The problem with doing open writeups, it seems, is that in the first couple weeks nothing happens. Most teams are facing off against either unnaasailable opponents or wet-paper teams that offer little in the way of resistance, but damn if they dont feel good when applied directly to the ass. So I was left with a choice. Either I could do power rankings and team write-ups again, or I could actually attempt to write something semi-interesting that doesnt need hastily thrown together frag clips to maintain reader interest. Choosing the latter, I will not mention power rankings or anything of the sort until the Week 5 writeups, when the rest of the season's schedule is released and we have a better idea of how the teams will match up against each other.

However, I do wish to draw your attention to a few key facts. First: while I did take London's format for the power rankings, it should be noted that I heavily improved them by knowing how to align:right and having appreciation for colors other than middling grey. Seriously London, pick up a Bob Ross DVD set and a couple tubes of paint, there is more to life than drab colors girlfriend. Second: I would also like to extend a thanks to Conductor who came up with a rapid fix for my CSS when enigma broke articles.

No Need for Names

• Blackymonster
• Blew
• Fearless
• hassassin
• leaky
• bunny

Only one noteable change this week in team rosters, and that is the addition of a pocket soldier to Blackymonster's powerhouse team. Blew brings a lot of experience and talent to the team. His return to pocket soldier after a season of demo on sparkle bunnis is going to be a powerful one, his time in ESEA-M with Animus Victoria should give him and his team the edge they will need in this very close season of open. This move gives No Need for Names one of, if not the strongest combo in open, an asset they will surely use to overpower any team that stands against them. Look for No Need For Names to go deep into the post-season with this lineup.

• Tery
• Shiki
• SpaceCadet
• Avast
• Dango
• Vortex

• Idrae
• Trip
• kanon
• Safrix
• Blues
• Evil MrMuffinz

Our match of the week for snakewater, this game ended up coming out almost exactly as I suspected it might. The Muffen Men rolled right in and beat out Blanc 5-2 in 37 minutes of play. Scrolling through the demo, I saw that while both teams played well, the lads from Drury Lane were able to pull it together going into the second round and use their momentum and superior DM to take the win. The big surprise came from Trip, who managed to pull out the most damage (by far) and kills (by one) on his first ever ESEA match on pocket soldier.

If trip and his team can keep up this momentum moving forward and continue to have a strong, domineering pocket presence, it doesn't take much dot connecting to predict that this team will be a force to contend with as the season progresses. Coming hot off their two wins this week, I sat down with Trip to talk about his team and their plans for the season.

This week the action really picks up as several of the top teams will have their first real challenge, fighting over the grassy fields of cp_process. This week's map will favor teams that can put together a strong scout presence and roamers who can land their jumps to get deep past the long sightlines and intercept medics before they can get to the relatively plentiful safety.

• Blackymonster
• Fearless
• TicTack
• hassassin
• leaky
• bunny

• thenoid
• sam
• ninjitsu
• king rab
• TwinWeapons
• Technasty

For both teams, this will be the trial by fire that starts their ESEA Season 18. Virgin Police won both their matches cleanly with an easy 5-0 and No Need for Names was apparently so frightening that their opponents decided to not even show up. In last week's write-up, I said that No Need for Names had a lot of ifs interfering with their odds this season, but my doubts have been completely assuaged with their pickup of Blew. Process will be a good map for the star soldier to shine on, his deadly DM and strong uber presence will be needed to keep the Virgin Police at bay.

Unfortunately for Virgin Police, I fear that the pickup of Blew will really help solidify No Need into a team that is just miles above. The big wildcard for me is how the scouts will perform. Process is a map that makes it easy to deny a strong soldier simply with good reaction times and solid positioning, things the Virgin Police should be able to muster up. However, the Virgin Police haven't been performing that well in their scrims, and their two wins last week mean nothing against noncompetitive teams. Ultimately, I think this will be an interesting game to watch, but the power of a domineering and experienced combo will help No Need for Names dominate the transition phases and give up no ground to the Virgin Police.2-5 No Need for Names

• Idrae
• kanon
• trip
• Safrix
• blues
• Evil MrMuffinz

• Nursey
• Bill
• connor
• Giraffe
• arekk
• linkuser

The poor Muffin Men, they get no breaks this season. Their performance against Blanc Esports looked a little shaky in the early rounds, but that was only a taste of what they can expect against Guado Glories. In scrims, these teams have been performing roughly on par, but in a match environment, with everything on the line and emotions running high, it will come down to who can seize momentum early and hang on to it throughout the match.

Arekk have been performing well lately, putting up large damage numbers and high frag counts in almost every scrim, I think this can spell trouble for The Muffin Men on a map like process, where their apparent carry in Trip will have to work extra hard at closing the distances with Idrae in their pushes. To me, this dynamic will be key. If Guado Glories can bait back the enemy combo long enough that Idrae loses his nerve and synergy between pocket and medic start to break down, they can shut down the powerful pushes that otherwise would probably be overwhelming to them. The Muffin Men have a weakness to exploit in Safrix, not that he is an underwhelming presence, but his lack of heal reliance may make him timid and reluctant to engage around the tight, 90 degree chokes that fill process. Without that damage, Muffin Men have little to no chance at being able to put up enough of a presence to win close fights or obtain an advantage. I see Guado Glories winning out in this match, but if this matchup were to happen later in the week, I would expect a different result.2-4 Guado Glories

EDIT: I have heard conflicting information on whether TicTack or Blew will be starting match soldier for NNN. This article is written based off information I received Sunday night and may not be accurate.