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saCTF Draft Cup 2026 | Round 1 Playoff Winner Predictions
saCTF Draft Cup 2026 | Round 1 Playoff Winner Predictions
Playoff round 1 predictions inside!
saCTF Draft Cup 2026 - Round 1 Playoff Winner Predictions
We are back to predict the winners in the 4 Round 1 playoff match-ups!
But, before we get into that - let's have a look at how we did with our group stage predictions.
Credit to xtreme for already doing the work for me, but here is a brief breakdown:
- 9 of the 12 teams I predicted to advance to the playoffs out of group stage were correct. (acc, x4, pl, UwU, FF, ND, COP, xSx, i2r)
- 5 of the 8 teams I predicted to be eliminated from the cup at conclusion of group stage were correct. (WhatElse, 1.2k, Ayyy!, sybau, AW)
- 2 of the 4 teams I predicted to finish 1st place in their groups at conclusion of group stage were correct. (acc & pl)
Overall - pretty damn good results on our group stage predictions. But, I'm hoping for an even better prediction accuracy for playoffs in my goal to reach 100% of them correct! D: Starting with Round 1 of playoffs. So, let's get into it.
-[FF]- .vs. -}STFU{-
Fatal Fury (Murder, Hildee, wdn, wyrm, Arcus)) - 2nd Place Group D
STFU Bolty (Bolty, xtreme, JD, Cassie, E|ite) - 3rd Place Group A
In our first match up of Round 1 of the saCTF Draft Cup Playoffs we have FF vs STFU. It's been an interesting group stage for each of these teams. In my group stage predictions I had STFU just barely missing the playoffs, but they did surprise by taking 3rd place in Group A. They had a chance to take 2nd place in the group but ended up falling to x4 in their final match to fall to 3rd place. Which has given them quite a difficult match up here in their 1st playoff game.
STFU had an excellent start to the cup pulling a big upset vs the eventual 1st place winners of Group A, acc. Since that match though they were pretty up and down for the rest of group stage. They lost a total of 4 maps to 3 teams who did not qualify for the playoffs (1.2k, WhatElse, and re)
With all that being said, they still did manage to qualify and the main strength of this team is they are a very balanced group. There are no super weak links on this team. E|ite is their lowest rated player at $530 and is a very useful attacker at that price. This will be a very tough task for this team though.
Fatal Fury on the other hand is widely considered one of the top 4 strongest teams in the cup. I predicted them to finish 1st place in their group - they ended up finishing 2nd after a close loss to the eventual group winners and another powerhouse team in ND.
Overall they performed very well. They took care of business winning in 3-0's vs each of the 2 non-playoff teams in their group (sybau & ayyy!). Their only 2 match losses in group stage both came in very close 1-2 games vs very strong opponents (pl & ND)
FF is a very difficult team to deal with. They most likely are going to run a setup of Murder and Arcus on base def, senator mid/3rd def. Hildee and wdn on attack. This has proven to be a solid setup and a difficult one to beat as wdn can just focus on grabbing a ton and getting flags out while hildee and senator can control powerups and support wdn on his runs.
Their biggest weakness is of course having their 2 weakest players on base def in Murder & Arcus. But, with senator and hildee holding their hands it makes it more doable. Map choices are going to be critical here for Bolty. He's going to need to do his research, and have a look at the maps FF did lose and come up with what he thinks is the best chance for his team.
At the end of the day, I think the top heavy power of hildee, wdn, senator and the annoying style this team plays will be too much for STFU to deal with. STFU made their 1 big upset of the cup in week 1 of group stage, and I just don't see them doing it again here.
Predicted Winner: -[FF]-
Predicted bo3 Map Score: 2-0
x4. .vs. COP
Team x4 (Unreal, Trops, Grimreaper, Nitro, Spitter)) - 2nd Place Group A
Putzes Police Department (Putze, Dovlaa, Obstacle, GodEye, coolamp) - 3rd Place Group C
Starting with x4, they had a very nice group stage in a tough Group A. Their only 2 losses came to very strong opponents in acc, and UwU losing in close matches to those teams 1-2. They won 3-0 vs WhatElse,and 2-1 vs re while also taking down STFU 2-1 in their final match to secure 2nd place.
This team has undergone some roster changes during the group stage, which have proven to be good moves by this team. Nitro replaced demon who has shown to have great chemistry with unreal on defence and appears to have been an excellent trade for this team. Trops was also added near the end to replace fktr. Which is perhaps debatable if this is an upgrade or a downgrade.
Trops does provide more fragging than fktr. However, fktr is a much better flag runner, and high grab full pressure attacker than trops is. So x4 did lose an important element to their team there but if Grimreaper can adapt and know he needs to now be the primary grabber for this team the combo with trops fragging can still work. Overall x4 is a nicely balanced team, and I can say first hand they are very difficult to beat.
COP is another team that underwent some roster changes during group stage. Jskey and nanstuko were dropped for Unbreak and Godeye after the teams 1st loss in week 1. And unbreak was then later replaced by obstacle.
It's kind of an odd mix for me still. Putze is always someone you can count on in attack to bring flags out, which is a critical thing to have for any team trying to win. The issue is he doesn't have the same focus on powerup control which puts most of that responsibility on dovlaa which will be difficult, and this team has shown in their previous matches that powerup control overall has been an issue for them.
