LookingForSponsor

vs.

x3o

hackett: Basically what you have here is a meeting between one of the oldest, most stable teams, and the latest post-Guardians concoction of former 20id CoD2 greats. As will certainly be the theme for the first week in CEVO-P’s second season, a good number of questions remain to be answered. At what level are LFS competing at, having only matched CoD4 twice together thus far? Will x3o be able to forget the way last season ended and kick things off right? Between Brett posting poolside pictures of Ray and MasterAlex’s rockin neck beard, you never can tell what this group is going to do next. I suspect that they will be slightly more prepared than average heading into week one and that is bad news for griM’s club. Sire and crew have not found themselves an organization to call home yet and you can understand why, seeing as they boast a less than intriguing two-match history. A handful of awe-inspiring wins in the early going could jumpstart the team’s potential opportunities. x3o, on the other hand, have been steadily improving themselves individually and as a team. The off-season addition of MavLP was seen as a step in the right direction, but will we see an improved club come match time? Mark me, LFS will be a playoff contender in season two, I just don’t think they’re quite where they want to be yet. Regardless, they may have what it takes to overcome x3o in 1:1. Call it an upset, but LFS starts their season undefeated.

LFS > x3o 13-11

PTW: brett, apo$tle

noble: In all honesty, I wasn’t very impressed after scrimming against x3o’s new and improved roster. However, I was, and still am, impressed by grim’s pectoral and bicep size. Wait, what? Anyways, x3o is pretty much carried by apostle on mp_crash. He has the ability to single-handedly lock down the A site on defense. On offense, he is a one-man wrecking crew rushing any weak spot in the opposing team’s defense. Unfortunately, x3o is the type of team that likes to play extremely slow. It’s like watching a tortoise and the hare race, with apostle being the hare and the rest of x3o being the tortoise. On the other hand, LookingForSponsor has been pretty impressive the few times that I’ve scrimmed against them on crash. They have coordinated smokes and fast pushes on offense, but tend to peek a little too much on defense. This could either backfire on them horribly due to the patience of grim and his team, or it could work perfectly. Regardless, I’m going to give the win to LFS, but don’t be too surprised if x3o makes this one close.

LFS > x3o 14-10

PTW: je$t, apo$tle

Legacy Shallow

vs.

itsOver

hackett: Legacy and itsOver met a little over a week ago in preseason in a close 13-11 finish. Of course, preseason is hardly an accurate indicator, but it could be reasonably argued that these two sides should offer one another decent company in CEVO-Professional. Legacy has the edge in experience what with their former CoD2 Eximius members and the Asian Dynamic Duo. Experience is the type of thing that is easy to overlook but nevertheless plays a vital role in upper-tier matchups. These clubs are playing in the premier division this time around and the jump up in league will necessitate a jump up in preparation and execution. mp_crash, like mp_strike, is a fairly balanced map with a slight defensive advantage and I expect both teams to come into Thursday’s match with a solid D. The difference will lie in offensive dynamics. The team that can lose one to a nade but still pull out the round, the team that can win a 1v2 with the bomb down, the team that can determine and exploit a weakness sooner rather than later…that team will win. I expect Legacy to put the heat on iO after scoring a few early rounds in a row and they should hang on to win.

ls > iO 15-9

PTW: illu$ion, nickynitro

noble: Three words: Asian Dynamic Duo. To say that bea$t and illu$ioNP are the best thing since canned bread would be an understatement. Their CoD4 film, produced and edited by Justin “illu$ioNP” Ge, will go down as the greatest CoD4 film of all time. Alright alright, I’ll stop being so sarcastic. In all seriousness, Legacy has only gotten stronger with their most recent roster revamp. After scrimming against them multiple times on mp_crash over the past two weeks, I think it’s pretty safe to say that they have their stuff down. Bea$t and illu$ion might as well just join the United States Olympic diving team in China come August. The amount of player models I see flying across my screen while playing against this team is absurd. On the other hand, you have itsOver, who is still a fairly new and upcoming team. After a decent showing at NERV Lan 2, it’s hard to count these guys out. However, I don’t think iO will be able to handle the aggressive SMG play of Legacy. Legacy will be all over them like a fat kid on cake on both offense and defense, and iO won’t be able to adjust in time. They should be able to pull out the W in their CEVO-P debut.

ls > iO 15-9

PTW: bea$t, DZK

Revolution Sports

vs.

