Recap

I am pretty sure we have had a 5-4 match every single week, which is simply amazing. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this has not happened for a very long time, if ever. Metalworks week is going to ruin some predictions because it's a map where sometimes you don't reach the 5 round win limit. God forbid this doesn't happen during any casted games. The incredible i49 fragumentary was also released, and with i52 just around the corner, is the perfect video to get you hyped for some awesome TF2 this week.

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1. Froyotech (5-1)

Froyotech had a 5-0 win over The Hurricane. Shade had but a single death where he dropped uber, and they were able to keep all of The Hurricane to single digit frags. Their other Badlands match has yet to be played, but will be tonight against Mad Men. It'll be hard for Froyotech to lose this one, assuming clckwrk and lansky outperform their counterparts. Predicting a 5-1 for Froyotech. Their Metalworks week is going to be very quick, with a forfeit over 6cuties and a game against Ding Dong Daddy. Froyotech to win 5-0, repeating the score of their previous encounter. Froyotech isn't likely to lose any matches until Viaduct week where the lineup of Street Hoops and Exertus will (hopefully) provide their most challenging week yet, and will settle the score for the #1 spot for the rest of the season.

2. Exertus TF2 (8-0)

The dream is halfway there. XTS came off a crushing 5-0 against Ding Dong Daddy and a nailbiter 5-4 against Street Hoops. Cozen was able to return from vacation in the match against Street Hoops and they've managed to keep their undefeated streak for yet another week. Decimate really made noise for the flank, despite alfa's frags on Sniper and Ma3la's quiet contributions. The Exertus group only have one Metalworks match but it's going to be against Mixup, the rematch from Process week where XTS won 5-4. This matchup will be covered in more detail in the Match of the Week. After that, we're getting ever closer to the elusive rematch between Exertus and Froyotech, which will likely determine the king of regular season.

3. Classic Mixup (5-2)

Classic Mixup have been looking more like their old selves (or at least their record has), but you have to consider that their schedule in the last 4 matches was much lighter compared to other competitors. Still, they made short work of Ding Dong Daddy and should have an exciting Metalworks week (ha) up against Street Hoops and Exertus. Mixup is looking to get revenge on XTS for Process week, and should try to play off squid and enigma. This is actually their first encounter with 20b this season, so 20b should also be very prepared and I expect both matches to be solid.

4. Mad Men (3-3)

I'm going to tentatively place Mad Men at #4 for now, but if they can take a round (or more) off of Froyotech tonight, I'll be much more confident in putting them above Street Hoops for the time being. As stated earlier, Mad Men will face Froyotech tonight and will be looking to put on another strong performance. Their 3 losses this season were to the LAN teams, where they've always had 2 or more rounds so I expect more or less the same this time around. Mad Men only have The Hurricane this week on Metalworks and while it should be a good match, I predict the Scouts on Mad Men to run away with the victory, 5-2 Mad Men.

5. Street Hoops Esports (4-3)

Street Hoops played another hell of a game against Exertus, just letting the 5-4 slip away from them. Cyzer and grape, as predicted, played like animals, but the twins pulled their weight and while ash's plays were not extraordinary, proved to be on par with the rest of the team. On Metalworks, 20b will play Classic Mixup for the first time this season and rematch Wood Pig. Street Hoops has looked way stronger than they were at the beginning of the season, now that the roster has settled in and time has run its course. Both matches could go either way, and I wouldn't be surprised at any result that isn't a 5-0. Continue to look for grape and cyzer to make plays, but ninjanick's survivability and urge to milk ubers will also be a key variable.

6. Wood Pig (3-4)

So some roster shuffling happened with Wood Pig recently. Mangachu and arcticjoe have left the team, backup milo was promoted to start on Pocket, bape shifted back to Scout, leaving the Roamer position still open. It'll be difficult to get a grasp on their Metalworks games against Ding Dong Daddy and Street Hoops without knowing their official Roamer. If this was the old Wood Pig I'd have said they should be able to handle Ding Dong Daddy without many issues, but it really depends on who they have as their 6th. Mangachu, mackey, and FanofAngels have left the roster, leaving someone named Daevelingling as their only option as of current. The game against 20b will also be more difficult, as Wood Pig have to deal with their roster situation and 20b has been looking much stronger than they were at the start of the season.

7. The Hurricane (2-5) #

This week will be another short one for The Hurricane, who only have a single match against Mad Men. This is a pretty important match, given it is their first encounter with each other. Insom should be looking to shut out Chriztafah and the aggressive tendencies of Mad Men, while shootist (is he back yet?) and SureShot make plays. I do think regardless of result, The Hurricane will be knocked out from LAN, but we'll save that for next week's LAN race stuff.

