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Playoff Preview Spectacular - First Round

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  • Playoff Preview Spectacular - First Round

    Well here we are, the first week of the playoffs. It's been a pretty quick regular season, but we've got a decent feel for all the teams now at this point. Revenge and Internet Predators earned a bye, so they won't be mentioned again for this week.

    Here's how the
    Revenge_________
    4)WOOT________
    |______
    5)Top5Squad____|

    3)Without Ease__
    |______
    6)Balls Deep/Ruby|
    Internet Predators__


    On to the previews of this week's matches.

    TWDT-D

    WOOT vs. Top5Squad
    Both teams come in 3-4 in warbirds, two of the lower teams in the league. Both had great potential, but have varied from expecatations for different reasons.

    WOOT has had trouble showing an elite line in a week. Most of their better players have played, but just never in the same game. Racka, Creature, Ease, Confluence, Weaver, and PureOwnage is a decent top 6. One of the problems with WOOT's wb squad is that they do not have very much depth, which was exposed by Weaver, Creature, and Racka's spotty attendance. Add and Broly are the only other decent wbs that have played this year. High Templar too, but he has struggled in the games he has played.

    On the other hand, Top5Squad has had very good attendance for the most part, but hasn't been able to put it all together. They had a bit of schedule misfortune (they actually played PUMA in the beginning when they had decent wbs who showed up), but for the most part just have not clicked as a unit. I don't know if some of their players have been overrated or what, but a lineup of Apok, Chuckle, Geio, Scoop, Jones with decent depth added by Lockdown, jaa, and no <3 should be able to contend for the title. Unfortunately, Geio has under-performed, Apok has been inconsistent (either carrying or struggling), Jones only had one decent game, and Chuckle/Scoop only played half the season combined.

    WOOT won the only matchup back in Week 2. This was the bizarre h0m0 and poongoon pure javs playing wb week, but other than that both teams showed good lines. Ease carried with a good support from Creature and big sub from PUNK rock. So in the end, I'd say it comes down to whether or not WOOT can show a decent line again. If so, they should be the favorite based on the prior matchup, but otherwise Top5Squad will be able to take it in their best league.

    Without Ease vs. Balls Deep/Ruby
    Without Ease comes in as the leader of the warbird division, but losers of the last two straight weeks. It's hard to say they are the favorites, since they are probably the most surprising team (maybe out of all 3 leagues) and are entering on a down note. Besides Caos and Yakuza, their other top players have been a surprise (or at least the extent to which they have performed): kthx, siaxis, and weak. Might has turned in average performances, but Obi and killah have not done well. Without Ease has beaten both Ruby and Balls Deep, so they should be able to move on in this round.

    More to come when I get un-lazy.
    When I stab you, you stay stabbed.

    T0MA> play like a man

  • #2
    TWDT-J

    Top5Squad vs. WOOT

    Top5Squad has had a rough year in javelin. After the draft and free agency, it looked like they had a real shot to win this division, however after a slow start, Jaa traded away poongoon and evasive in order to focus on other leagues. This has left their jav squad very depleted and not quite up to snuff, and finished 2-5 on the year. However, they did win their last game of the year so that is some momentum into the playoffs. Locket, hunt, children, shan, and paradise are their most productive members, with ro, zyclon, and apok providing support.

    WOOT comes in heading the opposite direction, losing their last game to Revenge in a blowout (although not with an optimal lineup in). However, they finished 5-2 on the year, a reversal of Top5Squad's rec. They have had great success despite playing 18 different players in jav, a huge number. Ease, H0M0, Creature, flared, eelam, confluence, and kawrae all put up a positive average with at least 2 games played, and jrahen put up a +9 in his one game. If they can make a lineup of 5 out of those 8, they should have little trouble against Top5Squad.

    In the only match they played this year back in week 2, WOOT won fairly easily, and you'd be crazy not to say they should win this game as well.

    Without Ease vs. Balls Deep/Ruby

    Without Ease on the year is 3-4 in javelin. One would have to think that if Megaman89 played in more games, they'd have a much better record though, since he went 11-3 last week before lagging out in his only appearance of the year. Many of Without Ease's players have inconsistent records in javelin this year, going very positive and very negative from game to game. Raples, Struck, Hypocrit, and Golden_Aim all fall into that mix. I.d., kid, and freddie were all used frequently as well but did not have much success.

    Balls Deep forfeited to Without Ease, but Ruby beat Without Ease fairly easily in the only matchup between them.

    TWDT-B

    WOOT vs. Top5Squad

    WOOT comes in at 3-4 on the year, with one win coming courtesy of a forfeit. They rely greatly on the play of Brookus in terr. At times he shows flashes of former greatness, and that will be key to making a deep run in this league. They have decent sharks and depth in PureOwnage and snugz/eelam/JeBu/Confluence. Special ship is usually jav with Da1andonly or Confluence, and their spiders corp are average; not outstanding but decent.

    Top5Squad also comes in at 3-4, but courtesy of 2 forfeits. However, they did beat WOOT in the head-to-head matchup between these two teams. Zizzo mans the terrier usually for Top5, with nokkonen/zyclon/oder/olivier/apolalypse wow!(but hasn't shown in a while)/ro in shark. Similar to WOOT, Top5Squad's spider corp is serviceable but not spectacular. Chuckle usually takes the special ship with warbird or lancaster, and can be very hit or miss.

    During the head-to-head matchup between these two teams, Menelvagor had his bad game before mouthing off to creature. WOOT definitely did not show its best effort, and chuckle had a monstrous 13 terrier kills for Top5Squad. It should be a pretty even re-match, assuming both can show decent lineups. However, I wouldn't bet on either beating Revenge next round.

    Without Ease vs. Ruby/Balls Deep

    Without Ease comes in at 4-3 on the year, and really coming on strong. Pure_Luck, Raples, and Sauro handle the terring depending on the week (and I'm not sure who is on the top of the depth chart to be honest). With sharking duties they have quite a platoon with golden_aim/wbm/cranium/hypocrit/freddie/might all playing within the last few weeks. They have been at their best when megaman89 is playing special ship javelin. Their spider corps is above average and can be pretty good.
    Last edited by Black Mage; 08-16-2009, 04:15 AM. Reason: Added javs
    When I stab you, you stay stabbed.

    T0MA> play like a man

    Comment


    • #3
      Its not quite as spectacular as I would have hoped for...but i couldn't bring myself to do profiles on both Ruby and Balls Deep so half the games are shells of what they could be. Anyways, enjoy, and good luck today WOOT, Top5Squad, Without Ease, and Balls Deep/Ruby.
      When I stab you, you stay stabbed.

      T0MA> play like a man

      Comment


      • #4
        blackmage, I just wanna say I appreciate all the stuff you have been doing for TWDT.. the Hot or Nots, the speculation on playoffs... etc...

        I mean even if I don't agree with everything, it is always a good read... so thanks man I'm sure everyone else appreciates it too... even if we don't always say it! I hope you can do some of it for TWL too if you ever find the time... you have made some good posts

        oh, and I realize its not easy stuff to be so dedicated every week, also having to watch 4 games at a time... I remember watching some during TWL to help wark out so he didn't have to skip back and forth for the Hot or Nots, and it isn't easy doing a summary on a single game alone... so good work man
        RaCka> imagine standing out as a retard on subspace
        RaCka> mad impressive

        Comment


        • #5
          Thanks a lot blackmage, I haven't watched any matches, nor knew how the teams were drawn up, but this got me interested in watching some of the playoff battles. I hope others join me today.

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