With just three weeks left in the season, Getawhale Fanclub is now almost certain to finish 16-0. Meat Market looks to be a cut above the rest off a strong win over Pizzagon eSports, and Nineteen has made some massive roster changes that could catapult them into the spotlight as a contender for champions. The lower half of the top teams saw crumbling from Satan Take The Wheel as Muffin Men take a solid 4-2 win. MAD LUX GOLD continues a disturbing trend of faltering towards the end of the season, but will look towards last season's 3rd place runner up scout DOLPHIN RIDER to pull them out of the rut and into a solid playoff run. As we move into the well-loved cp_snakewater look for more roster shakeups as teams look to get into their final playoff form.
1. Getawhale Fanclub (9-0)
- Nursey
- aim-
- Connor
- Avast
- arekk
- Linkuser
Not much to say about the official fan club of everybody's favorite caster. Aim and his boys pickup a forfeit against the last possible challenge to their undefeated season, as it looks like the Part Time Fraggers decided to take the day off. The Fanclub proceeded to pound on MAD LUX GOLD for 25 minutes in a match where only Linkuser was below 300 DPM, more than made up for by arekk's 35 frags and nearly 400 DPM. This team will have an easy ride to playoffs, and possibly through them barring any more roster changes from other top teams.
2. Meat Market (9-1)
- Yeegz
- oobii
- jodd
- Pamphlet
- broKing
- bl4nk
After dispatching Part Time Fraggers with ease, Meat Market claimed a dominant win over PizzaG,cementing themselves as top 2 in the division. BroKing and bl4nk put up predictably solid numbers, outclassing the Pizzagon scout duo in a big way. Add on pamphlet’s ability to pump out damage and you have a team that was made for viaduct. While another map may have been more favorable for the opposition, Meat Market has still proven their ability to work as a unit and play to their strengths. This team will likely go the rest of the season without a challenge as they are slotted to play mr owls tf2 legacy and MAD LUXURIOUS-GOLD this week, two bubble teams who will likely provide little resistance to a 15-1 season.
3. Nineteen (5-5)
- Skye
- KTB
- Hellbent
- Muma
- phlps
- icTus
An early week loss to a bubble team was all the convincing Nineteen needed to give tankman the boot, electing to bring in Muma from the late Champagne and Cocaine. This is a huge enough roster move for me to move them up two spots, despite a disappointing loss to a shaken up owls legacy roster. Last week I said this team needed to find a way to close out matches, and in the young muma they have found just that. Look for him to take control of his team and the battlefield with explosive calls and damage. This team will be under a trial by fire as they will be faced with the challenge of Part Time Fraggers early next week. They should be able to take this match without much of a challenge, unless they are far less able to adapt to roster changes than expected.
4. Pizzagon eSports (7-2)
- nakeee
- botmode
- rolling
- cloudmaker
- raytek
- sen
Pizzagon will be knocked down a notch, not necessarily because of their loss to Meat Market (they could have put up more of a fight) but rather due to Nineteen's acquisition of Muma. Their one match last week saw their scouts and demo struggle to keep up with the constant Meat aggression, despite nakeee performing admirably with one more uber and two less drops than his Medic competition Yeeegz. They play two more bubble teams on Snakewater, and a loss to either of them would be worrisome for this team if they want to have a successful run in playoffs. Look for raytek and sen to step it up in a big way now that they won't be competing with the best scout combo in the division.
5. Part Time Fraggers (6-3)
- schnell
- Cozen
- Vacationer
- cosa
- upio
- benk
After getting rolled over by Meat Market in a quick 4-0, PTF was presumably so demoralized that they had to forfeit their match versus Getawhale Fanclub. In all seriousness, this team's inablity to get 6 people together for an hour because they would rather play CS than TF2 could spell more disaster for this team. However, as long as they get 6 warm bodies in the server and one of them is Cozen on pocket they should be able to handle most of the lower top 8 and bubble teams with ease.
6. The Muffin Men (7-2)
- Dable
- Trip
- Kanon
- Safrix
- Blues
- EvilMrMuffinz
Safrix is the hero of a 4-2 win over Satan Take The Wheel, a match that saw Trip racking his brains for the counter to a permanent pyro from Satan himself. Once the team found their groove by moving blues to heavy and putting trip on his Highlander main, The Muffin Men were able to make quick work of their fire breathing foes, and safrix was able to find a rhythm, top damaging by 100 DPM over anyone else in the server. This was an impressive performance that showed this team's ability to react to a new and spooky situation. This team has a chance to make waves with matches against Pizzagon eSports and Nineteen this week. A win on either of these could boost them up in the rankings quite a few spots, but they should be able to take a few rounds off each of these teams at the very least.
7. egyptian flamingos (6-4)
- xattuu
- glider
- blackdott
- hassassin
- dflame
- BLACKYMONSTGER
Previously absent from power rankings, egyptian flamingos makes their return after beating owls legacy 5-2 in last night's snakewater match. dflame showed that he is back in form as he top damaged and fragged in the server, while hassassin and glider showed that they work together well on the flank. While this may not be dflame's chance to claim another IM title, with some more work this team could be the dark horse we desperately don't want.
8. mr owls tf2 legacy (6-5)
- split_
- screwB
- br-
- Skyrolla
- monkeysuit
- air
Coming out of nowhere to claim a win versus nineteen will get air and his squad on this list, but a loss to another unranked team means they will stay at the bottom. Air will be returning to scout as screwball takes pocket and split steps in as medic. These roster changes seemed for the best in their win over Nineteen, but the ensuing loss to flamingos may mean this team is weak on maps where air's DM is not enough to carry them. If their combo can find their way through their problems air's flank should be able to really make a difference. As is, this steam still has a lot to prove if they want to show their win over Nineteen was anything more than a fluke.
This week sees the removal of both Satan Take The Wheel and MAD LUXURIOUS-GOLD from rankings. For Satan, a roster in flux and a loss to the Muffin Men will be their downfall. On The MLUX front, roster changes and two big losses will see them bow out. MLUX continues their trend from last season of faltering near the end of the season; hopefully DOLPHIN RIDER will be rnough for them to turn it around. If smile is pocket for STW it could be a huge upgrade for them, but roster issues remain too strong to rank them.
Match of the Week: Pizzagon eSports vs The Muffin Men
- nakeee
- botmode
- rolling
- cloudmaker
- raytek
- sen
Not too many close matches, but if there is a potential for an upset it lies here. Pizzagon is coming off a tough loss, and if Muffin Men can catch them reeling they may be ablt to edge out a victory. The scouts of Pizzagon will likely prove to be too strong for The Muffin Men, but if they are able to play off Sarix's recent growth into one of the better demos in the division they just might have a chance.
Players to Watch: safrix, trip, raytek, botmode