Here we are with my season wrap up article, the people's choice awards. I sent out a poll for these awards to one individual from every playoff team in open and compiled them into this final version. Big thanks to everybody who participated in the poll. I'll probably try to write keep writing articles next season since the response to them has been largely positive.
No surprises here. You could hardly talk about open playoffs this season without hearing zalfy's name come up -- the guy is just amazing. Making a return to scout after a TF2hiatus, zalfy is just as much the DM fiend now as he was back then. His damage output was just ridiculous and he puts so many frags on the board it isn't even funny. Zalfy put together an incredible season and was a huge contributing factor in earning his team a move up to IM. Needless to say, he won these awards by a huge margin.
__Runner up__: _Insom_
This was Rekuso's second season on a top open team and he's kept up a steady progression to show for it. Rekuso had one of the more diverse styles of roaming in open which combined both his strong DM and jumps. Often times a roamer will either attempt to make plays by themselves or make plays which distract for their team; Rekuso's play managed to integrate both of these factors, making him by far one of the most annoying people to play against. This ability to perform well regardless of circumstance has left him standing out as his team's go-to playmaker and running away with the roamer award.
__Runner up__: _Lunacide_
Having had a number of partial seasons under his belt, Bill this season managed to turn some heads after making his transition from demo to pocket. He played a persistent style where he was always getting a buff and always trying to do something with it, which netted him both impressive stats and an impressive record for his team (in the normal season at least). He brought a lot to the table -- probably more than anybody expected him to -- and has certainly garnered some attention to show for it. He had the DM to pull off some clutch moments and along with his medic comprised one of the most well-directed combos in open. This was actually one of the closer awards, but Bill has managed to edge himself out here having put together a solid season.
__Runner up:__ _Preston_
With the third season on his resume, Rikachu really began to come into his own. He got to see a lot more of the heal beam than some of the other demos in Open, but it has certainly paid dividends. Rikachu has always gotten recognition for his DM ability, but it wasn't until this season that it really began to shine through. He put out some of the highest damage numbers and lowest death counts in the division and was able to do so on a consistent basis. Having finally settled into his role, Rikachu was able to eclipse even the "invite sandbagger" and win the demoman category.
__Runner up__: _Mausy_
What to say about indust... It's hard to talk about medics once you reach the level where they all have a solid grasp on class mechanics; a lot of what made indust impressive was behind the scenes. If you've ever watched someone on _indust we trust stream_ or played a pug with indust, you know that his strength lies in his calling. indust always seems to have a grasp on just how much of an advantage he has and how far he can stretch it, and his leap from open to invite halfway through playoffs in itself should lend credence to his ability.
__Runner up__: _London Calling_
Playground Tactics has made some of the largest improvements, especially since the beginning of playoffs. They've molded themselves from what was an average Open playoff team into what looks to be a solid team coming into IM next season. They've seen Rikachu finally have his coming out season as well as insom making his impressive debut as scout, emerging as one of the best in the division, eclipsed only by zalfy. It wasn't quite enough to clinch them the championship, but they've made a strong showing nonetheless.
__Runner up:__ _rent a homies_
