(ESEAnews) - Badlands week was probably just as intense and action packed as I expected. We saw some big matchups happen that I had been waiting on all season such as Brackets vs. Hard2Kill and Disposable Heroes vs. Koala 6. Then the undeniably best match of the week has to go to Community Clown College vs. Srvr Depopulation Squad. While these matches will not affect any of them making playoffs, they will play an important roll in their final seeding which is crucial during a season with so many teams capable of playing at the top.
Although he does have a towering pillar of scum.
With only one week of matches left, the real pressure is going to be on the teams just within and just outside of the top sixteen spots. Teams such as Gank and the Meisters, Old School Ballahs, Beast Mode, Feces and Friends, Team Echelon, and If You Had Fun You Won might earn or lose their playoff spot by a matter of only a round or two. Process isn't the best map for consistent results with its numerous flank routes and relatively new status. However, the general opinion on process is a lot better than that of ashville. I see just as many top team matches here on process as badlands, and think it's still too soon to call very many final placements. Have fun, and make your last matches count!
TF2 OPEN WEEK 7 POWER RANKINGS
TEAM
RANK
COMMENTS
? Community Clown College
Central
0-0-0 (.000)
Streak N/A
1.
As I said in last week's article, if Community Clown College can get past Srvr Depopulation Squad that it would be smooth sailing for them into playoffs. Sure enough, CCC was able to beat Srvr Depopulation in a tense 5-4 win. CCC was able to gain the upper hand thanks in part to dana_scully's medic work, who was able to pop off four more ubers than Depopulation. In addition CCC had an edge on demoman with trash_kubrick putting out a sizable amount of damage. Earlier in the week, CCC defeated Sunday Funday with a score of 5-1. Here, Mustardoverlord came through as the big gun outfragging everyone else in the match. CCC's win over Depopulation has to be a big relief for them, as neither of their process matches look like they will be a real threat to their number one ranking.
While I do think Koala 6 could put a dent in CCC, it is a lot less likely to happen here on process. I probably would have predicted CCC to beat Koala 6 by only a narrow margin on a more standard map. However here on process, I'm not liking Koala 6's chances too much. While us North Americans have had process for a season already, Koala 6 are looking at another unknown map. While process is usually a fairly scout friendly map, I doubt this will be enough to swing the match in their favor. Going with a 5-1 CCC prediction. In their other match, CCC will play the lower ranked Cosmic Brownie Swag. While Cosmic is going to be a solid contender for playoffs, they are not going to put a scratch on CCC. 5-0 CCC almost for certain. Number one seed here they come.
? Dragonball Jav
Central
0-0-0 (.000)
Streak N/A
2.
Aha! I was right after all with this call. During badlands week Hard2Kill was in fact able to beat the closely ranked Brackets with a 5-3 win. Here, moosie decided to change things up a bit and try his hand at scout. For never having seen him play scout before, I'd say he did a solid job on it. Wirelessfox and Phrakture pulled through as the dominate combo which I thought was the real difference in the match. Putting rastsy on the bench was something I didn't see coming. Seeing that moosie can do well on scout at about the same level, I don't see this swap making too much of a difference for our new number two ranked team. Earlier in the week, H2K also beat Sunday Funday 5-1 without any hiccups.
While H2K might earned quite the win the last week, they can't be ready to put up their feet quite yet. While they might not appear as threatening as Brackets, Srvr Depopulation Squad is more than capable of pulling off a win against H2K. Riding their recent success in the top of the rankings, Depopulation sports some talented scouts that easily put moosie and even Jav on edge. While Depopulation might have the advantage on scout, I think that H2K still possess the stronger players in the remaining classes. Will this be enough to tilt the match in their favor? It's going to be close either way, guessing H2K win 5-3. Similar to CCC, H2K has an easy game for their second process match. Here it is going to be against Beast Mode, who I don't see earning more than a round off of H2K. Actually, I think 5-0 would be a closer bet.
? There Will Be Justice
Central
0-0-0 (.000)
Streak N/A
3.
Even with their loss against H2K, I am not ready to drop Brackets any lower than third. Sure they dropped their match against H2K 3-5, but at the same time they were able to beat eGO 5-0. While badlands clearly isn't eGO's strongest map, beating such a strong open team 5-0 makes a statement on almost any map, especially on such a well played one. Here Bracket's heavy classes dominated the scoreboard with both Spadez and Auburn leading the team. Brackets tried to play a similar style against H2K in their second match only to be shut down by H2K's combo work. Going into this match I thought that Brackets would have had the stronger combo, so I certainly learned a thing or two from the result.
Brackets is looking at a similar process schedule as CCC is with matches against Koala 6 followed by a lower-upper team. Against Koala 6 I am once against siding with the North American's seeing as all of Bracket's players have already played a season's worth of process. While Koala is likely to still have the stronger scouts, I doubt they will have enough firepower from their other classes to top Brackets. I'm going to predict Brackets win this one 5-2, a little closer than the Koala vs. CCC match. In their second match, Brackets have a slightly harder opponent than CCC. Pwr Rangers are looking good with their recent Badlands wins, and are in a position to take some rounds off of Brackets. While Rangers might not be able to beat Brackets at mid in a straight up dm battle, process could provide some opportunities for them to win some points with some well timed flanks. Not going to toss Pwr Rangers any more that two rounds though as far as predictions go.
? 6cuties_
Central
0-0-0 (.000)
Streak N/A
4.
As I wrote last week, Depopulation could earn a big bump after badlands even if they don't beat CCC. And seeing as they scored four rounds of of CCC in addition to beating eGO 5-2, I think they are well deserving of this number four ranking this week. During their 4-5 loss, CCC had the most problems dealing with Depopulation's scouts Lambert and Haruki. R1cky was also another mentionable player, who carries in soldier experience from both IM and Open playoffs back in season 10. Neither Brackets nor H2K came as close to beating CCC as Depopulation did in my opinion. That alone was enough to convince me to move them up to forth.
Now Depopulation will have to prove themselves worthy of their position here during process week with two difficult opponents. As I wrote earlier, I am favoring H2K over Depopulation for their matchup. While Depopulation will have the stronger scouts by a good sized gap, I don't see this being enough to predict Depopulation as the victors, even on process with all its flank routes and scout play potential. I'm liking Mangachu on roamer more, and Wirelessfox+Phrakture as the combo over London+R1cky. It should still be a close match, and am sticking with my call of 5-3 H2K. Depopulation aren't getting a break and are going to have to play another tough opponent, Disposable Heroes, in their second match. I'm going to go ahead and cover that prediction in Heroes' writeup.
? Monstarss
Central
0-0-0 (.000)
Streak N/A
5.
Well badlands is certainly not a favorite of eGO. eGO had back to back losses on it against Brackets and Srvr Depopulation Squad. Now even though these losses were against two well established teams that I wouldn't expect any Open team to easily beat, the scores were what came as a surprise to me. eGO didn't take a single round off of Brackets, and only managed to scrape up two against Depopulation Squad. With eGO's strength being in their heavy classes, I really didn't expect badlands to be this much of a problem for eGO. Well maybe they are just thankful that they didn't play two lower teams that week that would have had an opportunity to upset them on possibly their weakest map yet.
eGO are still inside of the top five this week, but things could change after process with a tough match lined up against Disposable Heroes. Heroes on a roll, and eGO isn't too far out of their reach to pull off an upset. I think process is going to a particularly strong map for Heroes that will give eGO a run for their money. eGO in my opinion has the stronger combo, but the combined force of Dumbbrain and Sezco are going to be too much too handle on a more open and flank friendly map. Heroes also tend to play an overall aggressive game that I think will work out for them nicely here in this matchup. I'm going to go ahead and call this slight upset of Disposable Heroes beating eGO 5-3. Luckily, even if eGO do lose this match, their second match against Salamancer Must Die is looking like a guaranteed win for them. I don't see Salamancer scoring more than a round off of eGO.
? The Preservation Project
Central
0-0-0 (.000)
Streak N/A
6.
Disposable Heroes had one of the best badlands week out of out top ten teams. Not only did they flatten Impulse Gamers 5-0, they also did much better against Koala 6 than I predicted beating them 5-2. While their match against Impulse was close both frag and damage wise, Heroes displayed a much better uber management and transition game. These factors combined with their superior teamwork ensured their 5-0 victory despite the teams being only 14 frags apart. Against Koala 6 I saw Heroes play another smart match being able to control the Argentinian scouts with their own and play a quick aggressive game winning in about twenty minutes.
As I mentioned in eGO's writeup, I think process is going to be a strong map for Disposable Heroes that will help play to their strengths. Since I already talked about their match against eGO quite a bit, I'll focus on their second match against Srvr Depopulation Squad. Even though I think Heroes will bring their A game to this map, I think Depopulation will actually be even stronger here. Heroes tend to rely on their scouts for the majority of their picks similar to Depopulation Squad. The difference here is going to come down to the other classes, which I think Depopulation is going to come through with. While Heroes' heavy classes are nothing to cough at, I see shootist and R1cky topping the likes of Heroes soldiers. Demoman might be a bit stronger on Heroes though with Hypno. Calling a 5-4 Depopulation Squad win.
? deadground tactics
Central
0-0-0 (.000)
Streak N/A
7.
