This season is looking up to be the best one so far, with so many high level teams signing up it's going to be exciting to see who performs to their best, and who wishes the season to be over. Hopefully their won't be any dropouts and we have 9 weeks of pure TDM greatness ahead of us. Predicting this upcoming season basically is a wild guess with all the great players and teams that are so closely matched, combine that with several new maps,
Limbus,
Terminus and
Terminatria and you'll get surprise wins and losses for sure.
Final Standings Prediction
Only one team has currently shown the stability everyone is looking for, sitto, by not dropping a single map in the Eurocup. However the real test will come when they meet the other group which has the former champions 102 in it, and le. Since the addition of ddk they have improved a lot in creating a stable lineup with no hardly any weaknesses. Of course the performance of zyrinx will be crucial for the team's final standing.
The biggest rival of sitto will probably be Lemmings Effect, a team that has been rising through the ranks the last year or so. With prodx and Spawnz being their star players they seem to have no real weaknesses, they displayed great teamplay and great damage output in the Eurocup by dropping just two maps with several different lineups against some of the best teams. They have the form and quality to beat anyone on any map and I can't wait for match week 6 when they will meet with sitto.
A team aiming for that top as well would be lowfly, although not being very consistent they have shown some great plays these last months. They've shown greatness versus 102, and deception losing to GC. I feel it's not the big games they will have to fear, they have to make sure not to lose any points to teams that they could underestimate. Week 2 sees them play versus le, this is where they can show they've learned from the mistakes they made in the Eurocup, they will have to wait till week 9 for their revenge against GC. The man in form frs and their star player Silencep are the players to look out for.
Having star players isn't enough these days though, this is shown by Deliberate Murder, who have been struggling a bit as of late after winning the previous Eurocup. Making it out 3rd in their group means they still have the chance to defend their title, but they certainly haven't been as dominant as before. They will need to bring back their map dominance which got them their title. Perhaps tony will be the ace up their sleeves for the coming season. Pavel has been looking good in duel and TDM lately, let's hope he can keep this going for him and his team.
After a period of dominance aCtion Ligan are really looking for their old form, missing the Eurocup playoffs will certainly be a big disappointment and something they will want to take revenge for. Their last group game versus le did give them hope though with a very close game seeing them just miss out on a win. They have a very big variety of players to choose from which could prove very useful in a competition with so many different play styles. The veterans ZLC and nightops will have to prove once again that they can get the team ready to take back the 2nd place they got last season.
A contender has shown itself in the shape and form of milkYOURmouth. A team which I think will need to put in some serious practice in order to gain the much needed teamplay that other experienced teams/lineups have build up over the last months, it'll be interesting to see how Cypher performs being back in TDM, and after winning the #tdmpickup draft cas will be looking to repeat this 1st place with his own team. I'm not sure how well they know the new maps though, whether they have put in the effort to get a well rounded lineup ready to take on teams like sitto, le and lowfly? My guess is that they will either surprise in a good or a bad way ending mid table on average.
The winners of last seasons' Division 2, I'm not sure what to expect from playlogic, they have some great players in their lineup such as purri[/] and [i]senti but they haven't seem to have gotten the maximum out of their potential. Not qualifying for the Eurocup playoffs must've been a disappointment. They will probably end up with mixed results, they are capable of doing better than 5th but if they are able to is a different story.
PlanB is another team that has been getting much stronger lately, surprisingly going into the Eurocup playoffs after beating play and having a very close game with Unknown this is a team that can't be underestimated. They have the potential to finish top 3 but will they be able to keep their recent form? Alteza has been showing some great games lately although they are overall a strong team that might just miss that little bit of experience for a week in week out performance.
A team that has its ups and downs is Gentlemenclub, beating lowfly and CZE in the Eurocup but losing all their other games. I feel they are going to struggle to get points and at best could avoid relegation if some other teams disappoint. Twister and n0ns have shown potential with some good performances lately but will it be enough for such a strong competion?
Missing teams:
There are quite a few teams which could've been added to this division would there have been more space, top of the list would be
CZE,
Skillz and
District 9. The Czechs have proven to be a great team on Adroits but were lacking all of it in the Eurocup finishing last in the group even losing to GC. Skillz got by far the hardest qualifier by having to play lowfly which ended up in a great and very close 3 mapper. District 9 have been close to the top for a long time but unlike le aren't able to get to the absolute top.
Match of the week:
aCt vs low/-
Line-ups:
aCt: ZLC, nightops, dash, v1um
low/-: Silencep, frs, tripleSex, funnyb
A strong opening map by aCt saw them take the lead on GrimDungeons with some great moves by ZLC
video and really give their confidence a boost going into the second map after being able to keep a very comfortable lead throughout the game. A slow start on Terminus showed aCt’s weakness, a lack of practice. In the end lowfly only won with just a 9 frag margine even though aCt came back from a 25 frag difference. For the decider we saw Dreadful Place which turned out to be the best showing of the night, a close game which saw some great plays from both teams which was decided in the last 5 minutes where lowfly showed their skill. This secures them the 3 points as aCt are left licking their wounds. aCt really had a chance to cause an upset and win, a lack of map knowledge cost them the game in the end. A good start for lowfly to the season will do them good as their next opponent wil be le.
Scores:
Grim Dungeons (aCt) 128-90
VOD
Terminus (low/-) 94-103
VOD
Dreadful Place 117-147
VOD
Man of the match: tripleSex
Other matches:
GC vs play>
Line-ups:
GC: nons, twister, Freeman, T1E
Play>: senti, purri, mobiuz, shuugghh
Purgatory 120-157
Terminatria 134-156
sitto vs PlanB
Line-ups:
sitto: Zyrinx, Dimitri, ddk, Q50
PlanB: Alteza, hypnoi, h8m3, Cerboz
Terminus 121-61
Terminatria 168-108
le vs mYm
Postponed
Upcoming matches/Predictions:
102. vs mYm 2-0
le vs low/- 2-1
PlanB vs GC 2-1
aCt vs play> 1-2
![shaftwhores only by [EXE]dann](/files/avatars/2007/51852-shaftwhore.gif "shaftwhores only by [EXE]dann"){kind=small}
abso
Silencep
Dem0n
vuduu
pavel who won the 100€ + invite for Invitational #2.
