One interesting thing to note about this season, because of the number of teams just about every team in IM will play every other team in the division at least once. I have no idea if this is a good or a bad thing, but it certainly will produce some idea of what we can expect when it comes down to playoffs. A bit like some of the Open results, we saw some surprising things happening that more speak to how inconsistent everyone is this early in the season than to anything else. Japanifest Destiny lost 5-2 to God Complex (formerly Sharknado), who then turned around and got stomped on by Satan Takes the Wheel. This wasn't the only victory for GBB and crew, however, as they also pretty much rolled WELOVEANIME as well. WELOVEANIME also was forced to forfeit to one of the weaker teams in IM at the moment, but its not clear if the team is dead or not. We got to see a crazy back and forth match between Mangachu sux and Blockback Mountain which I'll talk more about later. Meanwhile, BUDSQUAD and Subspace Emissaries sit forlorn at the bottom of the barrel with a rough week 1, but hopefully we can see them bounce back in the next couple weeks. This week on Granary it seems like there won't be as many crazy matches, but like last time I expect to be surprised this week as well from the results.

• Erika
• TicTack
• Cbn
• Block
• Newspeak
• Freestate

Blockback is coming out of the gate swingin' with two victories over Subspace Emissaries and Mangachu sux. The match against dbw's team was very exciting to watch, with fights going both ways during the first half, but the second half it seemed like Block had figured out how to win by taking 3 rounds unanswered. There were some rumors flying around that TicTack would not be staying with Blockback after a few weeks of playing with them, but it seems as if that isn't necessarily the case anymore. I feel that this would have severely hurt this team, as there aren't many pockets looking for teams right now. This week they should come away with two more wins, if their scrim results against Japanifest Destiny are any indication, and the Fantazzmagazzlers should be a quick 5-0 victory for them. The rest of their schedule doesn't seem too challenging for Blockback, so its almost a shame that they couldn't have played Mangachu sux a little later in the season, but for now I don't see anyone knocking Block from his IM throne.

• dbw
• Tri
• Boink
• Cosa
• Kapow
• Schnell

Boink was out last week with Dun filling in on roamer for him. While Dun doesn't play too much TF2 these days, the soldier legend still performed admirably. Still, its hard to say if their match against Blockback might have gone the other way with Boink in the roamer boots, as I think in some cases his playmaking ability was sorely missed. Regardless, the next couple weeks should be relatively easy for them before they start to play more challenging teams, and until they get a second chance to take on Blockback in playoffs with their full 6 I don't know if there will be anyone else to take as many rounds from them. The season is young, however, and that means plenty of time for upsets. Hopefully the team name can be changed soon, although it appears that Killing has a hard policy on team name changes for some silly reason.

• rchl
• Smile
• GBB
• Xan
• Stochast1c
• silkthread

I am very wary at putting this team in at third, but after their solid performance in week 1 they deserve it. WELOVEANIME lost Jav right before the season started and had some trouble getting their 6 together, but the win against God Complex was as solid as they come. I think Smile is a great pocket to watch this season, and XanKriegor has always been a solid demo. With such consistent damage, it will be on their scouts to get in there and finish up the kills. The next couple weeks will be against the middle of the pack teams until they hit Blockback Mountain during badlands week, lets hope they can keep the momentum of their first few wins going and take some more W's.

• Jodd
• BlueberryVillain
• Rekuso
• JDMYoshioka
• Downpour
• River

God Complex changed their name from Sharknado in the middle of the week, but that wasn't the only thing that happened with this team. After their win over The Jews (now Japanifest Destiny) they turned around and beefed it hard in the face of Satan Takes the Wheel. Rekuso and Downpour are proving to be fantastic pickups, as Rekuso is a great playmaker and Downpour can do a whole lot of work even though he baits his team in some situations a little too blatantly. More than anything, I think this team is still settling in with all these new players, most of whom have not played together before. Either way, their schedule has a little taste of all skill levels this season of IM, where we surely will see this team grow.

• London
• Doll
• Lunacide
• Conductor
• Kev
• zZa

I was very against writing about my own team this season, but was bullied into putting them into the power ranking. If there is someone that would like to write about this team, please PM me to organize that. This week, we will be playing Blockback Mountain and The Grime on granary. Block's team plays remarkably well on maps like granary, but I hope we can give them a good game. God this is so awkward, someone please help me do this.

• MR SLIN
• Goldfish
• Zigzter
• Hooli
• Devon
• Jav

Goldman Sachs is probably the most streamed team in IM right now, with SLIN frequently streaming matches and scrims with around 100 viewers most times. Their first week was a little lopsided playing Mangachu Sux and Blockeo and Eriket, getting a quick win against Blockeo and getting stomped by Mangachu sux. However, Jav is proving to be a good pick up for the team, lending some stability on the flank. The rest of the season so far looks like they will have somewhat weighted matches, with the next couple of weeks not looking too challenging and then they will be playing decent teams towards the middle of the season.

• Dable
• Megawac
• Scorp
• pamphlet
• phAZE
• Noble

I'm a little hesitant to put Subspace in the rankings at all after such a disappointing week 1, but I also see how hard of a hand they were dealt initially. For now, we'll give them a chance to make a bit of a comeback this week against the Fantazzmagazzlers and God Complex. The match against God Complex will definitely be closer, but Subspace should have a fighting chance to take the win over them. The rest of the season looks a little nutty for Subspace, but because there are so few teams in the division they should have a decent record by the end of the season. Whether that record will be enough to make playoffs remains to be seen.

• Zilly
• CJ
• Yeremy
• Saint
• scizor
• pangy

Admittedly, I did not plan on putting Revenge of the Yomies in the power rankings, but after the roster debacle with WELOVEANIME it seems as good as any team to put in. I don't know much about the players except for a few random matches I watched last season, but with so many returning players and a season of IM under their belts, I would hope that they can beat most of the Open moveups. This week they will go up against Mangachu sux, and how many rounds the Yomies are able to take off of them will speak to their strength this season. Their first two matches were somewhat random with a 5-0 over Blockeo and Eriket and a 4-2 victory over LOLBeastMode. Neither of these teams are all that impressive to me, to be honest, although this early in the season its still hard to tell. The Yomies will have to defend their 8th spot to get into playoffs, but I see them getting edged out if they aren't careful or drop too many rounds.

• rchl
• Smile
• GBB
• Xan
• Stochast1c
• silkthread

• Cheeris
• RJ
• Fragg
• Tankman
• Botmode
• Nonis

The MOTW was chosen more because I feel that this match will be a decent match up more than it being a battle between two high profile players. SYOPS has a decent roster this season after finishing 5th in Open last season, and is probably one of the more solid teams to be moved up. On the flip side, Satan Takes the Wheel have a good well rounded team coming off of two big wins in week 1, and will not give up the W without a fight. While I may regret this by being wrong, but I don't think Tankman can be the hero that SYOPS needs in this situation. Going with 5-4 in favor of Satan Takes the Wheel.

Players to Watch: Tankman, Nonis,Smile, XanKriegor

Quick note: I don't plan on doing a “Just Outside” portion of IM mostly because there are so few teams, but I will try my best to talk about some of the teams that are outside the top 8 as best I can. Thank you!