What’s this? More Highlander to make your tastebuds tingle?! We’re in Week 3 already and surprises have been thrown towards us through Week 2, with one of the top teams having a map taken off of them in the last few minutes, Prem is still going to give us many more amazing games to come. Even though two games were wildcarded (Fair Enough vs. PremTech and Stacked vs. Tourettes Chessclub), the two games we saw could have had big implications for the rest of the season. With the majority of teams having their full roster now set in stone after possible changes, Week 3 is surely going to bring us some great action.

However, Week 3’s map is a payload map that has had a lot of controversy over the duration of its limelight in ETF2L’s map pool - plbarnblitzpro4. Its last point, heavily criticised when from an attacker’s perspective due to the openness of the map, has led to much backlash from teams due to the difficulty of pushing last. Even though changes have been attempted to rectify mistakes, the last point still has led to 15+ minute times even though the first three points have been opposed by the attacking team. Consequently we could see a very long game, particularly if it goes to a golden cap. Throwing into the mixture of it being a very Sniper-friendly map due to its openness, much like Viaduct/Process last week, we could see some teams orienting themselves to fit their Sniper’s playstyle. Even though a certain contender for a playoff spot has lost a point already due to demo problems (both recording and player), we could see hard practice coming into Barnblitz week. Six points are still at stake here, and with the last week inching closer and closer, retaining an advantage over contenders is crucial in the middle weeks of the main season, as well as trying to leapfrog the other teams for the playoff spots. Enough rambling - let’s get on with the predictions!

Fair Enough vs. Highpander

Fair Enough have had a very harsh week, to put it bluntly. After a wildcarded game against rivals PremTech, the “upload the demo” curse struck shortly afterward, with Demoman Lalli unable to upload his POVs due to the formatting of hard drives and using a laptop against Tourettes Chessclub. Two minor warnings out of three, Fair Enough were also drafted another short straw after a communication error led to another minor warning because of the delayed STV upload. Subsequently Fair Enough are now on -1 points, due to the major warning received. Another demo problem is that Lalli, their main Demoman, will not be replaced by korv due to time constraints from both players. However jakeowaty and his crew have drafted in ex-House Full of Funk Demoman Kazachu, who will be playing this week. In comparison however, Highpander were looking strong against newcomers Voodooh and took all six points off of them. Brilliant flank plays from both yangpie and zoob assisted Highpander a lot, with the combo of Hildreth and Piddox also performing solidly. Currently I have overlooked the Highpander flank considerably due to the strengths of the combo, and after tuning into yangpie’s stream yesterday I was impressed by how quickly the ex-Lazy Pandas Scout has adapted with the team. All areas of Highpander look solid - even though kissakala had three drops on Process against Voodooh. As they say, nobody’s perfect. With Fair Enough not playing an official last week, it might throw off their schedule for PCWs and general mentality - even though it’s subconscious, the mentality when it comes to playing one official a week is fairly important as it is routine. Highpander now look to be on top form, even though there still were a few struggles against Voodooh, who did have two subs. On a map like Barnblitz, phromelo will shine as will Blooddrunk, with many frags going to the pair. Hartz for Fair Enough as well as zoob for the panda squad are both going to come up big as well with their creative mindsets and excellent deathmatch ability. Even though Highpander beat the now-dead in the water Jamais Vu on Barnblitz last season, Fair Enough may have enough tricks up their sleeves to outsmart the flank and provide openings for their own. If any criticisms were to be thrown around, it may be the settling down of Kazachu with his fellow teammates to create a synergy that can replace Lalli. All evaluation aside, I think Highpander will take this with a 6-0 victory, but Fair Enough may pull out some quality plays to fight to the bitter end. Who knows! Maybe I’m motivating them to practice harder.

Players to watch out for: Hartz, Blooddrunk, Lex, zoob, phromelo, Grenjabob

hePPa vs. Voodooh

My my, the turn around from hePPa from Week 1 into Week 2. With Highpander captain Hildreth praising hePPa after their “embarrassing” game against Stacked in Week 1, they managed to surprise the majority of the Highlander scene by drawing with title contenders Kill Switch. Superb performances came out of Santtu and Salmon, the hePPa flank getting 57 frags altogether - ultimately aiding hePPa to come out with a victory. Solid play from nappr, who was praised in particular by Hildreth for being “back on top form”, as well as Finnish superstar Kurates were also standout players for hePPa. After their shock draw, could we see more motivation coming out of the Finnish squad to take back points from fellow contenders? Comparatively on Voodooh, we saw a promising game coming out of Snooki’s side. With cherryrendezvous having an excellent game on Process going 24:9 as Engineer nonetheless, and sub Soldier T’ causing lots of distraction and interference towards Highpander, the new multi-cultural side looks strong. However with main Soldier JackyLegs still out of action due to internet problems, we could see more of T’ and his crazy plays. Branching over to the combo of Voodooh, Sandvich and duck performed respectably last week, even though a few failed Kritzes from duck were caught on camera from BlackoutGamingTV. Throwing arguably the two worst teams in Prem at the moment, at least compared to other teams at the moment, on a map like Barnblitz will show interesting signs as to how these teams will end up at the end of the season. Matching up player for player, Voodooh look slightly better on paper, with >MF< having more experience in the top levels as Pyro compared to Toba, even though Toba has played near the top level as different classes. New leader and Spy to Prem Snooki has had significantly better games than SabaSaba, as well as being able to adapt more with his gun, rather than solely trusting his knife to get frags. However ex-Stacked Spy raf will be stepping in, with yonus moving over to Pyro and Toba shifting to Engineer for this game. For a game to be as close between these two teams is literally a pinhead. With both showing good standing against top teams and the chasing pack, this could be the kick up the backside both teams need. A combination of teamwork as well as individual skill is necessary - in my opinion I think hePPa have the edge of teamwork, due to most of the core players still playing with one another. However I think Voodooh could surprise here with individual players - OsZ has been overlooked, even though he has been a very solid Scout for sometime. Main Sniper thaZu. should hopefully be back for this week to take on MInd, who was playing for hePPa last week even though there was an apparent ragequit on his side. It’ll be a close game. It could swing any way. It could be a default win but that’s unlikely. My gut instinct says Voodooh will take this, but barely eek out a victory. Expect thaZu. to post big stats from the headshot counter, and Sandvich to have a monster of a game. Don’t rule hePPa out though - Kurates and Santtu still want their voices to be heard.

