Oh how the mighty have fallen. In just one night, Chill to Good Ratio lost both of their matches during a double header to 6cuties and Sals Canal and gave up their first place seed to Knights of Grillz. This was the biggest upset of the season by far and may change how playoffs play out depending on which teams end up in the bottom 4 of IM. Our last week of the season is on viaduct, a map known to be less than friendly for medics and a versatile playground for scouts. Theres going to be a lot of good matches this week that decide who makes playoffs or not, most notably New Faith Church Gaming vs Fragophilia, Tonights Entertainment vs Playground Tactics, and of course our match of the week Dragonball Jav vs 6cuties. This will be our last power ranking article for this season, but keep your eyes peeled for playoff predictions after the final seeding is announced!
1. Knights of Grillz (14-1)
by London- Grillz
- SureShot
- Paddie
- Chaaz
- rb
- Dennis
Knights of Grillz have finally won the IM throne following the demise of Chill 2 Good Ratio. They're all but guaranteed the first seed with a current record of 14-1 and only one match to go for the regular season. Last week was fairly uneventful with two clean 5-1 wins over New Faith Church Gaming and Down to Pound. Lately, I would actually say that Paddie has become a driving force on this team. More often than not he's making the big plays that win rounds, including a spycap against New Faith that won the last round of that match. I'm more than impressed with how much he has improved this season, and convinced that he has definitely filled the void Shootist left behind. This week their last match of the season against Fragophilia Gaming should go smoothly, although Fragophilia is known to pull upset wins out of seemingly nowhere. Unless Grillz and crew completely fall apart for some reason, they should finish the season 15-1 at the top of the pile.
2. Chill to Good Ratio (12-2)
by Sakura- Deltafox
- Dun
- Mangachu
- Cosa
- Bman
- Schnell
I probably sounded like a broken record saying it wouldn't be easy for Chill to Good to hold on to their undefeated seed. However, due to some tiredness and frustration, Chill to Good dropped two matches in a double-header against 6cuties and Sals Canal. In the 6cuties match, the pushes of Chill to Good would fall apart due to a little overconfidence and overextensions. An annoyed Mangachu spent most of his time focusing the Black Box knight remedy in weird roamer 1v1 battles which would usually favor the guy with more health (hint: it's the black box guy). In their match against Sals Canal, it was clear that Sals Canal did their homework coming in and knew how to counter their mids. Unfortunately, Chill to Good had to spend most of the match trying to regain their momentum. There were a lot of negative factors for Chill to Good coming into these matches, such as bman not sleeping and Deltafox's keyboard constantly breaking, so it could be that it was just a bad night for them. For Viaduct week, Chill to Good will probably be one of the strongest teams to beat. Schnell will abuse the terrain with his scout movement, bman is probably the most formidable sniper/scout combination in IM, and the bombs of Dun/Mangachu should provide difficulties for any team they face.
3. Sals Canal (10-4)
by Sakura- Sparrow
- SS
- slipz
- Phrakture
- zZa
- Phaser
After being in somewhat of a slump when Sal went on vacation, Sals Canal were able to secure some important wins after a few roster switchups. Unsurprisingly, SS showed that he is incapable of completing a season without poor Sparrow as his medic even though it's pretty clear he hates the class. It seems like this change is for the better though, as Sparrow and SS have combo chemistry going back to season 9. The roamer play has certainly changed for Sals Canal now that slipz is holding the reins. While Sparrow relied on his jump expertise to get key bombs in, slips is a passive roamer that holds the flank and uses his positioning knowledge to win 1v1s. Not wanting to be outdone by 6cuties, Sals Canal played their game and defeated Chill to Good 5-2. Sals Canal played very patiently in both of their Gullywash matches, not moving in until they got a pick. Sals Canal focused on keeping Sparrow alive as much as possible, even if that means SS dying three times as much. As for Viaduct, SS's team was one of the better ones in IM last season and I expect them to be able to protect Sparrow as much as they did last season. They should be able to convincingly win both of their matches next week.
4. Dragonball Jav (12-2)
by London- WirelessFox
- Tone-Pot
- Sakura_
- Rex
- Jav
- Nja
Its been an interesting season for Dragonball Jav, who've had their share of narrow wins and easy rolls during season 14. They boast one of the most devastating scout pairs in IM this season, and an incredibly dynamic combo with Wireless Fox and Tone-Pot. This was very apparent during their matches last week where they put away a very convincing 5-1 win over Tonights Entertainment and then had a close 4-3 affair with New Faith Church Gaming. The match against New Faith went all the way to overtime after New Faith showed they were adept at pushing out of their last over and over. The last two matches for DBJ should be within the scope of victory, but will most definitely be hard fought. The match against Story Time with Marxist should go over without too many problems, but Marxist has so much talent on that team that you just can't ignore and therefore should grab some rounds to make it a close game. The match against 6cuties will be the Match of the Week, where Dragonball Jav will take on 6Cuties on what is allegedly their best map. Regardless, Tone-pot and the boys will be looking at a top 4 finish to the season, which they have to be proud of.
