The map list for the Intermediate league is as follows:

Week 1 - June 09 - Pipeline (4 min)
Week 2 - June 16 - Border (6 min)
Week 3 - June 23 - Tunnel (3 min)
Week 4 - June 30 - MOUT McKenna (4 min)
Bye Week - July 07 - Possible All-Star Match
Week 5 - July 14 - Bridge SE (6 min)
Week 6 - July 21 - Insurgent Camp (4 min)
Week 7 - July 28 - Sandstorm (3 min)
Week 8 - Aug 04 - Urban Assault (3 min)

A quick list of the rule changes for the season:

- no shows equate to -1 points in the standings.
- post scores in match comms.
- home team has side choice.
- demos are required (1 per half)



Here's a little write-up of the teams facing each other in week 1. I did a quick preview for the upcoming season for each team, and a prediction of the scores for week 1.

Conviction vs The Knights of the Round Table

These 2 teams have gained a lot of valuable experience over the past few seasons. Conviction is the raining champs of last TWL inter season, after a couple of seasons in Open. Conviction has progressed wonderfully over the past year, and even though it's a much tougher line-up in inters this season they should do just fine.

Knights have been in competition for a long time now, it seems they have stabilized in their progression, and seem to have hit a wall. They will most definitely top their 1 win of last season. Balla needs his mates to step up to his level to do better.

Prediction: I don't believe either of these teams is exceptional on pipeline, but con wins 8-4 over Knights based on their better play of late.

Dropouts vs UnknownFactor

To be honest I have no idea why Unknown Factor is still in this league. They have forfeited several league and ladder matches over the past month so I have serious doubts they will start playing AA again this coming Monday. Hopefully they prove me wrong. Either way losing Donmai (their all-star) and exception (their pub-star :P) they will struggle unless they recruit soon.

Dropouts seem to still have a few guys that still play AA often enough that they can compete with most teams. The additions of the active Ataxia players such as Zoink helps them out big-time. They should win a good chunk of their matches this season.

Prediction: One of dropouts better maps for sure, drp wins 12-0 over uF this week I see a 4v3 match in the making.

Even Flow vs Thats Dope

Even Flow has had to restructure their team after losing a couple of players. The additions of the former Team Invaders players (aka. Notorious Gaming) will help them somewhat. Even Flow has gained a lot of valuable experience over the past year or two, which should help them come out with a winning season.

That's Dope always takes a month or 2 hiatus between each TWL season as it's the only league they choose to participate in. They don't have a very large roster so that could be a problem, but I expect they'll win a couple of matches.

Prediction: EFlow is not bad on pipeline, give them the win 7-5 over tD

FightClub vs Team 69!

Both these teams have pretty large active teams at the moment. That could play for or against you as it's often better to have a smaller, tighter group. Fight Club seems to struggle every year in CAL, but does ok in TWL usually, plus CEVO wasn't too shabby either. You never know who's going to show for a match, but fc always manages to field 4, look for a typical .500 season again.

Team 69 had a great season in Open and earned this spot in Inters. Their pings will give them problems which they were able to handle against open teams, but they will have a tough time this season against much better teams. I'm sure they will be happy if they win a few matches.

Prediction: FightClub squeaks out the win just barely 7-5.

Final Destination vs overRated

It's looks like Final Destination is only rostering their main team, not the invite level team. If that holds true for the season, I don't see them doing any better than .500, but they definitely won't be terrible. Delta will drop 20's every week, but wake up every Tuesday morning realizing he was dreaming again.

overRated was a last minute addition to inters, and will definitely be the team to beat. It seems kg isn't on the roster yet, so if he's inactive it will give other teams a better chance to win. I don't see them losing more than 2 matches this season, and realistically there's a chance they'll go undefeated.

Prediction: overRated shows their experience and dominance on pipeline with a 10-2 win

Focal vs Team Zeratul

I wasn't aware that Unreasonable Ownage was still playing as Focal. With the loss of Alkali this just isn't the same team, as he would carry them against top squads. The core of the team has played together for ages now, so the chemistry will play in their favor, although they will still struggle vs top invite teams.

Team Zeratul will only have the services of their King for another week or so. If they can find the right Prince to take over the reigns they can have a pretty decent army and may win some battles. Their effort is there, if it lasts, they can make the playoffs. How long will this version of iNNo last, that is the real question here.

Prediction: Each team will steal a round or 2 on assault and the result will be a 6-6 tie.

Fragweiser vs Slow Reaction

Slow Reaction was once one of the top 5 clans in AA. Last year all their members slowly dissipated and began to play other games such as WoW and COD4. I'm not sure what made them come back to this silly game, but here they are. I really don't see them trying to hard, and putting much effort into winning at all. I'm sure they'll still win a couple of matches though. <3 Snooze.

Fragweiser is on the other end of the spectrum from Slow Reaction as far as preparation and effort goes. They've really worked hard to get here. They have 1 or 2 pretty decent players and the rest are average, but when they play well as a team, they have the ability to surprise people. I wouldn't be surprised if they finished .500 or better this season. Ok, a little <3 for Sniper too.

Prediction: If a couple of the old school skilled sR dudes play well sR will keep it close 7-5 win for Fragweiser.

IceNine vs nerveDamage

IceNine nearly have completely new starting roster than they did about a year ago. Their only remaining real solid starter from years past is haunter. There's a lot of suspicion of whether certain players have legit skills or illegal tweaks. Either way i9 is pretty decent again, and if they continue to put in the practice and preparation they will be a strong team this season.

Nerve Damage has plenty of skilled and experienced players. I believe 1 or 2 of their guys are banned in TWL, but they should still be able to field a solid 4. Xenotype is probably considered there best overall player, but they have plenty of other guys that can step it up each match. They will probably lose a few matches over the course of the season, but they are still in the top half of the inter teams no doubt.

Prediction: This one comes down to the wire and nD clutches to save a 6-6 tie.

Lost Cause vs Mug 'N Mouse

Lost Cause is a good young team. They have nice shots and seem to be improving all the time. I'm just not convinced they are ready to beat the top guns yet. They'll have to work on their strats and teamwork and gain more experience still. These guys won CAL Open last season, but their TWL season wasn't as impressive, it will be very tough for them to get a winning record this season.

Mug 'N Mouse completely dominated TWL inters last season, but they choked in the finals, as their TWL playoff jinx continued. I don't think they will repeat their undefeated season this time around, as the competition is much tougher. The major concern is 2 of their starters are TWL banned, so they can't always field their best 4.

Prediction: MNM is far superior and will likely win by a 9-3 score or better.

New Era eSports vs Rising Storm

New Era eSports has a handful of guys who have brand new TWL accounts, so I have no clue who the new guys are. They have their fare share of trash talkers, so their low maturity level may show in their results. They will have to work hard and they might be able to pull off a couple of wins. To be honest, I really have no idea how they were picked to be an Inter team as I'm not sure what their history as a team is. Good luck to them.

Rising Storm is the cream of the crop in their division. They could very well go undefeated, but to do so they'll still have to put a solid effort in. rS has a very solid group of players with tons of match experience at the invite level. They are my pre-season pick to go to the final, but who they will face is still a crap shoot, this is all just speculation of course since anything can happen between now and then.

Prediction: rS wins by a landslide 11-1