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ESEA-O S18 Ranks and Predictions: Episode 2 "An Evolving Process"
posted in News
drshdwpuppet
January 20, 2015

The problem with doing open writeups, it seems, is that in the first couple weeks nothing happens. Most teams are facing off against either unnaasailable opponents or wet-paper teams that offer little in the way of resistance, but damn if they dont feel good when applied directly to the ass. So I was left with a choice. Either I could do power rankings and team write-ups again, or I could actually attempt to write something semi-interesting that doesnt need hastily thrown together frag clips to maintain reader interest. Choosing the latter, I will not mention power rankings or anything of the sort until the Week 5 writeups, when the rest of the season's schedule is released and we have a better idea of how the teams will match up against each other.

However, I do wish to draw your attention to a few key facts. First: while I did take London's format for the power rankings, it should be noted that I heavily improved them by knowing how to align:right and having appreciation for colors other than middling grey. Seriously London, pick up a Bob Ross DVD set and a couple tubes of paint, there is more to life than drab colors girlfriend. Second: I would also like to extend a thanks to Conductor who came up with a rapid fix for my CSS when enigma broke articles.

No Need for Names

  • Blackymonster
  • Blew
  • Fearless
  • hassassin
  • leaky
  • bunny

Only one noteable change this week in team rosters, and that is the addition of a pocket soldier to Blackymonster's powerhouse team. Blew brings a lot of experience and talent to the team. His return to pocket soldier after a season of demo on sparkle bunnis is going to be a powerful one, his time in ESEA-M with Animus Victoria should give him and his team the edge they will need in this very close season of open. This move gives No Need for Names one of, if not the strongest combo in open, an asset they will surely use to overpower any team that stands against them. Look for No Need For Names to go deep into the post-season with this lineup.

Blanc eSports vs The Muffin Men
  • Tery
  • Shiki
  • SpaceCadet
  • Avast
  • Dango
  • Vortex
  • Idrae
  • Trip
  • kanon
  • Safrix
  • Blues
  • Evil MrMuffinz

Our match of the week for snakewater, this game ended up coming out almost exactly as I suspected it might. The Muffen Men rolled right in and beat out Blanc 5-2 in 37 minutes of play. Scrolling through the demo, I saw that while both teams played well, the lads from Drury Lane were able to pull it together going into the second round and use their momentum and superior DM to take the win. The big surprise came from Trip, who managed to pull out the most damage (by far) and kills (by one) on his first ever ESEA match on pocket soldier.

If trip and his team can keep up this momentum moving forward and continue to have a strong, domineering pocket presence, it doesn't take much dot connecting to predict that this team will be a force to contend with as the season progresses. Coming hot off their two wins this week, I sat down with Trip to talk about his team and their plans for the season.

This week the action really picks up as several of the top teams will have their first real challenge, fighting over the grassy fields of cp_process. This week's map will favor teams that can put together a strong scout presence and roamers who can land their jumps to get deep past the long sightlines and intercept medics before they can get to the relatively plentiful safety.

No Need for Names vs Virgin Police
  • Blackymonster
  • Fearless
  • TicTack
  • hassassin
  • leaky
  • bunny
  • thenoid
  • sam
  • ninjitsu
  • king rab
  • TwinWeapons
  • Technasty

For both teams, this will be the trial by fire that starts their ESEA Season 18. Virgin Police won both their matches cleanly with an easy 5-0 and No Need for Names was apparently so frightening that their opponents decided to not even show up. In last week's write-up, I said that No Need for Names had a lot of ifs interfering with their odds this season, but my doubts have been completely assuaged with their pickup of Blew. Process will be a good map for the star soldier to shine on, his deadly DM and strong uber presence will be needed to keep the Virgin Police at bay.

Unfortunately for Virgin Police, I fear that the pickup of Blew will really help solidify No Need into a team that is just miles above. The big wildcard for me is how the scouts will perform. Process is a map that makes it easy to deny a strong soldier simply with good reaction times and solid positioning, things the Virgin Police should be able to muster up. However, the Virgin Police haven't been performing that well in their scrims, and their two wins last week mean nothing against noncompetitive teams. Ultimately, I think this will be an interesting game to watch, but the power of a domineering and experienced combo will help No Need for Names dominate the transition phases and give up no ground to the Virgin Police.2-5 No Need for Names

Match to Watch

Muffin Men vs Guado Glories
  • Idrae
  • kanon
  • trip
  • Safrix
  • blues
  • Evil MrMuffinz
  • Nursey
  • Bill
  • connor
  • Giraffe
  • arekk
  • linkuser

The poor Muffin Men, they get no breaks this season. Their performance against Blanc Esports looked a little shaky in the early rounds, but that was only a taste of what they can expect against Guado Glories. In scrims, these teams have been performing roughly on par, but in a match environment, with everything on the line and emotions running high, it will come down to who can seize momentum early and hang on to it throughout the match.

