Chiefs triumph over Tainted Minds to win the AOC CyberGamer Premier League Winter 2017 Finals.

The two-day Australian event featured four of Australia's top teams in action this weekend, duking it out for a lion's share of the increased prize fund of $15,000 AUD (~$11,200) and two spots up for grabs at the CGPL Championship in November.

In the first semi-final, Tainted Minds cruised past Dark Sided in two straight maps, as Sam "⁠flickz⁠" Jones and company could not find an answer to their opponent's impressive CT defense. Meanwhile, Chiefs—the defending champions of CGPL Autumn—defeated Mohammed "⁠MoeycQ⁠" Tizani's Grayhound in a close 2-0 series (16-12 de_train, 16-14 de_overpass), also progressing on to the upper bracket final.

Chiefs win back-to-back CGPL splits

Grayhound was the first team to be eliminated from the double-elimination tournament, as Erdenetsogt "⁠erkaSt⁠" Gantulga's squad fell to Dark Sided 1-2 in the lower bracket. Dark Sided went on to face Mike "⁠ap0c⁠" Aliferis' roster  in the consolidation final, who suffered a crushing 0-2 loss to Chiefs, only displaying a total of eight rounds in the two-map series.

Once again, Tainted Minds  emerged victorious, sending Matthew "⁠Texta⁠" O'Rourke's crew back home in third place. Chiefs obtained a comfortable lead heading into the best-of-five grand final against the AEM Season 1 champions, due to a 1-0 map advantage from their undefeated status in the upper bracket.

Despite the extra bonus, Chiefs slipped in the earlier stages of the match, as Jesse "⁠InfrequeNt⁠" Barker and company claimed the second map from behind, 16-14 on Inferno. However, Tyler "⁠tucks⁠" Reilly's side reset themselves for the overall win and secured the next two maps, 16-11 on Train and 16-4 on Cache.

Chiefs	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Joshua 'INS' PotterINS	67 - 46	+21	97.6	1.44
Peter 'pecks' Nguyenpecks	57 - 40	+17	81.0	1.24
Alistair 'aliStair' JohnstonaliStair	57 - 45	+12	81.4	1.23
Liam 'malta' Schembrimalta	59 - 50	+9	82.0	1.21
Tyler 'tucks' Reillytucks	58 - 43	+15	75.2	1.20

Tainted Minds	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Mike 'ap0c' Aliferisap0c	52 - 55	-3	72.7	0.97
Jesse 'InfrequeNt' BarkerInfrequeNt	52 - 57	-5	73.7	0.94
Connor 'chuch' Morganchuch	45 - 63	-18	72.4	0.84
Dylan 'kyoto' Brownkyoto	38 - 61	-23	58.9	0.71
Chris 'ofnu' Hanleyofnu	37 - 62	-25	62.0	0.70

AOC CyberGamer Premier League Winter 2017 Final Standings:

1. Chiefs - $7,500 AUD (~$5,540) + CGPL Championship spot
2. Tainted Minds - $3,500 AUD (~$2,585) + CGPL Championship spot
3. Dark Sided - $2,000 AUD (~$1,475)
4. Grayhound - $2,000 AUD (~$1,475)
5-6. Funky Monkeys
5-6. Legacy OCE
7-8. AVANT
7-8. Athletico

Photo courtesy of CyberGamer Australia.