Week 4 Preds by Furious Styles
The ever popular, or ever-despised for a small section of the community, map cp_badlands is on deck this week.
Preds have come in this week from our remote preds correspondent, Furious Styles. Take it away Furious!
Week 3 Recap:
$Dance$ (medina) v. Desu (Carbon) 2-0
FYM (Redneck) v. XLT (TheXLTed) 2-0
TPB (Furious) v. PAH (Chubbs) 2-1
LoSG (Zyrxil) v. Tbag (Sauce) 2-1
Notes on the map:
Gravelpit was a nice change from the standard CP layout, but this week we will be returning to one of my favorites, cp_badlands. Badlands is sorta a speed map even moreso than waste, if you can get to mid faster and block the other team access to mid, you can literally roll right on to the last point in most cases. Standard class line-up will be rewarded on this map but dual demo could still be an effective strat. Team cohesion will be very important because of the many opportunities for scouts to flank and back cap. I expect almost all teams to run kritz/uber on this map due to its proven effectiveness. Good medics will be crucial for avoiding spam and healing while watching out for scout/pyro flanks. Last point defense is often overlooked, I'm sure there will be a ton of scout sneak caps this week.
Now for the matches:
$Dance$ (medina) v. Tbag (Sauce)
Sauce's recent acquisition of ender really strengthens his lineup options. This map in particular is great for a strong scout team and Aggy + ender should tear it up. Tbag's OT loss to LoSG just shows that they are now certainly one of the strongest teams in the league. Medina's team handily beat carbon's team last week, the game wasn't as close as I thought it would be. Medina doesn't have very strong scouts, but his core group of soldiers/demo and medics provides him with the ability to win games. His core will get their test in this game when they are getting harassed and back capped by tbag's scouts. Because of their opposing strengths I think this will be a fun and close game to watch, but I have to give it to Tbag because of the map.
Tbag > $Dances$ 5-3
TPB (Furious) v. LoSG (Zyrxil)
I'll start by saying I think this will be the match of the week to watch if you only watch one game. Both teams are currently undefeated and run very similar lineups so it should be a real nail biter. TPB had some trouble in the second half last week but that was mostly due to lack of scrims. That shouldn't be a problem this week and I know that LoSG will be prepared. Mason and Omnova on scout will be squaring off against Fireman and 9 while MrJ/45s will go pound for pound against Zyrxil and Jackass. The medics may decide who wins this game, Zyrxil has had a few issues with dropped ubers so hopefully he has cleared that up or they could be devastating in this game. Harvester and Rhench will need to be in top form as well, but they have been thus far in the season. Also expect to see some good mid strats from both sides in order to keep the other team on the edge of their seats.
TPB > LoSG 6-5
PAH (Chubbs) v. FYM (Redneck)
This is going to be another tough week for PAH. Coming off of a loss last week to TPB, PAH now has to play yet another undefeated team, FYM. CJ and cloudchaser as scouts against Kel and delirium should be a pretty good match up with the edge slightly on FYM's side because they have played more together. I hear docs fox is yet again going to be a no-show so that only makes things worse for Chubbs. Turb0z and dark will need to show up to solidify a win on this map plus their medics need to be careful of dropping ubers. I know Chubbs has been working hard to improve his team and win some games but unless redneck decides to bench b0z and dark and run the team by himself I just don't see PAH pulling this one out.
FYM > PAH 8-2
Desu (Carbon) v. XLT (Rumor)
With the departure of its former captain, TheXLTed, Rumor is now in charge and working hard to get this team back on its feet. Another noteworthy change in roster is the addition of Tyir, which should really help them out in terms of line-up options and competitive experience. Anime had a rough game last week against Medina's team (gg crawfish facestabs) and I believe they have a strong core line-up ready for Badlands so I hope they can pull it together this week and come out strong. I really think this match can go either way now that XLT has Tyir and I'm having a really tough time making this prediction. One thing is for certain, both of these teams has yet to win a game and only one will emerge victorious.
Desu > XLT 4-3
Tough week, everybody better bring their A game. gg's!
-Furious
So Far, So Good!
After three weeks of grueling matches, teams are poised heading in to Badlands. Three of the eight teams so far are undefeated, proving that we have a bit of lopsided talent among our teams. While this doesn’t necessarily mean teams are out of the running for playoffs yet, it does mean that our winless teams will need to start bringing home victories in order to have a chance to compete.
