ESEA S16 LAN Preview: Exertus eSports

The Players:

Before I even talk about the players, I should plug Exertus the organization itself, a relatively new sponsor to TF2 who has stuck around for another season. As for the players, Exertus improves their seeding from third to second this season, but ultimately they will still end up playing the same first round game they would have, had they come in third - fitting as only 5 rounds separate them from third seeded mix^.

The XTS off-season acquisitions seem to be working out nicely. Decimate and Alfa lead the scout charge - Alfa moving to Scout after medding for XTS last season. Decimate first got his drink of the invite juice way back with the Mighty Ducks where he dropped more than a few jaws with his sniping abilities, but his statistics this season, and last, show that he's now a top tier invite scout. Alfa has adjusted well to the move onto a fragging class and has done his fair share of off-classing this season as well - for the season Decimate only out fragged him by twelve frags over all.

Ma3la, who shall henceforth be called Mabla, comes into his second season with XTS doing his usual Mabla things. Will the blackbox make a rare LAN appearance? Only Mabla is likely to know. He also, in a relatively rare feat for a roamer, has a K/D rather close to 1. Rando is another new addition to the XTS roster - the pocket of pockets First Lord of the Heals. Rando rarely comes into a fight without 300 Hp, and he manages to do a lot with all those precious hps. He's probably best known for his previous LAN appearance with AG from the fateful quickfix season.

Another new addition in the form of The Fragile himself comes in at medic. He's been playing Tf2 in ESEA since such a thing existed, and I hear you can even buy lessons from him through ESEA even still. The former Lord of the Crossbow also showed that he's still got the magic touch coming in 6th over all for frags on the medic class in ESEA - no small feat when your pocket is stealing all your potential frags, thus allowing him to top frag over all other soldiers in ESEA.

Bdonski stays on Demo bringing this to, by my count, his second season on Demo. I recall in some cast, I said Bdonski may be in the position to be the top Demo in ESEA this season, and although b4nny's return to demo has made that road a lot more difficult, he certainly put up the numbers to make me not look like a complete moron.

The Journey, The Season:

XTS' season has been one, for me, that was full of surprises. Their first real test came in their third match of the season against third seeded mix^, a game that XTS lost in a thrilling 5-4 on Snakewater. Their next test came the following week against first seeded Froyo, a match that XTS lost, on Badlands, 5-3. They also dropped their very next match against the fourth seed, 20b, in a 5-3 on Process. XTS then sorted themselves out and cruised to a fist full of victories, even securing a 5-4 victory over mix^ on the new map Sunshine. On a quest for revenge, XTS was unable to overcome Froyo going down 5-2 on Gullywash. However, they had one team left on their hit list - 20b. They returned the 5-2 favor to 20b on Gullywash, ending XTS' season at 12-4 with a five round lead over mix^.

LAN Prospects:

Coming into this XTS has a huge challenge in mix^ right off the bat, but if the regular season is any predictor, the second series of this LAN between mix^ and XTS may very well be the highlight of this ESEA season. I mean, how often do teams meet twice in the same season and trade 5-4's? The TF2 viewers on that fateful Saturday may even be in for a double dosage of mix^ vs. XTS - as it's entirely possible for them to be forced into a rematch, should 20b prove unable to overcome them, and mix^ or XTS prove unable to throw Froyo down into the loser's bracket. Whatever XTS' LAN goals, the road lies through mix^, possibly twice. I can't make a call on how that's going to boil out - just know that it's probably, definitely, going to be excellent to watch.

Fun with Invite Numbers:

On the season Rando top fragged over every soldier in ESEA. Bdonski top damaged over all of invite, and continues to hold 2nd over all of ESEA - despite some players having playoff games to their credit. The Fragile managed to score more points and attain more assists than any other player in invite. Decimate, Rando, and Alfa managed to secure 4th, 5th, and 7th place in frags overall.

good job, and you fixed the bdonsky error from the 20b review!