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CAL-Main Playoffs Round 1 Harrington Predictions
Aborted [3] vs. teamdiscostu [14]	At first glance this match appears to be a bit of a lopsided contest, and I don't think my perspective will change if I glance around a bit more. Aborted has an impressive roster this season that plans to show it all at CPL, and I must say that I'm a bit surprised by their performance this season. I knew that they were good but they've gone beyond my expectations and emerged with an 8-4 record and the third seed in the playoffs. As this format goes, their third seed gives them the highest seed of any team with a first round match and thus, presumably, the easiest match, and I think Aborted will run with what they're given. As of now they stand to gain from CAL's decision regarding whether teams can use their CPL roster or not (is that still being debated?) with haps joining after the cut, and from what I hear osto is still not registered for CPL to complete their team. Despite their poor performance against irawr the last time they played harrington, Aborted is a very skilled team and I think they'll do more justice to their harrington abilities this time around. On the short side of things is teamdiscostu, loaded with potential but unable to make the effort to deliver. They've shown that they're able to keep it close with mtan and even take down System Elite a week after being controlled by that same team, but they enter the playoffs with the worst record of any seed and it's representative of what they bring to their matches every week, regardless of the actual skill that they possess. They've recently been able to scrim a few times - a tremendous feat according to knubbe - but that won't be enough at this point to bring them up to where they need to be. They're consistent, but unfortunately it keeps them at a consistently low level of play rather than high. It sucks, but expect tds to show up with the same effort they do every week. By now you can probably guess what my prediction will be. Harrington is typically a high-scoring map and one of the few on which a cap could happen for a team that's otherwise being dominated. tds might emerge with one, but it's doubtful and if they do, it will barely make a dent in Aborted's lead. Harrington can easily cater to ProstaR's dominant heavy and osto is more than capable of holding down mid. Gloin struggled last time against irawr but against tds's rifles I think he'll have a much easier time. I expect this match to produce one of the bigger margins of the week as Aborted cruises to the second round and tds's mediocre season comes to an end. Todo's Prediction: Aborted by 300+ This match up features a group of teams winless on harrington. Each sports a forfeit loss in the first round of harry as well as Aborted getting handled in its match with irawr and tds losing a surprisingly close match to monitor tan in the second round of harry matches. I don’t really see either team preparing much for this match, as Aborted has tried to become the highball of CAL-M while tds is ready to get this season over with. Even so, Aborted has far too much talent on their side to let this harrington match slip by, trypants on or not. Dullumis will work his ass off to keep this one close, but Aborted still wins the match (even with the “we have to use backups” KTE). odm's Prediction: Aborted by 100+ It’s not going to matter if tds gets 6 or not. Aborted will have no trouble taking out the struggling tds squad. Prostar will hold mountain with ease and Sexualmayo is feeling lucky with the wild 8’s. See below. http://knoxgaming.net/users/mogers/Stuff/DSC02309.JPG Mogers' Prediction: Aborted by 175+ tds has had anything but an impressive season. They don't scrim, they don't try and they don't care. If explodey tried as hard as he does in our 3v3 matches they would have a much better record I believe. But, it's too late for that, and its time to stand up like men and take the ass-pounding that is about to be delivered to you. Aborted is a good main team, finishing second in their division and sporting an 8-4 record. On a map like harrington is where they will shine, but against a team like tds it won't matter. There isn't much competition here. Players to watch: gloin, explodey Slaughter's Prediction: Aborted by 200+
