Introduction

Playoffs is upon us! Here is an article that details how the playoff structure is going to be, if you have not seen it already. The first week is going to be RazeTheWorld (formally Egfug) vs Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty. The winner of this match will play Heals On Everyone, and the winner of that match will play BM=BAE in the grand finals. Every team in playoffs is a very strong team, and it’ll make for some very interesting matches. But first, let’s look over the first game of playoffs: RazeTheWorld vs Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty.

RazeTheWorld:
AngryOfficer / Vipa / Duck / Pellovely / Spu / Shredder / KTqt / Reika / Manbug

Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty:
Rev / Fuego / Pyro Squirrel / Gong / Octa / Michael / Dreadnaught / TheS4rr / Vizie

This match will be casted HERE

Bans

RazeTheWorld bans pl_borneo
Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty bans cp_steel
Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty picks pl_swiftwater_final1
RazeTheWorld picks koth_ashville_rc1a
RazeTheWorld bans koth_product_rc9
Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty picks pl_upward

The match will be:
pl_swiftwater_final1
Koth_ashville_rc1a
Pl_upward (if needed)

First Map: Swiftwater

Pretzels were the higher seed, which allowed them two map picks, as opposed to RTW’s one. Pretzels really put focus on payload maps, which is something they’re confident in. As evident from [urlhttps://www.twitch.tv/videos/326223404?t=00h26m47s] this [/url] casting, Pretzels definitely is successful in their payload. RTW also had a slight blunder in their map picks- Shredder attempted to first ban Swiftwater, but banned borneo instead and tried to change it. This miscommunication in RTW’s first ban allowed Swiftwater to be first picked by Pretzels. RTW only played their week 4 upward match vs S9 (which they won), but they also showed success in cp_steel, another map that requires good coordination. Vipa (Soldier) has strong DM, and Pellovely (Demoman) has been completely dominant with DM as well. Pretzels main source of DM also comes from their Demoman, as Gong has been consistently one of the best Demo’s in Advanced. TheS4rr (Sniper) also gives Pretzels a large advantage, since he has been fairly unstoppable recently- he won the SvS on borneo vs Markers of BM=BAE, and had the 4th highest frags on the server in that match, with the top 2 being occupied by his Heavy and Soldier. Reika (Sniper) has been more consistent recently, but against TheS4rr, Reika is going to have a hard time. For the most part, though, these class matchups look very close, with neither team having any sort of advantage over one another. RTW intended to first ban this map, so clearly they have some sort of issue with playing it. Pretzels should be able to inch out a win over RTW.

Predicted Winner: Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty

1-0 Pretzels

Second Map: Ashville

A KOTH map is more dictated by DPM, and this is where RTW begins to take control. Gong does a lot of work for Pretzels, but Pellovely does just as much. RTW is playing the KOTH game- there is almost no team that they have to fear on a KOTH map. Pellovely and Gong may go even in DPM, but if there was one winner for the Demo v Demo, Pellovely is probably going to get more damage out than Gong. TheS4rr can’t do nearly as much work on Ashville, making one of Pretzels key players unable to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Vipa’s strong DM will really come in clutch for RTW, as Ashville is so supportive of aggressive flanks. Ashville plays to every one of RTW’s strengths, and leaves fairly little holes for Pretzels to gain a lead.

Predicted Winner: RazeTheWorld

1-1 Tied

Third Map: Upward

Hopefully, this series goes to a 3rd map. Both of these teams are really strong, so watching them play all three maps would hopefully make for some exciting gameplay. If this series is a 2-0, and Upward isn’t played, feel free to completely disregard this paragraph. Anyway, this is where things are going to come down to the wire. Upward was a matchup that Pretzels nearly lost, and almost losing to the Flow is a bad sign going into a playoff match vs a tougher opponent. While the Flow wasn’t a bad team, Pretzels are playing a completely different beast, and the history on Upward is not in their favor. Meanwhile, RTW can go in possibly with a fresh win on Ashville, only adding to their confidence. RTW has multiple standout players, with nearly all of them being within the best on their respective class in the division. Pretzels needs Octa to play well (his performance single handedly won their Upward official), and, as much as this pains me to write it, Vizielord popped off vs the Flow, and he may actually really need to do some carrying for Pretzels to come off with a win. Luckily for RTW, the other team is trusting Vizie to carry, so this is leaning towards a victory for RTW

Predicted Winner: RazeTheWorld

Overall

Predicted Winner: RazeTheWorld
Predicted Score: 2-1

Both of these teams are in top shape, but only one will move on to play Heals On Everyone. Hopefully, there is some great gameplay to come out of this matchup, and everyone can have a fun game of Team Fortress 2. Congrats again to the teams who made it to playoffs, and may the better team win!
Good luck to both RazeTheWorld and Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty.