No, playing a raffle is obviously gambling. You pay money and gamble your chances to win. I am just pointing out the difference in buying a key to open a crate/box and how that is not always gambling in my opinion.

For example, I personally buy keys to open crates for the items. I have no intention of selling or gambling those items so I am buying keys to purchanse merchandise.

I think you answered your own question. If someone is spending money to buy something, then it is not gambling.
Buying keys means you are purchasing whatever items you unbox. That is a clear difference than gambling your items for money or other items.

Having played with x3 for several seasons, I can say he is always reliable and a fantastic teammate. His DM is very strong and he will make plays.

Opening a crate is not gambling. You pay for a key so you are essentially paying for merchandise. I see a clear difference.

Now that the missing matches have been scheduled for all IM teams, I made a short writeup about the playoff teams that have clinched and the bubble teams hoping to make playoffs. I have probably offended many people in the process.

CLINCHED PLAYOFF SPOT (5)

a baby dog
Good Players ft. Skeez
megawac me off
MAELSTROMBOLI
Paradise Cafe

BUBBLE TEAMS (5)

Six Guys Off
Hot Dads
turd noises
BLANC Esports
Ziggurat Complex

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a baby dog (Clinched Playoff Spot)

Not much to say about this team at this point. They are a cut above every IM team and could easily compete in invite against the non-playoff teams. It will be very difficult for any IM team to take a playoff series from this squad so they are clearly the team to beat. Perhaps they should take a FFL to avoid the famous 16-0 curse.

Good Players ft. Whoever (Clinched Playoff Spot)

A very strong team with solid players at each position. I don't think they have reached the level of coordination they are looking for just yet but the raw skill and DM ability mean they just beat teams straight up. Broking and pelt have been extremely good all season but I heard of a few roster or positional changes recently. The upcoming matches against baby dog, Paradise Cafe and megawac will be good tests for any new lineup. Either way, this will be a powerful playoff team expected to go far.

megawac me off (Clinched Playoff Spot)

In my opinion, megawac me off is likely the most balanced team in IM from top to bottom. No players overwhelmingly carry this team and everyone pulls their weight equally. They qualify for playoffs already so the remaining matches are only related to seeding but this is a playoff team to watch closely.

MAELSTROMBOLI (Clinched Playoff Spot)

This team seems to fluctuate from match to match, sometimes extremely strong and other times seem shaky. While there are talented players on this roster, they rely on Shamoo to make or break most situations. Not to stat whore but when you have almost 140 more frags than your nearest teammate, it means something. I am not sure how that is going to playout in playoff situations where teams tend to tighten up but it has worked up to this point because they have had a strong season.

Paradise Cafe (Clinched Playoff Spot)

My personal "Dark Horse" in the IM division. Overshadowed by other teams with more notable players but it would be a mistake to overlook this team. Solid scouts, backed up by stronger soldiers and a demo/medic combo that doesn't die a lot. June has quietly been one of the best medics in the division this season, in my opinion. Looking at the remaining matches and the projected playoff spots, they will likely finish 3, 4 or 5 and be a shitty first round matchup for some team.

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Six Guys Off
Playoff Chances : Very High

While they have not clinched a spot just yet, Six Guys Off have 46 Rounds Won and that puts them far in the lead for any tie-breaker situations. With 2 matches left against BLANC Esports and Hot Dads, I believe they can clinch a playoff spot with just 1 victory. They have had a revolving roster all season long and I imagine it has not been easy to bring it all together. However, with recent additions of Hooli and Saelot, I can't help but think they are stronger than at any point of the season thus far.

Hot Dads
Playoff Chances : Low

Hot Dads easily has the toughest remaining schedule out of all the bubble teams. Matches against Six Guys Off, MAELSTROMBOLI and turd noises will all be tough challenges. The match agaaist turd noises will be especially critical for both teams and the playoff hunt. I believe Hot Dads need to pickup 2 wins out of these 3 final matches to make playoffs. An 7-9 record will not finish in a playoff spot and 8-8 will be pushing the limits this season but there is still a possibility if the right teams win or lose.

turd noises
Playoff Chances : High

Looking at the 3 remaining matches, turd noises have the easiest remaining schedule by a long shot. Wins over Saving Private IM and Scruff and the Mcgruffs should be forthcoming but the final match against Hot Dads will likely determine playoffs or not. Regardless of what other teams do, they will qualify if they run the table with 3 straight wins. This is another lineup that has been in flux all season long. Badlands week allowed them time to regroup and avoid becoming a dead roster. Then after Viaduct they lost probably thier strongest player in botmode. With the new resurgent roster in place, they have been playing well and are making a strong playoff push.

BLANC Esports
Playoff Chances : Average

Commenting on my own team has never been hard for me and is especially easy this season because I am our weakest link. Hopefully I can step up in these final matches because we may need to run off 3 straight wins to make playoffs at this point and my teammates deserve it. It has been a really fun time and the best team I have been part of in all my seasons. Our final match against Le Sparkle Gang may be a FFW, I don't know if this team is dead or alive. Matches against Ziggurat Complex and Six Guys Off will be critical and I see no reason why we cannot win all 3.

Ziggurat Complex
Playoff Chances : Very Low

It has been a rough 2nd half of the season for Ziggurat Complex and looking back they will be thinking of the 3 losses that came down to the final round. (5-4 on Badlands, 4-3 on Viaduct and 5-4 on Process) If any of those matches were victories, they would have a solid chance to make playoffs. Finishing in 8th is still a possibility but it will take a lot of help from the teams above them. Final matches against BLANC and Le Sparkle Gang are clearly winnable but they are missing the final 16th match on the schedule. I can only assume they will be scheduled against a "dead" team as all active team rosters have been fully scheduled at this point.

The Lost Battalion -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0287535/

Probably the best WW1 movie there is to see. To think these guys and many others were real and went through this hell is hard to imagine. I seen it many times and whenever it is on TV, I usually just go get my DVD of the movie to cut out the commercials.

worked perfectly for me

When I hit the Powerball lottery I am going to hookup the ppl who stuck it out with TF2, I promise. Now off to play some more tickets......

Shit that shouldn't happen in matchmaking...1 word

Swiftwater

Only 2 complaints so far.

1-- I dislike being "forced" to play with a viewmodel, even if it is minimized. I fail to see why the user doesn't have the option to fully remove the viewmodel. Sure, it can help newer players so it is a good idea for a default setting but more experienced players should have the option for complete removal.

2-- The number of failed matches because of players abandoning is very high. I have a 75% fail rate right now because of players leaving the match. This could be because MM is so new or because at the lowest rankings you get more players unaware of what they are queing up for.

Maybe I missed the explination in the notes, but what exactly is the penalty for abandoning or leaving a match early?

We started the season with 17 IM teams, I don't see why each team in IM didn't have a complete 16 match schedule posted at the start of the season to play each team once the same way they do it for Invite every season. That would have been the most logical.

Why is the round reset cause that happened?

the lucky kitty cat toy

Christ, I would love to see TF2 on this stage:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cm3K22SWYAARlN7.jpg:large

That double kill on the flower pots though, sick highlight