Players to watch out for: Salmon, Kurates, MInd, OsZ, Sandvich, thaZu.

Kill Switch vs. Tourettes Chessclub

Behemoths lock horns this week, with the Season 5 Champions Kill Switch squaring off against Tourettes Chessclub, who have not won a Premiership title in ETF2L, but have taken UGC and Wireplay victories at the highest levels. After a shock draw with hePPa, Kill Switch should be looking to get back on track, albeit over a rocky road. Tourettes Chessclub will also be looking to get the maximum amount of points out of this fixture to fully confirm themselves as the #2 team at the moment, after having a game wildcarded last week against Stacked. Going into Barnblitz week the momentum is slightly skewed for both teams, due to possible routine being thrown off-kilter by Chessclub’s wildcarded game. Comparatively Kill Switch suffered a big defeat to a team that the majority would expect to be easy pickings for the ex-champions. Playing on the 23rd, the deadline for the week, Chessclub will have “a lot of practice” according to team leader Scissors going into this crucial fixture. As mentioned previously, Chessclub keeping their #2 seed throughout the season is important since they can have an advantage going into playoffs as well as show that they can keep their dominance over the other teams in Prem. However, Kill Switch will want to return with a victory this week and bring themselves back to full speed, and try to claim that #2 seed. At the moment Highpander look to be on another level for sometime, until both of these teams meet them in a few weeks time. Now that Chessclub can now practice against Highpander after vetoing their rivals according to Hildreth, their practice schedule should look a lot more rigorous, which in turn will hopefully reap better rewards. On a map like Barnblitz both inso and tracker will have a field day, picking off targets from long range. However the Spies for both teams should also look promising due to their extreme gun usage - Carlotso25 in particular, who utilises the Ambassador very well in most situations. Even though Khazul’s primary revolver is the stock, his cleanup should provide Chessclub with an advantage. To lock a #2 seed is difficult at this stage. However I think Chessclub overall will have a more solid and tactical approach towards this game; with BreakfasT_Jr on top form, he should be bringing lots of pushes to be a success. Although Chessclub may be the victors, I still think Kill Switch can take two points off of them, with Emilio Estevez providing another solid job of maincalling to lead his team to take one round. But, I foresee a Chessclub victory.

Players to watch out for: Emilio Estevez, inso, Carlotso25, atomic-, BreakfasT_Jr, Khazul

PremTech vs. Stacked

Two teams that look to take the front seat in the earlier weeks duke it out on a map that will certainly show the creativity of both sides. Maito’s PremTech have unfortunately had a few setbacks yet again with their roster. New recruit Pinky has been a tad rusty according to Maito, and it seems that Pinky wants PremTech to find someone better suited whilst he shakes off his rust. On top of this, PremTech will miss their main Engineer cobz through awkward timing, leaving star-studded creativity behind. Fortunately ex-Stacked and Kill Switch player Freakie will be stepping in, nullifying the gap left. Star Soldier ShaDowBurn has also delegated to only playing officials, and sub Soldier nation will be filling in for scrims and possible officials when necessary until PremTech find another Soldier to share the spot. Main Spy polar is still having internet troubles as well - overall not a settling week for the newcomers. However Stacked have also had their own roster troubles. American recruit the overseer has had to step back from maining for “reasons” according to leader b33p, thus they will be looking for a new main Medic. Until then the overseer will be playing when necessary. Coming into Barnblitz week the middle of the pack will be looking to take points from their rivals, or try and snatch a few from the top teams. For a team like Stacked to be losing points to new teams may be seen as something surprising - “no fear about PremTech” is what seems to be the general consensus for b33p and his crew. Even though sorex is proving to be one of the best Scouts in Prem so far, his DM may not be so present this week, due to capping abilities. Throwing in the teamwork of Dr.Phil and F2 may be key here to Stacked’s pushes, since their combined rockets and grenades should give them enough ground, particularly on the second and last point. As for PremTech, their results have slowly been improving and staying consistent against other teams, with an apparent victory over Kill Switch in recent PCWs. I would say that this fixture will surprise the majority of viewers; how these two teams will perform throughout the season is unknown, and this could be the deciding factor of placement at the end of the season. Stacked look solid with their new roster, but the new blood of PremTech, even with the subs/mercs they will have this week, also look solid. A 4-2 victory for Stacked is what I’m feeling here; Maito and his bunch of ragtag rebels will take the first round. Afterward Stacked will look reborn and manage to take the next two. Just like NiP versus C9.

Players to watch out for: jwso, Maito, Tutorial, sorex, Dr.Phil, rouHe

That’s it for this week. Many thanks to the team leaders again for their input. Also thanks to Admirable for giving me the format, and Gentleman Jon for his data parser. See you next week!