Welcome to the next edition of our IM power rankings! Two weeks in have already seen 4 dead teams for the division, which unfortunately is somewhat expected. There have been a few clashes between the better teams in IM early in the season, but most of these encounters have only been a glimpse of what we can expect by the time playoffs roll around. Be sure to check out the match of the week at the end of the article!###

1. Chill to Good Ratio (5-0)

by Sakura

Chill to Good hasn't really surprised anyone with their current record of 5-0. Maybe we've been spoiled by the dominance of Mad Men last season, but Chill to Good do not seem to have the top seed secured tightly yet. Their schedule has been relatively easy so far and they have dropped some rounds to mid IM teams such as New Faith Church Gaming and Rump City Bootyheads. Chill to Good usually have great transitions, with Dun dominating the uber fights and bman playing strong as the aggressive scout. Mangachu has also been playing well by getting cheeky medic kills through his unexpected hiding spots and his antics. However, their mids are not always the most consistent and some teams will be able to utilize this very well. They will probably be able to go through the rest of their scheduled matches relatively unscathed and end up 8-0 by the end of gravelpit week. Once they get past these upcoming matches, the true challenge will begin and they will be matched up with the rest of the teams on this list. It's no mistake that they are the top team right now as they are the team with the most promise and have been performing the best. However, now is not the time for any team to let down their guard, and this includes Chill to Good.

2. Sal's Canal (4-0)

by London Calling

Sals Canal is starting the season with only 3 rounds against them as they head into Snakewater week. Slipz seems to fit in nicely with the team and Phrakture is doing more consistent damage over the past 2 weeks. The closest match they have had so far was on Process against 6cuties with an hour long grind to finish with only 2 rounds scored the entire match. However the biggest challenge of the season yet will come up this week on Snakewater versus Dragonball Jav in what looks like a very close match. After Snakewater, they will face Fragophilia Gaming and Blues Crus on Gravelpit. Usually I would be quick to give Sals Canal the victory over these teams, but wacky things have a tendency to happen on Gravelpit and it would be a great opportunity for either of their opponents to grab an upset win.

3. Dragonball Jav (5-0)

by London Calling

Dragonball Jav has been pretty laid back for the start of their season with only one close 4-3 victory over Fragophilia Gaming on Process, with rose filling in for tone-pot which might have been the reason it was so close. Their other matches against submit another ticket and Blues Crus were pretty one-sided affairs with Jav and Nja going bananas both games and Rex also wracking up some frags and decent DPM. With only 2 matches in the next 2 weeks they'll have plenty of time to prepare for their match against Sals Canal on Snakewater and then for Gravelpit against Playground Tactics. The harder of the two matches will obviously be on Snakewater, and should be a quite the close affair to witness. Going forward, the schedule vacation will be over for these super saiyans and we will undoubtedly have an opportunity to see how they do against the other playoff hopefuls for what will be some great games to watch.

4. Knightz of Grillz (6-0)

by London Calling

Knights of Grillz has had one of the easier schedules of any of the top IM teams and have maintained an undefeated record. The only close game they've had was against 6cuties, where the Cuties had to do some last minute ringing in the first half and were able to make it closer in the second half, but were denied victory due to some hardcore bus parking. The Knights will be going into snakewater week only having to play one match and then will pick up a forfeit win off the dead Xensity roster, giving them a whopping total of 3 forfeit wins this season so far. The next challenge for them will be on gravelpit versus Rent-a-Homies, which should make for an exciting game. The rest of the season will most likely having Knights of Grillz playing the 3 teams above them in the rankings, where their measure will truly be tested.

5. 6cuties (4-2)

by London Calling

Definitely the cutest team in IM this season, 6cuties have had a bit of a rocky start to the season with 2 hard fought losses to Sals Canal and Knights of Grillz and dropping a few rounds here and there to some of the mid-IM teams. The coming weeks should see some more stable play, as the 6cuties soldiers have exchanged roles with r1cky on pocket and remedy on roamer since process week and Pharaoh is fast proving to fit in with the team despite some early inconsistencies. Looking at their schedule for the next two weeks, these little kitties shouldn't have any problem coming away with some clean wins on snakewater, although they might have an ugly gravelpit match against New Faith Church Gaming, who have been looking better and better since the beginning of the season. The future looks bright for 6cuties after already playing two of the tougher teams in IM, which means they have plenty of time to improve and exact some revenge in playoffs.

