Invite - Power Rankings

Coming into the halfway point of the season, we're seeing teams start to separate themselves. This is definitely the most competitive Invite season yet and I cannot wait for the playoffs!

1 - Froyotech (2-0, 5.4 Points)

It's Froyotech.

(+1) 2 - Cat Noises Forever (2-0, 4.7 Points)

Cat Noises has lagged behind for the past several seasons, never finishing better than third place despite being here since the beginning. This might be the year that changes, as they started with a dominating 2-0 win against Di Men on Upward before pulling a fantastic 3-round comeback against The Menn.

Cat Noises is a hungry team and their captain, Daffodil, is very passionate about wanting to do well. Is this the year they get to the Grand Finals? Only time will tell.

(+1) 3 - The Menn (1-1, 4.3 Points)

These are last season's Div-1 champions, plus a few good pickups. Acclaim, Shotaway and Rain are a deadly combo, but once the enemy team is able to figure out their game plan, The Menn struggle to adjust their own playstyle. As they continue this season against better and better teams, they must to learn to adapt to the situation as quickly as they can. Still, they've been very impressive this season and I'm excited to see their team develop as the season goes on.

(-2) 4 - Di Men and the Six Toes (1-1, 2.0 Points)

Di Men (Formerly known as Faint Gaming) were last season's Cinderella story. Expected to not even make playoffs, they instead dominated their way to a solid second place finish, even thrashing Velocity Esports 3-0, 3-0 in the semi-finals. However, they are off to a slow start this season. Their first round against Cat Noises was looking phenomenal as they ran the cart to the last point in only 4 minutes, but in the end it took them 8 more to push the cart over the final edge.

Di Men won a scrappy match last week over Pop Your Pipes, giving up two rounds. I have a lot of confidence in Di Men when they are playing smart and together, but it seems the team is more susceptible to tilting than others. I have them in 4th right now, but don't be surprised if they make a run back into the Grand Finals.

(+2) 5 - Heals on Everyone (1-1, 3.6 Points)

This was a team that was brought up from Div-1, but has already started to swing above their weight, winning convincingly over Chill Picos and taking a round off of Froyotech last week on Viaduct. Perfect and BLNKT stepped up big in the Froyotech match, and I'm looking forward to casting them in the future so that I can get a better perspective on their team.

(+1) 6 - Shroom Gang (2-0, 5.0 Points)

As last season's Div-1 runner-up, Shroom Gang were hesitant about joining Invite this season. They've done well so far, with a very, very convincing win over Hi-Chew Crew which knocked the Crew out of Invite and solid 4-2 win against Chill Picos.

Octa stepped up big in the first two games, but Chill Picos did well thanks to their spy and sniper going huge. They'll have to be careful in future games against those pick classes if they want to continue to be competitive in the Invite division. I'm curious to see where they will finish, and I would not be shocked if they finished in a solid Mid-Table spot.

(-2) 7 - Pop Your Pipes! (0-2, 1.0 Points)

This ranking is probably not fair to Pop Your Pipes. The difference between the bottom half of the teams is really hard to measure this early in the season. Despite losing their first game to The Menn, they performed well against Di Men on Viaduct.

I haven't seen enough of this team to get a strong opinion on them, but knowing their roster, I definitely think they're in the running for a strong finish.

8 - Chill Picos (0-2, 1.0 Points)

Chill Picos is a long-running team with origins from a solo-queue team which formed in the first season. 88 Fingers hadn't played competitive TF2 in a long time, but decided to jump into Prolander and has running this team ever since. They've finished 3rd place every previous season inside of Div-1. They definitely know what they're doing, they just need to be able to put it all together on match day.

I don't know where they'll finish, but they definitely have a chance at getting into the top-6 to get into the payouts of this division.