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TWLD having 12 teams makes almost as much work as all 3 leagues for TWDT, so I will probably only do previews for LD (maybe as things become clearer and i watch more of the other leagues this year I can work something out for the playoffs or end of regular season).
Overall (with one exception), this should be a superbly exciting week in LD. The schedule has matched up fairly even teams against each other, with Thunder vs. Sage the only clear mismatch (but nothing is set in stone this early in the season). Dice vs. Rapid, Mad vs. Quicksand, and Fatal vs. Epidemic should all have very real playoff ramifications on both sides already in week 1 (and if Thunder makes it, one of those teams will not make the playoffs). Enough intro though, on to the preview and my picks:
(Disclaimer: Predicted lines are my best guess of who will start, not who I think should start. Week 1 is the hardest week to predict starters for, so cut me some slack on it, and whichever team Raspi joins will get an extra bump not reflected in my predictions.)
dice vs. Rapid
I’m not sure why, but dicE has recently experienced an exodus of quality warbirds. I don’t know if this is permanent or why it happened (I’m guessing something to do with Creature), but the recent losses of Raspi, Vys, Creature, Skepsis and (although he was on briefly) Mega Newbie has to hurt dicE’s chances. Their warbird lineup now looks like a jav/spider line. Rapid, however, benefitted from these departures by scooping up Creature and Mega Newbie. Now those are excellent lagddittions. Rapid now looks good to make the semi-finals.
dicE’s line- Jamal, Caos, Jack, paska, megaman89
dicE’s subs- FieryFire, Smurf, Shayde
Ineligible- Elven, Cape, Annul
Rapid’s line- Creature, Mega Newbie, Baron Munchhausen (lag permitting), Sphinktor, Saetep
Rapid’s subs- Ns, Props, Vain, Poseidon, Tanzu
The pick: Rapid 50 – 40 dicE (assuming Baron plays)
Thunder vs. Sage
This one is pretty self-evident. Sage has few warbirds of TWL quality, and Thunder has a handful of world-quality ‘birds. Thunder is definitely a finals contender at this point in time.
Thunder’s line- Ease, Burnt, B4sERmaN94_X, Reaver, Chuckle
Thunder’s subs- Vitja, Misled, CrimsonX, Yakuza, killgergt1, Obi
Ineligible- monkee, Amputate
Sage’s line- Marnix, Kawrae, Zizu, Spikey, Ground Zero
Sage’s subs- Raha, NL>Trigger, Vergilius, Kuukenen
Ineligible- Dumbrit!, Slaughter
The pick- Thunder 50-30 Sage
Shinobi vs. Wolf
I still think that Shinobi has a chance to be a mid-tier team, but they looked poor in the preseason, losing both games badly. Alone that is meaningless, but combine that with the fact that they barely qualified and I start to wonder. However, they did just pick up a few decent wbs (who are ineligible this week). Wolf also lost both pre-season games (against decent competition), but was at least competitive in one. They also just picked up a solid talent in Scottish.
Shinobi’s line- Hercules, beam, Cap, Aerin, Quartz
Shinobi’s subs- Psychic(?), Azazel, vt, Dynasty, Demonic, Austin, Refer, Nikolai,
Ineligible- Vue, Vt, Guero, valve
Wolf’s line- Paky Dude, Rasaq, Scottish, Rekall, golden duck
Wolf’s subs- Cres, Product, excaliburx20, Flew, Esther, Ariana
Ineligible- Bubonic
The pick- Shinobi 50-48Wolf
Fatal vs. Epidemic
Fatal obviously cannot be pleased with its loss to Warpath last week in the pre-season, but I won’t pretend it really matters in the end (they had at most 3 starters in). In my predictions, I thought that Fatal was on the fringe for the playoffs, which makes this game, a winnable game against a good opponent (even this early in the year), important. The pre-season match did exploit one weakness of Fatal, lack of depth. Epidemic split the pre-season against decent squads, but they still have lingering questions about how much their heart is in competing. For those reasons, this is one of the most intriguing games of the week.
