Nerdrage got 1 draw, not 2
Nerdrage got 1 draw, not 2
MearliteNerdrage got 1 draw, not 2
Whoops, fixed that.
[quote=Mearlite]Nerdrage got 1 draw, not 2[/quote]
Whoops, fixed that.
My Day 1 opinions, hyped for day 2
Danger Dogs:
They are obviously this I-series invite division punching bag. The 6th spot needed to be filled by some team but they clearly belonged in the Open Groups. They barely defeated Windtunnel in the 1st playoff round to advance. They will not get past Lower Round 3.
Reason Gaming:
With the exception of the match against DD, Reason is the only team in the division to have not finished off a worthy team before hitting the time limit. (DD does not count) Yes, the competition is at the highest level but the lack of finishing teams and winning rounds speaks to a team chemistry problem. I hate to point at any players but kaidus has under performed in every single match. His damage and frags have been consistently low while heals have been high. A possible reason for this is the even worse performance of Forsaken. This dude was hyped beyond belief before this started, still waiting on it. If forsaken and kaidus fix whatever is going on, Reason will begin to roll teams. If not, knocked out in Lower Round 4.
Ascent:
Just like watching this past ESEA LAN, Ascent puzzles me. If Ascent was a professional athlete, they would be described as a "streaky" player. For a few minutes, they will seem amazingly in sync then for a few minutes seem totally lost. Against teams at this LAN, its a short lived way to play. rando is an amazing pocket and the strongest player on the team. He is also eating an average of 40% of the heals but I don't see the equal damage numbers. Either the team isn't supporting the strongest player enough or he isn't playing up to standards. Either way, if that gets fixed, Ascent will start winning maps and could go as far as the Lower Round 5 but beyond that may not happen.
nerdRage:
A monster team that is balanced and flexible enough to hit you with almost any tactic. Would not surprise me if they won the whole tournament. TEK was a force on the 1st day that no team had the answer for but Starkie is the play maker this team revolves around. It was a bit unfortunate to see NR play Froyo on Viad. I feel NR can matchup better on a 5CP map. I look forward to the possible best of 3(or 5) between these teams. It would be a shame if they don't meet again when it all counts in the playoff bracket.
TLR:
They played day 1 perfectly and should not change a single thing. They were my pick to be in the finals with Froyo before the tourney started so I am not that surprised. Alfa made some huge plays, especially on Gully vs Reason. All the talk about him being a downgrade from shadowburn is rubbish. While shadowburn is a great player, he is just a very flashy roamer in my eyes. Alfa is a very consistent player who gives the team flexibility with his sniping. In the end, that combination may be more valuable for TLR than a few airshots in a frag video.
Froyo:
So the obvious odds-on favorite to win the whole thing and for good reason. Coming into this, Ash was the only question mark on the roster. To be honest, he has played very well but is still a big question mark because the important games are ahead. That said, it doesn't matter what Ash does because b4nny with 0 ping, 300 health and a pocket medic looks unstoppable. The rest of the team, especially clock and ash are simply playing aggressive off him perfectly. I can see Froyo possibly dropping a map to any of the other top 4 teams but what I can't see them doing is dropping 2 or 3 maps in the finals. Froyo will win the tournament.
My Day 1 opinions, hyped for day 2
[b]Danger Dogs:[/b]
They are obviously this I-series invite division punching bag. The 6th spot needed to be filled by some team but they clearly belonged in the Open Groups. They barely defeated Windtunnel in the 1st playoff round to advance. They will not get past Lower Round 3.
[b]Reason Gaming:[/b]
With the exception of the match against DD, Reason is the only team in the division to have not finished off a worthy team before hitting the time limit. (DD does not count) Yes, the competition is at the highest level but the lack of finishing teams and winning rounds speaks to a team chemistry problem. I hate to point at any players but kaidus has under performed in every single match. His damage and frags have been consistently low while heals have been high. A possible reason for this is the even worse performance of Forsaken. This dude was hyped beyond belief before this started, still waiting on it. If forsaken and kaidus fix whatever is going on, Reason will begin to roll teams. If not, knocked out in Lower Round 4.