Losgueros [4] vs. Super Clan [13]	This matchup pits two teams against each other whose stock seems to be falling heading into the playoffs. LG surprised me a fair amount by losing to Aborted on donner and they don't seem anywhere near as strong as they were earlier in the season. I hear they benched chuck, which is a mystery because he's by and large one of their best players, but even without him they have a strong set of rifles with odd, sub, and godfather. On top of that they have professional gamer Mike "Bane_" Turkowski and a solid heavy in acab, so this team really can't go wrong. They've had some rough patches and some extremely good patches, beating Unreachable and then losing to nwP in back-to-back weeks, but at this point I still consider them a very strong team. Super Clan has pretty much been on a pathetic fall since midseason. At times they've been amazing and at times, more so recently than before, they've been awful, losing to ptm and ARMY consecutively to bring their record to 4-4 for the playoffs. I remember them claiming early on in the season that if the map were Harrington, they would win CAL-M, which tells me that they feel very confident in their Harrington play. To their credit, they've backed it up the entire way thus far, beating Sparkles by over 300 earlier in the season and then NihilisT by almost 300 on the second installment of harrington. If they're as skilled as they say they are, and as they've shown they are, on harrington, then this match could be extremely close. rotCOD and hD are a good heavy team that might be able to overpower acab and co. on mountain, giving them an effective ladder presence and helping out mid. I must say, Super's random comment in that earlier prediction thread has me a bit curious about this match. Losgueros wasn't able to do much against Aborted, even with Stuart's internet going out unexpectedly, and with chuck benched this week looks a bit more bleak than it otherwise could be. Thus far lg has earned a forfeit win and a surprise loss to SE on harrington, which could indicate that it isn't one of their stronger maps, or perhaps just that they weren't prepared for that week. lg's skill advantage could be brought down to Super's level by a potential weakness on harrington and that makes this match one to look for when you check the results after this week. There is almost always a cinderella team or two in every playoff series and if Season 13 features one, I think it's going to be Super. Frankly, I'd like to see the upset here, but in all honesty I don't expect it to happen. Todo's Prediction: lg by 100- 4th seeded los gueros doesn’t exactly have an easy match up this week, playing a Super team that has crushed its opponents on harrington this season. Granted, those opponents weren’t exactly top main teams, but Super does seem to be strong on harrington. los gueros never got redemption for that harrington match they lost early in the season to nwp as they received a forfeit win on their second round on the map. But I’m sure me reminding them of how they should have won that match but let it slip through their fingers will give them plenty of firepower to take this playoff opener seriously. Luckily for Super, they still have stanley and stanley is still amazing. Whatever route he runs should be completely shut down for most of the match; he’s just that good. Unfortunately for Super, that is where their luck stops. lg is sporting way too much talent on sniper rifle and on the heavies for Super to pull off the upset here. odm's Prediction: lg by 50+ Comparing rosters this should be a very one sided match, however super will not go down without a fight and could possibly upset the strong lg team. Gwolf and tomo shouldn’t have any trouble with mountain house. While chuck early will have a little trouble at long, remember this is online not onLAN. If lg does happen to lose look for a ton of irc trash talking followed by a dispute. Mogers' Prediction: lg by 40- Super Clan is in quite the predicament here: They play a healthy 4th seed, with some of main's strongest players on it, on the most skill dependant map in rotation. Super has had some surprising wins lately, followed by some close losses to PTM and ARMY. Losgueros has been rolling all season long, except for when they were wrecked by wallaby, and had a lucky capout (hi Greg =]). They slipped a little near the end of the season when their re-scheduling didn't work out and they forfeited. They also lost to aborted, in which I'm told they didn't have 2 or 3 of their starters? Doesn't matter. This will be a great match to participate in if you are a member of losgueros, because your team will be all over super in every area of the map. But watch out! "If finals are on harrington, Super will win main" LOL. Players to watch: rotCOD, gwolf Slaughter's Prediction: Losgueros by 250+
Schweisstropfen [5] vs. 3h [12]	Hockey's over so we can start to play games now :D Todo's Prediction: == If this was the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament I’ve have to go for the 5-12 upset that happens every year. Unfortunately for 3h this isn’t the case, and they have all of no shot at beating sweat on harrington. Their only hope for a win will be the slight chance that Scott Fleener misses the match because he was too busy admiring his looks in the mirror. sweat has a definite skill advantage on every weapon, and dominating opponents on harrington this season speaks to that. 3h has two harrington losses, and this week will give them their third and send them to their summer vacation destinations. odm's Prediction: sweat by 200+ GLHF please don’t prone everywhere, it makes me and jesus cry. Mogers' Prediction: == This should be a good matchup. Schweiss seems to have come alive of late, ending the season with a 4-game winning streak. They are on a roll and they will most likely be dominant in this match over a struggling 3h team that looked so good at the beginning of the season. 