Having now progressed to the upper bracket quarter-finals in the CSS tournament at i43, we have found ourselves on the receiving end of many top quality match ups between some of the better teams in the tournament. This time, the French favourites of Team VeryGames went up against the Portuguese hopefuls in Fragmasters Sapphire.

This was to be the first match where Team VeryGames may have encountered a slight bit of resistance, with arguably Portugal’s best team there to do their best against the French giants. Despite some doubting the ability of Sapphire, if the games that the Brazillians of TargeTDown played have taught us anything, it's that at LAN things aren't always straight forward.

On the whole though, nobody expected a win from the Fragmasters side, but it would've been nice to see them put up a challenge against the French to try and prove they are capable of playing alongside the big dogs of European CSS. Despite Team VeryGames being a ridiculously dominant force, even I expected the Portuguese to lay down a bit of resistance.

The game got under way with the French initially dropping a few rounds to the Sapphire team, something that no doubt didn't worry VeryGames but it certainly would've boosted the confidence of their opponents, it didn't seem to matter however, as they were about to receive a thrashing. After the rocky start, VeryGames pulled themselves back into winning ways and began successively taking rounds back to back.

There were few times that saw VeryGames drop more than two men in a round from this point onwards, as they began to dominate their opposition with their usual ease. Before long, the French found themselves leading the half with a 13-2 victory, expected by some but other may have tipped the Portuguese as being a bit more capable than they had shown.

The second half was short lived, VeryGames took the pistol and then as expected the two rounds after, meaning they progress through to the semi-finals and are on track for their grand final spot. Fragmasters will have to face up against numerous teams in the lower bracket should they wish to meet them again.