8. Ding Dong Daddy (1-6)

Ding Dong Daddy walks into Metalworks week against Wood Pig and Froyotech. The team was putting on some good performances last night in scrims, and with Wood Pig's Roamer still up in the air, they could have weakened themselves to where Ding Dong Daddy could swing a surprise victory. However, I don't think they'll be able to do much against Froyotech, who recently made short work out of Mad Men (who Ding Dong Daddy lost to 5-3 on Granary). I'll predict a 5-3 loss to Wood Pig for Ding Dong Daddy.

9. 6cuties (0-7)

Mana wanted me to write something about 6cuties. I told him he was crazy.

League Leaders

Since we're halfway through the season, I figure let's add a new little segment (just for this week) regarding some numbers and trivia (akin to the stuff in the Invite Preview). Now, statistics are never the be all end all of TF2, teams can have less frags and still win (after all TF2 is a game of capture points), and not everyone has played the same amount of time in their matches, but once in a while it's fun to look at some numbers around Invite.

Frags: YouMustMike (Mad Men): 200

Mike currently leads the division with exactly 200 frags. Clckwrk is 8th with 159, but has just 2.5 hours played (for reference, Mike has a little over 4 hours). The top 10 is currently split pretty evenly between Scouts and Demo / Soldiers. I did not pay much attention to stats in previous seasons so I don't know if this is a newer development, but nonetheless. All of XTS' fragging classes rank in the top 12.

Deaths: shade (Froyotech): 33

Considering that outside of their 5-2 loss, Froyotech has 5-0'd the competition every time, it's not surprising to me that shade averages around 5 deaths per game. If there was a perfect game for him this season, it might this week against Ding Dong Daddy.

Medic Picks: MemphisVon (Mad Men): 27

Big MemphisVon tops the list with the most Medic frags. Teammate marmadukeGRYLLS comes in 2nd with 23. Actually, marmaduke is the only Pocket in the top 5 (the rest are all Roamers), and XTS' Decimate and alfa are the only Scouts in the top 10.

Grenade Frags: insom (The Hurricane): 60

Insom's pipes are crazy. Deadbolt is just behind with 51, showing that these two Scouts-turned-Demoman can definitely connect the pipes. Or rollers.

Capture Points: Decimate (Exertus TF2): 95

Ggglygy would be so proud.

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Match of the Week

Exertus TF2 (8-0) vs. Classic Mixup (5-2)

The last time these two teams met was on Process, where Exertus rattled 4 rounds in the 2nd half to clinch a 5-4 win over Mixup. Since then, Mixup has only lost to Froyotech, and XTS hasn't lost at all. Mixup would really like to even up the head-to-head, while XTS would certainly like a repeat victory, which would bring their perfect season that much closer to reality.

The spotlight has been on Exertus for the last month, so I consider Mixup the underdogs in this rematch, but we've seen 5-4's all season so that might not be correct. Nonetheless, the pressure is on XTS to keep up the superb play that have left them with their 8-0 record. I will give cozen and rando the edge over harbleu and TLR, though I would call the Bdonski vs. Platinum matchup even. It's hard to root against the XTS flank but I think Mixup's will be just a little bit better on this rematch. Seagull will likely have some creative jumps to maneuver behind enemy lines and / or get a cheeky force off of cozen, though the latter will surely be trying to milk as much as possible. I think this battle will be won from the flank, whether from Seagull's Roaming, key Scout cleanup (or backcaps), or a utility play.

Speaking of, there are some good Sniper lanes on Metalworks, something which alfa is sure to try and take advantage of. It'll be up to harbleu to keep his head out of reach to prevent untimely deaths or drops. If Mixup is to throw a counter Sniper at alfa it'll surely be squid, but what I'm watching for is the clutch Spy (or Engineer) utility that will win (or save) a team a round. As mentioned above, assuming no one heavily outplays their counterpart on the combo, this match will be decided by the Scouts and Roamers and how often they can contribute huge plays.

I was lucky enough to get last week's MOTW prediction right, but this time it's going to be much more difficult and I am far less confident. Personally, I've love to see Mixup win here, and I'm going to put my faith in Platinum's face to pull through. It's time for the upset win.

Prediction: Exertus TF2 - 3, Classic Mixup - 5

Players to Watch: rando, alfa, harbleu, Platinum

Final Glance

1. Froyotech
2. Exertus TF2
3. Classic Mixup
4. Mad Men [+2]
5. Street Hoops Esports
6. Wood Pig [-2]
7. The Hurricane
8. Ding Dong Daddy
9. 6cuties [R.I.P]

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Editor's Note: Each team's name should now link you to their ESEA team profile, and the MOTW should link right to the stats page. I had volunteer projects the whole week so I know I missed lots of stuff. Plus my Internet was pretty garbage too, meaning anything not already on Youtube was pretty much out of reach. Don't trip though, as next week will be the LAN Race edition of the Power Rankings, along with a special collaboration. Special shoutouts to Brownstone for diligently and vigorously proofreading for me.