Fatal’s line-Terian, Jones, DecK, Spaceship, Lockdown
Fatal’s subs- Lockdown, Foreign, Medic
Ineligible- Riverside.
Epidemic’s line- Delectable, Deluge, Mythril, Pascone, War
Epidemic’s subs- Sirius, Ison, bike, death row (last two starting over War if active), Sunny D
Ineligible- JPMissy
The pick- Epidemic 50 – 40 Fatal
Warpath vs. Serenity
We had a pretty good showing in pre-season week #2 (one of the few true by ladder upsets in the pre-season), and our teaming was very solid, so I think we can carry that momentum forward. Serenity hasn’t taken a nose-dive on the ladder following qualification, but they have lost a few of their better players. Both squads will want this win to prove they can be competitive and start a push to try to make the playoffs.
Serenity’s line- Burg, Jaa, Deliver, Oops, Amneisa
Subs- Drastwing, cipher burn, Recruit (?), Global
Ineligible- MITB
Warpath’s line- Classified
The pick: Abstain (but I think Warpath will win)
Mad vs. Quicksand
Game of the Week
It’s an early put up or shut-up contest for Quicksand. Both of these teams swept the pre-season and finished in the top 4 on the TWD ladder. Since each team is only being played once this season, this could be a big match for any possible head-to-head tiebreakers with regards to playoff seeding. Mad got a coup by picking up Vys (from his momentary stop at Quicksand no less) and Skepsis, and have really solidified their line since qualifying. Their bench could make the TWL semi-finals at this point. Quicksand has had the pretty much same core for a while now, so they can be pegged pretty easily. Mad should have players with the accuracy and experience to deal with Quicksand’s rush, but in a one-game format Quicksand is capable of losing to Sage or beating anybody.
Mad’s line- Apok, Blood, Deez Nuts, Scoop, Stylez
Mad’s subs- Unabled, Royce, Tohn, Weaver
Ineligible- Vys, Skepsis
Quicksand’s line- Racka, Izor, Strong, Kthx, Weak
Quicksand’s subs- Kyou, Kid Kaos, Exalt, SwimKid, Valholy, Weak
Ineligible- a2m, Regen, Atwa
The pick- Mad 50-42 Quicksand
Overall (with one exception), this should be a superbly exciting week in LD. The schedule has matched up fairly even teams against each other, with Thunder vs. Sage the only clear mismatch (but nothing is set in stone this early in the season). Dice vs. Rapid, Mad vs. Quicksand, and Fatal vs. Epidemic should all have very real playoff ramifications on both sides already in week 1 (and if Thunder makes it, one of those teams will not make the playoffs). Enough intro though, on to the preview and my picks:
(Disclaimer: Predicted lines are my best guess of who will start, not who I think should start. Week 1 is the hardest week to predict starters for, so cut me some slack on it, and whichever team Raspi joins will get an extra bump not reflected in my predictions.)
dice vs. Rapid
I’m not sure why, but dicE has recently experienced an exodus of quality warbirds. I don’t know if this is permanent or why it happened (I’m guessing something to do with Creature), but the recent losses of Raspi, Vys, Creature, Skepsis and (although he was on briefly) Mega Newbie has to hurt dicE’s chances. Their warbird lineup now looks like a jav/spider line. Rapid, however, benefitted from these departures by scooping up Creature and Mega Newbie. Now those are excellent lagddittions. Rapid now looks good to make the semi-finals.
dicE’s line- Jamal, Caos, Jack, paska, megaman89
dicE’s subs- FieryFire, Smurf, Shayde
Ineligible- Elven, Cape, Annul
Rapid’s line- Creature, Mega Newbie, Baron Munchhausen (lag permitting), Sphinktor, Saetep
Rapid’s subs- Ns, Props, Vain, Poseidon, Tanzu
The pick: Rapid 50 – 40 dicE (assuming Baron plays)
Thunder vs. Sage
This one is pretty self-evident. Sage has few warbirds of TWL quality, and Thunder has a handful of world-quality ‘birds. Thunder is definitely a finals contender at this point in time.