3h needs to get it together and will need big performances from hvk and likwid if they want any chance of pulling an upset here. Their recent win over tds could be used as a boost. If fleener plays, expect him to dominate his area of the map for schweiss. Overall, schweiss has got their stuff together and it will show in the end result of this one. Players to watch: Todo, hvk Slaughter's Prediction: schweiss by 150+
no Luck [6] vs. Preschool Teaparty Massacre [11]	Judging by stealth's idiotic comments earlier this week, it appears that he's fairly scared to go up against no Luck at this point in the season. ptm has been one of the most inconsistent teams in CAL-M this season, showing that they're capable of beating teams like Super and irawr but losing to teams like NihilisT that didn't even make it into the playoffs. I know that soma will be around this week to add to their firepower which should give them a nice little boost for this match, and I believe both teams are entering the playoffs on a high note. I didn't expect Super to drop either of their last two matches, one against ptm, but they did, and you'd have to be stupid not to notice ptm's raw potential. The main factor here is the difference between their potential and their actual. If this team can get completely blown out by teams like ARMY and NihilisT, how far can the mighty fall? It's more or less a matter of hit and miss with this team but I've had little faith in them before and it bit me in the ass, so I'll be a bit more cautious here. no Luck is a team whose online performances (don't get mad at me, I'm just telling it like I hear it) have been very impressive over the course of the season. After being moved up late, no Luck took very little time to get on track towards a 7-2 record that includes wins over Aborted and hsb. They've had their share of easy matches but when tested, they pull through. As was the case in the ARMY-mtan match, these two teams have played each other before and it was no Luck who came out on top of this early contest, holding ptm to 18 points on donner. With that type of performance, I can see why stealth is so scared. nL hasn't experienced a loss since Week 8 and they enter the playoffs with a 4-match winning streak that should have them in high spirits to begin things. I believe the strengths of both teams lie in their rifles and the weakness in their heavies. Stealth has made a name for himself by playing DoD 24/7 and not having a life and in doing so he's actually learned to aim, which complements how hard he sweats very well. When a player can care that much AND do it with a little bit of skill, regardless of how atrophied stealth gets in the process. Go read a book, idiot. Additionally, ptm has half a roster full of people who can competently use the rifle. With equis, jackson, and iorio matching up against whomever ptm throws out, middle and long should prove to be an interesting battle. On mountain, willeh will most likely be awful and idiotic as always, but texican will prone in a heartbeat and that could slow ptm's heavies down enough to appease willeh's inherently slow nature. In the end I think no Luck will repeat their efforts earlier this season and put together a decisive performance to take the win. Todo's Prediction: no Luck by 100+ no Luck enters this post season on a four-game winning streak, while ptm has crawled in with a close win over Super and a forfeit win against vanity. no Luck has dominated the opposition this season on harrington, but ptm has come up winless in both its attempts. This opening round doesn’t look to be any easier for kirk and the gang, either. The middle seems to be the most intriguing match up, as stealth and iorio have been making names for themselves this season on their respective squads. The middle partners are what will tip the scale for either team. Solid grenade work and well-timed covering fire will determine the higher-scoring sniper in this match. Looking at the other parts of the map, no Luck seems to have a clear advantage. Keeping the same starting lineup all season has helped them develop some sick chemistry, and pressuring ptm from both sides will lead to middle flanks and a ton of cap outs. odm's Prediction: nL by 100+ I see this match basicly coming down to the battle in middle. I don’t mean the snipers, more of the 2nd person running mid with them and if someone can overpower one of the sides of the map and flank behind. Stealth and iorio will be too busy waving at each other through walls to make any big impact in this match. No luck has a definite advantage at mountain and I think this will be the deciding