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IM Playoff Week 2,5 Review & Playoffs Week 3 Predictions

RGL-Intermediate

   Moose In A Suit   - 11/12/2018

Introduction


Welcome back to another Intermediate match review and predictions. This week I finally bit the bullet and started to watch the matches. I was able to find all the matches except the first map of 4loko vs. Bedtime Stories. Both matches this Saturday were very close and I’m excited to delve into more detail on exactly what went right and what went wrong. Without any further ado, let’s get into the match reviews

Playoff Week 2.5 Match Reviews



Four Loko 14% ALC 400mg CAF vs. Bedtime Stories

Maps: swiftwater(2-1 Bedtime), lakeside(3-1 4loko), product(3-2 Bedtime)
Predicted: 2-0 Bedtime Stories
Result: 2-1 Bedtime Stories
Logs

Map 1: Swiftwater


Don’t have much to work off of other than logs here so these will be a little less detailed. Both team’s offenses were stronger than their defenses, not a single defensive time stood. As most tf2 matches the battle seemed to hinge on the demos and the snipers, the rounds that Bedtime stories won crit happens and Flashey outperformed their counterparts but when 4loko won cl4y and slappy choppy stood out. Overall, this map was a lot closer than expected but Bedtime Stories proved earned their victory

MVP: crit happens

Map 2: Lakeside


This was one of two Koth maps that had the same dynamic but ended in complete opposite results. This map was decided by the flanks. Both teams had players constantly behind the other team, but 4loko was able to come out on top pretty convincingly because they had Willy watching their flanks, top fragging with 40 frags and a 3.9 KA/D while his teammates like Protag were able to get behind and kill anybody that wasn’t with their team. It was very close between Protag and Willy on who deserved the MVP, they both were imperative to their victory but without Protag’s massive 7 med picks they wouldn’t have won that map. Listening in to 4loko’s comms there were many times that Somebody would walk into Bedtime Stories’ combo and deal 100 damage to Punny and Protag would have to bomb in to bail them out, if he didn’t get those picks as consistently, then they would have lost.

MVP: Protag

Map 3: Product


On Product 4loko completely changed their game plan. They started to play closer together and didn’t commit anyone to go behind. This put Bedtime Stories in the driver’s seat which ultimately led Bedtime Stories to victory, although it was close. The reason why it was a 3-2 is that 4loko had the right idea, they just couldn’t pull it all together when it mattered. They were exchanging rounds with Bedtime Stories but when it came to the tie-breaker the pressure got to their heads and they started playing less tight and the flankers were able to pick up more and more frags which made space for Bedtime Stories’ combo to walk into. Interestingly enough, one of the most aggressive players on Bedtime Stories was their sniper, Flashey who would jump up onto boxes or go onto 4loko’s grass in order to get an angle for a free pick and it worked out, 4loko couldn’t deal with it which led to Flashey getting 50 frags and 6 med picks, also winning the svs 9 to 6

MVP: Flashey


404 Players Not Found vs. ANTHRAX

Map:Lakeside(3-2 ANTHRAX), Swiftwater(2-1 ANTHRAX)
Predicted:
Result:
Logs

Map 1: Lakeside


This was the closest map of the two. Coming down to the wire on the last round, 404 was tantalizingly close to getting the single round they needed to win. This was the story of ANTHRAX having to adapt to the odd strategies of 404. 404 loved to hold in bathhouse, whenever they could, they rotated over. After ANTHRAX took the first round, they couldn’t figure out how to counter the bathhouse hold. It took them a half-time talk to figure out what they wanted to do. Out of half-time, they came back with a simple 2-0 taking their first map win.

MVP:Moist Master

Map 2: Swiftwater


This was map was much more straightforward. 404 was not able to deal with Bon Qui Qui which led to them stubbornly trying to push from the same place over and over again and getting mulched every single time. The first round, that 404 won, Moose was able to countersnipe effectively, winning the svs 8-5 but it went completely downhill from there. The next round Bon Qui Qui outsniped Moose 16-5, doubling the margin from the previous half. A mixture of Bon Qui Qui popping off and 404’s stubborn combo let ANTHRAX take the next two rounds rather easily.

MVP: Bon Qui Qui


Week 3 Match Predictions




Bedtime Stories vs. ANTHRAX

Maps:steel, upward, borneo

In this lower bracket round 3 match, whoever loses will be eliminated. Both teams coming off of a match this Saturday means they had less time to practice their maps for this match. Bedtime Stories had it worse, coming off of a 3 map long battle with 4loko where they really had to give it all, coming down to the last round, to win it, whereas ANTHRAX had a much simpler 2 map match. Both teams faced off in the regular season, with ANTHRAX winning over Bedtime Stories 2-1 on lakeside. But, with no Koth to be played tonight, the match will be very close. Bedtime Stories have been very strong historically on steel and are favored, but ANTHRAX has performed excellently on upward and should win that map leaving it to Borneo which is a relative unknown for both teams. Given its similarity to upward, I’m going to give the edge to ANTHRAX but I am excited to see if Bedtime Stories can upset that.

Prediction: 2-1 ANTHRAX


massive cranium esports vs. Arctic Monkeys

Maps:lakeside,upward,product


Arctic Monkeys face massive cranium in this Upper Bracket Semi Final match. This match looks to be very exciting as #1 Arctic Monkeys faces #2 massive cranium. Both teams rankings have fluctuated greatly this season, especially massive cranium, who I’m still having a hard time nailing down due to their inconsistent roster and their chaotic playstyle. This benefits massive cranium on the two Koth maps that are being played. Arctic Monkeys are going to need to crack the code and figure out what the weakness is in massive cranium, will they attempt to out-deathmatch them or try to out coordinate them? On the other hand, massive cranium has struggled tremendously on upward in the past, losing to 4loko in the regular season. This gives the advantage to Arctic Monkeys on upward. Losing to 404 in the regular season, it seems unlikely that Arctic Monkeys will find a way to beat massive cranium on lakeside, which leaves the last map, product. Arctic Monkeys dropped a round to Leo Fan Club on product but this is their biggest chance at upsetting massive cranium on their strong suit.
Prediction: 2-1 Arctic Monkeys



Power Rankings


1. Arctic Monkeys
2. massive cranium esports(+1)
3. ANTHRAX(+1)
4. Bedtime Stories(-2)

Once Again our numbers are diminishing, we lost 4loko and 404 this Saturday and we will lose either Bedtime Stories or ANTHRAX today. Coming into today’s match Bedtime Stories have dropped to last due to their extremely close match to Four Loko. They have been steadily declining from their regular season form. Other than that, goodbye and good luck to all of the teams tonight!