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TWLD Week 2 Preview
There were no real surprises in Week 1, as evidenced by my 6-0 predictions last week (or maybe I am just that good, we’ll see). This week, there are a few interesting matchups, and a few more throw-away games, but I’m sure a few exciting games will pop-up unexpectedly. There weren’t any upsets last week, so it’s likely there will be one or two this week (and Warpath will have a hand in one of them if I have anything to say about it). This week also marks the last week before the soft-lock, so I’ll monitor any changes/ineligibles as best as I can before the weekend. Enough introduction, on with the picks:
(Disclaimer: Predicted lines are my best guess of who will start, not who I think should start).
Mad vs. dicE
This would have been a lock for the Game of the Week 2 weeks ago, but unfortunately dicE seems like a shell of its former self. Conversely, Mad looked very impressive last week while defeating Quicksand, and should be even more impressive with a few new recruits eligible this week. Their depth was ridiculous last week and it should be even more so this week; it’s pretty much impossible to pick a 4th or 5th starter from the choices. Mad should be able to put away dicE fairly easily.
dicE’s line- Caos, paska, megaman89, Jamal, Domi
dicE’s subs- Mess, Jack, FieryFire, Smurf, Shayde
Ineligible- Draft
Mad’s line- Vys, Apok, Skepsis, Scoop, Unabled
Mad’s subs- Tohn, Stylez, Blood, Deez Nuts, Weaver, Royce
Ineligible- Last Standing
The pick: Mad 50 – 40 Dice
Rapid vs. Thunder
Game of the Week
Two teams with high playoff seed aspirations coming off of decent wins in Week 1 makes this matchup the Game of the Week. Rapid prevailed against dicE’s motley crew of spiders and javs who happen to play warbird occasionally, but they needed a few clutch subs to do it. They need their starters to play better if they want to have any chance against Thunder. I didn’t see much of Thunder’s play last week, but it seems like they took care of business against Sage. However, they did not dominate them like they should be able to. They’ll need to bring more than their C game to beat Rapid, however. Thunder and Rapid play similar styles, but I think Thunder has the better warbirds, so they should win this one.
Rapid’s line- Creature, Mega Newbie, Sphinktor, Saetep, Vain
Rapid’s subs- Ns, Props, herbalist yangyun, Poseidon, Tanzu
Ineligible- Displaced, Doodieman
Thunder’s line- Ease, Burnt, B4sERmaN94_X, Reaver, Chuckle
Thunder’s subs- Yakuza, Vitja, Misled, CrimsonX, Obi
The pick: Thunder 50 - 42 Rapid
Sage vs. Shinobi
Shinobi finally showed me something last week for the first time since qualifying began, beating Wolf easily. They also get Guero eligible this week, which should give them a further boost. Sage didn’t get blown out by Thunder, which is an encouraging sign for their future games. They already have good teaming, stemming from their basing team-first squad roots. They’ll need it if Hercules plays as well as he did last week in WB again this week. I see Shinobi beating Sage by about the same margin that Thunder did.
Sage’s line- Marnix, Kawrae, Zizu, hermit, Slaughter
Sage’s subs- Ground Zero, Spikey, Raha, NL>Trigger, Vergilius
Shinobi’s line- Hercules, Quartz, beam, Aerin
Shinobi’s subs- Psychic, Azazel, Cap, Demonic, Refer, Nikolai, igor
Ineligible- Phillie
The pick: Shinobi 50 – 38 Sage
Wolf vs. Fatal
This is the first game of the week that features two squads who lost last week. Wolf did not look good in the loss to Shinobi, who I thought would finish around the same place as Wolf in the pre-season. I see Flew getting the start this week based on his quality sub last week in place of golden duck (Now available!). They’ll need Scottish to show up if they want to have any chance against Fatal. Including the pre-season, Fatal has now lost two straight games to derail any momentum they had from a high qualifying ladder finish. They’ll need less lag from Riverside and Lockdown, since they don’t have much depth, if they want to win this week. In the end, Fatal just has more talent than Wolf, and usually talent prevails.