Playground Tactics had a breeze of a badlands week with back to back 5-0 wins. While these wins might have been against lower rankings teams, two 5-0s in a row is still something to mention. These wins were against Salamancer Must Die and Beast Mode, two of our open teams on the border between either just making playoffs or just missing it. Against Playground both of these teams were outclassed with neither of them coming anywhere even remotely close of earning a round. Beast Mode would have to be the closer of the two though, with Salamancer failing to put any of their players into a double-digit score.
Similar to CCC, Tactics is looking at a downhill rest of the regular season with two easy process matches. Tactics will again play two borderline playoff teams, Feces and Friends followed by If You Had Fun You Won. What's different this week, is I actually think Playground will find these teams even easier than their badlands opponents. Feces and Friends is certainly nothing to worry about, and have no doubts about that match being anything other than 5-0 for Playground. If You Had Fun is likely to be the harder of the two teams, but not hard enough to score more than a round. I think Playground will more likely beat them 5-0 than anything else. Tactics should be looking at a decent 12-4 finish for their regular season that could place them inside the top 5 next week.
? ill
Central
0-0-0 (.000)
Streak N/A
8.
Pwr Rangers put aside two solid wins on badlands with wins over Normalcool and Cosmic Brownie Swag. While Normalcool has been on a downward spiral, Pwr Rangers was able to secure a higher spot on the rankings because of it. The combo work of Stinger and Frozen led the way for Rangers as usual, who were particularly effective on the well played surface of badlands with its very straightforward choke points. In their second match they defeated Cosmic Brownie Swag 5-1. Despite being 5-1, the match was close overall in terms of damage and frags. Power Mangoes played a particularly strong scout game that match tying points with his medic.
While almost guaranteed a spot in the playoffs seeing as they are already 10-4, Pwr Rangers could potentially lose both of their process matches. Their match against Brackets doesn't look to hopeful, and have a hard time seeing them score more than two rounds off of a such a highly ranked team like Brackets. The match they will a shot at is against Sunday Funday. Here I think Pwr Rangers will have a close match against a similarly skilled opponent. I think that Funday has a slightly stronger demoman with Tree on their team, but that Pwr Rangers will be able to control the match with a superior combo. Scout wise I'm a little torn between the two, but I think that Ranger's combo should be enough to give them the edge they are looking for. 5-4 Pwr Rangers.
? normalcool
East
0-0-0 (.000)
Streak N/A
9.
What is this I sense?! A Normalcool comeback? Well maybe it's too soon to call it that, but Normalcool did win both of their badlands matches. I wouldn't say they quite back to their former selves, as neither of their badlands wins were particularly impressive. I would say a 5-2 win over Koala 6 is big, but I have to consider Koala was playing that match with only one of their superb scouts. Still, it's a good sign that Normalcool isn't ready to settle for the bottom of playoffs. Similarly, they beat Impulse Gamers 5-2 which lets me know they aren't ready to start losing to teams ranked outside of the top ten (which they have not done thus far)
But I better not jinx myself, as the one match Normalcool will be playing on process will be against a team ranked outside of my top ten. If You Had Fun You Won formerly known as a whole bunch of names, is a sold mid open team that could give Normalcool some trouble if they let themselves slip up. I don't see too many issues with any of their players and feel safe calling a win for Normalcool at around 5-2. Even though Normalcool hit a nasty losing streak, if they come through with their last match like I think they will they will be looking at a nice 11-5 finish for the season. Not shabby.
? Koala 6
Central
0-0-0 (.000)
Streak N/A
10.
As I was told, JavoO sat out of matches again this week, leaving only half of Koala 6's famous scout duo on the battlefield for their badlands matches. They lost to both Normalcool and Disposable Heroes 2-5 on what I thought would have been a strong map for them. Needless to say they were missing one of their key players, but would have just one scout really have made the difference in deciding either of these matches. I'm going to go ahead and say while they might have been a great deal closer, I don't think JavoO would have been enough to completely turn the matches in Koala's favor.
So while I could have dropped Koala 6 out of the top ten, I'm keeping them with the hopes that they get their scout paid reunited in time for playoffs at the least. Process week looks to be a lost cause no batter who they field against their opponents. I don't see Koala beating CCC nor Brackets in their upcoming matches and see a 8-8 record being unavoidable at this point. Wait a minute...if Koala 6 finish 8-8. they won't make playoffs will they? Ug, well um, consider this ranking my way of saying goodbye to them and for shaking up open as much as they did this season. Good run guys, hope you stick around for another season or two. (Would have put Sunday Funday here)
JUST OUTSIDE:
Sunday Funday
Cosmic Brownie Swag
If You Had Fun You Won
Impulse Gamers
Beast Mode
Good luck to all those borderline playoff teams!
Originally published on ESEA on 10/1/2012, 5:46 PM by Deathanchor.
Archived from TF2 Open Week 7 Power Rankings 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.