Thunder’s line- Ease, Burnt, B4sERmaN94_X, Reaver, Chuckle
Thunder’s subs- Vitja, Misled, CrimsonX, Yakuza, killgergt1, Obi
Ineligible- monkee, Amputate
Sage’s line- Marnix, Kawrae, Zizu, Spikey, Ground Zero
Sage’s subs- Raha, NL>Trigger, Vergilius, Kuukenen
Ineligible- Dumbrit!, Slaughter
The pick- Thunder 50-30 Sage
Shinobi vs. Wolf
I still think that Shinobi has a chance to be a mid-tier team, but they looked poor in the preseason, losing both games badly. Alone that is meaningless, but combine that with the fact that they barely qualified and I start to wonder. However, they did just pick up a few decent wbs (who are ineligible this week). Wolf also lost both pre-season games (against decent competition), but was at least competitive in one. They also just picked up a solid talent in Scottish.
Shinobi’s line- Hercules, beam, Cap, Aerin, Quartz
Shinobi’s subs- Psychic(?), Azazel, vt, Dynasty, Demonic, Austin, Refer, Nikolai,
Ineligible- Vue, Vt, Guero, valve
Wolf’s line- Paky Dude, Rasaq, Scottish, Rekall, golden duck
Wolf’s subs- Cres, Product, excaliburx20, Flew, Esther, Ariana
Ineligible- Bubonic
The pick- Shinobi 50-48Wolf
Fatal vs. Epidemic
Fatal obviously cannot be pleased with its loss to Warpath last week in the pre-season, but I won’t pretend it really matters in the end (they had at most 3 starters in). In my predictions, I thought that Fatal was on the fringe for the playoffs, which makes this game, a winnable game against a good opponent (even this early in the year), important. The pre-season match did exploit one weakness of Fatal, lack of depth. Epidemic split the pre-season against decent squads, but they still have lingering questions about how much their heart is in competing. For those reasons, this is one of the most intriguing games of the week.
Fatal’s line-Terian, Jones, DecK, Spaceship, Lockdown
Fatal’s subs- Lockdown, Foreign, Medic
Ineligible- Riverside.
Epidemic’s line- Delectable, Deluge, Mythril, Pascone, War
Epidemic’s subs- Sirius, Ison, bike, death row (last two starting over War if active), Sunny D
Ineligible- JPMissy
The pick- Epidemic 50 – 40 Fatal
Warpath vs. Serenity
We had a pretty good showing in pre-season week #2 (one of the few true by ladder upsets in the pre-season), and our teaming was very solid, so I think we can carry that momentum forward. Serenity hasn’t taken a nose-dive on the ladder following qualification, but they have lost a few of their better players. Both squads will want this win to prove they can be competitive and start a push to try to make the playoffs.
Serenity’s line- Burg, Jaa, Deliver, Oops, Amneisa
Subs- Drastwing, cipher burn, Recruit (?), Global
Ineligible- MITB
Warpath’s line- Classified
The pick: Abstain (but I think Warpath will win)
Mad vs. Quicksand
Game of the Week
It’s an early put up or shut-up contest for Quicksand. Both of these teams swept the pre-season and finished in the top 4 on the TWD ladder. Since each team is only being played once this season, this could be a big match for any possible head-to-head tiebreakers with regards to playoff seeding. Mad got a coup by picking up Vys (from his momentary stop at Quicksand no less) and Skepsis, and have really solidified their line since qualifying. Their bench could make the TWL semi-finals at this point. Quicksand has had the pretty much same core for a while now, so they can be pegged pretty easily. Mad should have players with the accuracy and experience to deal with Quicksand’s rush, but in a one-game format Quicksand is capable of losing to Sage or beating anybody.
Mad’s line- Apok, Blood, Deez Nuts, Scoop, Stylez
Mad’s subs- Unabled, Royce, Tohn, Weaver
Ineligible- Vys, Skepsis
Quicksand’s line- Racka, Izor, Strong, Kthx, Weak
Quicksand’s subs- Kyou, Kid Kaos, Exalt, SwimKid, Valholy, Weak
Ineligible- a2m, Regen, Atwa
The pick- Mad 50-42 Quicksand
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