Welcome back to UGC Platinum Highlander! Viaduct is finished up, for better or for worse. We move on to Steel, a map that no doubt brings plenty of emotions—positive and negative—to the table. Regardless of personal opinions, Steel is considered one of the best Highlander maps out there, due to its focus on teamwork and coordination as opposed to raw DM. With quite a few interesting matchups, the map is surely not wasted.

Week Four Results

Despite what looked like a few interesting matches, practically everything went as expected score-wise. Menace To Society and Hateful Eight picked up their wins with little contest. mTs and h8 both picked up their complete victory in 4-0 games, but .knd dropped two rounds to bote in what might have been the closest game of the week. Chill Penguins, A Million Ways, and '92 Dream Team all picked up victories as well against teams not quite their level. The curse of DRS still remains, as IFA was hit with a Bye instead of playing a team on Viaduct.

Week Five Matches

Kids Next Door vs Hateful Eight + Decimate

It's finally happening! Kids Next Door, having already faced both bote and mTs, are now facing the final 'top plat' team, Hateful Eight. Kids Next Door are currently undefeated, and a win against h8 would more or less garuntee an undefeated season. Hateful Eight, however, took an early Week 1 loss that resulted in their matchups being thrown off completely, until now. From here on out they should begin facing teams their hitting level. A loss might give them another week or two of lopsided matches, and that could severely impact the hopes for playoffs for whichever teams they face.

Kids Next Door have a reputation of putting everything into Highlander, and with the players having little 6s-related responsibilities, it works out. Their scrim results may not be the greatest, and will likely be especially poor this week as they test out offbeat strategies, but they will no doubt be a force to behold come Monday. Meanwhile, Hateful Eight is filled to the brim of players who've been playing at a top level for a long time. Decimate and Blaze are a terrifying flank, and between players like fathom, Karl, and KeA, the combo is a solid machine with a keen understanding of Highlander.

Since this will likely be an incredibly close game, and quite possibly the match of the season, it's hard to predict which team will win. Overall, however, knd. is probably more dedicated, and the perceived skill difference between the individual players is probably a bit overstated, and will be equalized even further on a map like Steel. 2-1 in favor of Kids Next Door.

Menace To Society vs bote

mTs is in a similar position to .knd in that they've already faced the other top teams, specifically knd. and h8. bote will be the final match for them in the top of Plat, with the possible exception of jk!. Regardless of whether mTs wins on Monday, the rest of their season, again with the possible exception of jk!, should be fairly easy for the team. bote, on the other hand, has yet to face h8, and with already a loss on the board, will not want to lose here and pick up a third loss in all likeliness when they face h8.

Overall, mTs's roster is certainly scary, but bote are not pushovers. If bote avoids crumbling, even slightly, they should be able to give mTs an excellent fight. But if even one small part of their foundation cracks, mTs will worm their way in and take advantage of it, making the game an even more uphill for bote. On the flipside, however, if a few mTs players don't bring what is expected of them, bote can roll off of an early point cap and take advantage of the adreneline and excitement and keep mTs fighting a losing battle.

Overall, both teams have the potential to pick up a win, although it will probably matter more for bote, as mTs's leadership has historically not cared much for the seeding they get. mTs has a stronger roster on paper, but recent shakeups may cause unforseen effects, and bote's roster is no pushover. 2-1 in favor of Menace To Society.

A Million Ways vs '92 Dream Team

While not quite the high level players as the other two matches, A Million Ways vs '92 DREAM TEAM is an interesting matchup that will further indicate the placings in the mid Platinum level. Both teams have flown under the radar, ·aMw· being looked at as the Blunderful reform, and '92 getting the standard "well, they're a gold moveup, so let's see how well they do" hesitation. Both have proved to be formidable teams, however, and are gunning for one of three playoff spots.

On record, ·aMw· has more experience against high level teams, playing Just Kidding, Hateful Eight and Dead Ringer Storage, with '92 playing only Kids Next Door and jk!. Unless ·aMw· does something strange and completely unprecedented like roster a Demoman from the top echelons of TF2 for a single match, the game should be fairly indicative of how the two teams will place at the end of the season.

As for the match itself, ·aMw·'s roster is certainly more fear-inducing, but '92 has several players who are going to be a pain in their own right. Despite the score, this match will be far closer than it looks. 2-0 in favor of A Million Ways.

In other matches, Wu Tang Killa Bees is the next team to be hit by the Bye. Route from Smokin Trees and Independent Fighters Alliance face off in a game to secure a non-bye win, while Just Kidding should make short work of a Bring Your Esports going through roster issues. Tree Forest 2 vs Chill Penguins will be an interesting matchup, holding similar levels of indication as the ·aMw· vs '92 match. Should Tree Forest win, they'll have a renewed ability to take a higher seed, and Chill Penguins schedule might look a bit easier for the next couple of weeks, as they will avoid most of the high level teams that they have yet to face. Should they win, however, they'll probably face a few high level teams, but otherwise they're going to be difficult to dislodge from the high seed they'll have from a victory.

The regular season's end is nearing, with only three maps after Steel to be played. '92, ·aMw·, Bv and [♣F2] all will be gunning for the three 'unconfirmed' playoff spots. KND and h8 will look to bolster their record. bote, jk! and mTs will figure out individual placement amongst themselves and the four teams already mentioned. It's looking more and more unlikely that << IFA >>, mtn., wu^ and BYE will be able to contest for playoffs, but a few straight weeks of wins could give them a fighting chance at slipping in.