Playoff Semi-finals Preview

[duel pasta]

I just now read your reminder lol

good hting I didn't forget!!!

[Kawrae]

It's always entertaining to read predictions, good or bad. These are actually pretty accurate! Hope you're doing some of these predictions and HoNs in TWL too!

[Black Mage]

Glad you played Eelam.

[M_M God]

Good read BM, thanks again :turned:

[Draft]

gotcha back for hot or not once i find someone

[Salubrious]

TWDT-B
Terrier- Jamal/Salu/Mikkiz

Yes, finally someone recognizes my awesome terring powers!!

[the_paul]

Good read, thanks for doing this BM.

(And no one will blame you for simply ignoring eelam.)

[I.d.i.o.t.]

We should be playing basing this weekend. Cough cough Brokenfist cough cough.

[kthx]

I hardly need a warmup, i am the best twld columnist ever in tw. But I will try, if nothing else I will cover the game I can and hope someone does the other.

[Black Mage]

I bet you put me as sub so you could put me in dishonobrable mention again :P

But gj as usual.

I put you as sub because I mentioned everyone who played at least 2 games and you played 3 (and also because I can't WAIT for I.D. to sub you in and for you to go 1-6...sometimes dreams do come true. :P)

[freddie]

I bet you put me as sub so you could put me in dishonobrable mention again :P

But gj as usual.

[Black Mage]

u know absolutely nothing about basing if you dont have me in the basing lineup ROFLMAOO jesus christ go learn something about the zone.

Considering you've played in 1/8 basing games for WOOT this year (and 3/8 javelin matches), why did they not put you in every week you were around to javelin in base? Especially last week in the playoffs? Either THEY don't know anything about basing, or you are unreliable.

I based (pun intended) my "expected" starting lineups off of past starting lineups, with an emphasis on recent lineups, not on an ideal lineup from looking at the roster. Some of the other spiders I've said might not show up have at least played 2 or 3 games this year in base, and I didn't include people like Spawnisen on WOOT's javelin line at all because he has not played a game all year.

I don't see you bragging about a TWLB ring in your sig, and I'm not even going to bother to edit the original post to include you as an option. So quit trolling and show up this week and prove me wrong.

[tragiK]

u know absolutely nothing about basing if you dont have me in the basing lineup ROFLMAOO jesus christ go learn something about the zone.

and you've showed up for how many games this season?

[eelam <tw>]

re

u know absolutely nothing about basing if you dont have me in the basing lineup ROFLMAOO jesus christ go learn something about the zone.

[Black Mage]

TWDT-B

*caveat* Basing is my least knowledgeable league and I often don't know, for example, which spiders are better than others (and I haven't compiled stats for them).

Revenge vs. WOOT

Revenge comes into this semi-finals game with 2 losses and a bye in the last 3 weeks. Before that they had won 5 in a row (well..4 besides the PUMA forfeit). WOOT has won a few in a row, but not against the best competition. However, they did so in fairly impressive fashion last week in the first round. These two teams met in Week 1 (we haven't had a matchup of teams not in the first or last week of the regular season yet) and was the closest basing match of the season time-wise. WOOT has been very inconsistent in basing this year, but I think they will do better now without the 2-league rule.

WOOT expected starting lineup:
Terrier- Brookus/Kawrae/JeBu
Sharks- PureOwnage, cremation/snugz/Jrahen/Confluence
Special- Confluence/Da1andonly (Jav)
Spiders- Kawrae, Mikes, Ease, Jrahen/Redlights/Server/Arobas+/PUNK rock/Hero

Kawrae showing up the last few weeks has really helped WOOT's basing squad, doing a litlte bit of everything and adding expertise. PureOwnage provides good sharking and they have a few other decent options there. Confluence has the proper lag to be a base jav, and Brookus was solid last week. Ease gets to spider in the playoffs, giving another big boost to their line.

Revenge expected starting lineup:
Terrier- Burnt
Sharks- Dwopple, Jeenyuss/Hercules/royst/cripple/vys
Special- Vys (wb)/Necromotic (jav)
Spiders- Cripple, Singer, Kill, Acidbomber/Spaceship/Ara/Zung/Royst

I placed Zung and Royst farther down the Spider depth chart because I do not know if they will show up. Also, it is easy to tie Revenge's struggles to the lack of stable sharking the last few weeks, as Dwopple and Jeenyuss have not been there. Burnt has been very solid all year (and probably in my opinion one of the top 5 basers this season...but again, I don't know shit about basing). Vys and Necromotic are probably the two of the best at their respective special ships.

I think it comes down to this: If Revenge can get their best lineup to show up, they should win fairly easily. This is the only league Revenge has trouble with attendance, and if they struggle on Sunday, WOOT has been playing well enough to steal this one from them, and all of WOOT's key players have been showing up consistently in basing.

Ruby vs. Internet Predators

In the last game, we finally get a game not a rematch from Week 1 or Week 7. Good old Week 5, when Men were Men and Women knew their place. Internet Predators won by around 10 minutes in that match, and have only lost once...to a very good (and unfortunately missed the playoffs) Balls Deep basing team. Ruby has had a very roller-coastery ride, but they won a good game last week to advance, and have beaten Revenge also during the year, so don't count them out of this match before it starts.

Ruby's expected starting lineup:
Terrier- Draft
Sharks- a2m, duel pasta/unabled
Special- Jethro Tull (wb)/ dald(jav)
Spiders- Shayde, Suede, Anidalife, Stayon/Valcrist/Dald/sCHOPe/Wheen

Key to Ruby's success is a solid game from Draft and the holy lag of Jethro Tull causing massive devastation and confusion, sniping repping sharks and terriers alike. Stayon has not been around the last few weeks, but he will need to be present and under the lag limits for Ruby to have a good shot against Internet Predators. In addition, besides Unabled, they do not have very much depth at shark, so a2m and duel pasta will need to be around. THIS IS ME REMINDING DUEL PASTA YOU HAVE A GAME ON SUNDAY AT 4PM EST.

Internet Predators expected starting lineup:
Terrier- Jamal/Salu/Mikkiz
Sharks- Downfall, miDoeNT/ffe/Rasaq
Special- M_M God (jav)
Spiders- Spikey, Dead_Rain, Hellkite, Shadowmere/Jamal/ffe/FieryFire/Spezza <TW>/Salu

The key to Internet Predators' lineup is versatility; Many of them have played different positions this year successfully. You don't have to look any farther than Jamal to see this, as he is both a world-class terrier and spider. I'm sure is a great base jav and shark too, if he got the chance. Captain Dead_Rain is also very versatile. Downfall has been a very solid shark all season that anchors down that position. I don't even know who plays special ship when M_M God isn't around, so that might be the main weakness of the line. FieryFire hasn't been around for a while, but he'd probably start in Spider if he showed up.

All in all, it would be surprising if Internet Predators did not win this whole league, so they should be able to take down Ruby; No matter how frisky they are. I'd predict something similar to the Week 5 matchup, a 5-10 minute victory for Internet Predators.