At the start of the ESL African Championship, 28 June seemed just like any other on the tournament's calendar. Little did Bravado Gaming and Energy eSports know that it will be their most important matchup to date.
The race to the top spot on the leaderboard wasn't as apparent at the inauguration of the tournament, as Energy seemed to have their sights firmly set on gold from the beginning.
Bravado had other plans though.
Taking little time to gather their stride and strength, it wasn't until a match or so into the tournament that Bravado started to set their eyes on the prize.
Energy's constant forward momentum by not losing a single match coupled with Bravado's endgame drive, have placed the teams with only a two-point difference.
But that all will change tomorrow night, as Energy will be locking heads with Bravado - and the winner between the two will end the pre-series group stages on the highest of notes.
Matching up the numbers
Energy currently has a record of 6-0-0 - which has allowed them to accrue the maximum amount of points up to now.
wins VexxedPhoenix
wins Damage Control - CSGO
wins xTc Gaming
wins EXDEE GAMING
wins Flipsid3 Africa
wins Big 5 eSports
Bravado on the other hand, while it hasn't lost any matches, did draw with Exdee Gaming earlier this month.
It is that draw that has brought the team to the position it is in now.
wins VexxedPhoenix
wins Damage Control - CSGO
wins Flipsid3 Africa
wins Big 5 eSports
wins xTc Gaming
draws EXDEE GAMING
Trailing behind with two points and a win counting for three, if Bravado wins the match they will sneak past Energy with one point and be crowned the pre-series group stage champions - for now.
The finals
The bottom four teams of the pre-series will receive their tournament payouts at the conclusion of the pre-series, and be entered into the relegation stage.
But for the top four teams, the battle isn't over just yet. While they have their placements and seeding at the conclusion of the pre-series, the top four still have to battle it out in the pre-series finals.
The purpose of the finals is to determine the overall ranking in the pre-series, and naturally the higher a team finishes up the ladder, the better the financial reward.
Few could have predicted that the very last matches of the pre-series could have ended on such a high and exciting note. Throughout the series analysts have been debating as to what maps we would potentially see, what players would step up and lead their team to victory.
All we know is that it is going to be an absolute "ripper" of a match. To tune into what is sure to be a thrilling battle of the keyboards, catch the Bravado versus Energy livestream on the official ESL CS:GO Twitch channel, Kwesé Gamer's Facebook or on ESL Africa's Facebook page from 19:00.
However, that will not be the ONLY match for the evening. To keep your eyes glued to the screen, xTc Gaming will battle it out in a closely matched game against Flipsid3 Africa for a higher leader board standing at 21:30. What this means for either team is that 5th position in the leader board where Exdee Gaming currently resides with 6 points.
If either xTc or Flipside take the win tomorrow night, it would jump them into that 5th position and better earnings placement to their current 6th and 7th standings respectively.