Wolf’s line- Paky Dude, Rasaq, Cres, Rekall, Flew
Wolf’s subs- Raazi, Scottish, excaliburx20, Ariana, Bubonic, Product
Ineligible- Mucus
Fatal’s line- Riverside, Terian, Jones, DecK, Foreign
Fatal’s subs- Lockdown, Spaceship, Epinephrine, Junka, Medic
The pick: Fatal 50 – 40 Wolf
Epidemic vs. Warpath
This is a match of two winners from last week with slightly different expectations for the season. Warpath barely qualified thanks to a generous number of invitations given out, and now we’ve won two games in a row (including the pre-season). Besides this game, we have a fairly easy opening schedule, so we could go on a tear and challenge for a playoff spot if we win this one. However, there are a bunch of talented vets on the opposing squad who came to play last week against Fatal. If they don’t look past us they will probably win, but as I stated in my pre-season predictions post, I think Warpath will surprise some teams this year and this could be one of them. From a marginally reliable source I have learned that Pascone will not be available this weekend, so Money will start in his stead.
Epidemic’s line- Delectable, Deluge, Mythril, War, Money
Epidemic’s subs- 8, Skittl, Sirius, Ison, Sunny D, death row
Ineligible- Method, mod, Guero
Warpath’s line- Something like last weeks'.
The pick: Abstain (But will definitely be harder for Warpath this week)
Quicksand vs. Serenity
The last game of the week pits two more losing squads against each other. Serenity lost badly to Warpath (and subsequently a few players left or were kicked). Quicksand couldn’t hang with Mad last week, but seeing Serenity next should right a few wrongs. They also get a2m eligible to play this week. This is actually a rematch from the pre-season already, where Quicksand easily took care of business without even playing a few of their best players. This game shouldn’t be any different.
Quicksand’s line- Racka, Izor, Strong, kthx, a2m
Quicksand’s subs- Kyou, Kid Kaos, Exalt, SwimKid, Regen
Ineligible- PureOwnage
Serenity’s line- Burg, Jaa, Oops, Amneisa, cipher burn
Subs-Elowind, Wage, Global, 1969 Camaro RS/SS, Lord Wam
Ineligible- FireFlash2k
The pick: Quicksand 50 – 35 Serenity
There were no real surprises in Week 1, as evidenced by my 6-0 predictions last week (or maybe I am just that good, we’ll see). This week, there are a few interesting matchups, and a few more throw-away games, but I’m sure a few exciting games will pop-up unexpectedly. There weren’t any upsets last week, so it’s likely there will be one or two this week (and Warpath will have a hand in one of them if I have anything to say about it). This week also marks the last week before the soft-lock, so I’ll monitor any changes/ineligibles as best as I can before the weekend. Enough introduction, on with the picks:
(Disclaimer: Predicted lines are my best guess of who will start, not who I think should start).
Mad vs. dicE
This would have been a lock for the Game of the Week 2 weeks ago, but unfortunately dicE seems like a shell of its former self. Conversely, Mad looked very impressive last week while defeating Quicksand, and should be even more impressive with a few new recruits eligible this week. Their depth was ridiculous last week and it should be even more so this week; it’s pretty much impossible to pick a 4th or 5th starter from the choices. Mad should be able to put away dicE fairly easily.
dicE’s line- Caos, paska, megaman89, Jamal, Domi
dicE’s subs- Mess, Jack, FieryFire, Smurf, Shayde
Ineligible- Draft
Mad’s line- Vys, Apok, Skepsis, Scoop, Unabled
Mad’s subs- Tohn, Stylez, Blood, Deez Nuts, Weaver, Royce
Ineligible- Last Standing
The pick: Mad 50 – 40 Dice
Rapid vs. Thunder
Game of the Week
Two teams with high playoff seed aspirations coming off of decent wins in Week 1 makes this matchup the Game of the Week. Rapid prevailed against dicE’s motley crew of spiders and javs who happen to play warbird occasionally, but they needed a few clutch subs to do it. They need their starters to play better if they want to have any chance against Thunder. I didn’t see much of Thunder’s play last week, but it seems like they took care of business against Sage. However, they did not dominate them like they should be able to. They’ll need to bring more than their C game to beat Rapid, however. Thunder and Rapid play similar styles, but I think Thunder has the better warbirds, so they should win this one.
