK took the their first lead in the game making the score 2-3 with nine minutes left on the clock. With the clock ticking down we rallied as a team and added three consecutive points to the scoreboard bringing the final score to 5-3 in our favour.

The next map was the first of BK’s choice, the old classic, Badlands. Following on from the momentum of game one, we put our first point on the board in under four minutes. This map soon fell into the same momentum of Snakewater with alternate points being claimed up until 2-2 when BK, much like the first map, claimed another consecutive point. We weren’t going to let this affect our spirits though and served BK with some of their own medicine taking the next two points and edging into the lead with a score of 4-3 and just over six minutes left on the clock. BK made a quick push taking control of valley and forcing us back to protect the point. We held off a two minute long onslaught of BK throwing everything they have against us and managed to push them all the way back to their spawn, taking control of valley and spire as we pushed on. With two minutes left on the clock we decided to make a push for their base to try and wrap this game up once and for all, but with a couple of mistakes leaving holes in our push, BK managed to kill five of our players and retake control of all the points forcing us to defend our base yet again. With one minute left on the clock BK made their push to capture the final point. We held them off for 40 of the remaining 60 seconds until BK managed to break through our lines and score the equalising point forcing the game to a Golden Cap. BK were taking no prisoners on this golden cap round and pushed with such determination it was all over before three minutes had past forcing the battle on to its third map, Process!

This was the deciding map. Two great performances from us so far with a couple of plays not quite going to plan. It was all on the line and the team knew what they had to do in order to get a spot in the ETF2L Season 20 finals. Like the previous two maps, we secured an early lead grabbing our opening point in the first eight minutes. With us getting this early lead yet again, it wouldn’t be right if the next point didn’t alternate between BK and us up to a 2-2 scoreline, which of course it did. The scoreline stayed all tied up until BK broke the deadlock claiming their third point with only five minutes left on the clock. It was all or nothing for us at this point. We had five minutes to get one vital point to keep us into the game and force this matchup to its second golden cap. With the sands of time slipping away on this final map we made an all out push to capture the middle point and start our “do or die” push for the equalising point. The team showed their strength and got the all important point with 59 seconds left in the game, forcing another golden cap to decide this thrilling matchup. Sadly for us this golden cap went much like the first with BK pulling an amazing push out the bag separating us up and picking us off one by one, pushing into our base to claim the victory and a spot in the ETF2L Season 20 finals.

So there we have it, an amazing battle between two great teams, and on the night BK swiped the victory out from underneath us. We walk away from this €600 in our pocket and areas to work on before Season 21 kicks off. If you want to watch this emotional rollercoaster of a game, then TeamFortress.tv have a VOD just for you – enjoy!