Arekk have been performing well lately, putting up large damage numbers and high frag counts in almost every scrim, I think this can spell trouble for The Muffin Men on a map like process, where their apparent carry in Trip will have to work extra hard at closing the distances with Idrae in their pushes. To me, this dynamic will be key. If Guado Glories can bait back the enemy combo long enough that Idrae loses his nerve and synergy between pocket and medic start to break down, they can shut down the powerful pushes that otherwise would probably be overwhelming to them. The Muffin Men have a weakness to exploit in Safrix, not that he is an underwhelming presence, but his lack of heal reliance may make him timid and reluctant to engage around the tight, 90 degree chokes that fill process. Without that damage, Muffin Men have little to no chance at being able to put up enough of a presence to win close fights or obtain an advantage. I see Guado Glories winning out in this match, but if this matchup were to happen later in the week, I would expect a different result.2-4 Guado Glories

EDIT: I have heard conflicting information on whether TicTack or Blew will be starting match soldier for NNN. This article is written based off information I received Sunday night and may not be accurate.

1
#1
-11 Frags +

yo shdw, london shit on us last week you should probably respect people who r better than u (at writeups and tf2)

also not sure but i think blew is subbing for their scrims
blew is starting for everything

edit: also u put ticktack on the roster but apparently picking blew up makes them really solid. nice one shadow!

yo shdw, london shit on us last week you should probably respect people who r better than u (at writeups and tf2)

[s]also not sure but i think blew is subbing for their scrims[/s]
blew is starting for everything


edit: also u put ticktack on the roster but apparently picking blew up makes them really solid. nice one shadow!
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#2
-5 Frags +

Wᅚᅚᅚ2 Predictions

Wᅚᅚᅚ2 Predictions
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#3
-4 Frags +

Our team died that's why we forfeited

Our team died that's why we forfeited
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#4
7 Frags +
universeyo shdw, london shit on us last week you should probably respect people who r better than u (at writeups and tf2)

time to adopt a tier based system???

[quote=universe]yo shdw, london shit on us last week you should probably respect people who r better than u (at writeups and tf2)[/quote]
time to adopt a tier based system???
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#5
3 Frags +
RainofLightWᅚᅚᅚ2 Predictions

its meant to be going behind the tree, but it didnt turn out as well as I thought it would.

[quote=RainofLight]Wᅚᅚᅚ2 Predictions[/quote]

its meant to be going behind the tree, but it didnt turn out as well as I thought it would.
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#6
0 Frags +
tetrominotime to adopt a tier based system???

nah, the letter grading system is the new tier system

nice writeup though

[quote=tetromino]time to adopt a tier based system???[/quote]
nah, the letter grading system is the new tier system

nice writeup though
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#7
3 Frags +

apparent carry in Trip

apparent carry in Trip
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#8
0 Frags +
Nub_Danishapparent carry in Trip

shdwpuppet pls

[quote=Nub_Danish]apparent carry in Trip[/quote]

shdwpuppet pls
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#9
0 Frags +

the one and only triple mint

what a good guy :) what a carry !! :)

the one and only triple mint

what a good guy :) what a carry !! :)
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#10
1 Frags +

.

.
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#11
-2 Frags +

Fuck tiers that's why they invented low- to high+

Fuck tiers that's why they invented low- to high+
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#12
9 Frags +

open is open

open is open
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#13
3 Frags +
marketOur team died that's why we forfeited

didnt see that 1 coming

[quote=market]Our team died that's why we forfeited[/quote]
didnt see that 1 coming
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#14
-3 Frags +
reluctant to engage around the tight, 90 degree chokes that fill process

how to deal with 90 degree chokes

https://wiki.teamfortress.com/w/images/6/66/Tide_Turner.png?t=20140620102511

[quote] reluctant to engage around the tight, 90 degree chokes that fill process[/quote]

how to deal with 90 degree chokes

[img]https://wiki.teamfortress.com/w/images/6/66/Tide_Turner.png?t=20140620102511[/img]
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#15
8 Frags +
Mr_Owlopen is open

well ur more open than me loser

[quote=Mr_Owl]open is open[/quote]
well ur more open than me loser
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#16
21 Frags +

at least i dont watch anime

at least i dont watch anime
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#17
4 Frags +

I spent an uncomfortable amount of time thinking of a comeback but I drew a blank sorry :(

I spent an uncomfortable amount of time thinking of a comeback but I drew a blank sorry :(
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#18
8 Frags +

I wait for a day when anime no longer corrupts our children.