Though it may not have been said officially, here is how playoffs will be laid out.
The top six teams move on to playoffs.
The top 1 and 2 seeded teams will have a bye week the first round of playoffs. This will allow these teams to practice longer and prepare for their match. The 3rd through 6th teams will play to move on to the next round. Playoffs are single elimination.
I’d like to specifically give my thanks to both Rumor and SuzieQQ for their extremely hard work keeping their team together with the loss of their inactive captain, XLTed. Ted signed up as a captain and basically left the management of his team to whoever took it. Trying to work with such a situation is difficult, and I give them loads of credit to what they’ve been able to accomplish. You guys are the reason why Ars is such a great community; the staff and ArsClan admin group are all really happy to see you two step up to the challenge. Rumor will finish the season as XLTeam’s official captain with the help of Suzie.
Good luck to all teams heading in to the latter half of our season. There are only four weeks left and I’m excited to see how the team seedings pan out from here.
If any of you are interested, Team Pink Bush and The League of Sarcastic Gentlemen are going head to head this week. Both teams are undefeated and should prove to be a tough match for both powerhouse teams. Make sure you catch the HLTV of this match, as I’m expecting a helluva run on a map everyone knows can make or break a team.
Week 3 Preds by Furious Styles
Thank you to Furious for helping out again this week with his predictions for Week 3. Gravel Pit is a map that can very easily make or break a team if they don't work together and communicate well. Read on for Furious' thoughts! Thanks Furious
Week 2 recap:
$Dance$ (medina) v. PAH (Chubbs) 3-1
FYM (redneck) v. Tbag (Sauce) 6-3
TPB (Furious) v. Desu (Carbon) 7-2
LoGS (Zyrxil) v. XLT (TheXLTed) 4-2
Notes on the map:
Week 2 being on a custom map really threw a few teams off of their regular game, most notably in the LoSG v. XLT match where some excellent spying by STR3T kept them in the game. Week 3 will be on cp_gravelpit, another classic map and the only AD map currently in the Ars league schedule. This map will come down to core teamwork and positioning. On offense if a team does not work together then failure will be the only thing in their immediate future. On defense holding key positions and not wandering too much will really help you hold onto those points just a bit longer and on stopwatch every second counts. This map is a great scout map but I can foresee dual demo being effective on defense especially. I'm sure there will be some spawn camping and a decent bit of engineering going on. We should finally see some teams go off of the krtiz/uber standard and just go straight dual uber for first push.
Now for the matches:
Desu (Carbon) v. $Dance$ (medina)
I'll start by saying that I expect this game to be one of the best of the week to watch. Carbon's team is coming off of a loss in Week 2 to TPB and is currently 0-2 in the league, but they have a solid line-up set and have improved in every game they've played so far. A good core of soldiers and demo will be their best asset, allowing them to take positions with effective jumps and ubers. Medina's team on the other hand is 1-1 and coming from a win against PAH, but PAH was down two of their best players, docs_fox and CJ. Besides medina going engy randomly from time to time his team is fairly organized and has a pretty reliable line-up so I expect them to play reasonably well. The thing in this match to look for is some wacky strat that will throw off the other team to secure a win, because I believe this one is going to go into OT.
Desu > $Dance$ 2-1 (OT)
FYM (Redneck) v. XLT (TheXLTed)
Team XLT has improved greatly from their first week match and gave LoSG a tough time last week. Their teamwork and line-up seem to be much improved and they shouldn't be underestimated anymore. I expect str3t to come in handy again this week by attempting some spy picks on offense and probably some heavy play on defense. Their problem is that this map will cater well to redneck's team with his standard line-up and relatively strong core. As long as FYM sticks together and doesn't listen to redneck they should have this one in the bag.
FYM > XLT 2-0
PAH (Chubbs) v. TPB (Furious)
PAH is still suffering from absent top picks, however this week will be different as CJ should be able to play. This will give chubbs a much stronger line-up to run, but it will be untested. Hopefully he can find something that works and put up a decent fight, although that won't be easy since TPB runs a typical class line-up that is favorable on GP in my opinion. Expect MrJ to show off some devastating kritz runs, dmason/omnova cleaning up any stragglers or loners, and JJ to put up a solid performance. Hopefully docs shows up too and makes the game more interesting, but either way I'm going to have to go with TPB on this one.
