Classic Mixup (12-4 -- 3rd seed)
Roster
- Smaka (Medic)
- Platinum (Pocket)
- Harbleu (Roamer)
- Seagull (Demoman)
- Enigma (Scout)
- Dabes (Scout)
Performances vs. LAN teams
- High Rollers Gaming: 1-5 L (Badlands)
- Tri Hards: 0-2 L (Gravel Pit)
- Tri Hards: 4-5 L (Gullywash)
- Apocalypse Gaming: 2-5 L (Badlands)
- Apocalypse Gaming: 5-2 W (Metalworks)
The team Classic Mixup has had a pretty solid season. Their only losses were against the LAN teams, which at first sounds worrisome, but three of the four losses were during the first half of the season, while they were still working out the rough patches (and I mean seriously one of those was against HRG). Outside of Mason's short tenure and Smaka's return Mixup has also kept the roster stable, outside of calling in Powah and Mesr for Enigma who was having Internet problems during Viaduct week. They have been here before, but can they repeat the victories of S10 and S12?
Enigma and Moose (Dabes) return to make their 4th appearance as the Mixup Scout pair since S9. Although Moose has struggled to put up good numbers for some games (most notably in games vs. Tri Hards), he's really come back to form though in the later weeks. And Enigma? He continues to be Enigma. Cleaning up frags as Scout and making plays with offclasses. Enigma and Harbleu will provide Mixup with the most dynamic and versatile utility play at LAN, which should give them multiple options that they need to fully take advantage of.
Platinum returned to pocket for another season, and while he had a bit of a rocky start, he looks as good as ever with damage and uber execution. With Smaka running Quick Fix fairly often, Platinum fighting scrappy fights with his fast recovering 250HP will be horrifying to face on the LAN environment. And if Platinum has a clean uber? That's equally as horrifying. I expect nothing but the best from Platinum, and I'm sure others feel that way, too. The same could be said for Harbleu, whose roaming hasn't changed but continues to produce results. Like mentioned before, Harbleu's utility classes in Sniper and Spy will be key to breaking stalemates and keep enemies afraid and cautious.
Let's talk about Smaka. Smaka came in to replace Mason on Medic during Badlands week, and he's steadily improved throughout the rest of the season. His needles have been good, while he's staying alive more often and playing together with Platinum. Smaka has been pioneering the new Quick Fix with this team, but he hasn't been afraid to go back to regular uber and Kritzkrieg, making it quite the guessing game. If it's uber or Quick Fix, no one makes the most out of these than Platinum so he's just gotta play his part and trust (and hope Platinum doesn't jump him into a crit air sticky). Finally, there's not much to be said about Seagull. Going from pocket to Demo was very smooth for him, and everyone expects he'll become even more of a monster at LAN. Seagull usually plays the standard Demo, dealing lots of damage, picking off Medics with traps, and staying alive to slow the enemy down.
Past variations of this team have been to LAN. Platinum, Harbleu, Enigma, Dabes, and Smaka have all played together at some point or another. Smaka and Dabes have not made appearances since the S11 LAN, but both should readjust to the LAN environment just fine. The only new addition is A_Seagull, who has yet to play poorly at LAN. While it may not be same crazy play that he had on pocket, his contributions will be more than enough for Mixup to work off of.
UR1 vs. Tri Hards
Mixup will have their third encounter against Tri Hards for LAN. The first encounter was on Gravel Pit where they looked heavily outmatched, while the second encounter on Gullywash say a very close game off of strong Platinum play. Could third time be the charm? Between some of the internal conflicts of Tri Hards and Platinum's superb pocketing coupled with the medigun minigame Smaka is spinning, Mixup has never had a better chance.
Classic Mixup have shown that they became a contender, but there are still some foggy spots. Dabes need to step up and repeat his S10 performances rather than S11, while the rest of the team just needs to be confident and support Platinum's play. Will this be enough to break the unstoppable HRG? Only time will tell. After all, this is Mixup's season to continue the cycle.