This will be a very interesting season of IM, as very few teams from last season are left due to 4 invite moveups. This has left a huge skill gap at the top and many of these open teams are ready to fill it, with quite a few making some seriously good pickups. Look to trip’s ego to continue to spiral out of control this season as teams get ready to square off on the tried and tested cp_process. Once again we will only see 16 teams signed up, including everyone’s favorite bullet team which somehow managed to pay up for the first time ever.
- Nursey
- aim-
- Connor
- Avast
- Linkuser
- arekk
This team is as close to a full package as there is in IM this season. In the combo, aim has been more than able to fill the shoes of bill, and I think he could be one of the top pockets in IM this season. Avast’s playstyle is also suited much better to this team’s aggressive playstyle than giraffe’s was and from what I have seen of this team the combo has been really in sync. On top of an already strong combo, Linkuser and ahrekk are able to completely tear through almost every team they go up against. Connor and aim both do a great job of making space for their scouts and Nursey has always been a very solid medic. These guys get along great and that chemistry is very evident in their play.
- lucrative
- pauldogg
- phelon
- kuestif
- dance
- Nate Rivers
After a roster in flux for the end of last season, Luc and his crew have made some solid pickups that should put them solidly at the top of IM. Phelon (who did play with this team for most of last season after the disappearance of Java) and Pauldogg will be coming in to take over the soldier roles. These guys have been doing a great job so far and are both pretty solid players who have been in the game for a long time. The biggest question mark on this team has to be kuestif. He’s always seem to have been on teams a bit below his skill level, but he’ll have to step it up in a big way now after taking a break for almost all of the offseason. Dance and Nate Rivers have been putting in some good work, although still outclassed by the Getawahle scout duo. Lucrative rounds out a roster that, for a most part, has been playing this game for a very long time. They will certainly have to rely on that experience and shake off some rust if they want to tackle the youngblood open moveups and take home the MAD LUX GOLD this season.
- extracrisppy
- trip
- kanon
- safrix
- Evil MrMuffinz
- Blues
Last season’s Open champions are back with a new name and only one roster change as extracrispy will pick up the Medigun after the departure of Idrae. If there is a scout duo that can contend with Getawhale’s it’s Muffinz and Blues, two players who came almost out of nowhere to take home first place open last season. Safrix made huge improvements last season and in the current drought of demos will be one of the better ones in IM. If this team really wants to do well this season it will probably take trip slimming down on heals received and allowing his scouts to get the HP they need to really do work. Kanon is a solid player who’s able to function with little med beam while still being dependable for med forces and kills on the flank.
- nakee
- botmode
- Rolling
- cloudmaker
- raytek
- sen
The Botmode Boys are back and hungry for blood this season. With cloudmaker making a needed switch to demo he solidifies what will end up being a decent team. Raytek and Sen will definitely be in competition with the top scout combos in the division. Rolling will be putting on his gunboats for this season and as long as he can hold his own this flank will be very scary to play against. Botmode could still stand to be taking a few less heals but you can count on him doing work this season.
- xattuu
- blackdott
- Glider
- Hassassin
- brands
- dflame
This team has been putting up impressive scrim results, beating both Meat Market and Dino Riders recently, for what it’s worth. While this team may not be full of community favorites, they should be competitive with most of the teams in IM. Brands and dflame are a strong scout duo, even if dflame is prone to going mute and walking into the enemy team at times. Hassassin can be a good player if he can make sure to stay in position, and blackdott is a solid pocket who’s had successful seasons in IM previously. xattuu could be a decent medic if he could just put away his crossbow and hit mouse2 once in a while. If this team can get over their egos and potential attitude problems they can do very well this season.
- figsy
- deathy
- waffleb
- giraffe
- ggglygy
- spamfest
This is a team that looks to be an enigma for the most part. All of this team has played at least an IM level (and never forget Giraffe’s two matches on the worst team in Main) but have seen limited success for the most part. Ggglygy could prove to be a massive pickup if he decides to put the effort in but as of now it looks like that may not be the case, as he has been equal in frags with his scout partner spamfest. Scrims from this team have been all over the place, from almost losing to open teams to beating Meat Market and Pizzagon handedly. If there is any question mark on this team it’s figsy, who hasn’t had a reputation as the world’s greatest med but I think may be a bit underrated. If this team puts in the effort (and doesn’t play matches on Dallas) they could do very well. If they don’t they will barely make playoffs.
- Yeegz
- oobii
- jodd
- Pamphlet
- broKing
- bl4nk
Strange to see meat market so low in IM power rankings but offclassing may not suit them as well as they would like. While bl4nk and broKing have been more than able to contend with other solid scout duos, oobii has had some trouble making the switch to pocket. Pamphlet may have a hard time adapting his playstyle to fit his scouts better. Jodd has always been solid on every class and he seems to be making the swap to roamer fairly easily. This team squaring off with Satan Take The Wheel week one should show a lot about how they can expect to do this season.
- rchl
- Fangles
- GBB
- Xan-
- Stochast1c
- Soarex
Stochast1c decides to take back his roster from June and Reimu as they return to open this season to reform the s17 team of the same name. This team will have to work hard if they don’t want to exit playoffs with just one win again as many of the players took a hiatus last season. Soarex will join Sto as another somewhat unknown player making his IM debut. In my opinion he will be the stronger scout on the flank and has some great DM to back that up. If he can make sure to figure out his positioning he could be one of the top scouts in IM this season, but has to be careful not to fall into his tunnel vision pug tendencies. Joining him on the flank is GBB, who definitely has work to do to get into shape if he wants some frags to go with his top death. Xan, rchl, and fangles round out this combo and Xan still has a way to go before he is back in form. If this team can practice hard they can move up a few spots but it won’t be easy.
Other Notable Teams: Leaving dino riders out of this list was hard. However, it looks as if recently they have barely been scrimming, so I was at a loss as to where to put them with how solid the open moveups have been. Inside sources say unless they can get a good maincaller they may not have any direction. Malicious Activity may actually be playing this season, and I think everyone is interested to see if their hacks work on client or not. No match of the week as schedules are likely not final yet.
Written by saam, credit to conductor for the template