For me, the hype for i49 would be so much better if Mixup was going along with HRG. It's sad to think that Mixup is at the very least the 3rd/4th best team playing right now. For them to not be at the competition deciding who is the best team seems a little undeserved. Not having a sponsor or money sucks.
Mixup vs Broder/Infused would be incredibly good matches to watch.

I have watched an insane amount of EU Prem matches/scrims. I feel what will hurt Epsi in the end is the lack of teams to play and practice with consistently. Epsi dominates the EU scene but have only Broder and Infused to practice against all the time. The same 12 players all the time. When the same players play each other non stop for so long, they get learn habits and tendencies and it can have an effect on play against new teams.

I don't think HRG has had such a lack of diversity in scrims/matches because there are at least 6 solid NA teams that all play differently. Mix, Trihards, AG, Mad Men and top guns were all solid this season. I believe that diversity will give HRG an advantage to adapt game play and come out on top.

1-- HRG
2-- Broder
3-- Epsi
4-- Infused

All that aside, the dark horse nobody is talking about is Broder. They have 2 players who can hang with anyone and turn any game in their favor. In my opinion, the best EU medic around is Mirelin and 0 ping Jukebox sniping could be scary. I predict Broder to upset Epsi at LAN. It would not surprise me if they beat HRG to win the whole thing but I still have my money on HRG.

I understand what you are saying and I realize that nothing I say will change anything or matter in the end.

However, I don't think you realize how much strategy can be applied to DMing as a team. I would argue DM is much more strategy based than working around unlock bonuses for an advantage. Using positioning and concentrated fire are many skills teams never develop enough and those are DM related. Essentially the only thing you work on with unlocks are timing for pushes and making plays off the items you equip. That does involve skill in it's own way but DM skill outshines that in my opinion.

My main point is that "items" are being used to circumvent real skill. In any competitive form of Team Fortress, that has never been part of the game. I am just not a fan of items having such a great determining factor in how teams win fights.

Unlocks are the one part of Comp TF2 that I never could understand. Maybe I am too old school of a player but I started the first day of quake and then QWTF, where your individual skill and the skill of your team determined who won and who lost.

Personally, I believe comp TF2 should have no unlocks at all. I can't understand why certain "items" can give a team an advantage over other teams who are less skilled.

Everything should be even across the board. In those situations, the better team will win every time. In the end, isn't that what Competitive play is about? The better team wins and individual items should not be a factor in determining that.

Have this playing on your phone as they get off the plane
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNVJYXvBhgA

#442 I like some disturbed songs but that one isn't great IMO. Still a pretty solid band.

This is one of my songs for workouts and just generally being mad at anything and everything.
Free Your Hate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehAKoc5-7ws

I have the same monitor but I still experience some problems. I do not believe it is a monitor problem at all but something else I cannot find the solution to.

On certain maps I will experience a stuttering effect on my screen. It happens most often on Granary Mid point and Gravel Pit B. I almost never experience this stuttering on any other map or area. Sometimes those areas will be completely smooth and other times it will be unplayable.

A description of the stuttering is simple. As I turn the mouse to aim or RJ, the screen will cease to be smooth and little stutters will cause me to over compensate my aim. This throws off RJ's a lot and aiming is very difficult. The stuttering will stop when I go to Granary 2nd point or Last. I can't explain why.

F-ZERO
Super Nintendo

Game Over

I enjoy watching the EU guys the most. I think the reason is because I watch them while I am working.
When I get home, I don't want to watch NA players at that time. I just play myself.
My list would be:

Ipz is awesome to watch and a top soldier. The guy looks at TF2 as a science and you can hear it in his voice. If you want to learn the more detailed aspects of 6's gameplay, listen to Ipz and learn. He can come off as a jerk on the mic at times but that's just his personality.

Kaidus is ,in my opinion, the most skilled all-around demo there is in TF2. I enjoy his aggressive in your face style because it is tons of action. When you are watching someone play, you want action and Kaidus brings it every time.

Huhy has the most enjoyable EU stream to watch. Aside from being a really skilled player, he is always having fun in the games with good hearted trash talking on the mic. He plays good background music and sings from time to time!!!

Pledge is probably the most insightful caster in TF2. He brings a "sports caster" feel to a TF2 match and that is a wonderful thing. No other caster makes it feel that way in my opinion and I wish he could cast NA matches to be honest. While I don't really watch him play the actual game, his streams and casts are always an instant choice for me to watch.

Platinum in my opinion is the best all-around soldier in NA, possibly EU as well. Between Plat, Lansky and Mike you can take your pick as to who is the best right now. Plat's streams are not very insightful with talking but it is good to watch him play and get ideas to improve your own game.

ROFL yeah you did. I did not read the thread just the video. :)

"I can't figure out a shirt, how would I ever assemble a bomb?"

Oaf, the friends you have!

The Incredibles was easily my favorite. i wish they would do Incredibles 2

Team name- 2 Fingers 1 Thumb
SpaceCadet`HX and jakajaka jan jan

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197993619469
http://steamcommunity.com/id/jakajan

Wall of text? Pretty sure it wasn't but whatever you say.

I'm not sure why i got so many -frags about this. It's not like I enjoy the changes. I would prefer it to go back to normal. The OP was just throwing around some possible suggestions to make everyone happy because valve wants a change so badly.

I have thought of some possible Escape Plan changes that could help balance Valve’s issue with the weapon as well as keeping it viable for competitive play. I listed the possible changes in Bold while stating why under them. Opinions?

Remove the Mini-crits taken while active.
Upon weapon switch back to Main/Secondary, have the “Marked for Death” effect have a longer duration.

Naturally this would have an effect on soldier rollouts to middle points. Once a duration time limit is made, rollout weapon switches can adapt accordingly. More importantly, a soldier could use the EP for exactly what it is intended, so he can retreat from a fight effectively without being an easier target to kill for chasing players. The longer “Marked for Death” duration upon weapon switching would give chasing players an incentive to continue the chase and go for the kill even though the soldier make have healed.

Leave the effects as that are right now.
Add a timer on the duration while the Escape Plan is active.

As it stands right now, 100% of the time you have the EP active, you take mini-crits. This proposed change would mean when I switch to EP, the “Marked for Death” effect has a timer. Initially, I would take mini-crits but after the timer ended, I could still run with the EP without taking mini-crits.

Add the effect of all medi-guns cancelling the “Marked for Death” effect.

This change would solve soldier rollout problems while addressing valve’s concerns about the weapon.

Add the effect that all Health Packs can cancel the “Marked for Death” effect.

This would change soldier rollouts but it would not leave them broken. It would require the teams to adapt to different maps and change rollout locations. This change would also play into what the EP was intended for. If you are a soldier running away from the fight, you are likely running towards a health pack anyway.

Leave the effects as they are.
Have the mini-crit effect disappear after the soldier has taken initial damage, removing the chance of 2 or more attacks to the soldier causing a mini-crit.

If you are using he EP, you are likely already seriously hurt. Why the continuous crits? This change would allow soldiers to rollout the same. It would also allow for creative gameplay to try and "catch" a soldier at the right time on his rollout if he is careless.