(ESEAnews) - Week 2 went pretty smoothly…well besides the whole “Valve releasing patches at night right before matches start” deal. Several teams had to have their matches rescheduled because of it and some were pushed into week 3. Besides that we had a few exciting matches go down. The big ones being Edge Gamers over Drugs are Illegal and Trinity over Juanetic, both pretty unexpected in my book. I actually expected even more upsets because of fact it was viaduct week. Med picks all day every day.
So this week we are moving onto gullywash. Now…it isn’t the new gullywash with the added drop downs that we have all been practicing, oh no, the map rotation has the old outdated version of it. Whoops. Looking at the matchups, there aren’t a ton of interesting ones to comment on, just a handful. I’ll do my best though. Next week we will actually be changing back to pure power rankings. Yay?
ESEA TF2 OPEN SEASON 11 - WEEK 3
GROWN ASS MEN vs Reloaded · cp_gullywash_final1 · Wed, Apr 25th at 12:00pm
Prediction: MEN < IcA 3-5 by Deathanchor
Grown Ass Men had a great viaduct week that including a tight 4-3 victory over Moose Fortress. Their 4-1 record may include some easy matches, but I think they should be able to put some pressure on Reloaded here in this matchup. One name on Men’s roster that jumped out at me was Landser who scouted last season for 90lg in IM. Although he isn’t scouting this season, he still cleans up well on demo at the open level. Still, I think Reloaded’s odds are a little better for this match. On viaduct, Reloaded showed off their Brazilian player’s skills with flayy on sniper. In a powah-like fashion, flayy finished their match against Fragophilia with a k/d of 31 and 5. I’m sure he will try to snipe on as many maps as possible, gullywash being no exception. I think Men should be able to take a few rounds in this match, nothing extremely close though. I’m going with 5-3 Reloaded.
Monstarss vs SWAG PANTALONES · cp_gullywash_final1 · Thu, Apr 26th at 12:30pm
Prediction: MON < swag 3-5 by Deathanchor
Next up we have Edge Gamers vs. Swag Pantalones. Edge Gamers had a huge upset victory over Drugs are Illegal last week on viaduct. Even though Drugs were missing one of their main players, I gotta give some credit to Edge. To beat a top team like Drugs are Illegal is quite the feat, even with them using a backup player. On the other side we have Swag Pantalones who currently have an undefeated record. While Swag has not beaten the best of teams so for, they haven’t had two weeks of just rolls either. I think Swag will come into this match with just a little more experience and will expect them to pull this one out as well. Edge might be talented for an ESEA-rookie team, but gullywash is a much harder map to score upsets on than say, viaduct. I’m saying Swag wins with a score of about 5-3.
Multiple Scorgasms vs Sour Patch N***** · cp_gullywash_final1 · Thu, Apr 26th at 1:00pm
UKM [5 : 1 ] Scoregasms
What prediction article would be complete without another good matchup involving UKM? First Juanetic, then br0pen, and now Scoregasms? What an unusually tough opening schedule. UKM had me worried after their loss to Juanetic, but their victory over br0pen reassured me of their strength. So now going up against Scoregasms, I am going to stick with my initial thoughts and go with UKM. Scoregasm had a shaky week, and lost against Internet Superheroes in their first match. Then for their second match, Scoregasm scrapped by Mission 5 with a score of 4-3. To help them out, they also picked up ex-invite veteran lucrative recently. I am certain UKM will be able to handle these small changes, and I actually am not expecting this match to be particularly close. So for the score, I’d say 5-1 UKM.
haha lol vs Kawaii Washing Machines · cp_gullywash_final1 · Fri, Apr 27th at 12:00pm
Prediction: haha < cl 2-5 by Deathanchor
Finally, I get chance to see Map Thugz play against an upper-open team. Unfortunately for them, it’s against one of the very best. Drugs and Illegal are no doubt a tough team to crack (cept when they are missing fox). Even though I have liked New Map Thugz from the beginning, I’m still not completely sold on the idea of Map Thugz being a top ten team. If they were to beat Drugs, that would certainly be enough to convince me. To be honest, I don’t like their chances of an upset here. If the match were against a lower team in the rankings, I would probably call for a much closer match. I think Thugz should be able to take a round or two, but Drugs are going to have them beat in just about every class. If they run as many utilities as I expect them to, the match could get dragged out for quite some time. I predict a 5-2 Drugs are Illegal win.
GEOFF_PLUS vs BIG BOYS · cp_gullywash_final1 · Thu, Apr 26th at 12:30pm
Prediction: Geoff < BIG 1-5 by Deathanchor
Garbage Plus has had a real lack of excitement, at least since their decently close loss against We Can Warriors. This match against Big Boys should wake them up though. After finishing season 10 with a good record, I look forward to seeing Garbage Plus rack up some wins again this season. Big Boys could be a bit too much to handle though. As one of the six remaining undefeated teams, I would say Big Boys are actually the toughest of the group alongside Plus Forward and Trinity. Garbage Plus is really going to have to work for this one. I would even say that this to be their toughest match yet. Garbage is going have their usual advantage at demo, and actually don’t have that shabby of a combo compared to Boys, who in my opinion have the better roamer and scout combo for sure. Gullywash is decently scout-friendly, so that will give Boys another good edge. I’m actually going pretty far one side and calling 5-1 Big Boys.
