Steel's an interesting discussion. On the one hand, many clamor it is the worst map in HL, and that it's continued presence in the rotation is an abomination. On the other hand, a lot of people swear by it, pegging it as one of the best maps in the rotation so far. Love it or hate it, it's about to feature in everybody's hope for success, so may as well figure it out.

The Teams & Changes

Ban Paals make a small change, with cookie returning to his Medic spot, and takram moving back to substitute.

Chill Penguin's changes, like bp's, are simply setting things back to normal after a temporary substitution. CHIEF and SilentDom have both returned, allowing bala to move back to Engineer.

On the other hand, Corn Ducks's roster changes for just a week, with Pyro chris unable to be around. Rue, their Heavy, will move to Pyro for the week, bringing in bigR on Heavy to fill the void.

Probably the biggest change this week, sheen and the ultra lords say goodbye temporarily to their beloved demoknight Invader, bringing in sigh to replace him. Pellovley also returns, his supposed break being apparently quite shorter than expect. While the team as a whole will surely have some tricks up their sleeve, the deviation from their original strategies will either doom them against Acoomuma, or give them the edge to upset.

While technically given a Bye week, some roster had to be listed, and this is what Digresser sent me. moment. will no doubt have more changes before next week, but at this point, that's more expected than not.

And a small change to finish it off, The Pyro Squirrel has left Wartortle Warriors, leaving AssultPotato to replace him.

The Race

Just like last week, there's a pretty obvious thing to point out. '92 Dream Team has taken a 2-0 victory over Burnham & Root, leaving the top three spots significantly more up in the air. Burnham & Root, originally thought to be one of the more dominant teams this season, languish in the #10 spot. Curse of Knowledge is faring better, but a #6 seed is far lower than where a roster of that caliber may be expected.

On the other hand, estevez, '92, and m|M are all doing fantastically, with the first two having taken a game off of the former 'top three', and the latter holding an excellent 3-1 record, albeit only facing one of alec/BR/cK. Other teams, like Chill Penguins and PINGPONG, have the potential to climb further in the rankings, though it won't be a simple conquest.

Acoomuma should be the only constant in the season, as a loss from here on out will be largely unexpected. They face what should be their final real challenge this week, and if they can turn up a win, shouldn't need to be too concerned in the remaining weeks.

The Matches ##

Acoomuma vs Sheen and the ultra lords

As just stated, this should be the match that results in Acoomuma getting an 8-0 season. After dispatching m|M, BR, and cK, Acoomuma should be able to coast through the remainder of the season, with the only concern being against '92 Dream Team, if only due to them beating BR.

If only to up the tension, the ultra lords will be without their sheen estevez – Invader won’t be playing this week. In his stead, stickybomb-user sigh will be replacing him. While they'll still have some unique strategy to employ, it's not easy to readjust off of a strategy after using it successfully for a month straight. If it was any other opponent, this change is unlikely to do much. However, they are the final boss in the path of Acoomuma's race to 8-0, and will need everything they can muster to pull out the victory here. 2-1 in favor of Acoomuma.

'92 Dream Team vs Memento | Mori

Both teams have proved themselves this season, only taking a single loss each thus far. Even the loser of this game should be able to stay near the top of the scoreboard, unless they find themselves facing a vengeful cK/BP intending on regaining lost ground.

As for the match itself, both teams have been performing well enough in their scrims, though on Steel, logs mean even less than normal. '92 Dream Team have some fantastic players, but a few key class matchups may fall short for them. If they can outplay their opponents and keep up with the DM that players like Alder and air will put out, they should have it in the bag. 2-1 in favor of '92 Dream Team.

Chill Penguins vs Curse of Knowledge

Chill Penguins' spot on the ranking is a bit misleading, as their only victory is against moment. in a slow 3-0 on Process, but they managed to pull 5 points out of their losses, giving them a quasi-victory. They're no doubt deserving of playing in Platinum, and can give most any team a challenge, but cK on Steel may be a bit out of their reach. 2-0 in favor of Curse of Knowledge.

Pyongyang Pyonggang vs Dedoris

Both teams are on an upswing, having some trouble earlier in the season, only to start getting wins recently. While Steel's a hard mistress, players like Justin Time on PINGPONG and Kresnik on DOOR, if given control of the pace of their team and the match, should be able to show their teams how to counter the strategies that the other one will no doubt employ. With two seemingly equally matched think tanks in the combo, it'll come down mostly to individual out-performances, and PINGPONG has quite the leg up on DOOR in many of those categories. 2-0 in favor of PINGPONG

Burnham And Root vs Wartortle Warriors

A shocked BR will use this week to regroup, in what could've been a fantastic Steel matchup, only to be unable to beat '92 on Upward. Due to that, they find themselves near the bottom of the scoreboard, amazingly avoiding the Bye week. Wartortle Warriors shouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight here, giving BR the jumpstart they need to rush back and try to end any rumors of an open placement spot.

Corn Ducks vs Ban Paals

Ban Paals have yet to be able to leave the bottom of the scoreboard due to losses, but Corn Ducks are only there because of a missing 3 MP between them and #5, both having the same scores. While bp will no doubt want to pick up a non-FFW win, Corn Ducks should be able to take the victory here. 2-1 in favor of Corn Ducks.