http://play.esea.net/index.php?s=league&d=standings&division_id=2184&find_entity_id=73975#entity73975

Things are starting to come into focus at this point.

The strangest part about this is that I have no idea what my team is going to do - we could go anywhere from 4-12 to 12-4 and I wouldn't bat an eyelash. The old foundation of last season's team has been completely uprooted and our roster is starting to build a new identity. Our scrim results have been wildly all over the map during this process.

I'm curious about what the Open call-ups are going to do vs. rosters that have been there. I think Bubble Buddies are going pull a few nasty surprises. I like what I see from crux and I think he'll continue to play well this season.

I'm a bit nervous about Manly Maws. They are young and growing - but do they have the firepower to win the 50/50 matches needed to stay in the playoff hunt? I think this will be a "learning experience" for them. Next season will probably be the one in which they make their next big move. (Nice group of people, too)

I think PCW makes the postseason. unf has a hefty experience advantage over most IM demomen and is going to create a few ugly mismatches this season. unf's supporting cast has a nice amount of experience - what is phelon going to do this season? If phelon reaches his old form these guys are going to make a run.

we kings now are probably a long shot right now. I'm not sure what I'm going to see from their new scouts - this is important since jerr0 was a huge factor in their early season dominance last season. pie_hero must play his ass off for this team to climb to the top half of the table. The good news: the correct building blocks are in place, and I don't see any nasty attitudes on their roster that will run after an early loss or two. They'll finish better than they start, but the question is: "will they run out of time late?"

Off Top, unlike a lot of peer IM teams, know who they are. They aren't an old team that is renovating (Sharknado, trans-autistic), they aren't a overnight construction (kace's edition of She Spilled My Coffee), and they aren't a DM collaboration either (delpo's team). They do not have any superstars on this roster - and as a result they are going to be a team that EVERYONE expects to beat...

...and that's when they get to play the spoiler role. This team is very beatable, but you have to play technically sound TF2 to do it - they aren't ego-charged and they sure as hell aren't going to consciously beat themselves. I predict that they'll hover around the playoff cutline for a while - and they're going to absolutely ruin the season of 2-3 IM teams in the process.

there are probably 4 teams that will battle each other in the top 4, the rest is up for grabs while you will have your weaker teams that should of just died off or played in open

im should be fun to watch as well this season

Who are those top four teams, IYO? I know the open move-ups pretty well, but beyond recognizing most of the names from the other teams, I don't know much about them.

I've scrimmed most the teams in IM this season. At this point it is wide open. Teams that work hard and improve will have a shot at the end, there is no overwhelming favorite. Alot of it will just come down to who is better or more prepared for certain maps, and matchups, who's playing hot. Should be a very competitive season.

not in any order

Tonight's Entertainment (win or bust with mausy)
AG Chilluminati (Puff and xep)
The Wet Bandits (okie)
Speedy Cheetahs E-Sports (delpo)

wildcard: New Faith Church Gaming (conductors team), Sharknado, we kings now, and possibly get wrecked(depends how much they scrim and who they have playing)

I think Practice Clan Warz will be up there with us. It really depends on if they practice and improve over the season. Right now they're probably the strongest team.

forgot about unfs team..........

dream boat is really good, and I think off top could be really good too

Top 4 in my experience, in order, would be AG Chilluminati > NCFG >=? Tonights Entertainment > The Wet Bandits. My boy kev is kind of really really good and killemall is no slouch either, and the only scout comparable to kev in IM is Lambert on chilluminati, honestly. I don't really think I'm overrating NCFG just because most of them are my friends, cond and breloom actually getting dominant scouts is not something to underestimate.

My team, due in part somewhat of the totally new roster, for the first time in like 3 seasons is actually taking things really seriously and working pretty hard. Cali's a pretty new face but I honestly think he's gonna turn some heads real soon. Hope playoffs are ready to get twerked on by Bolwind.

glad to hear you guys are stepping it up kohaku!

.

nate river and antwan are pretty good

kohaku is definitely being too nice to me

anyway, would like to comment on people kinda leaving out dudes on delpo's team and just giving delpo hella praise. their scouts are pretty damn good and highfive/oobii have been improving mad fast from what I've seen.

shootist to be best medic in IM this season. he's been practicing his medic DM

PCW isn't UNF or Phelons team. It's Gravegun and Nates team because they are the ones who actually made it and are the strongest players on it

kev > nate > lambert

PCW > playground > tonights entertainment

based on our performance against em (probably not that consistent but w/e)

Nate is fucking incredible. Easily in the top 2 scouts in IM

Lambert is a killer tho

edit: playground is chilluminati sorta now, sorry

AG Chilluminati = Playground sorta.

There are a lot of good scouts in IM this season ;)

it's been a hard day's night then.

AG chilluminati is gonna be really good.

Antwan and Insom are really good, London is very intelligent and very critical, and basically the whole team is cute so they get extra points for that. I gotta say if Antwan and Lambert are scouting, that will be scary for even the best scouts in IM. They're both very consistent. PUFF and xep will bring a lot of experience to the table as well. Also, Lambert, Antwan, and Insom can all snipe very, very well.

They're definitely a main-level team.

The 3 Free2Play Sniper Unites!
http://www.reddit.com/r/tf2/comments/x8a55/pub_sniper_story/

between kev and nate rivers, I'd say their dm from my experience is very close, although kev might have the capacity to carry slightly more often. Nate has the superior competitive tf2 experience though, he's been playing since at least 2009. they're both very good, don't really know if you can say one's better than the other

$$

kev in im lol

yo wtf lol miwo made invite the same season sakura did how embarassing
edit: for sakura that is

meatshot

NFCG (or whatever name they decide on) has had some pretty impressive scrims. killemall and kev are pretty fuuuuuuuuucking good.

its going to be an interesting season, thats for sure. there's about 5 teams that can beat each other on a good day depending on the map.

i hate granary.

More then 5 teams can beat each other in my experience the past few weeks. Granted everyone is tinkering with new lineups, ringers, etc, but you are dismissing too many teams at this point who have a chance to finish in the top 3 in my opinion, if they work had and improve. There are no Madman or Chill2good teams this season in IM.