North America - After what seemed like a very even Week 5 matchup against DANCE BRIGADE on mach4, Nefarious Gaming sits atop the Amateur ladder with a 5-0 record and an impressive +19 in points scored. Below them is an interesting tangle of teams that have inter-twining wins so far this season (Rev6 > DANCE > dm > Rev6) yet who've all given way to the NEF-domination train - except dm|, who will get their chance at the kings this week on cp_well.

The GotFrag TF2 Dept. (ie. yours truly) has decided to pick up the slack and offer preds for the remainder of the inaugural CEVO-A season & playoffs, since CEVO-A offers a much more interesting and competitive field then the big guns of CEVO-P. That, and I wanna spread the hate around.

Predictions:

Nefarious Gaming v Delectable Meats
dm| is the last of the top dogs to face (and be subsequently beaten) by NEF, and come hell or high water NEF will pull through. To be fair, it looks like if anyone has a shot at beating the CEVO-A kings, it's dm| (last week I would have said DANCE, but they were so thoroughly neutralized), but NEF's just a little too good to fall in the regular season.

..but who's to say they won't end up like the Pats, eh?
NEF [4:1] dm|

Legacy v DANCE BRIGADE
I don't necessarily have anything against Legacy, but they've had a pretty easy road so far this season - the only win that really impresses me was over $hot, but that's looking more and more like a granary-fluke by the way $hot has bounced back. I think Nightmare and his boys will be a playoff team, but there's still some proving they have to do if they want to get my vote. That, and dance! really needs this win.
L| [0:4] DANCE BRIGADE

Revelation 6 v Sorry Ass Clan - MOTW
I'm calling the upset on this one - despite the obvious talent on Rev6, and their current title holding of the STA 8v8 ladder (congrats, btw), I've just got this feeling that sac wants it more this week. sac had a heck of a showing on mach4, and have put up more of a fight against the big dogs then Rev6 has (Rev6's win over DANCE notwithstanding). This will be by far the MOTW, and is a very important match for both teams trying to stay ahead of the masses below ($hot, pFg, and maybe even HeX).
Rev6 [2:4] sac|

HeX Gaming v Money Shot
This just might be the easiest pred of the week. Not because either team is particularly good/bad, nor because it's not a balanced matchup (quite the contrary) - it's an easy pred because I believe in showing respect/disrespect for the week before. In other words, HeX got such a beatdown last week, there's no way I'm picking them to win - and by the same token, $hot beat snot out of Nurfed (who's now in my shitter), so I can't help but back them this week (and for the record, I love using italics).
HeX [0:4] $hot

Prize Fighting Goats v Mercenaries Clan
I want to see MC win, climb that ladder and get smoked by their betters - especially after that solid win against oldhat. But you guys lost to Nurfed, and that don't fly round here. Plus I think pFg is actually a pretty good team down on their luck (go beat ohnoes, it'll cheer you up Goats), and this win will help ease the pain from last week.
pFg [4:1] MC

oldhat v Nurfed
Wow, Nurfed. You had some progress, you beat out some okay teams (ohnoes and MC), had a tough OT loss to HeX but were looking to bounce back! So wha' happened? Dudes, 27-1 is just.. damn.. wow.. ouch. Now, you might come back and kick some ass on well, and I might pretend that I have Danny Aiello in my pants, but that doesn't mean I'm forgetting that mach4 match. I'm going with oldsac.. err.. oldhat on this one, despite their own beating last week.
oldhat [4:0] Nurfed

Night Kids v Rebel Gaming
I'll be honest, I'm pulling a Tony Kornheiser (of PTI fame) here - I know nothing about Rebel Gaming aside from the fact they beat an awful HSN a couple weeks ago, and cannot therefore in good conscience pick them to win. Besides, Night Kids' tag is so cool..
//ИìghtØ// [4:0] RoM

ohnoes v Ministry of Pain
While a part of me thinks this match may not happen, a larger part of me wants to see ohnoes dominate pFg whenever they end up playing each other, so I therefore have to back 'em in this tout. Besides, they got a guy named JUDDERMAN on their team - HOW CAN YOU LOSE?!?
ohnoes [4:0] MP

The New Alliance v Bonus Points
I'm gonna go head and predict the forfeit on this one - congrats, TnA, another win (if you show up at all)!
[TnA] [1:0] BP-

CEVO-A TF2 S1 Week 5 Scores: