Week 2 rankings here
Week 3 rankings here
Turd Noises
Scout:Blues
Scout:yimi
Roamer:Rekuso
Pocket:Deathy
Demo:mustardoverload
Medic:Skye
If there was ever a season for mustard to break his curse of never winning an IM playoff match it’s this one. Assembling a scary collection of Top IM and Mid Invite talent this team not making finals would be a surprise. Them making it with mustard may be another story altogether, as the last time mustard assembled a roster this strong he was cut from the team in the 4th week after they went 7-0. On paper this team has the best medic, best scout combo, and best soldiers and should roll over all but the very best teams in IM with ease.
Players to Watch Everyone but mustard
The weak link(s): Mustard
mae and the meyymeyys
Scout:vari
Scout:ex
Roamer:glider
Pocket:froot
Demo:mae
Medic:meyy
Froot, ex, and mae are back after the failed gay weaboo experiment that was dog2. They are joined by Vari, who will be making his first appearance on a team actually expected to do well. He’s been a consistent fragger in pugs and mid IM but playing as part of a team with good players requires an entirely different mindset than carrying bad ones. Meyy is their choice for medic, who along with making this team a nightmare for potential casters will also be one of the best medics in IM this season. Finally is glider on roamer, another player with a history on decent IM playoff teams. This team is mostly strong all around, if there is anything that will stop them it’s weaboo overload or Vari not being able to fit into his role, but if he does expect him to be one of the best scouts in the division.
Players to Watch Vari, ex, mae
The weak link(s): Vari
dunheon defenders
Scout:demoted
Scout:catface
Roamer:megaboy
Pocket:Kryptonite
Demo:mc
Medic:exile
On paper this team looks a step below turd noises and meyymeyy’s, but they seem very dedicated to improving and I think they will turn heads this season. Mc being removed from his normal hangout of pug retards can only be good for him, demoted has long been insane at every class, and catface has been making quite a name for himself on scout. Megaboy and Kryptonite are two newcomers to IM, but I haven’t heard anything but good things about them. Exile rounds out the roster, and even though he has only played demoman previously, he has a solid head on his shoulders and should do fine.
Players to watch demoted, Kryptonite
The weak link(s): mc, exile
moon
Scout:dflame
Scout:Ketih
Roamer:Dagger
Pocket:KTB
Demo:vaati
Medic:xattuu
Considering they are taking the core of an invite roster into IM, some people may expect this team to do better than I have them ranked, but there are some major red flags in this roster. I think people may tend to overrate Keith, while he is a solid scout I see him struggling against some of the top IM scouts this season, though I would love for him to prove me wrong. In a similar vein, I think dagger is the weakest roamer on the list so far, while he’s been around forever he seems to have trouble breaking pas an IM skill level. That’s not to say this roster is weak, I think vaati was by far the most improved demo last season and I see him being the only person contesting Mae for the title of best demo in IM this season. I also think dflame may be a bit underrated; if he can get comfortable in a pocket scout role he’s capable of putting up some crazy numbers. That may be tough, though, as KTB has a reputation for being a bit of a heal vacuum and xattu has a tendency to make some mind boggling mistakes on medic.
Players to watch: vaati, dflame
The weak link(s): xattuu. Dagger
Paradise Cafe
Scout:Stochastic
Scout:Spamfest
Roamer:SpaceCadet/kairu/yosh
Pocket:june
Demo:Max
Medic:Radeon
The Sparkle Gang is back again this season, maintaining June, Spamfest, Stochastic, and Max from last season. They will be moving Stochastic back to scout and adding Radeon on medic, while they are still continuing tryouts for their roamer spot. This team’s biggest advantage has to be cohesion, as they have lost their DM carri in reimu. While there isn’t a standout player on this team, I do think their success will hinge on Stochastic being able to reach the peak he hit in S16 and has seemed to elude him ever since; also very important will be june’s ability to step into the pocket role she has never seemed fully confident on. Even if all of that happens, a drought of top IM roamer talent is going to leave a big weak spot on their roster unless a miracle happens.
Players to watch Spamfest, Max
The weak link(s): june, roamer
Waddle R Us
Scout:RockMonkey
Scout:Link_1012
Roamer:phorofor
Pocket:cloudmaker
Demo:safrix
Medic:tiptoes
Featuring names familiar to anyone who’s paid attention to IM on heavy classes and some more unknown names on scout, this roster is an interesting mashup of old and new. Phorofor will bring his knowledge of high level game play to the team, and while roamer may not be the best spot to do it from marmadukeGRYLLS proved last season that it’s entirely possible. Safrix, who played a few matches in invite and won none of them last season is still a very strong demo, and cloudmaker always seems to do well regardless of who he’s playing with or what role he’s on. RockMonkey and Link_1012 are both new to IM, but with the talent they’ve attracted there must be something special about them. I’ll remain skeptical of them until I see a few solid performances against proven players. Tiptoes has been around for a while, and this season will be a good test to see what he’s made of.
Players to watch: Phorofor, Cloudmaker, Safrix
The weak link(GET IT?)s RockMonkey, Link_1012
Egg Salad Dressing
Scout:Thaigrr
Scout:bunnymonster
Roamer:aim
Pocket:blew
Demo:sandblast??
Medic:lee
First things first: This team has a lot of individual talent. Whether or not they can use it is another story entirely. Thaigrr, an EU soldier will be making his North American debut, as well as his scout debut (as far as I’m aware). He’s been putting up impressive stats in pugs, but they may not mean much as even if this team does scrim it’s unlikely he’ll be willing to stay up until 5 AM every night to play TF2. bunny is another player who’s always seemed to do well in pugs but has had trouble adapting to a team setting, but look for him to drop some crazy plays on both scout and sniper. Aim, though he has played roamer in invite, has never been a standout player on the class, and it’s hard to see him putting in much effort this team. Blew also has not played in quite a while and a lack of scrims could mean he’s not even in form until the season is coming to a close. I believe sandblast is on demo for this team, which makes him the 2nd pug lord scout on this team. What happens when a pug main scout is put on demo in IM? I’m not sure but I don’t think it’s pretty. Lee rounds out the roster on medic, and having never played the class outside of open I see him having a rough time. This team honestly has trainwreck written all over it, but their individual skill could allow them to take matches off the teams above them. At the very least it puts them solidly above the rest of the pack
Players to watch: Thaigrr, aim, bunnymonster
The weak link(s): Sandblast, lee