Ginyu Force < The Syndicate 3-5

Wow! What a Monday we have this week. Kicking things off will be Ginyu vs TS, who surprisingly have yet to play a match against each other all season. The reason for that being the result of Syndicate’s early season slump, but with the return of Vhalin they’ve finally begun to be a real contender for the coveted first place. Ginyu Force, on the other hand, have fallen into their slump more recently after the devastating departure of their heavy Dill right around Barnblitz week. It was a blow that I’m afraid they never quite recovered from, and that weakness and instability in their combo will likely signal their post-season demise. But life still breathes in Ginyu, and I suspect they won’t go down without a very tough fight. Max is certain to be a head-clicking monster and Duwatna is always a fearsome demoman to go up against. I’m going to predict there will be a lot of back and forth rounds in the first half before Syndicate finally finishes it off in the second with greater momentum and team synergy.

Baby Punching Marathon > Menace to Society 5-4

Here we have a much more exciting match in my opinion. BPM and MTS will in all likelihood be the teams that end up facing each other in the grand finals. It’s funny how the strongest teams at the end of the season usually end up being the most stable, a lesson that I have personally learned very much the hard way on Bonus Points. In any case this will be the most thrilling match that we will have had the pleasure of watching in quite some time. BPM will be looking for revenge after a sickeningly loss against MTS on Lakeside when they were without their all-star spy Pulse. He should be the real tide-turner this time around as Harbleu and the other 6v6 players tend to have a little extra trouble with spies, and Pulse is easily the best spy in the league right now. BPM also has a few extra fearsome team carries in Bronze, Boink, and Kapoww. Compared with MTS’ own heavy hitters of Harbleu, Xalox, and ukm I think they’re pretty equivalent. The real difference will be in how well the pick classes can do for both teams. All it takes is for M4risa or Jerro to have an amazing game to turn the tables on BPM. I for one can’t wait to watch this match.

Kimberlite Council < Chain Reaction 4-5

Here in the lower bracket we also have some great matches to be had. I was going to give this prediction to KLITE at first, but CR have really impressed me this week. Finally stabilizing their roster with Sezco on scout and Pharaoh on demo, they’ve become a much stronger team. KLITE are certainly no slouches either, however, bringing to the table great DM from HardAssJohnny, MustardOverlord, and KillemAll. Their pick classes Deer and Phaze are also people that can go absolutely huge in any game. It’ll be up to CR to put a stop to these individuals with what I would consider superior teamwork. This will also be the perfect time for CR to get a little payback after KLITE beat them 4-3 on Croissant early in the season.

Ghetto Afterthought > Quality Control 5-4

5-4’s for EVERYBODY because all these teams are so close to each other in skill, and they’re all fighting so desperately for the wins. The outcome of this particular match should be greatly affected by whether or not Blaze shows up for GA. I want to say that he’s busy this Monday, but I’m not 100% sure. I’m still going to predict in GA’s favor because even though SneakyPolarBear is no Blaze, he has been steadily improving since he stopped wasting time with all that Beggar’s Bazooka nonsense. He’s gotten a lot better at supporting and cleaning up Sweater’s amazing damage output. Round up that combo off with Revels on sniper and you have a very potent team. Quality Control will be a worthy adversary with some great play callers like Indust and Different Colors. If they want to come out on top in this match they’re going to have to figure out a way to shut down Sweater on mid-fights, whether that means SteveC busting out the Crit-a-Cola or what.

Very exhilarating matches all around this week. Be on the lookout for the lower bracket action to continue this Thursday.