After an unusual long period of standard season, the playoffs finally begin, despite complaints about Byes and seeding and Platinum being... too big? Regardless of it all, due to admin approval and general agreement, a show game for the final two playoff spots was staged between Route From Smokin Trees and A Million Ways, as well as Just Kidding! and '92 Dream Team on Thursday. Just Kidding! confirmed their spot, and A Million Ways won, replacing mtn. in the #7 spot.

The playoffs are an 8 team double elimination system, meaning that losing once isn't an issue, but once you do, you can't lose again else you find yourself eliminated. The lower bracket games are played on Thursday usually, but the first ones are played the next Monday (April 6th) along with the second week of the Upper Bracket. Since there's only really one match that should end up being close, I'll be saving the showmatch spot for after tonight, where there should be a few more interesting games. For now, enjoy a seeding list with some information on each team's chances in the playoffs.

It's hard to imagine mTs not taking a placement spot, and there's little reason they shouldn't. A 1st place placement might be a little hard to bet on, especially as they will likely face either Kids Next Door or Hateful Eight in the Upward week. mTs will likely have the easiest path to placement, as unless they lose to bote in the second round, the earliest they will face a team likely to eliminate them is already in the lower bracket finals. So aside from mTs catastrophically choking in the playoffs, they should be expecing nothing less than a #3 placement.

Kids Next Door is one of the top three teams, and as such should not place anywhere lower. Depending on how their match against Hateful Eight on Viaduct goes, they'll either have to trudge through the lower bracket for the Upward week, or face mTs in the upper bracket. If they find themselves in the lower bracket, they'll be the one to face bote to decide the Top 3 placement. Once that point is reached, everything is up in the air, as even if they win against bote, both h8 and mTs are still going to be in the running and will be formidible opponents.

Hateful Eight is largely similar to knd., as mostly anything said about knd. can be applied directly to h8. Should h8 win against knd., they'll experience an old memory resurfacing, finding themselves facing Menace To Society on Upward. A victory there will allow them to sit tight and wait for the lower bracket to sort itself out and give them their Grand Finals opponent, but a loss will have them fighting what will likely be knd. to secure a spot in the Grand Finals.

Bote is probably one of the more boring teams right now, if only because it seems unlikely at best for them to get anything but 4th. bote can rest assured that the most likely candidate to eliminate them that isn't h8/knd./mTs, jk!, will be taking an early exit in playoffs, allowing them to focus more on uprooting one of the formerly listed teams and snagging a placement spot. It's always possible that bote could pull a knd. and make the Grand Finals, but a more realistic odd is them picking up #4 and gunning for #3.

With a victory against '92, Chill Penguins picked up a place in the playoff, only to be the unlucky team to fall victim to Just Kidding!'s terrible playoff location. Bv will take an almost garunteed loss against bote on Monday, and then face Just Kidding! the next week. A stoke of luck could see them win then, but facing what will likely be either Kids Next Door or Hateful Eight right after on Thursday only further drives the nail in their coffin. While they shouldn't be able to pick up anything higher than a #7, a #5 spot is a distinct possibility.

Tree Forest 2, after facing Hateful Eight last week on Swiftwater, find themselves once again facing them, this time on Process. An inpending loss upcoming for them will send them to the lower bracket, where they should face A Million Ways. That game could arguably go either way, but if they do win, a game against bote should be upcoming three days later, which should eliminate them. Even if, through the power of luck and Sappers, they manage to win against bote, they'll face the loser of Hateful Eight vs Kids Next Door, which might just be a bit out of their hitting grade.

A Million Ways already have the stars to thank, as the admins approved of a little event between them and the default #7 seed, Route From Smokin Trees, to see who would take it. ·aMw· ended victorious, and find themselves facing last season's victors as a result. While they have upset before on this map, ultimitely dooming Dead Ringer Storage, their new opponents, Kids Next Door, are slightly more formidable. Assuming a loss in near in their future, they'll end up facing what should be Tree Forest 2, in a game that probably could go either way. A victory will result in them facing what will likely be bote, which shouldn't be too likely for them to win, but is nevertheless a distinct possibility.

Just Kidding! is a team nipping the heels of the top of Platinum, and sadly, due to the way seeding ended up, are going to be eliminated perhaps a bit prematurely. They'll take a likely loss against Menace To Society right off the bat, but should be able to defeat Chill Penguins in the lower bracket. However, they end up facing the loser of knd. vs h8 on Viaduct, and unless upsets happen, that'll be the end of the road for Just Kidding!.

Kids Next Door vs Hateful Eight + Decimate

The first of the top level matchups are happening, and this time, it's oddly reminiscient of last season's grand finals. Hateful Eight's season has been fairly simple so far, padding their early season with easy victories after a dreadful loss in Week 1. Kids Next Door, on the other hand, have had a difficult season, as their first loss came only at Week 5 against Hateful Eight themselves on cp_steel.

While some of the players on Hateful Eight, such as b4nny, Blaze, Decimate and sigafoo are all well versed in the land of DM, Kids Next Door are certainly not underdogs, as Jarrett, Scizor, Etney and Ibby are all amazing at their classes (or, in one case, their item!) and will find Viaduct an excellent vessel to further stregthen their abilities. A questionable game against A Million Ways last week may lead some people to believe that knd. are not up to snuff, but it should only serve to further push them to prove that Kids Next Door is not a team to be taken easily. ­­4-3 in favor of Kids Next Door.