(ESEAnews) - Hey guys, and welcome to the ESEA TF2 IM S13 Upper Round 1 Predictions, with matches for this round of the playoffs being played on Snakewater. The regular season has come and gone, and at the end of the season we have only eight teams left standing. The battle for the final few playoff spots went down to the wire, with Kawaii 5-0, eGO, normalcool, and Pwr Rangers all vying for the final playoff spot. At the end of the day though, Kawaii 5-0 were the team to come away with the final spot in the playoffs. The season so far has been very competitive, and I hope that the playoffs continue this trend of competitiveness. The road to the TF2 IM grand finals starts tonight, with eight teams competing for a slice of the $1500 prize pool. Let's take a look at the predictions for the matches in this round of the IM Playoff Brackets!
ESEA TF2 IM SEASON 13 - UPPER ROUND 1 PREDICTIONS
Chill to good ratio vs Sour Patch N***** · cp_snakewater · Wed, Mar 13th at 2:30pm
Prediction: chill > PN 5-3 by Fog_
The first match of the playoffs sees the #1 seed Chill to good ratio go up against the #8 seed Kawaii 5-0. The last time these two teams faced off against each other was during Week 6 where they also played on Snakewater, which saw Chill to good ratio barely come away with the 4-3 victory. Since these two teams last faced off against each other, Chill to good ratio replaced moonchild with Lambert and waffleb replaced topshot. If their last match up was any indication of how close these two teams are, despite their seed differences, I expect this game to be equally as close.
Lambert hasn't played with Chill to good since the very first week of the season on Process, which could potentially throw off the scout combo for Chill to good ratio. They'll have to deal with the DM skills of Kawaii's scout combo in ukm and Decimate which could troublesome for Chill to good. The combo of Dun and shrew will have to play smart if they want to avoid the flank from Kawaii 5-0. With all of this being said, I believe that Chill to good ratio will be able to take the game 5-3 in what should be a good, close match.
the post-woodpig destiny · cp_snakewater · Thu, Mar 14th at 2:50pm
Prediction: wupig < BNGD 0-5 by Fog_
Moving on to the second match of the playoffs, we see #2 seed The Mad Men square off against the #7 seed royalty. The last time these two teams met was during Metalworks week, where The Mad Men destroyed royalty 5-0 in quick fashion. The only roster changes made after this match comes from royalty where cringe left the team and royalty brought in a relatively unknown scout in Devlin to replace him. I don't expect anything different from this match from either team, as The Mad Men are by far the best team in IM and easily out-class royalty in every class match up. Royalty are going to have a real tough time in the playoffs, and I don't really expect much from them in these playoffs. The Mad Men take this game 5-0 with ease.
The Five Dollar Club vs WELOVEANIME · cp_snakewater · Wed, Mar 13th at 2:30pm
Prediction: nl > lovesit 5-3 by Fog_
Next up, we have the third match of the playoffs with #3 seed The Runaway 5 facing off against the #6 seed snailboats boat. When these two teams last faced each other was during Metalworks week where The Runaway 5 edged out a 3-2 victory over snailboats boat. Since their last match between each other, The Runaway 5 replaced scout foster with xalox, and snailboats boat using dummy in place of Frio on roamer. Like the match up above between Chill to good ratio and Kawaii 5-0, the last match between each other should show how close of a match this could be.
With the recent roster changes, it does bring a bit of uncertainty of how their new players will perform with the rest of their team. Dummy has a lot of experience playing in Invite as Demoman, but I've yet to see him play Roamer and could be interesting to watch. As for r5, xalox has been performing well thus far in place of foster. The Runaway 5 are going to be the team with the momentum on their side, leaving snailboats boat with the onus on them to break their momentum. I see this going 5-3 for The Runaway 5, but I wouldn't be surprised if snailboats boat are able to come away with the win. This match should definitely be a good, close match between these two teams and will be casted by TeamFortress.TV.
Kawaii Washing Machines vs Dragonball Jav · cp_snakewater · Thu, Mar 14th at 2:00pm
Prediction: cl < dbj 4-5 by Fog_
Last but not least, we have the match between #4 seed Mario Party Pros and #5 seed instant breakfast. The last time these two teams faced off against each other was on Granary during the last match of the regular season where Mario Party Pros were able to come away with the 5-4 victory after being down 3-1 after the first half. With the wound of that match still fresh for instant breakfast, they're looking for blood in this rematch. What makes this match especially interesting is the fact that these two teams have completely different play-styles. Mario Party Pros are a team that relies on wit and brain to make up for a possible lack of DM ability, while instant breakfast are a team that rely heavily on their DM and their star-power to get them through their games.
With the map being Snakewater, I feel that this will only play further into Mario Party Pro's hands, as it's an off-class heavy map. Out of all of the matches being played in the first round of the playoffs, this match is definitely the closest of them all. I feel that at the end of the day Mario Party Pros will play better on a map like Snakewater than instant breakfast. I'm going to call this 5-4 for Mario Party Pros, but it's going to be a really close and really good game to watch, perhaps the closest match of the entire playoffs.
Originally published on ESEA on 3/13/2013, 12:30 PM by Fog_.
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