Breaking their group stage down in a blunt fashion I would say they did not bad. They did lose to both FF and ND, but did take a map off each of them. Their only 3 match wins though came vs 3 of the weaker teams in the cup all of them not qualifying for playoffs (sybau, T, and Ayyy!)
Overall I think this will be a close game. But, I just like the over all balance and team play of x4 better here and I give the edge to them.
Predicted Winner: x4.
Predicted bo3 Map Score: 2-1
i2R .vs. BB
in2Reality (Keizer, Magik, l8erade, Sirk, nordog)) - 2nd Place Group D
Body Block (rusty, Own34dor, Berserker, WildCAT, Draymith) - 3rd Place Group B
3rd 1st round match to predict is going to be i2r vs BB. This should be a good one, and another difficult one to predict.
i2r while looking like they were going to finish 2nd place in group d ended up pulling off the 3-0 in their final group stage match to take away 2nd place from xSx and secure it for themselves.
This team ended up going 3-2 in matches overall. Both of their 2 losses were difficult ones losing 0-3 in both of them but they were both vs very strong teams in 404 who finished 1st place in group D, and ND the winners of group C.
Their wins were impressive though. 2 of their 3 victories came in 3-0 fashion over AW and xSx. Nordog has proven to be a bit of an x-factor for this team, as when he's playing well, or decently well this team seems to win. kzr is going to anchor things on def on pretty much every map, so if nordog is doing his part this team will be difficult to cap on especially with majik and l8erade playing a lot of support.
This team has made 0 trades during group stage and stuck it out through good and bad, so have to give them credit for that. And it has seemingly paid off for them so far. My biggest worry for this team is the same as it was going into group stage and that is it's attack pressure, and ability to come back in games if they fall behind.
Their opponent BB has had an interesting group stage as well. They also despite having a bit of a rough start to the cup did not make any trades at all during the cup and stuck it out. Which has shown to be a good thing as this team has looked a lot better with much better chemistry towards the end of group stage.
They took care of business vs the 3 non-playoff teams they faced (1.2k, WhatElse, and sGc) going a combined total of 8-1 in maps over those 3 matches. Their only 2 match losses during group stage came vs 2 excellent teams in UwU and pl who were the 1st and 2nd place finishers in their group.
This teams biggest strength is their attack combination of ownador and berserker. This is a very difficult team to shut down as ownador is going to bring flags out consistently on any map, while berserkers fragging and powerup control pairs very well with ownador and rusty's grabbing.
Draymith has been playing much better as of late than he did at the start of the cup, and has proven to pair well with wildcat on def. This is a very hard one to call for me as both teams are very closely matched on paper and both of them got hot towards the end of group stage. This should be an excellent game, and a very close one.
Predicted Winner: BB
Predicted bo3 Map Score: 2-1
.UwU. .vs. xSx.
Useless While Unbeatable (Anaconda, Lass, ShX, Miso, Scream)) - 2nd Place Group B
Team Shadow Reapers (Rocky, dizzeh, Naru, nanstuko, RedDynasty) - 3rd Place Group D
It was an excellent group stage for UwU going 4-1 in matches and 11-4 in maps overall. Their only match loss came in a close 1-2 to the eventual group 1st place winners in pl.
Both non-playoff teams they faced (sGc and 1.2k) they defeated 3-0. Their other 2 matches were vs BB and x4 both very strong teams and they won both of those 2-1. This is a very scary team to face. Anaconda has been carrying games at an insane level and the roster pieces along side him have paired well.
ShX has done an excellent job as the primary grabber for this team, and having Anaconda at his side to cover is going to be difficult for any team to deal with. This team has often been putting their 2 weaker players on def Scream and Miso which has mostly worked out well for them as their attack pressure is excellent. They also have the ability to put lass back there, or even Anaconda if needed.
It's going to be very important for xSx to try and not allow the 1st cap to go in UwU's favour, or they're going to be in big trouble as with a lead UwU is very annoying to face is it will essentially be 4 def with only ShX grabbing. Either way, this is a very hard team to beat.
xSx on the other hand managed to finish 3rd place in their group with only a 2-3 match record and 8-7 in maps overall in what was a pretty weak Group D.
In my group stage predictions I actually had this team winning their group. They've been decent overall, but also pretty disappointing as well. They did manage 2, 3-0 victories during group stage but those both came vs 2 of the weaker teams in the cup in T and Ayyy.
They lost a match to a non-playoff team in AW 1-2, but also managed to take a map off the eventual 1st place team in their group, 404.
On paper to me, this team still looks solid. However, as of late they haven't looked great. At the end of the day, I believe in momentum. And this team is coming off a 0-3 loss to i2R heading into playoffs which is not a good thing heading into their 1st playoff match vs a very strong opponent.
Despite a nice looking roster on paper, it's just not been consistent enough for them here and they have seemingly looked weaker as the cup has gone on. I think their cup is going to end here.
Predicted Winner: UwU
Predicted bo3 Map Score: 2-0
That wraps up my Round 1 Playoff predictions. Hope you enjoyed the read!
Stay tuned as I will return with 1/4 Final Playoff Match predictions at the conclusion of these games.
GL AND HF TO ALL TEAMS!!
Posted on April 22nd, 2026
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