ESEA S16 LAN Preview: froyotech

The Players:

I would hazard a guess and say that these players need no introduction, but for the sake of consistency I will write a bit about each of them, just in case you happen to have only recently discovered tf2. Each of these players have been to multiple LANs.

First, we have the scouts. Many would argue that clockwork, if anyone in particular, is the centerpiece of this team. Time and time again he manages to accomplish things which, even compared with his peers, seem impossible.

His scout partner is the multiple time LAN demoman Dummy making the switch to scout for the first time in his long invite career that I know of. Dummy plays a very aggressive style of scout which ends up complimenting clockwork well especially in transition fights. Clockwork has had other quite aggressive scout partners in the past which have been questionably effective from time to time, but this system with Dummy seems to be working out quite well so far. Despite not having played on LAN as scout before, I suspect Dummy will still be quite effective.

On Roamer you have one of the candidates, for the last 6 seasons or more for best roamer in NA Tf2, Blaze. Blaze normally plays with extremely high ping for a soldier and still manages to perform, much to the chagrin of every other high ping projectile player in TF2. Particularly after s11 LAN Blaze has typically amazed on LAN making his presence constantly felt.

Making his return to TF2 part way through the season is the lan-man Lansky Polansky on pocket. Seeking to take a break from TF2, Lansky was brought back into the TF2 fold partway through this season and has shown that a short break didn't hurt his game.

On medic you have one of the sure fire bets for best medic in NA TF2, shade. Although his play style has changed a bit from his s11 forum flame war evoking performances, shade still manages his positioning and movement at an exceptional level. He returns to the Froyo fold after taking an extended break from TF2.

Last, on Demo, you have the immaculate B4nny - who has bounced around a bit playing scout and soldier as well this season, before finally settling on a return to demoman. B4nny has managed several legendary performances on LAN - s10 comes to mind in particular for me - and after his stickies were bequeathed back to him, I doubt this season will be any exception.

The Journey, The Season:

This season was another undefeated one for the Froyo roster. The closest matches they've had all season, in ESEA, were 4 games which were won 5-3. Only one of the teams that could meet Froyo at LAN were able to accomplish such a feat. The story for this Froyo team hasn't so much been the matches they've played in ESEA, as much as the innumerable changes that the roster has undergone so far this season. Ruwin departing the team after week three and Lansky returning to pocket, b4nny returning to demo, Dummy trying out scout, and with other changes seemingly always around the corner, Froyo has provided plenty of fodder for roster speculation.

LAN Prospects:

Coming in undefeated is a nice feather to have in one's cap as is having the first seed in the playoffs. Their first match on Saturday will be against the fourth seeded 20b who, so far this ESEA season, have only managed to take a single round off of Froyo. Then they will have to face down second seed Exertus or the third seed Mix^. This LAN won't likely be smooth sailing for the undefeated favorites. Exertus, should they manage to overtake Mix^, have been the only team in ESEA that will be attending this LAN which has so far managed to secure a mildly respectable margin of failure against Froyo by losing 5-3 to a relatively weaker Froyo in week three. Should Extertus not manage to overtake Mix^, we'll not only likely get to see a titanic showdown which could very well be a preview of the finals, but we'll also get to relive previous b4nny et al vs. Mix^ championships of seasons passed. However, such a confrontation may not be fully in froyo's favor, as the new Mix^ roster managed to secure a recent victory over Froyo on Gullywash 4-3 in the Twitch TV invitational. Expect fireworks, frags, possibly tears, and lots of meat should Froyo meet Mix^ in the Upper Bracket Finals.

Fun with Invite Numbers:

Clockwork came in second overall in Frags behind Mix^'s enigma, b4nny secured the most dominations, and Dummy, TF2's golden boy, secured the second most pipe frags over all despite switching to scout partway through the season. I should also note that Lansky only has 14 shotgun frags on the season; a far cry from number one Rando's dominating 128. The stats for this team are wacky though, as basically everyone except shade has played a different class at some point this season.

this is a fucking great lan preview marxist, i read every word and every single piece of info i could get

10/10