factor in a close victory over ptm. Mogers' Prediction: noLuck by 60- no Luck has come out flying lately to finish their season with a 7-2 record and is riding a high on a 4-game winning streak. Last time PTM played harrington, they lost to nihilist. no Luck however, completely destroyed team helix (big surprise there). no Luck is a skill-based team that has exceptional individual talent and gritty teamwork. This is their map, and their match to win. PTM has struggled, and after dominating the infamous HSB and spurting SystemElite, no Luck will get an easy win here. haphazard will control long most of the time and iorio will barely leave middle except when no Luck caps out. Players to watch: haphazard, untouchable Slaughter's Prediction: no Luck by 120+
irawrgamers [7] vs. System Elite [10]	Overall I'd have to describe this contest as characterized by underperformance and a desire for the season to be over. At this point, neither team has lived up to their potential in my opinion, and sometimes that's just how it works out. In System Elite's case, they started the season strong and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that they were this season's darkhorse following their Week 4 win over Losgueros. Their strong play continued for another few weeks but the turning point seems to have come in mid-May when they won a decision against Teamdiscostu only to lose to that very same team the following week. Since their 5-1 start they've dropped to an unfortunate record of 6-5 and their team chemistry appears to be in shambles. On the other side of the table we have an irawr team which was hailed to win CAL-IM and then expected to finish very strong in CAL-M. Coming in a week late, they've done very well, but along the way they've earned surprise losses to hsb and ptm. At this point, I believe propaganda is still out of the picture which definitely hurts them, and their scurry to fix minor inactivity before the roster lock may be telling of their care factor. And last, but not least, leader odm and frequent top fragger xpx are both turning their attention towards the return of team tap for CPL, and I imagine that they want to finish this season strong so that they can happily move on to their beloved team. That being said, irawr undoubtedly has the upper hand going into this match. Every single person on their team is skilled, giving them the depth needed to combat inactivity or the loss of an important player. They've voiced concerns in the past few weeks about possibly not getting 6 but at this point I sincerely doubt that it'll be much of a struggle for them. SE has just completely fallen apart. LiNkS has been in and out, seaN has to be coaxed into played each week, and among the people who DO show up every week, the fire doesn't seem to be there. I really hope they can surprise me and put together the same effort that upset Losgueros on this same map, but in all honesty, I don't see it happening. irawr has 11 great players from which they need to find 6, and assuming that they can do that, this match is theirs for the taking. Todo's Prediction: irawr by 200 depending on how prepared system elite is for this match this could be a motw in my opinion. There will be a good battle in middle between schmiggs and propaganda. Showtime might give them a slight advantage considering he is the most random player in dod history. If laura can make her picks at mountain then nwp might have a chance to pull this out. Assuming systemELITE practices I’m going to give them the upset here. Mogers' Prediction: SE by 20- This could potentially be the closest match of the week, depending on what kind of SystemElite team we will see. Will it be the "Hey ,we just beat losgueros" team or the "omg we just got rolled by the schweiss" team. They are just too unstable, and have been all season long. irawr has also been somewhat inconsistent, given their varying wins. Some have been close against lower teams, some by a higher margin against top teams. Perhaps they play better when they are up against a really good team. I don't believe that is the case here, but I still think they will win this one with relative ease, as they have yet to reach their full potential. The last time these guys played harrington, irawr crushed ARMY and SE squeezed out a win over Losgueros. I think irawr is the better team here, and with some smart play and patience they can easily move on to the next round. odm, showtime Players to watch: odm, showtime Slaughter's Prediction: irawr by 100-
