Week 2 has come and passed with seemingly only half the matches actually being played. So in week 3 we can expect a lot of rescheduled matches from last week, as well as the matches for this week.

We’re headed into week 3 and cp_freight is the map a choose. This was one of the first custom maps to successfully make it into the tf2 competitive map rotation, and its main negative criticism is the use of trains. The trains add an interesting if not unfair twist in this game, as it can prevent movement or trap players therefore possibly turning the tide of battle. I expect a lot of interesting strategies including a lot of kritz, use of heavies and also possibly some engy usage. 2 scouts, 1 soldier and 1 sniper will be the main mid strategy for many teams.

20ID v Hostile Faction
Hostile Faction might be the underdog in ESEA-I but I expect them to pull a lot of upsets over the course of the season…. this just isn’t one of those games. The recent pickup of Punisher will hopefully help Hostile Faction in their scout disadvantage. Since this isn’t a stock map, a team that scrims a lot will have a big advantage. 20ID rarely scrims and HF is known for scrimming quite often. Even with all this said, I still think 20ID will take it easily. On Freight it’s really important to have a great demoman, and I feel Dummy is a lot stronger than Boogz who is great with pipes, but is known to overextending. Expect Phaser to be a bodyshot pro as he snipes part of the game. Also watch out for Dummy and Saber.
5-1 20ID

EG v Point and Click
PaC had a shocking victory over Loaded last week on cp_badlands. Yet… Solid Snake wasn’t playing, so Mithun and Jaegar had to struggle alternating the class. This in effect hurt the whole team and caused them to lose 3-5. I expect PaC to kritz Chupa a lot on this map, as they did on badlands and I expect it to be relatively successful. Yet, I don’t think they can overcome EG’s deathmatching skills and chemistry. Expect dominant performances by Destro, Chupa and Hero if he does some sniping.
5-3 EG

Loaded v Vicious-Gaming (by Paladin)
Loaded vs. Vicious gaming could be a difficult one to predict, on the one hand you have a top team struggling to stay active, and on the other hand an up and coming team looking to make a mark. I'm not too sure how seriously loaded takes the early season matches - last ESEA season they had a string of forfeits and matches played 6v5 - and so far this season has seen them drop 2 out of 3 matches. However, loaded has superior talent at the scout position and that alone can win you 99% of your matches in TF2. Vicious Gaming is looking solid as far as their teamwork and dedication and that could carry them to an upset here, if Loaded gets too over-extended and plays without teamwork VG could take advantage and get a big win. In the end though, I expect the expected, Loadeds talent alone can carry them through this and most other matches. Loaded>VG 5-3

Strickland Propane v PaC
I think this is going to be a real good one. In terms of dm, I believe both teams are evenly matched making it almost a coin toss determining the winner. Just because of strategy and a slightly better demoman, I’m giving the edge to PaC. Expect woot, chupa and sureshot (who was just picked up) to perform well.
5-3 PaC


Vicious-Gaming v Strickland Propane (by Notor)
This should be a pretty good match, with propane's pickup of mah boi SureShot. however, its going to come down to the scouts and demo on this one. woot vs. warpy is going to be epic, but vg's scouts daniel and ld should have the advantage here.
5-3 VG.

Loaded v 20ID
On a Valve map I’d say that this would be a really good game and my MOTW. But considering it’s a custom map and Loaded never scrims, I don’t expect this to be as good as one would think. Although 20ID doesn’t scrim either, they seem to go over strats before matches and have much better chemistry. Carnage will meatshot consistently as always, and hopefully Saber will be around to FaN It up. Hopefully Solid Snake will show up after being inactive/vacation for a little. In the end, because of Loaded’s lack of chemistry and failure to scrim, I expect a quick game out of this. Hopefully we can still get the mumble/vent recordings after the game :D
5-1 20ID

I didn’t predict any of Lightning Bolt’s games because a team hasn’t stepped up to take their place. Hopefully a team or a pug team will step up and take initiative.