[b]Ascent:[/b]
Just like watching this past ESEA LAN, Ascent puzzles me. If Ascent was a professional athlete, they would be described as a "streaky" player. For a few minutes, they will seem amazingly in sync then for a few minutes seem totally lost. Against teams at this LAN, its a short lived way to play. rando is an amazing pocket and the strongest player on the team. He is also eating an average of 40% of the heals but I don't see the equal damage numbers. Either the team isn't supporting the strongest player enough or he isn't playing up to standards. Either way, if that gets fixed, Ascent will start winning maps and could go as far as the Lower Round 5 but beyond that may not happen.
[b]nerdRage:[/b]
A monster team that is balanced and flexible enough to hit you with almost any tactic. Would not surprise me if they won the whole tournament. TEK was a force on the 1st day that no team had the answer for but Starkie is the play maker this team revolves around. It was a bit unfortunate to see NR play Froyo on Viad. I feel NR can matchup better on a 5CP map. I look forward to the possible best of 3(or 5) between these teams. It would be a shame if they don't meet again when it all counts in the playoff bracket.
[b]TLR:[/b]
They played day 1 perfectly and should not change a single thing. They were my pick to be in the finals with Froyo before the tourney started so I am not that surprised. Alfa made some huge plays, especially on Gully vs Reason. All the talk about him being a downgrade from shadowburn is rubbish. While shadowburn is a great player, he is just a very flashy roamer in my eyes. Alfa is a very consistent player who gives the team flexibility with his sniping. In the end, that combination may be more valuable for TLR than a few airshots in a frag video.
[b]Froyo:[/b]
So the obvious odds-on favorite to win the whole thing and for good reason. Coming into this, Ash was the only question mark on the roster. To be honest, he has played very well but is still a big question mark because the important games are ahead. That said, it doesn't matter what Ash does because b4nny with 0 ping, 300 health and a pocket medic looks unstoppable. The rest of the team, especially clock and ash are simply playing aggressive off him perfectly. I can see Froyo possibly dropping a map to any of the other top 4 teams but what I can't see them doing is dropping 2 or 3 maps in the finals. Froyo will win the tournament.
I personally think TLR's shenanigans (constant backcapping and random off classing/baiting flank plays) will catch up to them. Today, it was successful in that they split teams up looking for team fights and got scrappy. But both Alfa and Nico are going to end up dead a lot if they don't change their style up because teams are going to adjust, play slower and check every spot, and kill off their flank before pushing.
Just my opinion.
I personally think TLR's shenanigans (constant backcapping and random off classing/baiting flank plays) will catch up to them. Today, it was successful in that they split teams up looking for team fights and got scrappy. But both Alfa and Nico are going to end up dead a lot if they don't change their style up because teams are going to adjust, play slower and check every spot, and kill off their flank before pushing.
Just my opinion.
Shoutout to tsc for being incredibly committed to getting live written content posted ASAP. Incredible stuff.
I completely agree with SpaceCadet. Fwiw, I think Reason will recover, but I'm not so sure about Ascent... They'll have to play either TLR or nR before making it to a match with Reason/Froyo. Ascent has a very rough road ahead of them, but if they click like we all know they can, they can do it.
For Reason, it's very clear what they have to do, and they were already doing it in their game vs. Ascent... They need to hit their shots, and pick the right fights. If they can keep on improving and get over the first day jitters, they could still make a serious run, and could even beat Froyotech in the morning... Stranger things have happened.
[b]Shoutout to tsc[/b] for being incredibly committed to getting live written content posted ASAP. Incredible stuff.
I completely agree with SpaceCadet. Fwiw, I think Reason will recover, but I'm not so sure about Ascent... They'll have to play either TLR or nR before making it to a match with Reason/Froyo. Ascent has a very rough road ahead of them, but if they click like we all know they can, they can do it.
For Reason, it's very clear what they have to do, and they were already doing it in their game vs. Ascent... They need to hit their shots, and pick the right fights. If they can keep on improving and get over the first day jitters, they could still make a serious run, and could even beat Froyotech in the morning... Stranger things have happened.
literally every time I looked up at my TV during a nerdrage game I saw stark getting a 3 or 4k. He's a monster.
Also, Space: Good opinions, but Reason out in lower round 4 means they'd have to lose to Saints, Ownage Squad, Dogs, or Bantermory. I think they can get at least to lower round 5 and give a good game to whoever ends up there. LR5 is gonna be good by any standard, though, I can tell already.
TLR are looking crazy good right now. The only problem I see is that they get a bit directionless sometimes, and that will take its toll when they're playing in these high-pressure matches (we heard how cluttered the comms were vs. nerdRage, and that was just group stages). If they can get themselves together, and maybe get a maincaller (if they didn't have one already, war would probably be a good start), I can see them taking it all.
It's tough with Ascent though. They are incredibly inconsistent and pretty much have been since the LiT days. I thought the addition of enigma, who's obviously been in incredibly high pressure situations before and is a veteran of two i-series lans, would help give them some stability, but it doesn't seem like it's paid off yet. I think they need some time to adjust and a couple easy games in the lower bracket to start them off should give them some time to warm up.
literally every time I looked up at my TV during a nerdrage game I saw stark getting a 3 or 4k. He's a monster.
Also, Space: Good opinions, but Reason out in lower round 4 means they'd have to lose to Saints, Ownage Squad, Dogs, or Bantermory. I think they can get at least to lower round 5 and give a good game to whoever ends up there. LR5 is gonna be good by any standard, though, I can tell already.
TLR are looking crazy good right now. The only problem I see is that they get a bit directionless sometimes, and that will take its toll when they're playing in these high-pressure matches (we heard how cluttered the comms were vs. nerdRage, and that was just group stages). If they can get themselves together, and maybe get a maincaller (if they didn't have one already, war would probably be a good start), I can see them taking it all.
It's tough with Ascent though. They are incredibly inconsistent and pretty much have been since the LiT days. I thought the addition of enigma, who's obviously been in incredibly high pressure situations before and is a veteran of two i-series lans, would help give them some stability, but it doesn't seem like it's paid off yet. I think they need some time to adjust and a couple easy games in the lower bracket to start them off should give them some time to warm up.
Great writeup! Good luck to all the teams, dogs and reason get your shit together :D
Day 2 hype!
Great writeup! Good luck to all the teams, dogs and reason get your shit together :D
Day 2 hype!
SpaceCadetHe is also eating an average of 40% of the heals but I don't see the equal damage numbers.
rando also has the lowest Damage/Heal ratio of all players:
https://i.imgur.com/UcTSPoq.png
Blaze (no surprise here) and Alfa have been able to do much much with lesser heals.
[quote=SpaceCadet]
He is also eating an average of 40% of the heals but I don't see the equal damage numbers.
[/quote]
rando also has the lowest Damage/Heal ratio of all players:
[img]https://i.imgur.com/UcTSPoq.png[/img]
Blaze (no surprise here) and Alfa have been able to do much much with lesser heals.
thank you for posting this, i was way too sick to watch the games today (even though i was awake at the time) although i will probably go back and watch every VOD when they go up later :<
the only game i saw was ascent vs reason with forsak3n getting those insane headshots LOL, but your total analysis makes me want to see the overall picture even more
thank you for posting this, i was way too sick to watch the games today (even though i was awake at the time) although i will probably go back and watch every VOD when they go up later :<
the only game i saw was ascent vs reason with forsak3n getting those insane headshots LOL, but your total analysis makes me want to see the overall picture even more
HandcuffedI personally think TLR's shenanigans (constant backcapping and random off classing/baiting flank plays) will catch up to them. Today, it was successful in that they split teams up looking for team fights and got scrappy. But both Alfa and Nico are going to end up dead a lot if they don't change their style up because teams are going to adjust, play slower and check every spot, and kill off their flank before pushing.
Just my opinion.
While I believe that alfa is a player you can counter, and that ShaDowBurn would be far harder to counter, I feel as though alfa is smart enough to change things when he knows things are going badly. The problem will be Herr_P and NiCO, if they want to win they have to play out of their minds, they need to be the best scouts at the tournament. AMS is having a monster tournament so far, which really helps their confidence.
[quote=Handcuffed]I personally think TLR's shenanigans (constant backcapping and random off classing/baiting flank plays) will catch up to them. Today, it was successful in that they split teams up looking for team fights and got scrappy. But both Alfa and Nico are going to end up dead a lot if they don't change their style up because teams are going to adjust, play slower and check every spot, and kill off their flank before pushing.
Just my opinion.[/quote]
While I believe that alfa is a player you can counter, and that ShaDowBurn would be far harder to counter, I feel as though alfa is smart enough to change things when he knows things are going badly. The problem will be Herr_P and NiCO, if they want to win they have to play out of their minds, they need to be the best scouts at the tournament. AMS is having a monster tournament so far, which really helps their confidence.