cant play- hl match vs AG Unagi · cp_gullywash_final1 · Mon, Apr 30th at 11:00am
Prediction: HLx420x < AG 4-5 by Deathanchor
If you asked me about this matchup a week ago, I would have said Slam 5-0 no questions asked. But now I realize Can’t Play hl is actually more than competent when it comes to playing mid-upper and upper teams. They probably aren’t power rank material (at least at this point), but I can see them coming pretty close to beating Slam here on gullywash. Now don’t let Slam’s 3-2 record fool you. Both of their losses were against pretty damn good teams (Juanetic+Trinity, and the match against Trinity was close), and I’m still keeping Slam pretty far up the rankings. So while Slam will be coming in off of a recent loss, I think they will be able to get themselves together to beat Can’t Play hl in a close fight. I’m going to go with a score of 5-4 Slam.
the fappening vs ChocolateNegroExtrafino · cp_gullywash_final1 · Thu, Apr 26th at 12:30pm
Prediction: faps < negro 2-5 by Deathanchor
Alright cool, it’s time to predict a bit of a lower matchup. Here we have Fragophilia vs. ChocolateNegroExtrafino. I know Fragophilia have been around for a season, and didn’t do so hot then either. However it appears they have revamped much of their roster. It seems it’s for the better, as they have had no problem putting away rookie teams with ease. Likewise, Chocolate also has been rolling the lower teams they have come up against. Actually, Chocolate ended up having to play with five for their last match against br0pen. While I think they still would have gotten rolled pretty hard, not having lyse show up to play is going to hurt. Chocolate’s members overall have a good advantage as far as ESEA and overall experience go. That being said, I think Frag should be able to get a round or two out of them. Going with 5-2 ChocolateNegroExtrafino.
Sunday Funday vs The Runaway 5 · cp_gullywash_final1 · Mon, Apr 30th at 1:00pm
Prediction: ask4 < r5 0-5 by Deathanchor
Sunday Funday? Hrm, gotta admit, not very familiar with them besides disengage. However they have been doing a cleaning up the low teams they have faced so far, and actually put up an impressive 3 rounds against Trinity on snakewater. However sryly br0pen is going to be on a whole other level for them, and I suspect br0pen to clean up pretty fast here. Last week on viaduct br0pen beat Chocolate handily, then won a round off of UKM. A round off of UKM on any map is impressive to me (unless your Juanetic, then I expect 5 rounds). Anyway, Sunday Funday could put together some rounds if they get lucky, but I think br0pen is just too consistent to get thrown off by any tricks. I have to be blunt on this one and call a 5-0 br0pen victory.
THE HURRICANE vs SUP DOE · cp_gullywash_final1 · Fri, Apr 27th at 12:30pm
Prediction: FU < doe 4-5 by Deathanchor
Well this looks like it could be a close match. My biggest concern is actually if We Can Warriors will actually show up to the match or not. Both of their viaduct matches ended in forfeit losses. It appears as if they had some scheduling issues with the first one, but they also completely flushed and rejoined their roster as well. Hmmm, I wonder if mackey joining briefly and changing the avatar had anything to do with it. Well if We Can Warriors can actually show up and play with six, I think they will be able to come close to winning this one against Fluffy. Fluffy did decently during viaduct week, and I feel like while their dm skills aren’t quite as sharp as some of those on Warriors, they will be much more organized which should pay off on your standard 5_cp like gullywash. Because let’s face it, Warriors doesn’t exactly have the most dedicated of players eh? Apologies to thr4sher for messing up on your position last week, I remembered playing some pugs with you on roamer, bad assumption. Sorry mate. Oh, and 5-4 Fluffy if Warriors show up.
OPEN POWER RANKINGS - WEEK 3
1. Juanetic Gaming -- (~)
2. Ultimate Killing Machine -- (~))
3. Srsly Br0pen -- (UP1)
4. Drugs Are Illegal -- (DOWN1)
5. Plus Forward or Bust -- (~)
6. Trinity Gaming -- (UP4)
7. Shut Up and Slam -- (DOWN1)
8. New Map Thugz -- (~)
9. Big Boys -- (NEW )
10. Multiple Scoregasms -- (DOWN3)
The biggest changes we have this week is Trinity getting a four spot bump. I really liked their win over Slam, and think they deserve the spot for at least this week. Also I has Slam fall just one space. Srsly Br0pen and Drugs switched places which wasn’t actually because of Drug’s loss. It’s just that after watching both teams play some more, I honestly feel as if br0pen looks to be the stronger of the two at this point. Scoregasms might have not been quite as strong as I thought last week when I threw them in at 7th, so they will be chilling down at 10th until they pull off some more wins. Big Boys also enter the rankings this week at 9th.
If you haven’t heard, ESEANews is actually scrapping the new prediction format in favor of the old power ranking format starting next week. I will probably use my current rankings as a guideline for the more in-depth ones, but I might change them around since they are going back to being the center of attention. Here’s to hoping the transition doesn’t mess me up too much.
Originally published on ESEA on 4/23/2012, 6:47 PM by Deathanchor.
Archived from ESEA TF2 Open S11 - Week 3 Predictions as part of tf2esports.com's preservation of ESEA's TF2 coverage. All rights remain with the original author and ESEA; reposted for historical reference.