6. Rent-a-Homies (4-1)

by Sakura

Out of any team on this list, Rent-a-Homies is the most vulnerable to match upsets. At the same time, they are capable of beating any team in IM as well. This may be that while DM-wise they are all extremely skilled, they are also one of the least experienced teams in IM. John Milter is the only one with experience playing his current class in IM. The rest of them have either played in IM as a different class or it is their first time playing IM this season. Their most notable loss is against Tonight's Entertainment, who are considered to be a mid-IM team. It seems like at times the combo would have trouble balancing serv0's aggressiveness and Nomadic's passiveness. Often this conflict would cost them pushes and mids to Tonight's Entertainment. Caspian has the difficult job of mediating between these two styles, and the team's growth is dependent on how he adapts in his first season as medic. However, Rent-a-Homies are a smart group of people. They are one of the most well-balanced teams in IM and have been performing very well in scrims. If they take the time to iron out their inconsistencies, they have some of the highest potential to rise further in the power rankings.

7. Keep Calm (5-0)

by Sakura

The only new addition to this list since the preseason rankings, Keep Calm was able to stabilize a solid roster despite their initial troubles such as mason's departure to Classic Mixup. Currently it is cash50 on medic, devin and Mike! on scout, ranga on demo, and kermit/Bio on pocket/roamer. So far the team hasn't tackled too many difficult challenges except a nail-biting 5-4 against Cloud Nine. In this game, it seems that Keep Calm still need to get used to their new medic since some miscommunications were made when to pop and when not to pop. Kermit seems to be the player to watch on this team, utilizing his ubers very effectively through his aggressiveness and DM. The rest of the team looks to be a very strong lineup. Ranga is a well-balanced demoman that is able to defend himself through his pipes and traps. Bio seems to have adapted fairly well to his roamer position and has been putting up good numbers through his directs and his jumps. Having played on this team for a season, it is interesting to see it without mason, who was a majority of the comms in-game and led the roster for the past seasons they've been together. We will be able to test the solidarity of this new roster with some interesting matches in Keep Calm's near future which include submit another ticket and Ducks to Pound.

8. Down to Pound (4-1)

by Sakura

While Ducks to Pound are a great team with lots of experience, they seem to be struggling to be on the same page at the same time. Interestingly enough, the combo chemistry between Ibby and doggles seems relatively solid. However, there are many instances where the team's pushes fall astray because their calls and decisions seem relatively inconsistent. It will range from times where the combo pushes in on a small advantage and the rest of the team is not ready to push to times where the flank is aggressive but the combo is holding back to retreat. Playground Tactics was able to punish these inconsistencies in a 5-1 victory through backcaps and well-timed aggression. Also, while the DM on this team is relatively strong with players such as MGE all-star Ibby and pistol extraordinaire Decimate, sometimes they are overconfident and hold their position much longer than they should in bad situations. All these players have had great individual performances at times and are able to step it up when necessary, but they will have a lot of work to do regarding the cohesion of the team, especially since they are adapting to a new combo.

JUST OUTSIDE

• Playground Tactics
• Fragophilia Gaming
• Tonight's Entertainment
• Storytime with Marxist
• New Faith Church Gaming

Match of the Week

Sals Canal (4-0) vs Dragonball Jav (5-0)

Both of these teams haven't had too much of a struggle yet this season, and this match will mean the end to an untarnished record. While I would go with Jav and Nja being the better scout pair over Sal and zZa, I expect Phrakture to do well and SS will have better ubers during exchanges. Sals Canal will try to grind out the mids and capitalize on some small mistakes by Dragonball Jav, but depending on how well Rex and Jav do it might not be enough in some situations. I expect this game to be long and arduous as both of these teams have been favoring a more passive strategy lately and just the fact that snakewater tends to play slower, but in the end I see Sals Canal pulling away with the win at 5-3.

Players to Watch: Jav, Rex, zZa, SS

Thanks for reading! More to come in 2 weeks!