I wait for a day when anime no longer corrupts our children.
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#19
2 Frags +

we didnt die nick is 12

we didnt die nick is 12
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#20
5 Frags +

You clearly don't remember blue's role on Animus Victoria in main.

You clearly don't remember blue's role on Animus Victoria in main.
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#21
4 Frags +

trip the legend

trip the legend
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#22
1 Frags +
MonkeySuitYou clearly don't remember blue's role on Animus Victoria in main.

I looked at his stats, saw rockets and assumed pocket, was he roaming?

[quote=MonkeySuit]You clearly don't remember blue's role on Animus Victoria in main.[/quote]

I looked at his stats, saw rockets and assumed pocket, was he roaming?
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#23
18 Frags +

nigga if you're gonna take jabs at the format I made at least come up with good ways to do it; whoever told you it was a good design choice to have alternating alignments was probably a cataractous infant, and when the entire website is shades of grey you're kinda supposed to match the already existing color scheme (see: literally every professional news publication ever made)

do you own a crayola keyboard too? because it looks like it would match your tastes

http://i.imgur.com/OcHKhTL.jpg

nigga if you're gonna take jabs at the format I made at least come up with good ways to do it; whoever told you it was a good design choice to have alternating alignments was probably a cataractous infant, and when the entire website is shades of grey you're kinda supposed to match the already existing color scheme (see: literally every professional news publication ever made)

do you own a crayola keyboard too? because it looks like it would match your tastes

[img]http://i.imgur.com/OcHKhTL.jpg[/img]
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#24
7 Frags +
drshdwpuppetMonkeySuitYou clearly don't remember blue's role on Animus Victoria in main.
I looked at his stats, saw rockets and assumed pocket, was he roaming?

I guess you could call it that. The only main level player on that team was KL.

Show Content
He was mostly there to hit on noko
[quote=drshdwpuppet][quote=MonkeySuit]You clearly don't remember blue's role on Animus Victoria in main.[/quote]

I looked at his stats, saw rockets and assumed pocket, was he roaming?[/quote]
I guess you could call it that. The only main level player on that team was KL.


[spoiler]He was mostly there to hit on noko[/spoiler]
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#25
11 Frags +

How i imagine shadowpuppet while he was creating this

http://www.onegentleman.biz/Stories/images%20stories/Fw%20(Mr.%20Crayola_files/image002.jpg

How i imagine shadowpuppet while he was creating this [img]http://www.onegentleman.biz/Stories/images%20stories/Fw%20(Mr.%20Crayola_files/image002.jpg[/img]
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#26
4 Frags +

idk if i really agree with ur assessment of our match because we won most the mids and whiffed like every last push and uber transition so i'm not sure how that equates to getting heavily out dm'ed

they outplayed us though and trip is going to be a scary good pocket if this is his first ever pocket match. ggs to them

idk if i really agree with ur assessment of our match because we won most the mids and whiffed like every last push and uber transition so i'm not sure how that equates to getting heavily out dm'ed

they outplayed us though and trip is going to be a scary good pocket if this is his first ever pocket match. ggs to them
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#27
0 Frags +

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZi6l6Z4N3Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZi6l6Z4N3Q
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#28
6 Frags +

Why did you use a different colour, font, or alignment for every single heading

Show Content
Why did you use a different colour, font, or alignment for every single heading

[spoiler][img]http://i.imgur.com/4fF3jW8.png[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/zm98kBH.png[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/fStwpbS.png[/img][/spoiler]
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#29
10 Frags +

trip spoke for 8 whole minutes without dropping 1 hard R or saying tbh

im impressed

trip spoke for 8 whole minutes without dropping 1 hard R or saying tbh

im impressed
30
#30
10 Frags +
conductordo you own a crayola keyboard too? because it looks like it would match your tastes

Actual picture of my keyboard:

http://i.imgur.com/OavDzpA.jpg

so umm, not far off actually

[quote=conductor]do you own a crayola keyboard too? because it looks like it would match your tastes[/quote]

Actual picture of my keyboard:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/OavDzpA.jpg[/img]

so umm, not far off actually
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