Team Pandemic

hackett: Do you want to know why Nabore climbs to the highest point possible on every map at any given time? His father was a drinker and a fiend, and one night he went off crazier than usual. His mother grabbed the utility ladder to defend herself, and his father didn’t like that one bit. So, Nabore watching, his dad chases his mother up the ladder, laughing as he does it. He turns to Nabore and says, why so low to the ground? He then chases Nabore up the ladder…why so low to the ground? Well, there you have it, Nabore will make ample use of rooftops previously unknown to Revolution Sports and Pandemic should have no trouble beating another team as badly as they beat Seraphic.

p > rS 20-4

PTW: nabore, keithsu

noble: The first thing that came to mind upon seeing this matchup was “ha ha ha he ho ha ha he he ho ha, and I thought my jokes were bad.” Sorry rSports, but you’re a little overmatched here. Pandemic has every set nade known to man, and chimp(ae) for that matter. Believe it or not, CEVO-P is the least of their concerns right now. With AEF 3 days away, Pandemic is doing everything in their power to prepare for the gamers across the pond. As of right now, they have every map down cold, including crash. If this match is not played tomorrow night, it probably will not be played for an extremely long time. rSports, another up and coming team (with awesome T-Shirts I might add), will watch as their hard work and practice is all for naught. It’ll be like watching the men’s soccer team from Brazil play 13 year-old schoolgirls. Best of luck!

p > rS 18-6

PTW: keith, prank

FocaL

vs.

makeSHIFT

noble: Would the real Batman please stand up? After an intense discussion with Kyle “hackettLP” Feeley about the new box office sensation, The Dark Knight, I have learned that he is going to attempt to mimic The Joker’s mannerisms and speech. And yes, this does include mimicking his use of knives as well. Unfortunately for makeSHIFT, this spells trouble. Kyle will be running around the map knifing (and possibly grenading) everyone that stands in his way. Jokes aside, Focal will win considering makeSHIFT just played on promod for the first time on Monday. Crash is also an SMG’s paradise, and Focal is certainly not lacking in that department. In my scrim against makeSHIFT, they seemed very unorganized and very incoherent. Unless they can work these issues out, they’re going to have a difficult time against a Focal team that has sensational chemistry and comms. Since I haven’t seen makeSHIFT really spamming for scrims, I doubt they’ll be able to work these issues out before Thursday. Therefore, I’m going to give the win to Focal on this one.

focaL > mSHIFT 15-9

PTW: starbuck, homez

MoBgaming

vs.

mainGear E-Sportsr

hackett: Even I get confused when I see the name MoBgaming and then see Awakening’s roster…I suppose it will just take some getting used to. No offense to my friends at mainGear, but I will also need to get used to seeing their team in CEVO-P. I’ve learned my lesson about rushed judgment (see 20id’s predicted s1 record). For all I know, mainGear might be the next 20id. Fortunately, my position is such that I can take a polarizing stance, be completely wrong, and it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference because this is just a match prediction. Therefore, that’s what I will do. MoBwakening, despite their dubious foundation, are talented and extremely competitive. Now that they’ve finally made it into the professional tier, I don’t see them dropping the ball as frequently. Crash also happens to be one of their favorite maps and I know that the addition of Logan’s 47 can only help their cause. Rubiks is a total baller and might rock some nasty picks, but I say MoB wins without much of a scare.

MoB > mG 14-10

PTW: badFish(lp), rubiks

noble: MoB Gaming has had quite the rollercoaster ride over the past couple of weeks. In fact, they’ve changed sponsors more than Larry the Cable Guy has changed his underwear this week alone. After narrowly beating Bloodline and earning the final CEVO-P slot available, MoB Gaming has much to prove. Will they be able to follow in the footsteps of the team that made CEVO-P playoffs last season? Or will they fall short and disappoint the GodFather? These questions remain unanswered, but we shall know as the season unfolds. However, one thing is for certain: “Yeeeeeeeeee boi!” Sorry, I just had to. mainGear is looking to make an impact in the CEVO-P scene as well. While the MoB Gaming roster looks better on paper, I wouldn’t count mainGear out. They’ve managed to build some chemistry over the past couple of months, whereas MoB Gaming has been shuffling up their roster. I’m picking MoB Gaming to win, but don’t be surprised if this one goes into overtime.

MoB > mG 13-11

PTW: xlzz, rubiks

Esomenic

vs.

50Calibre Gaming

hackett: I don’t think 50calibre have their entire roster back and ready to go yet, and if they do, it is a recent development. Not that it matters, though, since this Esomenic club might as well be a new team following the additions of crow and rust3d. That said, this new arrangement has come together nicely in the weeks since placement. Getting in as many scrims a night as they can before Theo’s bedtime, Eso have grown by leaps and bounds recently. Unfortunately for them, their opponents are already there. With a fourth place finish at NERV 2, 50cal has proven their worth as a CEVO-Professional team. Under the careful direction of jtf2, this mostly Canadian side pulled down fourth place honors in the most recent North American top ten. While they are mostly new to CEVO-P whereas eso is not, I see 50cal as the stronger team at least for the time being. This is the part where I might ask eso to prove me wrong or something similarly trivial, but instead I would prefer to be right.

50cal > eso 13-11

PTW: elek, noble