ARMY Gaming [8] vs. Monitor Tan [9]	I'm still not entirely sure whether it was ARMY that won last week, or simply Super that lost, if you can understand what I mean by that. I'm sure it's a bit of a combination, of course, but I can't say at this point whether ARMY has pulled something good together in the past few weeks. Regardless, their 32-point-win on donner, convincing enough as far as donner matches go, puts them close to the tracks of JETTY and irawr in terms of how they've done against Super and I think ARMY has a lot to show going into this preseason. ARMY started off the season with a disappointing 2-3 record with losses to JETTY, irawr, and, interestingly enough, a 213-59 contest against mtan. Since then they've bounced back strong, finishing up the season with wins in 5 of their last 7 and earning another playoff spot. Last season they were eliminated in the first round with a poor showing against n2p on anzio, and this season I know they'd love to top that. mtan has been fairly consistent throughout this season, earning a 7-5 record with their only losses coming at the hands of good teams (Super excluded). With only four real losses, they seem to fit comfortably in the upper tier of Main, most likely not the best but able to hang with any team in the league at this point. Their strong performance at w2z appears to have hurt their online play, if anything, as there are few threads left on these precious forums in which BenJi hasn't made it known that online DoD sucks. With that approach to CAL, I can't imagine that they're excited to play any match, let alone one against people with 200 ping. Earlier in the season they were able to explode on ARMY after dropping to a quick 0-2 record, earning a very convincing win, and as we all know there's no better display of how two teams will do against each other than how they actually DO against each other. At this point I believe one thing is certain: this match will not be the one-sided game that it was last time. mtan's only win since w2z was a close contest against a lower tier teamdiscostu, while ARMY has been climbing high during the last half of the season. With momentum in hand and w2z killing the psyche of mtan's players, ARMY stands to make up a fair amount of the difference from their last match on railroad. The question is whether it will be enough. Teamdiscostu has been battling inactivity this entire season and even at their best, I don't think they're a team that should be keeping it close with mtan. If mtan wants to win this they'll have to bring more to this match than they did during the regular season and that's going to require a real change in effort. Looking at the skill on their roster, I know they're a very capable team, and my true expectation is that they'll bring enough of their potential to this match and take out ARMY in a decisive, but by no means dominant, performance. Todo's Prediction: mtan by 100- In one corner we have the South American powerhouse, ARMY Gaming. In the other we have the Lacroix brothers and those other guys, a.k.a. Monitor Tan. ARMY is 1-1 on harrington this season, losing to irawrgamers by a huge margin and beating ptm by a huge margin. On the other side, mt has had two close victories over 3h and tds. ARMY should come into this one as prepared as always, but I’m not so sure about mt. With CPL getting so close, I’m sure they are more focused on getting scrims in with their CPL roster rather than their CAL lineup. Either way this should be a pretty good match up, and I doubt we will see a blowout. mt might have a slight edge in the middle of the map, but ARMY has a definite advantage in the heavy department. Unless mt sends a kar mountain side, ARMY should hold it for the majority of the match. This will lead them to be able to help cap middle and win the match. odm's Prediction: ARMY by 50- While these two teams are ranked closely together I see this being somewhat of a one sided match in favor of the #9 team Monitor Tan. With Ghandi being a very strong rifle for this team long shouldn’t be a problem. If hlah has a good game ARMY will never get middle and if Benji performs like he did on lan mountain wont be a problem either. ARMY is going to have to have some big games from their superstars to compete in this match. Kurccz and Lampro will have to work together to keep a strong mtan team from overpowering them. Mogers' Prediction: Mtan by 100+ Last time these two teams met was a long time ago on railroad. Both teams have a 7-5 record, so it's no surprise they are the #8 and #9 seeds. The only difference to this point in their seasons would be that Mtan has had 2 forfeit wins, whereas ARMY has had none, and had to fight for every inch of their playoff seed. Harrington is first a skill-based map, followed shortly after by basic team work. I think overall Mtan outskills ARMY, but it will be interesting to see if the results of railroad were because of great team work, as is needed on that map, or skill dependant. Either way, ARMY has their work cut out for them on this fast-paced map. I would love to see the rifle battle between ghandi and lampro. One problem for Mtan could be that ARMY is a southern team and may not be able to reschedule if some of their top players need to. Players to watch: ghandi, lampro Slaughter's Prediction: mtan by 100+

Day Of Defeat: CAL-Main Playoffs Predictions: Round 1 Harrington

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