Branch 2

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Branch two holds the cluster of most of the dominant North American teams. Team Rival, Check Six, United 5, Green Berets, and Team EG highlight the bracket, with Begrip in the middle. It’s funny because, no one knows what to think of a very dangerous European team in behind enemy lines, as they are known for being in top form with little to no practice. I'm positive that Begrip will make it to at least round three against Rival, Check Six is a solid team, but I just don't see them taking down Begrip. Rival and Begrip will be interesting. A few of the Rival guys have experience against Begrip, and if anyone from this group has the experience to work over Begrip, it is Rival.

Rival is such an interesting subject in my opinion, because that on paper, Rival is talented as hell, but they seem to have a bit of trouble getting momentum as a whole. This might be the event that they will finally be able to step it up into form, as the recent history has been fair to Rival (even if the further history has not).

Bootman's Thought On Ex-Ouchies:

As Bobby said, these guys look great on paper. Rival has guys that have placed third at multiple events, a guy that has won an international tournament, and a guy that said in an interview Jason Lake pays us. God I love West Coast players. Anyways, we haven't really seen Rival on LAN since their WCG qualifier where they didn't perform that well. When this lineup came out, people thought that only Jesus himself could take them down. Guess not. Well seeing as how MattYoPat couldn't play with Rival because they had a strict practice schedule, I guess Johnny Boms has been whipping them into shape. Do I smell the Rival third place curse? Not really, but it would make me chuckle.

Kmode assured Bootman and I that this was the event United5 was going to win. With CuZ banned, U5 has so much to prove. Will they be able to? I'm not really sure. They'll be playing against a solid Green Berets tomorrow morning in a match that will be much closer than most would like to admit, and immediately after that, they're going to have to pay up to our favorite Canucks Team EG. EG like Team 3D, is coming back to 1.6 after a great showing at WCG. They're the textbook on chemistry, and that’s something that makes a difference in the game. I'm looking for at least a Top 8 placing for the team that took second at Summer. U5 doesn't have it in them to drop EG tomorrow; it will be a great match but EG is going to face off against either Rival or Begrip up top, to edge out the branch.

Bootman's United 5 Thoughts:

First off, for some reason Hanes thinks that whenever we write something good about a team, that team will do good. United 5 is taking their first CPL! YAH! But in all honesty I think this is one of the weaker lineups that United 5 has played with. I'd say watch out for Hanes. He's always been my pick for MVP on any roster he's ever been on. United 5 recently picked up elemeNt and that is going to be a huge help. Ola is a legendary player in the scene, but as of lately he hasn't been performing up to par like he did back in those SK and eoL days. U5 will have an interesting tournament, but I think top 8 is a long shot unless they have been practicing like crazy.