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Advanced Week 5 Predictions and Week 4 Review

RGL-Advanced

   pickelz   - 10/6/2018

Introduction


Lakeside is among the most popular koth maps, and it makes its return for week 5. Sniper is such a huge factor on this map, because of the flat surfaces and large structure of the map. The flanks of each team, especially their soldier’s, will need to be able to make space and keep pressure high. Lakeside is a map where coordination is more of a factor than other koth maps, which means that teams need a mix of DM and coordination to win the game.

Last week marked the last match for Seductive 9, leaving 2 spots open in Advanced. Tom Servo, Leader of S9, cited many players leaving for a multiple of reasons after things began falling apart. While this made many great players teamless, it also spelled uncertainty for Advanced when it came to team size.

Week 4 Review


BM=BAE defeats Heals On Everyone (2-0)

High stakes going into this match made for a pretty good match, and watching it play out live was really interesting. HoE started on a bad foot after BLNKT (Medic) dropped to BM (Demoman), and Lenny (HoE Sniper) was having a tough first few minutes, unable to find much. BM=BAE consistently had advantage in ubers, and constant player numbers due to Markers (Sniper) and Fallen (Spy) finding a lot of frags for the first half. Lizar (Demoman) was getting caught by Markers and Fallen many times, hurting HoE’s pushes. Capping 3 points in 6 minutes was an alright time, but capping last after many minutes gave HoE a 10:30 time. BM=BAE would easily defeat this time, giving them huge momentum into the second half. Khil (Soldier) would get a 9 killstreak and constantly find frags on BLNKT and holding back HoE. BM=BAE were on offense the second half, and capped in less than 6 minutes. Although Heals would actually come back and nearly match this time, they were unable to make the final last push to give them a round. BM=BAE gets a very strong win, and Ebsikl (Scout) would leave the roster shortly after the game.

MVP: Khil

Egfug defeats Seductive 9 (2-0)

After the first few weeks of rough scheduling, Egfug gets their first win of the season in a strong fashion. A rushed S9 roster already gave Egfug an advantage, and once the game started they weren’t having much of a problem beating S9. Vipa (Soldier) was constantly getting kills, and Pellovely (Demoman) was getting out a lot of damage- over 500 DPM across the 2 halves. Sand and Lunean (Medic / Spy) switched after the first half, resulting in a bit of strange logs, but overall S9 was having a hard time finding any sort of momentum as Egfug only gained ground and frags. Spu (Heavy) and Vipa top fragged the server, with 40 and 42 frags, respectively. Durr on Sniper was the top S9 player with 31, but Reika (Sniper) got 33. After this match, S9 disbanded, leaving the rest of the division unsure of what is to come to the round robin.

MVP: Vipa

Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty defeats the Flow (2-1)

A big nail biter, Blue99 was looking to prove that the Flow were a force not to be tested. Pretzels, however, came out on top after a very close 3rd round nearly decided the game. Gong (Demoman) once again stepped up for Pretzels, with 565 DPM and 65 frags. TheS4rr (Sniper) also got 60 frags, with 5 of them being medic’s. Vizielord (Spy), the most slept on player in the entire galaxy, managed to top frag the server, with 66 kills, with over 16 Sniper frags. Rev (Sniper) was a last minute addition to the FL roster, after Zanda stepped down from the starting position. Changing snipers against TheS4rr is a dangerous move, but Rev nearly matched S4rr’s 60 frags, with 57 of his own, and 360 DPM compared to S4rr’s 350. Wxy (Demoman) got an impressive 513 DPM, but the Flow were unable to capitalize off his damage. Most of the damage was relatively even, with Pretzels only getting a few thousand DPM more than the Flow. Despite the Flow taking the loss, it was a very close game and definitely reminds team that they are not an easy team to beat.

MVP: Gong (Honorable mention: Vizielord)

Schedule


Black Trash Bags vs BM=BAE
Egfug vs the Flow
Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty and Heals On Everyone receive a BYE week

Match of the Week: Black Trash Bags vs BM=BAE

BAE: Rebel / Khil / Pnut / BM / Gert / Sigafoo / Tacos / Markers / Fallen
33gal: VeLT / DOOMBRINGER_ / Plurl / Ipaka / Bonko / Cas / FunnyBunny / Aeon / Cloud

After their Week 4 victory on upward, BM=BAE remains the only team in advanced still undefeated, at 4-0. While they had every reason to be confident before, being the current #1 team only adds onto the confidence and momentum BM=BAE has entering their 5th match. Black Trash Bags, on the other hand, have had a shaky roster change up: Jebus, their main spy, has had to step down (specifically because his mother “ree’d” at him, saying he cant play anymore). With this change, Cloud switches to his previous main Spy, and Cas joins as Engineer. Although they change their roster right before their toughest match yet, 33gal still carries a lot of potential to win rounds. Ipaka (Demoman) is consistently fantastic in his DPM, and especially on a koth map, 33gal can really work of Ipaka’s damage. Velt and Doombringer (33gal Scout / Soldier) are also a very strong flank on koth maps in particular, meaning that Rebel and Khil (BAE Scout / Soldier) might not be able to get the room that they typically can. Markers (Sniper) is a real strength for BAE, however: Lakeside is a map that rewards Snipers, and Markers can do so much work for his team. BM (Demoman) has also been able to do a lot of damage, and should be able to keep up with Ipaka. After Monday’s strong performance, BM=BAE feels like the best team in advanced right now, and they should be able to get a win, but not with Black Trash Bags putting up a strong fight

Predicted Winner: BM=BAE
Predicted Score: 4-2
Important Players: Markers, BM (BAE); Ipaka, DOOMBRINGER_ (33gal)

Egfug vs the Flow


Nucket / Bark / Pyrrhus / Wxy / Blue99 / Kumora / ZoomxZe / rev / Goldin
AngryOfficer / Vipa / Duck / Pellovely / Spu / Shredder / KTqt / Reika / Manbug

Egfug’s first win was on a payload map, but this roster looks equally equip for koth maps. Pellovely (Demoman) has such strong pipe aim that he doesn’t even need stickies to match the DPM of other Demo’s in the division, instead opting to run shield. While this may seem unfavorable, his DPM is always matching the damage of other Demo’s, or even exceeding their damage. Vipa (Soldier) also has very strong DM skills, and a soldier that can cause massive damage and chaos is supported by Lakeside, just because of the strong spam capabilities and bombing potential. Reika (Sniper) has also been performing very well recently, and sniping on Lakeside is so important. The Flow, on the other hand, also have a strong flank- Nucket and Bark (Scout / Soldier) are consistently among the best on their team, but they really have their work cut out for them against the flank of Egfug. Wxy (Demoman) does have strong DM capabilities, but because of Pellovely’s shield, he takes less damage from explosives. Egfug’s roster has more experience, with many of them having strong runs in Platinum, compared to Flow’s mostly silver experience, giving Egfug a big advantage. While a round or 2 is in reach, Egfug looks like they out-class FL in most cases.

Predicted Winner: Egfug
Predicted Score: 4-1
Important Players: Pellovely, Vipa (Egfug); Nucket, Wxy (FL)

Updates with BYE weeks


Seductive 9 has passed away, waiting until spooky season to do so. The ghost of the dead team leaves Advanced in a strange position: there are 2 BYE weeks. Both Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty and Heals On Everyone don’t have an opponent this week, giving both of them free wins (HoE and Pretzels have already played, and won’t be playing again under round robin).