TPB > PAH 2-0
LoSG (Zyrxil) v. Tbag (Sauce)
So far LoSG is undefeated and other than a little trouble last week they are still proving to be a top team this season. This week they are going to have their hands full with sauce's tbaggers, who are coming off a tough loss to FYM in the previous week. I expect sauce's team to be ready for this match and hopefully fine tuned their line-up for GP. They typically run dual demo, which I believe will be effective on defense but not quite as effective on offense, so it will be interesting to see what tactics they try to pull off. LoSG will most likely run the standard class line-up on GP and be prepared for the map, making this match the one to watch on Thursday. Because of the map, I have to give this one to LoSG, but it still should be a hard-fought victory for them.
LoSG > Tbag 2-1 (OT)
Well that's it, I look forward to all the games this week, good luck everyone!
-Furious
Guest Preds by Furious Styles
Thanks a bunch Furious for the guest preds.
Week 1 is over and now everyone is geared up to begin their second regular season games. Here are the results of the previous week:
We had two shutouts
Tbag (Sauce) v. PAH (Chubbs) 5-0
TPB (Furious) v. XLT (TheXLTed) 8-0
The other two matches were decided by a fairly large margin
LoGS (Zyrxil) v. Desu (Carbon) 8-4
FYM (redneck) v. $Dance$ (medina) 7-2
First off, the map:
Week 1 was on a classic and personal favorite of mine, cp_granary. We've all played this map a million times. Week 2 is on a map that just about everyone who plays on sasha should be roughly familiar with, cp_waste, however there will be many players who are still not quite comfortable with the map. The teams who scrimmed more should certainly have an advantage over teams that didn't. Waste is particularly tough getting into point 2 because of only 2 side by side entrances from mid and is a very claustrophobic map in general. Scouts have a tough time flanking on this map so teams that don't run 2 scout main won't be hurting as bad as they did on granary.
Now for the matches:
PAH (Chubbs) v. $Dance$ (medina)
Chubbs has been having trouble getting some of his top draft picks in the game. Cooljets hasn't been able to attend any matches thus far because of work and will be missing this one too. Without CJ, Chubbs is going to have a difficult time getting a solid line-up set. JJ will put up an excellent performance as usual, but Docs fox needs to step up if they want to put up a good fight. Chubbs may still be experimenting with line-up changes, I'm not sure he has found the optimal one yet. On the other hand Medina's team has solid teamwork which they used against FYM to go 2-1 in the first half of Week 1's game. Other than a total break down second half if medina has all his top players there his team will be a very formidable opponent and should win it.
$Dance$ > PAH 7-2
Tbag (Sauce) v. FYM (Redneck)
This should be a really good game. The map should help sauce out with his preferred 2 demo lineup. Look for axem to try to get some good flanks in mid and some tough defenses of 2 by sauce's team if they get in trouble. FYM's key player will have to be turb0z, he will make or break whether FYM wins this (after seeing what happened in Week 1). Expect dark to put up a solid round as demo and hopefully kwatz makes an appearance after a cold first week.
FYM > Tbag 6-4
Desu (Carbon) v. TPB (Furious)
Coming off an 8-4 loss to LoSG, I think Carbon has a lot of talented players but hasn't found his best line-up quite yet. Auram is the only person in arsleague thus far to use the DH in a match and with disappointing results, so I doubt we will see him using it again, especially because TPB likes to run a 2 scout main. I expect to see some pr0 pyr0 from the likes of brian black and a few unorthodox strats from both teams. TPB will have practiced this map a lot and should be ready come match time.
TPB > Desu 5-2
LoSG (Zyrxil) v. XLT (TheXLTed)
Zyrxil's team is shaping up to be one of the strongest teams this season with already a solid handle on his line-up. Jackass will make his debut in this game probably as a demo but maybe even a scout or pyro. Zyrxil has enough depth in his lineup that this map shouldn't cause him any problems as long as his team is familiar with it. XLT on the other hand is having some tough times figuring out their line-up especially with rumor switching at every death. If they can get organized a bit better and work together as a team they should be able to get some results. That will take some time and this early in the season I believe LoSG will take it home.
LoSG > XLT 6-0
Well that's it, I look forward to all the games this week, good luck everyone!
-Furious
ArsLeague Week 1 - Highlight Reel
By yours truly, enjoy!