Rapid’s line- Creature, Mega Newbie, Sphinktor, Saetep, Vain
Rapid’s subs- Ns, Props, herbalist yangyun, Poseidon, Tanzu
Ineligible- Displaced, Doodieman
Thunder’s line- Ease, Burnt, B4sERmaN94_X, Reaver, Chuckle
Thunder’s subs- Yakuza, Vitja, Misled, CrimsonX, Obi
The pick: Thunder 50 - 42 Rapid
Sage vs. Shinobi
Shinobi finally showed me something last week for the first time since qualifying began, beating Wolf easily. They also get Guero eligible this week, which should give them a further boost. Sage didn’t get blown out by Thunder, which is an encouraging sign for their future games. They already have good teaming, stemming from their basing team-first squad roots. They’ll need it if Hercules plays as well as he did last week in WB again this week. I see Shinobi beating Sage by about the same margin that Thunder did.
Sage’s line- Marnix, Kawrae, Zizu, hermit, Slaughter
Sage’s subs- Ground Zero, Spikey, Raha, NL>Trigger, Vergilius
Shinobi’s line- Hercules, Quartz, beam, Aerin
Shinobi’s subs- Psychic, Azazel, Cap, Demonic, Refer, Nikolai, igor
Ineligible- Phillie
The pick: Shinobi 50 – 38 Sage
Wolf vs. Fatal
This is the first game of the week that features two squads who lost last week. Wolf did not look good in the loss to Shinobi, who I thought would finish around the same place as Wolf in the pre-season. I see Flew getting the start this week based on his quality sub last week in place of golden duck (Now available!). They’ll need Scottish to show up if they want to have any chance against Fatal. Including the pre-season, Fatal has now lost two straight games to derail any momentum they had from a high qualifying ladder finish. They’ll need less lag from Riverside and Lockdown, since they don’t have much depth, if they want to win this week. In the end, Fatal just has more talent than Wolf, and usually talent prevails.
Wolf’s line- Paky Dude, Rasaq, Cres, Rekall, Flew
Wolf’s subs- Raazi, Scottish, excaliburx20, Ariana, Bubonic, Product
Ineligible- Mucus
Fatal’s line- Riverside, Terian, Jones, DecK, Foreign
Fatal’s subs- Lockdown, Spaceship, Epinephrine, Junka, Medic
The pick: Fatal 50 – 40 Wolf
Epidemic vs. Warpath
This is a match of two winners from last week with slightly different expectations for the season. Warpath barely qualified thanks to a generous number of invitations given out, and now we’ve won two games in a row (including the pre-season). Besides this game, we have a fairly easy opening schedule, so we could go on a tear and challenge for a playoff spot if we win this one. However, there are a bunch of talented vets on the opposing squad who came to play last week against Fatal. If they don’t look past us they will probably win, but as I stated in my pre-season predictions post, I think Warpath will surprise some teams this year and this could be one of them. From a marginally reliable source I have learned that Pascone will not be available this weekend, so Money will start in his stead.
Epidemic’s line- Delectable, Deluge, Mythril, War, Money
Epidemic’s subs- 8, Skittl, Sirius, Ison, Sunny D, death row
Ineligible- Method, mod, Guero
Warpath’s line- Something like last weeks'.
The pick: Abstain (But will definitely be harder for Warpath this week)
Quicksand vs. Serenity
The last game of the week pits two more losing squads against each other. Serenity lost badly to Warpath (and subsequently a few players left or were kicked). Quicksand couldn’t hang with Mad last week, but seeing Serenity next should right a few wrongs. They also get a2m eligible to play this week. This is actually a rematch from the pre-season already, where Quicksand easily took care of business without even playing a few of their best players. This game shouldn’t be any different.
Quicksand’s line- Racka, Izor, Strong, kthx, a2m
Quicksand’s subs- Kyou, Kid Kaos, Exalt, SwimKid, Regen
Ineligible- PureOwnage
Serenity’s line- Burg, Jaa, Oops, Amneisa, cipher burn
Subs-Elowind, Wage, Global, 1969 Camaro RS/SS, Lord Wam
Ineligible- FireFlash2k
The pick: Quicksand 50 – 35 Serenity
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