5. 6cuties (10-4)
by London- Sakura
- R1cky
- Remedy
- Pharaoh
- Br0nze
- Snailboat
The double-header for 6cuties started out wonderfully with an upset 5-2 victory over Chill to Good Ratio, and ended with a quick 5-0 over Down to Pound. The match started more or less with 6cuties performing admirably well on their flank and pretty much taking every fight they though they could win. Remedy ran the blackbox and gunboats the whole time and won a lot of hilarious 1v1s against Mangachu which inadvertently lost Chill to Good a lot of those fights. Br0nze and snailboat also went pretty ham through the whole game, both playing the 185hp scout well during the post-uber collapses and slow pushes. Their final match of the season against Dragonball Jav will be a challenge, but viaduct has long been a favorite of Sakura and R1cky and they claim it is their strongest map. Its going to come down to how well each teams scouts do, as this will probably be the only time Nja and Jav have been really challenged all season by a scout pair with Br0nze and Snailboat. It will be a great match up to watch, and either way a great way for each team to end the season.
6. New Faith Church Gaming (9-5)
by Sakura- Cozen
- Cprice
- Cbn
- shrt
- Kev
- Crypt
New Faith had a somewhat rough Gullywash week. They were quickly rolled by Knights of Grillz 5-1 and lost overtime 4-3 to Dragonball Jav in one of the most agonizing and painful matches ever in IM. 90% of their Dragonball Jav match was one team anxiously holding their last and the other team struggling to push into last. shrt did an incredible amount of damage during the game and was able to outplay the enemy combo rather well. It seemed like kev did not have the same presence as he did in other games. It's to be expected however, as Gullywash is much more of a combo map than a scout map. At this point, New Faith just needs to win one more game on viaduct to secure a playoff spot. While it may be a little more difficult without cozen and Kill 'em All ring in his place, we can expect shrt and kev to have very strong games and help make it a lot easier. They should be the favorites coming in their matches against Fragophilia and Rump City Bootyheads.
7. Fragophilia Gaming (10-4)
by London- Kammy
- Madoff
- Wilson
- Joe
- HeepHop
- Okas
Fragophilia had a vacation week for gullywash with two easy wins over trans-autistic and Rump City Bootyheads. After this brief respite, they walk into the two matches that will decide whether or not they can make playoffs. The match with the biggest playoff implications is against New Faith Church Gaming, which should be one of the closest matches of the season for both teams. While Kev and Crypt are a pretty strong duo, Okas and HeepHop are no slouches either and if Heep decides to pull the sniper rifle out all bets are off for anyone trying to dry push. Joe might just have to put the team on his back for this one as a victory here could mean good seeding and would forgive a loss to Knights of Grillz. This match will come down to how well each team's soldiers perform, although I would give the edge to New Faith's soldiers when it comes down to team fights. The match will decide who gets the higher seed, although with two losses its less of a sure thing that Fragophilia will make playoffs this season.
8. Rent-a-Homies (9-5)
by Sakura- Caspian
- Serv0
- fuuzi0n
- Nomadic
- John Milter
- goku
Right now Rent-a-Homies is currently standing at 9th place in the standings. This is obviously an important week for them, as they need to win one more match to even think about playoffs. Their playstyle of well-timed aggression will suit them the best on this map. We can expect serv0 and fuuzi0n to be using their quick jumps to find the medic picks necessary to hold/push. We can also expect the combo to aggressively uber into enemies just walking out the doors. However, while it is very easy to play aggressively on Viaduct, it is also very easy to lose your medic due to a simple overextension or even a missed surf. Ultimately, I think it is in Caspian's hands as to how well Rent-a-Homies do this week. If Caspian can recognize the warning signs of a faltering hold and when to get out, then I think Rent-a-Homies will play very well this and have a possibility of even beating Chill to Good. However, if Rent-a-Homies can't find answers to the inevitable soldier bombs and can't find the advantage when pushing in, then their next two games may be much more of a struggle. Either way, Viaduct is a map suited to the Rent-a-Homies playstyle, but they also need to solidify their teamwork coming into these matches.
Teams to watch:
Match of the Week: 6cuties (10-4) vs Dragonball Jav (12-2)
by London
- Sakura
- r1cky
- remedy
- Pharaoh
- Br0nze
- Snailboat
- Wirelessfox
- Tone-Pot
- Sakura_
- Rex
- Jav
- Nja
I've been waiting for this match up all season, as I think both teams are extremely well-rounded and play together well. The added bonus here will be watching these two teams battle it out on viaduct, where scouts can control the map and medics will surely pound their monitors in frustration. Nja and Jav have looked to be the best scout pair in IM this season, but I would give a close second to Br0nze and Snailboat who have been making the plays left and right for their team for the last few weeks. The demo match up is also pretty even with Rex showing some fairly consistent play throughout the season, and Pharaoh making a lot of improvements to his game to become a force to be reckoned with. We'll see some Sakura on Sakura crime as the roamer for DBJ will mix straight bombs with some sneaky attempts to pick off the 6cuties medic, while 6cuties will be looking to turn on some hyper-aggressive double bombs from Remedy and R1cky. I think this will be a great match to watch, and is more than anything the kind of games we can expect to see in playoffs. Get your popcorn!